The Orioles added six players to their 40-man roster on Friday to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft, making some interesting moves along the way.
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Leading up to Friday, it appeared that the Orioles would likely protect six players, with left-handed pitchers DL Hall and Kevin Smith, right-hander Kyle Bradish (pictured above), and infielder Terrin Vavra viewed as the four most likely to be protected. Those four were indeed added to the 40-man, with two additional assignments going to right-handed relievers Felix Bautista and Logan Gillaspie.
The biggest surprise was the addition of Gillaspie, a 24-year-old who is currently pitching in the Arizona Fall League after logging stints as a reliver with High-A Aberdeen and Double-A Bowie in the regular season. Between those two clubs, he posted a 4.97 ERA in 41 1/3 innings pitched, while striking out 52 and walking 11. He has given up 14 earned runs in as many innings in the AFL but has fanned 18 batters in that stretch.
Gillaspie was originally signed out of independent ball by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2018 and worked both as a starter and a reliever in the organization—topping out at Low-A—before being released in September 2019. The Orioles signed him this year and assigned him to Aberdeen in June, before promoting him to Bowie in late July. With a fastball that runs in the mid-to-upper 90s, Gillaspie posted better strikeout numbers this past season than he had at any level with the Brewers, and Eric Longenhagen at FanGraphs recently praised his stuff . It is also worth noting that his FIP and xFIP—3.88 and 3.47, respectively—were significantly lower than his 5.60 ERA in 27 1/3 innings at Bowie, suggesting that he may have had some bad luck at that level.
Vavra, Hall, Smith, and Bradish were not surprising picks at all. Bautista, meanwhile, raised his stock with an excellent season between three levels of the minor leagues last year, topping out at Triple-A Norfolk. While there are concerns about his command, he posted a 5.8 BB/9 rate in 46 2/3 innings pitched, he can reach the triple digits with his fastball and fanned 77 batters. Bautista’s stuff would have made him a viable candidate to be picked in the Rule 5 Draft, and he should now enter spring training with a legitimate shot of making the Orioles Opening Day roster.
The Orioles 40-man roster now stands at 39 players, as they also claimed infielder Lucius Fox off waivers from the Kansas City Royals in an unrelated move.
While protecting six players, the Orioles left off several notable prospects that could appeal to other teams in the Rule 5 Draft. One of them is left-handed reliever Nick Vespi, who earned Fall Star honors in the AFL and has continued his trend of missing bats with a solid fastball-slider combination. Vespi did post a 6.86 ERA in 19 1/3 innings at Norfolk in 2021, but he was promoted there shortly after coming off the injured list at Bowie and still struck out 25 batters in that stretch. Teams looking for left-handed relief help in the draft might be intrigued enough to take Vespi and try to stick him in their bullpen for the duration of the season.
There are other pitchers who have interesting cases as well, including right-handers Cody Sedlock, Blaine Knight, and Ofelky Peralta. Sedlock has been eligible for the Rule 5 Draft two previous times without being chosen, though teams might take notice after his solid 30 1/3 inning run at Norfolk last season (4.45 ERA, 33 strikeouts). His experience and first-round pedigree separates him a bit from Peralta and Knight, though both pitchers still could intrigue other teams.
Out of the hitters that were left unprotected, Robert Neustrom is one that might appeal to another organization. The outfielder batted .258/.344/.446 with 16 home runs and 83 RBIs between Bowie and Norfolk last season, with nine of his homers coming at Norfolk. His left-handed power looked it might allow him to earn a 40-man roster. The Orioles, however, currently carry several corner outfielders on their 40-man and with those players, especially Anthony Santander and DJ Stewart, still in the mix, it might have been hard to find room for Neustrom.
It is possible that teams pass on Neustrom out of concern that he can’t stick on a major-league roster all season, especially if they read into his slow stretch to end the season (he batted .204 with a .672 OPS over his final 30 games). However, the likely addition of a DH would give National League teams more flexibility, especially if they are looking for a lost-cost option to fit that role.
Earlier this week, I profiled a few other position players that could be on other teams’ radars, including Patrick Dorrian, Adam Hall, Cadyn Grenier, and Greg Cullen. Cullen could be the wild card in that group if teams like what they have seen in the AFL, though he appeared in just 38 regular-season games in 2021 because of injuries and he has yet to play a full season above Low-A. Grenier’s defense at shortstop is major-league ready. However, he mostly struggled at the plate with Bowie last season. Hall, meanwhile, saw his offensive numbers take a downturn at High-A Aberdeen. Dorrian came out of nowhere to have a breakout season with Bowie at age 25 and shows solid glove work at third base to go with his offensive production.
Just which players are taken by other teams remains to be seen but expect at least one current Orioles’ prospect to have their name called when the Rule 5 Draft takes place. With their farm system continuing to get deeper and decisions about who to protect from the draft becoming harder, it is very likely that other organizations were watching the decisions the Orioles made Friday as they make their own offseason plans.
Orioles Analyst
A graduate of the University of Massachusetts, and Loyola University; Spedden has previously spent time in the Washington Nationals organization as a videographer for the Hagerstown Suns. As a blogger, Spedden is an Editor / Writer for the Suns fan club. Additionally, he contributes to The Nats Blog as a prospect writer, and Ballpark Digest. For BSL, Spedden covers the Orioles Minor Leagues. Co-Host of The Verge: https://anchor.fm/the-verge