The O's Have Hoes

The Orioles made a few roster moves today highlighted by their selection of the contract of prospect L.J. Hoes from AAA Norfolk to help fill the outfield void left by Nick Markakis's broken thumb. L.J. would have had to have been added to the 40-man roster anyway during the upcoming off-season to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, so the move makes sense, even though he won't be eligible to play in the post-season, if that scenario unfolds.

At just 22 years old, L.J. spent the majority of the 2012 season with the Tides and actually improved on his AA numbers. After playing mostly 2B during his first three and a half seasons in the O's minor league system, the organization moved him to the outfield in mid-2011 and it seems like the move has really paid off.

He was the Orioles 3rd round selection in the 2008 first year player draft and has regularly been ranked amongst the team's top five prospects by Baseball America in the past few years. This is L.J.'s first MLB call-up and he will be making his big league debut when he appears in a game.

In addition to selecting Hoes' contract, the O's are bringing back Endy Chavez to play in the outfield over the next three weeks.

To make room on the 40 man roster for Hoes & Chavez, the O's designated Kevin Gregg and Ryan Adams for assignment.

Kevin was never particularly effective in Baltimore, but he seemed like a decent guy who pitched with a bulldog mentality. However, I never had a good feeling when he was coming in a game, especially when he was the team's closer in the early half of the 2011 season.

Infielder Ryan Adams played for the Orioles over two stints during the 2011 season but had fallen out of favor in the organization. I never heard any specific reasons for it, but it was pretty obvious that he wasn't in the team's plans for the future. There were some rumblings about other teams being interested in him, so hopefully the Orioles can work out some sort of trade to get at least something in return for him.