The Angels announced that infielder Liván Soto has been claimed off waivers by the Orioles while right-hander Zach Plesac has been sent outright to Triple-A Salt Lake. Both players were designated for assignment earlier this week. The Orioles had two open spots on their 40-man roster, which is now at 39. The O’s also announced their claim of Soto, noting that he has been optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.
This is the second time the Orioles have claimed Soto off waivers from the Angels this year. The first came back in February, though the Angels were able to claim him right back that same month, just over a week later. But now Soto is going from the Angels’ roster to the Orioles’ roster yet again.
Soto, 24 in June, has excelled in the majors so far, though in a small sample. He has slashed .375/.414/.531 in his 71 plate appearances in the big leagues. His minor league track record doesn’t suggest he can maintain anything close to that kind of production. In 1,505 trips to the plate on the farm since the start of 2021, he has a combined batting line of .246/.340/.355 for a wRC+ of 86.
Despite that subpar offensive output, he has other attributes. He had a bit of speed, racking up double-digit stolen base totals in the minors in 2021 and 2022, and has enough versatility to play the two middle infield spots or third base.
The Orioles have an infield filled with young talent, including Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday up the middle. Ryan Mountcastle has been getting most of the playing time at first base this year while Jordan Westburg and Ramón Urías have been sharing third base and Jorge Mateo is on hand as a bench/utility option.
The recent promotion of Holliday likely left the O’s with a spot on the Tides for Soto and they had two open spots on the 40-man, so it’s understandable why they would put in a claim and add some extra depth. Soto is still young and has another option year remaining after this one, so he can theoretically continue serving as a depth option well into the future if he continues to hang onto his 40-man spot. Though the O’s also have a penchant for claiming guys and trying to run them through waivers later, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Soto sent down that path at some point.
As for Plesac, 29, he seemed to be emerging as a viable big league starter with Cleveland a few years ago. He had a 3.32 earned run average over 29 starts in 2019 and 2020, but his ERA climbed over the next two seasons, a combined 4.49 in 2021 and 2022. His first five starts in 2023 led to an awful 7.59 ERA and he lost his roster spot with the Guardians.
The Halos signed him to a $1MM deal this winter but put him on waivers after just two Triple-A starts and none of the other 29 clubs put in a claim. Since he has over three years of big league service time, he can technically reject this outright assignment and elect free agency. But since he doesn’t have five years of service time, doing so would mean forfeiting the remainder of his salary, so it seems fair to expect him to accept it and stay with the Halos as non-roster depth.
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