Leftovers for breakfast

The Orioles made another depth move yesterday, signing reliever Richard Guasch to a minor league contract. He’s expected to receive an invitation to spring training.

Guasch, 27, posted a 2.74 ERA and 1.000 WHIP with 57 strikeouts in 46 innings this year in 28 appearances with Double-A Erie. He also pitched in 13 games with an independent team in Mexico and allowed three earned runs with 25 strikeouts in 14 innings.

The Cuban right-hander has pitched in the Athletics, Nationals and Tigers system beginning in 2018, compiling a 4.02 ERA in 145 games and averaging 5.1 walks, 11.5 strikeouts and 0.6 home runs per nine innings. He’s never risen above Double-A.

The Nationals acquired Guasch, catcher Drew Millas and pitcher Seth Shuman from the Athletics on July 30, 2021 in exchange for catcher Yan Gomes, infielder/outfielder Josh Harrison and cash considerations. The Tigers purchased his contract earlier this year from the Mexican Baseball League.

Guasch’s fastball has touched 99 mph.

The signing comes four days after the Orioles reached agreement with right-hander Enoli Paredes on a minor league deal with a spring training invite. They assigned him to Triple-A Norfolk.

Paredes made his major league debut with the Astros in 2020 and appeared in 37 games over three seasons. He pitched in 17 games with the Brewers and one with the Cubs in 2024. The Braves signed him in November and he posted a 4.40 ERA in 46 games with Triple-A Gwinnett this year, striking out 72 batters in 57 1/3 innings.

* The Athletic’s Jim Bowden reported yesterday that the Orioles are getting calls on Adley Rutschman from teams searching for catching depth.

I’m sure that’s accurate, but it also provides the yearly reminder that executives contact other executives to check on player availability. Mike Elias and the others are going to listen because that’s an important part of the job. It isn’t the same as shopping him.

The plan is for Rutschman to be the main catcher and Samuel Basallo to back up and also get at-bats at first base and as designated hitter.

Let’s replay Elias’ quote from the season-ending press conference.

“Adley's a guy, he will be our front-line catcher,” Elias said.

We could stop there, but let’s keep going.

“Frustrating season for him coming off of a frustrating second half, and he's aware of it, we're all aware of it,” Elias said. “We're all working on it. There were some injuries sprinkled in this year that I think were a factor in him kind of getting out of sync again. We saw flashes of him offensively the way that he can and should be. I thought he had a great defensive season, and he does a great job leading our pitching staff, so he's a key guy for this whole thing. There's no way around that. We're going to work with him to restore his presence in baseball as an All-Star, but he's going to be front and center as our starting catcher.

“We were encouraged with the way Sammy caught in the majors, too, and there's definitely room to have two really good catchers at the major league level. That's a good problem to have. As I've talked about also, Sammy and Adley can DH and Sammy can play first base. So there's a lot of playing time to go around between those two guys, and I'm glad that we have both of them together.”

* Center fielder Enrique Bradfield Jr., who could make his major league debut in 2026, was named the Arizona Fall League’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Bradfield posted a .974 fielding percentage for the Peoria Javelinas, with 37 total putouts, one outfield assist and one spectacular game-saving, home run-robbing catch on Oct. 28 against Mesa.

Bradfield had a .341 on-base percentage and stole 17 bases in 18 attempts over 20 games before yesterday’s AFL championship game.

The Orioles selected Bradfield in the first round of the 2023 draft out of Vanderbilt University. MLB Pipeline ranks him as the No. 4 prospect in the system.

* Peoria gave up seven runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and lost to Surprise 9-4 in the AFL title game.

Bradfield went 1-for-3 with a walk, hit-by-pitch and two runs scored. First baseman Ethan Anderson went 1-for-2 with a double at 101.1 mph off the bat, two walks and two runs scored.

Sayer Diederich was charged with two runs and two hits in 1 2/3 relief innings.

* In case you missed it Thursday night, Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom was named the American League’s Comeback Player of the Year. Orioles left-hander Trever Rogers was a candidate for the award.

deGrom was rewarded for his return from a second Tommy John surgery that limited him to six starts in 2023 and three in 2024. He made the All-Star team this year and finished eighth in Cy Young voting with a 2.97 ERA and 0.921 WHIP in 30 starts.

Rogers came back from a miserable 2024 season that included a 7.11 ERA and 1.842 WHIP in four starts, followed by a demotion to Triple-A Norfolk. He made 18 starts this year, posted a 1.81 ERA and 0.903 WHIP, and finished tied for ninth in Cy Young balloting.

* The Orioles will hold their annual Birdland Caravan on Jan. 23-24.

Only the dates are set. Event and ticket sale details are coming soon. Click this link for updates.