O's wrap up Mets deal, make trade with Bucs
The Orioles on Sunday made one trade and completed another, receiving shortstop Victor González as the player to be named later from the Mets for reliever Miguel Castro and acquiring Minor League righty Conner Loeprich from the Pirates for international bonus slots.
The club released outfielder Mason Williams and righty Chandler Shepherd to make room in their 60-man player pool for both González and Loeprich, though neither will report to the club’s alternate training site in Bowie, Md., due to the season’s late date.
Williams, 29, hit .208 in 21 games over the past two seasons for the Orioles. Shepherd, 28, started three games in late 2019 but had not appeared in the Majors this season. Both had been in Bowie with left-hander Rob Zastryzyny, whom the O’s released in a similar move on Friday after completing the Richard Bleier and Mychal Givens trades.
• O's announce PTBN for Bleier, Givens
González, 17, is the latest of three young international signees acquired this weekend with the completion of those deals, joining shortstop Isaac De León (from the Marlins for Bleier) and Mishael Deson (from Colorado for Givens). The O’s previously received left-hander Kevin Smith, their No. 12 prospect per MLB Pipeline, in the Aug. 31 deal for Castro.
Baltimore is still owed three more players to be named later from the Hector Velázquez (Astros) and Tommy Milone (Braves) trades.
González was originally signed by the Mets on July 2, 2019, out of the Dominican Republic, and he has yet to play professionally. De León and Deson played last summer in the Dominican Summer League. Loeprich is a former 20th-round pick who reached Class A Advanced in 2019, pitching to a 3.38 ERA in eight games (five starts) at that level.
Per MLB rules this year, players not included in a team’s 60-man player pool can only be traded as players to be named. Once named, those players must be added to their new team’s pool, which will require the Orioles to continue creating additional room for their outstanding deals.