The Orioles announced Tuesday that catcher Jesus Sucre accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk after clearing outright waivers. He’ll remain in the organization but will no longer require a 40-man spot for the time being.
Sucre, who was designated for assignment over the weekend as part of a series of roster moves, inked a minor league pact with the O’s back in February but broke camp as the team’s primary backstop. In 67 plate appearances prior to that DFA, he hit .210/.269/.242 with a pair of doubles.
He’s never been much with the bat, as evidenced by a lifetime .222/.260/.302 slash line in 721 Major League plate appearances, but the defensive-minded Sucre went 4-for-8 in thwarting stolen-base attempts in his short time with the Orioles. Framing metrics weren’t particularly bullish on Sucre in his tiny sample of work this season, but he’s received quality marks in that regard in the past.
With Sucre joining Chance Sisco in Triple-A, the Orioles are relying on Austin Wynns and Pedro Severino behind the plate, though that duo’s grip on their respective 25-man roster spots is hardly ironclad. Severino, a waiver claim who is out of minor league options, has hit well in 47 PAs but had a career .560 OPS prior to being claimed by Baltimore. Wynns, meanwhile, is already 28 and has never hit much above the Double-A level. That said, with Sisco struggling in Norfolk, it doesn’t seem that there’s any current impetus for a change behind the plate at the big league level.
The orioles could conceivably consider Travis d’Arnaud.
I doubt that. Severino’s been good and they like Wynns. I don’t think they’re giving up on sisco yet either.
Wonder how long it is before they call up Mountcastle. Also I got to catch a Shorebirds game earlier this year and saw Grayson Rodriguez pitch-O’s fans should get excited for that dude.
Not any time soon. He has no position, and the O’s have people they like at the DH/1B spots (Mancini, Davis, Nunez). I’d be shocked if he were with the big club any sooner than August 1.
If elias/Hyde won’t play Nunez at 3rd there’s no way Mountcastle is playing. I’d like him to develop some patience at the plate in the minor leagues before he gets called up also. To be honest with you I think he’s a tad overhyped considering he has no defensive position.
And when I say overhyped that doesn’t mean he won’t be a quality player. It’s just that I believe he got a lot of prospect steam behind him early on because he was a young SS that could hit. He’s now a young ?? At all defensive positions. He can hit but he hasn’t really raked. Where as you had a guy like Mancini who was a stronger offensive player in the minors but never received nearly as much hype. As far as skills go the two are very similar and that would obviously be a very solid outcome for Mountcastle. It’s just that he’s been a consensus top 100 guy for a long time and I think without a position that’s a bit high for a guy whose bat has to carry him.
Yes every report on Grayson I’m getting these days is quite glowing. I’m excited to actually see him pitch.
Sugar Jesus
How many losses will the Orioles have?
99
199
Sounds about right. But good things can and are still happening.
We’re on pace to lose more than 99. I don’t see any reason to believe this team will improve once we start selling off our productive veterans. I’ll say 104.
Who’s actually going to trade for them though? The team should in fact improve as the year goes on, as prospects crack the big league team.
At best, we trade Givens, Mancini, and Fry. That’s not really a huge sell-off. We’ll be adding Hays for sure, likely Mountcastle, Akin, and Diaz too.
Also in regards to the orioles’ catcher woes, it makes it all the more plausible that they peg Adley Rutschman 1/1 in the draft
Adley might be the first pick anyway because he’s just that good, but teams should never draft for need in baseball (especially since you’re looking a few years down the road anyway).
That’s how you get picks like Jeff Clement and Tony Sanchez that don’t work out.
But when the arguably best player in the draft happens to fill a need, then you take him.
Yeah I agree with you completely, Michael. And the orioles have just about every position as a need at this point. We’re strongest in the OF as far as prospect depth goes but it isn’t like we couldn’t take another one there. Rutschman is the guy but the position should have little to do with it. We really need everything. It is a ground up rebuild.
Yup, lots of needs. no doubt. If Sisco was tearing it up in the minors, would there even be a question of taking Rutchsman? I mean, I understand there happens to be a shortstop out there who’s pretty good.
If the scouting department thinks Rutchsman is the best player, then they should take him period, regardless of how Sisco is doing. Worst case scenario, you trade sisco for another player of equivalent status.
Plus as a college guy they can get him for further under slot than a prep player to boot giving them more coins to play with on high ceiling picks later on
You think Rutchsman is going to sign for under slot?
Probably. He doesn’t have much leverage in this. A high school guy can threaten to go to college, what’s Rutschman going to do, threaten to go back to college? Unlikely.
He’s not going to sign for over slot. That’s pretty much a lock. Whether he gets the full slot or less is up in the air. Either way he won’t be going over which may not be true for Witt who obviously has more flexibility at 18.
I appreciate it, jbigz12. I’m a firm believer in drafting by BPA (especially in baseball), and I think Adley is probably the best guy in the draft at this point, but they should pick him *because* he’s the best player and not because he’s a catcher.
The Indians, for instance, seem to hoard guys who can play center every year in the draft. I like that rationale; get the best player available, and worry about where to play them later. Some guys outgrow a position, some don’t pan out, and if there’s really a surplus in the end then you can make a trade.
also as a follow up, I haven’t seen much of adley play but I’ve watched Bleday hit in person and guy can absolutely mash. he’d be a lock to launch moonshots in Camden Yards and come at a huge discount too
I’ve heard of him, but not terribly familiar. Please tell us more.
I’m not going to consider a guy who whiffs in roughly 25% of his at bats in college as a candidate for the first overall pick, I don’t care how many homers he hits.
Wasn’t familiar with the K peripherals. And to continue playing devils advocate he’s also not gonna steal you (m)any bases and plays corner OF. I’m in SEC territory so I’ve just gotten a lot of looks at the guy this year and the bat does play. But yeah at the end of the day he’s not a 1/1 just speculating
You gotta love a player whose name loosely translates to “Sweet Jesus”.