The Baltimore Orioles have had a dreadful season to date. They are 53-65 after selling at the trade deadline and are in last place in the American League East. They didn't do enough to address their pitching needs, and as such have fallen out of contention in both the AL East and Wild Card races.
They could use a little bit more pitching within their farm system to help prevent 2025 from ever happening again. They might have potentially found a hidden gem in 27-year-old right-hander Houston Roth. In 26 games this season at Triple-A Norfolk, he was 5-0 with a 2.08 ERA in 26 appearances and 39 innings pitched.
However, General Manager Mike Elias made yet another questionable decision. The team announced that Roth had been designated for assignment as part of a roster shuffle. Outfielder Daniel Johnson has been claimed off waivers from the San Francisco Giants. They have also selected the contract of right-hander Jose Espada from Triple-A Norfolk and sent him back down.
We have made the following roster moves: pic.twitter.com/zaNq83r2vg
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) August 11, 2025
Orioles give up on intriguing prospect before even giving him a chance
This is certainly a puzzling move by the Orioles. Roth had been pitching very well in relief and had even made his way to the big-league roster earlier this season. However, it appears that the Orioles have seen enough, which is puzzling to say the least.
When a pitcher is performing this well, one would assume he would receive more opportunities. The Orioles could have really found a hidden gem here. But instead, they have seemingly given up and chosen to go in a different direction.
Why he didn't get another shot is perplexing. Hopefully though, a team will realize what the Orioles are missing out on and take a chance on him. At 27, he certainly is a bit of a late bloomer, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a bright future.
Add that to the list of mistakes the Orioles front office has made dating all the way back to the offseason when they didn't add enough pitching to bolster the roster.
The loss of Corbin Burnes certainly hurt, and the moves they did make didn't help. But at the same time, they could have at least potentially developed a promising young arm in the system. Now, they've basically thrown it away, which is going to raise some questions from the fanbase.
We'll see if another organization picks Roth up off the scrap heap.