The Orioles run a promotion with their players with minor league options. Following a game, you will be demoted within 30 minutes or less or your pizza is free. That's a joke there, but sometimes it seems like that's how they operate with the swiftness with which they send players to the minor leagues following a game. After Wednesday's game, Kevin Gausman was on the receiving end of this. It took 37 minutes for him to be optioned, so his pizza is on the house.
It's another one of those paper transactions, just like the earlier in the evening move where Wei-Yin Chen was optioned to the Gulf Coast League in order to bring up Baltimore's own Steve Clevenger.
Gausman, much like Chen, is headed to the GCL, where he won't be pitching because the season ends on Thursday. In fact, he's already announced to be making his next start on regular rest. So it's not a spiteful demotion or anything like that. It's just a demotion because Orioles GM Dan Duquette can't help himself. Gausman can be optioned and the O's can call someone up for a few days before Gausman comes back, so that's exactly what they're going to do.
They haven't even announced the corresponding roster move yet, which will be coming on Thursday. Maybe it will be an infielder, maybe it will be a reliever, maybe they'll surprise us by calling up an outfielder or something. Rosters expand on September 1 and Gausman will probably be back that very day, along with whatever other new arrivals the Orioles want to see on the team for the last month of the season.
With Chen scheduled to start on Sunday, before rosters expand, there is at least one more of these paper transactions in store, as someone will have to be optioned then to make room for Chen. However, players can be called back before the standard ten day rule if a minor league affiliate's season ends.
The final game for the GCL Orioles is Thursday, so Gausman and Chen can come back basically whenever the Orioles want them to. Other affiliates are done on Sept. 1. The O's should be able to have whoever they want on the roster by Sept. 2, regardless of when anyone gets optioned.