The Orioles wanted an outfielder Jonkensy Noel from the guards, according to announcements from both clubs. Noel was given an assignment last month. To make room for Noel, O’s designated right-hand man George Soriano by share.
Noel, 24, is changing organizations for the first time. The Rangers signed him as an international player back in 2017 and he has been a part of that program until today. In the last two years, he has shown great potential but also bad technique. In 351 major league games, he has 19 home runs but his 4.8% walk rate and 32.8% strikeout rate are both terrible numbers. That leads to a .193/.242/.401 slash line so far.
He finished his final season in 2025, which took him off Cleveland’s roster. He was selected for assignment on December 17 when Cleveland acquired him Justin Bruehl from the Blue Jays. DFA limbo is usually one week long but there are clearly different rules during the holidays, as “Big Christmas” recently spent almost three weeks in that area.
The O’s caught him today, although Noel won’t have a great way to play. Baltimore has a crowded group in their outfield corners, as well as first base and designated hitters. Pete Alonso it should be like that in the beginning, with Coby Mayo again Ryan Mountcastle and in mixing there. Those guys could spill over into the DH spot, though the O’s may need some bats to contribute. Adley Rutschman again Samuel Basallo. The external group includes Colton Cowser, Taylor Ward, Tyler O’Neill, Dylan Beavers, Leody Taveras, Heston Kjerstad and others.
Alonso, Mayo, Mountcastle, Ward and O’Neill are all right-handed batsmen. So is Noel, even though he has the least major league success record of anyone on that team. IO’s tend to be aggressive in demanding players be waived and put them back on the phone later, hoping to keep them out of the program. That may be the plan here, as Noel is currently facing an uphill climb to a major league role.
His numbers in the minors are more encouraging than his big league career. Over the past two years, he has advanced 536 times at the Triple-A level with 30 runs scored. His 7.5% walk rate and 23.7% strikeout rate were unspectacular but far better than his major league career. His .285/.349/.538 line in that sample translates to a 130 wRC+.
Going out on expenses will make it a challenge for him to carve out a long stretch of big league playing time. But if he gets the chance and runs with it, he can be affordably controlled for years to come. His service time clock is one year and 29 days, meaning he has five years of unpaid work and two years of eligibility for compensation.
Soriano, 27 in March, has never played for Baltimore. He spent his entire career with the Marlins until the Orioles waived him in early November. Over the past three years, he has pitched 118 innings for Miami, allowing a 5.95 earned run average over nine innings. He struck out 22% of the batters he faced and issued walks at a 10.3% clip.
Like Noel, Soriano served his final season in 2025 and was hit by the waiver wire. As mentioned, the O’s like to make claims and try to move guys on waivers later to keep them as undrafted depth. Soriano flashed impressive power in Triple-A last year, throwing 42 2/3 innings with a 2.32 ERA, 28.8% strikeout rate, 8.8% walk rate and 55.7% groundball rate.
His service time clocks in at 1.095, so he has the cheapest possible control years. That might entice another club to buy him but the O’s would be happy if they could get him out of contract and hold on to him without making the team.
Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images
