Baltimore Orioles Acquire Young Infielder in Minor Deal with Detroit Tigers with the aim of adding him to the major league roster due to his performances
After being designated for assignment by the Detroit Tigers, infielder Nick Maton has been traded to the Baltimore Orioles.
The O’s announced the trade on Wednesday night:
The 26-year-old has spent parts of three years in the big leagues with the Phillies and Tigers. He’s played in 179 career games, including a career-high 93 in 2023. Lifetime, he’s a .208 hitter with 15 home runs.
There’s no guarantee that he’ll make the Opening Day roster for the Orioles, who are loaded with talent, but he could stick in the organization as a depth piece potentially.
Other Orioles’ infielders on the 40-man roster include: Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday, Jordan Westburg, Ryan Mountcastle, Ramon Urias, Tyler Nevin, Jorge Mateo and Ryan O’Hearn.
Nevin was also acquired in a deal with the Tigers this offseason.
The Orioles are coming off a season in which they went 101-61 and won the American League East. Unfortunately, they were beaten in the American League Division Series by the eventual World Champion Texas Rangers, but they’ll enter 2024 with sky-high expectations.
Because of those expectations, the O’s aren’t in the business of giving playing time to people who can’t contribute, so Maton will have to prove himself from the outset in spring training.
There appears to be a real chance that Holliday could make the roster at 20 years old, so there’s an even steeper climb for Maton at this point.
As for the Tigers, they have Javier Baez, Andy Ibanez, Colt Keith, Ryan Kreidler, Eddys Leonard, Andre Lipcius, Wenceel Perez and Spencer Torkelson as 40-man roster infield options.
New Milwaukee Brewers pitcher DL Hall is a player that Matt Arnold and company are excited to have received in their trade with the Baltimore Orioles. Parting ways with Corbin Burnes and losing his production every fifth day is going to be difficult to replace, but some MLB experts have gone as far to say that Hall was the key in the deal and that can become a mainstay in their starting rotation for the next five to six years.
In addition to Hall the Brewers also received infielder Joey Ortiz. Ortiz already has the defensive skill set to play at the big league level, but he hasn’t had a chance to prove himself offensively yet. In the minor leagues he put up great numbers that included back to back seasons of at least 30 doubles and a .507 slugging percentage in 2023.
