Orioles news: O's nab infielder from Marlins, multiple DFA's, and a bullpen nightmare

Just when we thought we had a viable closer again...

On Monday night, Seranthony Dominguez allowed a walk-off home run to Francisco Alvarez in the bottom of the ninth. It was a hard fought game for the Orioles, one they deserved to win despite the offense struggling for much of the evening. However, it wasn't meant to be, as the Mets walked off with a 4-3 victory.

Fast forward to Wednesday afternoon where the Orioles would get served a healthy portion of deja vu. Seranthony Dominguez allowed another walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth, this time to Jesse Winker. Again, the Orioles offense struggled for much of the day and the Mets would walk away with another 4-3 victory.

The offense has been a problem of late, with both Jorge Mateo and Jordan Westburg sidelined with injuries and Ryan Mountcastle completely falling apart. But the bullpen is in shambles.

Dominguez's 5.03 FIP since the trade is coming back to bite him in a bad way, Craig Kimbrel is a borderline DFA candidate right now, and there aren't any reinforcements on the way. There's still plenty of time to turn things around but the collapse risk gets worse and worse for the O's every day.

Orioles remain busy in waiver market, nab Marlins infielder Emmanuel Rivera

On Wednesday, the Orioles acquired infielder Emmanuel Rivera from the Marlins after he was DFA'd over the weekend. The 28 year old isn't a world beater - he's a defense first player who has struggled at the plate in parts of four seasons in the majors.

Originally signed as an amateur by the Royals back in 2015, Rivera was acquired by the Marlins ahead of this year and has earned 229 plate appearances while working as a backup infielder. He's hit poorly, slashing .214/.294/.269 with a homer and two steals.

Rivera's utility comes from being a capable defender. He's been a respectable third baseman with the chops to handle first base in a pinch. With Ramon Urias already handling that role well enough, it remains to be seen what the plan is for Rivera once he arrives in the organization.

Orioles DFA two post-hype prospects to make room for Rivera and Cole Irvin

In order to make room for Rivera on the 40-man roster, the Orioles designated Terrin Vavra for assignment. Vavra looked solid in his MLB debut back in 2022 but wasn't able to fully get into a rhythm. He fell off significantly in limited time last year and hit just .243/.350/.368 with Triple-A Norfolk this year.

It's possible that Vavra will get claimed, as he's always been a solid OBP guy, but he hasn't done enough around that to make him a viable major leaguer.

In addition to Vavra, the Orioles DFA'd reliever Nick Avila in order to make room for Cole Irvin to return to Baltimore. Avila had been claimed by the Orioles earlier in the year after the Giants placed him on release waivers.

Avila made just 9 appearances in the O's organization, struggling in most of them. It's possible Avila will pass through waivers unclaimed, as the righty has been dealing with injuries all year and won't be an impact arm down the stretch.