The Orioles are keeping Jayvien Sandridge in the fold.
Baltimore announced that it has signed the left-hander to a minor league deal for the 2027 season, even though he was already in the organization and eligible for minor league free agency. The move gives the O’s another non-roster arm to stash and monitor heading into next year.
Sandridge, who turns 28 in February, spent the start of 2026 on the Yankees’ roster. New York designated him for assignment in January, then sent him to the Angels for cash. Los Angeles also designated him for assignment at the end of spring training, and that led to another cash transaction that brought him to Baltimore.
Once he arrived, the Orioles kept him in the minors before passing him through waivers in mid-April. That let them retain him in a non-roster role, but most of his season wound up disappearing on the minor league injured list. His final outing came on May 1, and it’s not clear whether he’ll be healthy enough to open 2027.
Even with the lost year, Baltimore is still betting on the arm. Sandridge’s big league résumé is still limited to one appearance with the 2025 Yankees, when he worked two-thirds of an inning and gave up two earned runs. The minor league numbers are more encouraging, at least in flashes: from 2022 to 2025, he threw 201 1/3 innings with a 3.93 ERA, a 17% walk rate and a 33.8% strikeout rate.
The Orioles had already seen enough to take a look earlier this year. Sandridge made just six Triple-A appearances and posted a 10.13 ERA before landing on the IL, but that didn’t stop Baltimore from bringing him back.
For now, he fits into a left-handed relief picture that still has room to shift. Josh Walker and Grant Wolfram are currently projected as the club’s top two lefty relievers, though neither has more than 80 major league innings. The Orioles are expected to add more arms over the offseason, so Sandridge’s route back to the majors could change, but at the moment it does not look blocked off.
In Other News...
Orioles Pitching Picture Just Got A Telling Offseason Update
The Orioles got a useful offseason checkpoint on their pitching depth with word that Cade Povich is expected to be ready for spring training after undergoing elbow surgery. For a club that has spent much of the winter sorting through arms and trying to keep its rotation depth intact, that kind of update matters just as much as any splashier transaction because it gives Baltimore some clarity on one of its younger pitchers heading into camp.
Baltimore also brought back left-hander Jayvien Sandridge on a minor league deal, another small but telling move for a staff that is always looking for extra options. Neither item changes the top of the Orioles' pitching plans on its own, but together they reinforce how much of the offseason conversation around this club is still tied to health, depth and the possibility that a few lesser-known arms could still factor into the picture before Opening Day. [Read more 🡒]
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Ike Irish has been one of the more intriguing names in that group, especially after getting back on the field following the injury that ended his regular season in late July. He has been swinging it well in the desert, and Patrick Reilly has also opened eyes with efficient innings and a standout week that suggests the Orioles may be getting useful momentum from some of their younger arms. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Investment In Vance Honeycutt Suddenly Looks Much More Interesting
Vance Honeycutt spent much of the 2026 season looking like a classic high-upside, high-whiff project, the kind of late first-round pick who can test an organizations patience before he finds his footing. The Orioles kept pushing his development anyway, and there were signs in High-A Frederick that the tools were starting to show up more consistently, with more power and enough speed to keep him on the radar as a potential everyday player.
The real intrigue came once he got back from an oblique injury and moved up to Double-A Chesapeake, where the bat looked cleaner and the swing-and-miss eased enough to matter. Baltimore has been willing to keep investing in Honeycutts growth, and the next stretch will go a long way toward showing whether this is just a nice run of production or the beginning of something more serious. [Read more 🡒]
