The Orioles set their Opening Day roster today and made a few roster moves, including designating outfielder Ryan McKenna and infielder Tyler Nevin for assignment. The 40-man roster count drops to 38.
Nevin, 27 in May, came to the O’s from the Tigers via a cash deal in January. He has been a solid multi-positional player in the minors but has struggled to hit against major league pitching. He has hit .315/.394/.522 at Triple-A over the past two years for a wRC+ of 134. But in 313 major league plate appearances in his career thus far, he has a lesser line of .203/.310/.301.
He came into spring and performed well, hitting .333 /.367/.474, but got squeezed out of a bench job when the O’s recently signed Tony Kemp. Since he’s out of options and there was no room for him on the active roster, he had to be removed from the 40-man entirely.
The O’s will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers, but it seems fair to expect some interest from other clubs. Despite being out of options, he has a strong minor league track record and was just hitting well in the spring. He’s capable of playing any of the four corner spots, which could help him find a landing spot somewhere. He also comes with five years of control remaining since he has just over a year of service time.
McKenna, 27, has been serving as a part-time outfielder for the Orioles over the past three years. He’s played in 284 games from 2021 to the present, having hit .221/.299/.318 in his 504 plate appearances, striking out in 33.3% of them. He’s considered a strong defender and has stolen eight bases in nine tries.
He’s also out of options and got squeezed off the roster, meaning the O’s will have a week to find a trading partner or pass him through waivers. He reached arbitration for the first time this winter as a Super Two player and agreed to a salary of $800K, slightly above the $740K league minimum.
Today’s the day Nevin!
I’d rather Nevin or McKenna over Kemp. What a weird signing.
McKenna is an outfielder, where the Orioles have no fit for him. Cowser took his spot. Kemp has speed and can be used as a pinch runner. He also played in very pitcher friendly Oakland, and his away stats were better than his overall line because of that.
McKenna could’ve been a pinch runner and defensive replacement. There wasn’t a need for a left handed 2B, and if there was then they have Holliday.
@Fred I’ll add that Kemp has much better plate discipline and high leverage stats than McKenna. He’s not an offensive force by any means…but there are much worse late game defensive replacement/pinch hitter types (frankly speaking, guys like McKenna).
Kemp has speed? Let’s stop with that. He ranks in the 23rd percentile. Over three-quarters of the league is faster.
Kemp is there to man a bench position, be a good teammate, and they’ll see if they can squeeze Holliday on the roster and let Kemp mentor him a little bit. That is if they can fit both on the roster at the same time, which I kinda think is unlikely.
Sorry – that’s just not correct. Nevin is the emotional choice – hoping he finally lives up to potential but there’s just no long term fit for him. Kemp gives you speed and left handed second baseman for the start of the year.
Doesn’t really matter though because both would be gone as soon as Jackson comes up.
Missing the point – Kemp is just keeping the seat warm
$1M seat warmer
Kemp but no room for Holliday
Glad to see this. So now the question is who fills those two 40 man spots?
At the moment no one. They have flexibility to add 2 players from waivers if they choose. But they aren’t required to fill the spots right away.
I understand they don’t HAVE to. It’s a could vs should type of thing.
Keep those spots empty and then when it is time to bring up Holliday or some other non-40 man guy, you don’t need to DFA anyone. Those empty spots provide flexibility. Why fill them just for the sake of filling them?
Might be strategically trying to sneak at least one of these guys through with the flurry of this type of move atm
McKenna is a terrific defensive outfielder, and can play anywhere in the outfield at a high level.
I can’t understand why the people on the Baltimore boards hate him so much, but I guarantee you he’s going to be a successful player for somebody.
You must have missed the opening day game in 2023.
The Orioles have many other options who could provide more overall roster value than he would otherwise, both short and long term.
Would you rather have Tony Kemp, Tyler Nevin, or McKenna?
That’s the question, and yes, last year‘s opening day was a mess, so what ?
if that’s the only thing you can point to then you have a weak argument.
Yes, he was unnecessary for the Orioles, that’s not the issue.
McKenna is very solid defender, and he will be playing somewhere else very quickly
None of them. They may find homes elsewhere but for the Orioles roster, business reasons aside, I’d prefer 3 of Holliday, Mayo, Norby, Kjerstad or Stowers.
I would too, but for some reason, Mike thinks otherwise
Considering their RH DH today is Westburg, I think Nevin would’ve been a good fit to start the season at least.
Kemp is a short timer anyway, it’s not a big deal. McKenna didn’t have a spot and doesn’t play infield positions.
Nevin wouldn’t start over Westburg.
@fomeols In fairness, McKenna has gotten 500+ plate appearances over the past 3 years. It’s more one of those “is who he is” sort of situations. I think his defensive value is a tad overrated by some fans too. He’s good, but nowhere near good enough to make up for such a subpar bat that strikes out way too often for a low-power guy.
The O’s weren’t exactly going to give him more than the already generous number of plate appearances they have given him hoping he’ll miraculously unlock some higher gear. “Ship has sailed” so to speak…time for him to move to a club with lower expectations who can give him more run.
Oh, yes, I agree with you, my point is that he’s not as bad as everybody made him out to be, And there is still a market for his services, and he will be playing somewhere else very quickly. He will be claimed .
He’s a little above average as a defender. His dropped fly ball was game two last year. There are fans who will never let go of that one. For all his supposed speed he has eight career stolen bases . . . . Eight!
I’m not so sure he is claimed. I think the Orioles would like to be able to send him to Norfolk.
I don’t see McKenna being claimed. He isn’t a bad 4th OF for a rebuilding team but the O’s need to shed some of the playable but not high ceiling players and let the kids play. I had wished that they would have packaged several players for another starter or high leverage bullpen arm (like getting Tanner Scott back) but I’m sure Elias’ plans and who was willing to deal is better than any armchair GMing that I’d do.
If McKenna is the next coming of Mike Yastrzemski, that’s a chance we have to take.
I think he is terrific
He has like a Gold Glove, maybe his arm isn’t cannon like, but he is a really good outfielder and maybe if he gets more playing time, his bat would become more consistent
It does look like McKenna’s glove is made of metal a lot of times.
McKenna has so many brain farts, it’s just wrong to call him “terrific” on defense.
Waiting until the last minute to try and sneak them through waivers to stash in the minors.
OF Depth chart: 3 starters: Mullins, Santander, Hays. Cowser is the 4th. Stowers should be the 5th and is more than MLB ready. Supposedly Mateo (all?) and now Kemp (LF) are more versatile backups. Norby can also play LF. I still think they should look at trading Hays for pitching especially if he gets off to a hot start and Cowser and/or Stowers are forcing their hands. Don’t forget about Kjerstad. DH is basically the 4 OF or spelling Rutschman.
IF:
1B: Mountcastle/O’Hearn platoon.
2B: Urias for now? Although it should be Holliday today and will be as soon as service time is successfully manipulated.
SS: Henderson
3B: Westburg
Henderson can also play 3B. Holliday can play SS. Urias can back up all but 1B. Mateo can back up 2B and SS. Mayo is a 3B/1B. Norby is 3B/2B/LF.
And now they have Kemp for some reason.
Numbers game, way too many bodies for positions for McKenna and Nevin. Kemp and Mateo are also redundant and taking up spots that should go to guys who can hit.
Its not a bad problem to have. Better than desperately throwing AAAA players out there hoping they stick.
Norby has never played 3B in his professional career. Westburg also can play anywhere except 1B.
Thornton is challenged by facts. And he seems not to care about posting easily proven false claims.
They just value the versatility/hit tools of Kemp and Mateo over McKenna. It’s ok guys. Cowser doesn’t help him either obviously.
Holliday wasn’t ready people. Get over it. Did no one notice his strikeouts to walks imploded in spring training. Yes he hit the ball… but was it vs mlb pitching,aaaa players or prospects? I trust that the staff tracked all that data. If he struck out that much in spring training teams would. Exploit that in the season. He’s much better off getting a year…yes a full year in aaa.
At the latest he’ll be in Baltimore June 1st!
If he were black, he wouldn’t be rated this high of a prospect!
Ummmmmhuh?
The Top Two prospects of the 2022 draft were Druw Jones and Jackson Holliday. Many O’s fans were leaning Jones with that pick, including myself. Jones has battled injuries, almost from Day One. I’m certainly glad Mike Elias chose Jackson Holliday.
You’re such an obvious MAGAt troll.
If you have that line of thought then hardly any of the Orioles have a good K/BB ratio. Here are some of the other guys who could play 2B/SS
2023:
Urias: 101K/27BB
Mateo: 82K/22BB – also a whopping .267 OBP which was .228 after May 1st
Westburg: 56K/16BB
Henderson: 159:K/56BB (I’d call this acceptable, his OBP was 70 points above his average and unlike Urias and Mateo has power)
Kemp versus Mateo, Urias, and if you want to compare to Holliday – he’s the only one who can take a walk. But he hits .238 without a lot of power, certainly below Holliday’s floor.
So your rationale doesn’t work. I’m going to stick with service time manipulation and look forward to seeing Holliday play Memorial Day weekend in Baltimore.
Holliday needs to learn how to backhand grounders instead of circling them. He also needs to learn how to plant his right foot to get off a strong throw. And he needs to learn to hit better vs. lefties. This is what the minor leagues are for: developing talent. Yes, he has a bright future but presently there are things he needs to improve upon to maximize the potential.
Not perfectly capable and he’s more than ready. Watch when he comes up. There might be an adjustment period like Henderson had last year before he got his feet under him and was fine after. And it will only be in a few weeks. If he’s healthy and not completely lost – he hit a HR in his first AB in AAA – then he’ll be up. Then we know 100% service time manipulation.
The “perfectly capable” Mateo flubbed a DP ball the other day and cost 2 runs by the way, luckily that did not hurt in a blowout win.
PS If you were around in 2009 with Matt Wieters “needing a little more seasoning” at AAA and was up within a day or two after they could push the clock back, you can understand why I have this contention.
He is far from ready defensively. Guess you didn’t watch Jax toss an easy shovel pass over the SS head on Friday night. Nor did you watch the weak throw to 1st in that same game – when he didn’t plant his right foot.
Gunnar was always spectacular defensively from Day 1 – no adjustment needed. He just was too selective and took too many walks, following what he had been trained to do in MiLB.
Mateo is excellent defensively, regardless of one error, Jax isn’t on the same planet defensively.
There was not a single soul more vocal about drafting Jax over Jones, Termarr, Collier, Greene, etc. I was raving about drafting Jax a month prior to the draft. But right now, he is a defensive liability and would likely hurt the team more than improve it
Well said. Also, different front office. Different ownership. Different team circumstances. The Wieters situation has absolutely zero to do with Jax. TM keeps grinding the false narrative that what happened in the Orioles franchise fifteen or twenty years ago continues to drive decisions and development today, even though not one single coach, player or front office person remains. It’s the stupidest shtt that gets posted on here and he clings to it like toddler to Santa Claus.
Well I appreciate you saying I’m wrong without providing any data or results to prove otherwise.
These last few Oriole moves seem a little desperate or worrisome. I liked both Nevin and McKenna over Kemp. I guess we’ll see. All three would have been looking in their rear-view mirrors.
HAHAHAHA!!! There’s nothing desperate or worrisome about DFAing a couple of fringe dudes. C’mon!
Does anyone know how much of his Arbitration pay McKenna gets? He wasn’t designated till opening day, so officially he was still on the roster, so he gets all of it, right?