The Orioles have claimed an outfielder Jake Cave off waivers from the Twins, according to the MLB.com transactions tracker. Baltimore is designating a reliever Jake Reed for assignment in a corresponding move. Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com confirms the news (Twitter link).
Cave has played parts of five big league seasons, all of them with Minnesota. He was initially drafted by the Yankees but dealt to the Twins before making his major league debut in 2018. The former sixth-round pick played well in part-time action during his first two seasons, hitting 21 home runs over 163 games. He’s had a tougher go over the last three seasons, largely due to increasing issues making contact. Dating back to the start of the 2020 campaign, Cave owns a .206/.262/.351 line in 478 trips to the plate.
The Twins ran Cave through outright waivers last offseason, but he made it back to the majors in early August. He posted a .213/.260/.384 showing with five homers in 54 games, swinging through 17% of pitches he saw. It wasn’t a great big league showing, but the 29-year-old had been very impressive during a longer run with Triple-A St. Paul. Cave popped 14 homers in 373 plate appearances with the Saints, posting an overall .273/.370/.509 line. His 24.9% strikeout rate was still a bit higher than average, but he showed solid power and walked at a strong 11.5% rate.
Cave adds some left-handed hitting outfield depth to Baltimore’s ranks, at least for the moment. He has a fair bit of experience at all three spots on the grass, although public metrics haven’t been fond of his work in center field. He’s a career .243/.314/.430 hitter against right-handed pitching, and he’s been essentially unplayable (.210/.240/.352) in 230 plate appearances against southpaws.
With between three and four years of major league service time, Cave is eligible for arbitration through 2024. He’s projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $1.2MM salary if tendered a contract. It’s possible Baltimore still elects to non-tender him next month (perhaps with hopes of re-signing him to a cheaper or minor league deal), but they’ll add him to the 40-man roster for the time being. Cave still has one minor league option year remaining, so the O’s could keep him at Triple-A Norfolk next year if he holds his spot on the 40-man.
Reed is a recent waiver claim himself, having been added from the Dodgers five weeks ago. The low-slot righty made eight appearances with the O’s, allowing six runs (four earned) in 5 2/3 innings. He suited up with three different teams overall in 2022, also pitching for the Mets and Dodgers. Between the trio of clubs, the 30-year-old posted a 7.02 ERA with a modest 16.9% strikeout rate in 16 2/3 frames.
Despite his lack of major league success, Reed has been a fairly frequent target for teams once he’s hit the waiver wire. That’s in large part thanks to his solid Triple-A track record, as he owns a 3.84 ERA through parts of six seasons at that level. Reed has fanned an above-average 25.6% of batters faced there while walking 9.5% of opponents.
Reed will hit the waiver wire again in the coming days. Like Cave, he still has an option year remaining and could serve as a depth player if another team were to put in a claim. If he passes through the wire unclaimed, he’d have the right to refuse an outright assignment and elect free agency based on his minor league service time.
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