Orioles GM attempts to explain handling of baseball's top prospect

The Orioles shocked the baseball world Friday by reassigning top prospect Jackson Holliday to minor-league camp, effectively ending his bid to make the Opening Day roster. The consensus No. 1 prospect in the entire sport, Holliday has taken the minors by storm since being selected first overall in the 2022 draft. After hitting .297/.489/.422 in 20 games down the stretch the year he was drafted between rookie ball and Single-A, Holliday tore through the minors in 2023 to advance all the way to the Triple-A level before the end of his first full season as a pro. In 125 games last year, Holliday slashed .323/.442/.499, including a strong .338/.421/.507 showing in 36 games at the Double-A level. The youngster continued to tear the cover off the ball this spring as well, slashing .311/.354/.600 across 15 games during camp.

GM Mike Elias Saturday explained the club’s decision to start Holliday in the minor leagues after that incredible performance to reporters, including MASN’s Roch Kubatko. Among the reasons Elias listed for Holliday not breaking camp with the Orioles was his lack of experience against left-handed pitching. Holliday’s numbers against southpaws last year, while decent, were not at the same caliber as those he posted against right-handed pitching. While he crushed righties to a .331/.437/.551 slash line, his 124 trips to the plate against lefties last year saw him hit just .296/.387/.389. Elias also suggested that Holliday’s minimal experience at second base – where the club plans to play him in the Majors – was another motivating factor behind Holliday’s demotion. The youngster has started primarily at shortstop throughout his professional career and has only 25 appearances at the keystone in 145 career minor-league games.

Of course, those reasons for sending Holliday to the minors to open the year, however valid they may be, won’t outweigh the impact the move could have on Holliday’s future team control in the eyes of many. A player must be on the Major League roster or injured list for at least 172 days of the 187-day season to earn a full year of service time. In other words, if Holliday spends at least 16 days in the minors this year, the Orioles could gain an additional year of team control over the up-and-coming star. Of course, if Holliday were to finish in the top two of AL Rookie of the Year voting this year, he would still be granted a full year of service time even if he spends less than 172 days in the Majors this year. It’s also possible the club could reverse course in the early days of the season and call Holliday up in time for him to receive a full service year, in which case the club would receive a draft pick in the event that Holliday wins Rookie of the Year this season or finishes in the top three of AL MVP voting during his pre-arbitration seasons.

More from the AL East…

• The Yankees are “seriously considering” right-hander Luis Gil as their fifth starter to open the season, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Sherman adds that Gil wouldn’t have any innings restrictions in such a scenario despite having 29 2/3 innings of work across the past two seasons due to Tommy John surgery and the subsequent rehab. With ace Gerrit Cole set to miss the early months of the season due to nerve inflammation in his elbow, the Yankees will need an additional starter to pair with Carlos Rodon, Nestor Cortes, Marcus Stroman and Clarke Schmidt in the rotation. Barring an external addition, Sherman indicates that the fifth spot in the rotation is likely to come down to either Gil or Will Warren, a 24-year-old righty who posted a 3.35 ERA in 129 innings between the Double- and Triple-A levels last year. Gil is the more experienced hurler of the two, with 33 1/3 innings in the Majors under his belt. Those seven starts in the big leagues came during the 2021 and 2022 seasons and saw Gil pitch to a solid 3.78 ERA with a 4.12 FIP.
• Center field prospect Ceddanne Rafaela will break camp with the Red Sox to open the season, Alex Cora told reporters (including Alex Speier of the Boston Globe) this afternoon. Rafaela has appeared likely to make the club in the aftermath of injuries suffered by both second baseman Vaughn Grissom and outfielder Rob Refsnyder this spring. The 23-year-old has experience both on the infield dirt and in the outfield, though he figures to see the bulk of his playing time in center field as part of an outfield mix that also contains Tyler O’Neill, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu and Masataka Yoshida. Rafaela made his big-league debut last season with a 28-game cup of coffee that saw him hit just .241/.281/.386 in 89 plate appearances, though he slashed a far more impressive .312/.370/.618 in 60 games at the Triple-A level last year.
• Sticking with the Red Sox, veteran catcher Roberto Perez won’t be opting out of his minor-league deal with the club according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Perez, 35, has spent the majority of his career in Cleveland and is regarded as one of the finest defensive catchers in the game, though he’s slashed just .169/.268/.288 since the start of the 2020 season and was limited to just 5 games in the Majors last year before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery. Should the club stick with its current catching tandem of Reese McGuire and Connor Wong, that would leave Perez likely ticketed for Triple-A to open the season, where he’d serve as an excellent non-roster depth option for the Red Sox in the early part of the season. As an Article XX(B) free agent, Perez will have additional opportunities to opt-out of his deal with the club on May 1 and June 1 should he decide to test the open market later this season.