The Orioles claimed C Craig Tatum off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds and designated LHP Chris Waters for assignment to make room on the 40 man roster. The reason we needed to clear room on the 40 is because we filled it up by adding RHP Brandon Erbe, RHP Luis Lebron, 3B Josh Bell, SS Pedro Florimon, 1B Rhyne Hughes, and 1B Brandon Snyder to the roster.
Grade: C
Tatum is just another candidate for the back up catchers job. He’ll compete with Michel Hernandez and whoever else the Orioles bring in for the roster spot. In AAA Louisville he batted .239/.300/.338 with 12 doubles, 3 HR, and 21 RBI over 213 at bats. He also had 68 at bats with the Reds to the tune of .162/.250/.221 with 1 double and 1 HR. Hes not going to give you much with the bat, but he was rated as the best defensive catcher in Cincinnati’s minor league system by Baseball America. Theres a good chance the Orioles will try to pass him through waivers themselves at some point in the offseason if we need to make room on the 40 man roster after a signing, a trade, or another claim.
Erbe, Lebron, Bell, Florimon, Hughes, and Snyder needed to be added to the 40 man roster to protect them from being selected in the Rule V draft at the winter meetings. There were a couple other players that I thought might’ve been protected but weren’t, most notably RHP Steve Johnson. Andy MacPhail doesn’t think he will be selected because he pitched mostly at A ball last year and he doesn’t have great stuff. Even if he was selected, I don’t see him lasting an entire year in an MLB bullpen. Maybe in another year.
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