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Orioles claim David Adams on waivers from Indians, designate Kelvin De La Cruz

The Orioles claimed infielder David Adams on waivers from the Indians, perhaps because Dan Duquette was bored.

By Mark Brown

Sometimes you kind of have to wonder if Dan Duquette can help himself when it comes to waiver claims. Is he an addict? Do we need to get him into a program? Saturday, the Orioles claimed infielder David Adams on waivers from Cleveland, sending lefty reliever Kelvin De La Cruz packing in the process.

De La Cruz never seemed to be long for the roster in the first place. The O's gave him a major league contract even though he'd never appeared in the big leagues before. He is a lefty, so there was little harm in picking him up in case he had something to show. However, between Brian Matusz and Zach Britton, as well as the suspended Troy Patton, the O's seem set for lefties. They have more time invested in those guys and none in De La Cruz, so off he goes. Good luck to him, unless he finds himself pitching against the Orioles in the future, in which case please be terrible on that date.

As for Adams, who cares? Here's another utility infielder for the pile. The obligatory Duquettian blessing of the claim:

Maybe there's some specific role envisioned for him, particularly if the Orioles aren't sure about Manny Machado being ready to play on Opening Day. Maybe Duquette was bored and saw someone on waivers and claimed him just for laughs.

Adams was a Yankees draftee in the third round of 2008. He got his first MLB action in 2013, appearing in 43 games, most of which were at third base, during which time he batted .193/.252/.286. That does not seem to be either a capable on-base hitter or a hitter with some power, but we know Duquette's scale for these things is different from ours.

He played mostly second base in the minors. That is a position where there's some uncertainty, but the uncertainty isn't because everyone in the competition is terrible. Adams might be better than one of Ryan Flaherty, Jonathan Schoop, and Jemile Weeks, but he's probably not better than all of them.

I'd be surprised if he's anything more than a guy to keep a roster spot warm for a week or so.

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