Orioles claim outfielder Alex Hassan off waivers from Athletics

On Monday morning, Alex Hassan was in the Red Sox organization. Monday night, he was in the Athletics organization after a waiver claim. Thursday afternoon, he is now in the Orioles organization after yet another waiver claim. Lucky for him that it's the offseason so that he doesn't actually have to go anywhere.

The Orioles announced their claim of Hassan, who will be 27 next April and has a total of three big league games to his name. The usual suspects like Dan Connolly and Roch Kubatko reported that the Orioles tried to put in a claim on Hassan when he was claimed by Oakland, but the O's had a lower priority because of their better record. The few downsides of a 96-win season appear at times.

Perhaps Oakland figured that there weren't many teams left who might have wanted him, so they tried to sneak him through waivers themselves. Dan Duquette, armed with six open 40-man roster spots, is on the case. You cannot sneak this kind of thing past him. Now, he has five 40-man roster spots.

A cursory look at Hassan's minor league slash lines gives an idea of what might interest the Orioles in the right-handed batter. Through six minor league seasons, he's proven to be one of those players who demonstrates an awareness that if the pitcher throws four balls out of the strike zone, you get to go to first base for free.

Most recently, for Triple-A Pawtucket in 2014, Hassan batted .287/.378/.426. He drew 60 walks in 114 games. The Orioles leader in walks was Nick Markakis, with 62.

Maybe he will matter, maybe he won't. Duquette isn't above claiming a player and then having him on waivers days later. Spring training is a long way away. Hassan could be in another organization by then, either because he was claimed or because he was designated for assignment to make room for someone else. But if he sticks around, then the Orioles might have themselves a righty-batting outfielder with some plate discipline and modest doubles power.

Hassan was originally a 20th-round pick out of Duke University in 2009 and up until now may be most famous for his appearance in a PowerPoint presentation.