Orioles Sign Veteran to Deal for Catching Depth

More depth pieces have been added by the Baltimore Orioles this offseason after signing a veteran catcher.

Since assuming the position, Mike Elias, general manager of the Baltimore Orioles, has made astute choices that, although going unnoticed, had a significant impact on the team.

He has been able to create the best farm system in baseball thanks in part to this.

Since the Orioles are a small market team and cannot afford to spend a lot of money on the open market, it is important that they find talent from as many different areas as possible.

According to Roch Kubatko of MASN, Elias is back at it again, inking catcher David Banuelos to a minor league contract that includes an invitation to spring training.

“Has thrown out 38% of minor league runners who have attempted to steal from the Mariners and Twins system.” Adding on to his social media account, “Catching depth for O’s.”

Banuelos was previously selected by the Seattle Mariners in the fifth round of the 2017 MLB Draft.

In an attempt to acquire Shohei Ohtani, they dealt him to the Minnesota Twins over the summer in exchange for a $1 million international signing bonus.

He was able to reach the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate in 2021 and spent his entire 2022 season there as well. His struggles at the plate likely was a reason behind his demotion to Double-A for all of last year.

As Kubatko pointed out, he’s been a solid catcher on the defensive side based on throwing out runners.

Hitting is where he needs to improve.

Banuelos has a career slash line of .215/.277/.354 with 29 homers, 142 RBI and 380 strikeouts over 320 minor league games.

This past season was a promising sign in his hitting development as he slashed .270/.369/.526 with 10 home runs and 30 RBI, easily his best offensive year.

He elected to hit free agency following the 2023 season and now will be able to work within Baltimore’s developmental system to try and make a career breakthrough.

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