A look at the Orioles’ minor league signings that didn’t make it to Baltimore

Last week we looked at some of the more high profile minor league signings of Mike Elias’ first offseason as Orioles’ GM. But there were a lot of others that deserve attention too. It’s quite a random mix of players, as one would expect from a group of minor transactions for a rebuilding team.

But let’s start with the guys who didn’t even make it to the season. The following is a group of players who never even saw game action before being released. Right-handed pitcher Jefferson Medina was released less than a month after originally being signed on November 20, 2018. RHP Gregory Infante and RHP Bo Schultz were two other players released before the season even started.

Christopher Bostick played 106 games with the Tides this year and in that time, he batted .258/.323/.421 with 12 home runs, 50 RBI, four stolen bases and a .744 OPS. The 26-year-old Rochester, New York, native appeared in the vast majority of his games at second base (66) while playing just a couple games in the outfield. Arguably his best minor league season came all the way back in 2013 when he was 20 years old and hit 14 home runs with an .806 OPS while driving in 89 runs. His career minor league OPS is only .749.

Carlos Perez broke into professional baseball when he was signed by the Blue Jays out of Venezuela in 2008. Splitting time between Bowie and Norfolk in 2019, the 28-year-old catcher put up a .243 batting average and a .711 OPS. He did all his damage in Double-A, where he hit 14 home runs and had 60 RBI in 350 at-bats. In 24 at-bats in Triple-A, Perez only hit .125/.160/.167, with zero home runs and zero RBI.

Originally signed by the Mets in 2012 out of the Dominican Republic, 24-year-old right-handed pitcher Marcos Molina put up middling numbers for the Baysox this past season. In 15 appearances at the Double-A level, including 14 starts, Molina went 4-6 with a 4.36 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and .263 BAA. in 84.2 innings, he walked 27 and struck out 58.

Sean Miller spent 2019 playing shortstop for the Keys and the Baysox. His OPS in 96 games with Frederick was .631, but in 18 games at Bowie that number dropped all the way down to .202. In 387 total minor league at-bats this past season, he did not have a single home run. In his entire minor league career, spanning 437 games to date, Miller has seven total home runs.

Light-hitting shortstop Zach Vincej had an invite to spring training attached to his offseason minor league contract, and there was some positive talk about his glove down in Sarasota. But he never made it to the big league club during the year. The 28-year-old hit .270/.317/.396 with eight home runs, 51 RBI and a .714 OPS. His career minor league OPS is .697.

Jalen Miller is an undersized right-handed pitcher — listed at 5 foot 10, 182 pounds — who was born in Italy and signed out of Central Methodist, Missouri. He appeared in a mere five games with the Shorebirds, logging a 6.75 ERA and 2.13 WHIP in eight total innings with seven hits, six earned runs, 10 walks and 12 strikeouts.

Catcher Cael Brockmeyer is currently listed as being on the ‘voluntarily retired list’, according to his MiLB profile. He only played in nine games with the Baysox, hitting .107/.188/.143 in 28 at-bats.

The following subset is a group of nine international signees between the age of 17-18 years old. It includes five players from the Dominican Republic, two from Venezuela, one from Panama and one from Cuba. All of these players spent their first professional season in the Dominican Summer League and considering how young and raw these particular prospects are, their 2019 stats are generally not that impressive.

Let’s start with the pitchers. Oscar Pierret put up an 8.26 ERA and 1.98 WHIP, Jordany Vasquez logged a 6.69 ERA and 1.70 WHIP and Enmanuel Gutierrez pitched to a 13.50 ERA and 2.46 WHIP.

On the more impressive side, lefty Jesus Chavez had a 3.16 ERA in 14 starts, Hector Lopez had a 2.05 ERA in 13 starts, Juan De Los Santos had a 3.63 ERA in 11 games and Eduard Monroy had a 3.98 ERA in 13 relief appearances.

Catcher Lians Beato struggled to the tune of a .564 OPS, although he did have 15 walks versus 13 strikeouts. Michael Mantecon, another catcher, hit .245/.403/.287, displaying a strong batting eye much like Beato.