Good morning, Camden Chatters.<\/p>\n
While Orioles fans wait for the next starting pitching shoe to drop \u2014 if it ever does \u2014 the O\u2019s are staying busy tinkering with the fringes of the 40-man roster. Yesterday the Birds claimed Jhonkensy Noel, the slugger known as \u201cBig Christmas\u201d for his large frame and Yule-themed surname, off waivers from the Guardians. To make roster room, the Orioles DFA\u2019d righty George Soriano, whom they\u2019d claimed in November.<\/p>\n
OK, don\u2019t print the playoff tickets just yet. In fact there\u2019s a decent chance that we\u2019ll never see Noel play in an Orioles uniform, and that he\u2019ll be the next roster flotsam to be removed when the O\u2019s need to free up another 40-man spot. Such is the life of an offseason waiver claim. Noel is a right-handed first baseman\/outfielder, of which the Orioles already have too many. If he sees any significant time with the Birds this year, it will probably mean that something has gone wrong for the team.<\/p>\n
Still, Noel is a bit more intriguing than your garden-variety, no-name waiver fodder. He\u2019s just 24 years old and has two seasons of MLB experience. The hulking Dominican is known for his prodigious power but total lack of plate discipline. He can contribute if he\u2019s launching home runs often enough, as he did in 2024 when he posted a 115 OPS+ despite a .218 AVG and .288 OBP, thanks to 13 dingers in 67 games. Noel even hit a home run in his first major league at-bat. And if you guessed that it came against the Orioles<\/a>, congratulations, you win a cookie. It was a 413-foot blast off Grayson Rodriguez on June 26, 2024.<\/p>\n Noel also made some October magic that year. In Game 3 of the ALCS against the Yankees, Noel crushed a dramatic, pinch-hit, two-run homer with two outs in the ninth<\/a> to rescue the Guardians from the brink of defeat. They eventually won in 11 innings, their only victory of the series. That was, though, one of just two hits for Noel in 21 at-bats that postseason.<\/p>\n The 2025 season was a miserable one for Big Christmas. His power dried up, with just six homers in 153 PAs for Cleveland. He struck out 52 times and walked just four. MLB pitchers were able to exploit Noel\u2019s poor plate approach, and with his future as a major league caliber player in doubt, the Guardians cut ties with him last week. Now the Orioles will take a chance, likely hoping to sneak him through waivers and assign him to Triple-A as minor league depth.<\/p>\n Or maybe another team will pluck him away on waivers again in a matter of days or weeks, and we\u2019ll have no reason to ever think about him again. It could go either way, really.<\/p>\n Where the Cubs, Yankees, Blue Jays and more teams stand as MLB\u2019s offseason moves into January – The Athletic<\/a><\/p>\n Ken Rosenthal has a non-update update about the Orioles, writing that their rotation is \u201cnot necessarily complete\u201d and they \u201ccould\u201d add another starter. That tight-lipped O\u2019s front office really doesn\u2019t give writers many juicy rumors to report.<\/p>\n 26 Orioles predictions for the 2026 season – MLB.com<\/a><\/p>\n Jake Rill offers a bunch of predictions about the upcoming O\u2019s season, and to say that they are relentlessly optimistic would be an understatement. But hey, I certainly hope most of these come true.<\/p>\n A dozen mailbag leftovers for breakfast – School of Roch<\/a><\/p>\n Taxi catchers, spring training updates, and kidnapping Paul Skenes. It\u2019s Roch Kubatko\u2019s latest mailbag.<\/p>\n