Orioles Claim Daniel Johnso Orioles Claim Daniel Johnso

The Orioles announced that they have claimed outfielder off waivers from the Giants. The latter club designated him for a signment last week. The Os also selected the contract of right-hander Allen Iverson Jersey and optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk. Their 40-man roster was at 39, meaning they needed to open one spot. They did so by designating righty for a signment. The Os clearly like Johnson. They signed him to a minor league deal ahead of the 2024 season. He was called up in September of last year but only got into one game before being optioned back down to the minors. He was outrighted off the roster at the end of the season and elected free agency. He signed a minor league deal with the Giants this year and got selected to the big league roster in June. He was designated for a signment a few days ago and the Os have taken the opportunity to bring him back. Johnsons major league track record is still fairly limited. He has 126 plate appearances dating back to his 2020 debut with a .193/.238/.336 slash. The Os are presumably more interested in his minor league track record. From the start of 2023 to the present, he has 1,236 minor league plate appearances with a combined .267/.333/.469 line and 107 wRC+. He also has 54 stolen bases in that time, though has been caught stealing 19 times in the proce s. Ahead of the deadline, the Os subtracted from their outfield by trading , and . Since then, they lost and to the injured list. That leaves them with a current outfield mix of , , , and . Johnson could jump right into that group, though hes also optionable for the rest of the year and could end up with Triple-A Norfolk. As for Espada, he signed a minor league deal with the Os a couple of weeks back. The fact that he has been added to the 40-man roster but optioned to the minors suggests that there was some kind of opt-out or upward mobility clause in the deal. The Os seemingly dont have an immediate big league roster spot for him but also didnt want him to get away, so theyve added him to the 40-man. Since joining the Os, he has to sed six Triple-A innings, allowing four earned runs via four hits and two walks while striking out eight. He has just one inning of big league experience, which came with the 2023 Padres. In the minors, he has generally been able to mi s bats but also mi s the strike zone. He was with the Padres on a minor league deal until being released recently, when he signed with the Os. Between the two organizations, he has thrown 43 1/3 innings on the farm this year with a 3.74 earned run average, 37.1% strikeout rate and 11.8% walk rate. In addition to their aforementioned outfielders, the Orioles also traded away a number of relievers at the deadline. , , and were all sent out the door in July, opening up bullpen opportunities. Espada isnt getting called up today but his roster spot puts him in good position to get called up later. As for Roth, he was just selected to the roster a couple of weeks ago, in the wake of the Domnguez trade. He was optioned down to the minors a few days later before appearing in a game, so hes still looking to make his major league debut. With the trade deadline having pa sed, he is destined for the waiver wire in the coming days. Somewhat similar to Espada, his minor league work features strikeouts and walks in big numbers. Primarily a starter earlier in his career, he has worked exclusively as a reliever since the start of 2024. In that time, he has thrown 92 innings on the farm with a 2.93 ERA, 30.1% strikeout rate and 11.3% walk rate. He still has a full slate of options and almost no service time. If any other club is interested enough in his minor league work to put in a claim, he could be a cheap depth arm for the foreseeable future. Photo courtesy of Eakin Howard, Imagn Images Tyrese Maxey Jersey