The Orioles announced that infielder Vimael Machín, who had been designated for assignment earlier in the week, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk. He had the right to elect free agency since he has a previous career outright but has accepted the assignment.
Machín, 31, signed a minor league deal with the O’s in the offseason. He was selected to the roster a week ago when Jordan Westburg landed on the injured list. He hit a home run in his first game but didn’t do much apart from that. That homer was his only hit in 12 plate appearances, with one walk as well, leading to a .091/.167/.364 slash line.
He also got some criticism from fans for a play against the Red Sox on Sunday, seen in this video from MLB.com, where he either forgot how many outs there were or simply didn’t act aggressively enough to turn a double play. Playing third base, he fielded a sharp grounder, lightly jogged to tag the bag for a force out but then threw too late to record the out at first. Instead of the inning being over, a wild pitch and double followed to knock in two more runs.
He was designated for assignment the next day. The 29 other clubs passed on the chance to grab him off waivers. By accepting the assignment, he’ll continue to provide the O’s with non-roster depth. He has a .204/.286/.264 line in 373 big league plate appearances but a .289/.367/.449 line in 1,341 Triple-A plate appearances since the canceled 2020 season. He has minor league experience at every position on the diamond, though just one inning at catcher, two on the mound and just one in center field.
Photo courtesy of Gregory Fisher, Imagn Images