Orioles reunite with former infielder with minor league contract

Over the weekend, the Orioles announced that they'd come to terms on a minor league deal with infielder Terrin Vavra. After getting designated for assignment by the Orioles back in early August, Vavra was claimed off waivers by the Mariners and he spent about a month with Seattle's Triple-A club.

Infielder Luis Urias recently returned from injury and the Mariners designated Vavra for assignment once more in order to make room on the roster for Urias. The Mariners certainly would have felt comfortable moving on from Vavra considering he hit .182/.231/.182 during the course of his time there.

Vavra was once an interesting option for the Orioles. Back in 2022 he had a good run of success in Baltimore. He hit .258/.340/.337 with good plate discipline and respectable defense in his first 40 games at the major league level.

2023 was a bit of a mixed bag though, as Vavra hit well at Triple-A, struggled in Baltimore, and ended the season with what turned out to be a torn labrum requiring shoulder surgery. The procedure and subsequent recovery would keep Vavra out until May of this year and it's likely that some of his current struggles stem from lingering instability in that surgically repaired shoulder.

Terrin Vavra returns to the Orioles organization, though he won't be eligible for the postseason

Vavra ran a near .350 OBP at Norfolk this year but his strikeout rate jumped back up over 25% and he doesn't hit for enough power to mitigate that kind of approach. Back in his younger days in Colorado, Vavra was a threat on the basepaths - he stole 27 bases between Low-A and Single-A in 2018-2019.

However, he's stolen just 18 bases combined in the four years since, all but eliminating his value as a baserunner as he enters his late-20's. In the right circumstances, he might be able to put together a season with 10 homers and 5 steals, solid defense, and respectable plate discipline but in reality he's now just a depth option for an Orioles team loaded with star prospect talent in the infield.

While Vavra could potentially see time in Baltimore if the Orioles have another run of bad injury luck over the next three weeks, he won't be eligible for postseason play. All players must be in an organization by September 1 in order to be eligible for that team's postseason roster and despite Vavra's presence in the Orioles system for the entire year, because he left in the month of August he won't be able to play in October.

Vavra will return to depth duty down in the minors. While he could become a viable major league option down the line, if the Orioles have to turn to him in 2024 something has gone terribly wrong.