Orioles and Diamondbacks Add Righty Bats Ramón Laureano and Randal Grichuk

With a 115 wRC+, the 2024 Orioles were the best offensive team in franchise history, outperforming even the most dominant Baltimore lineups from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Their 115 wRC+ was also good for second in the AL last season, trailing only their pennant-winning division rivals in New York. A couple thousand miles away, the Diamondbacks also finished with a best-in-franchise-history 115 wRC+. That wRC+ was good for second in the National League, trailing only Arizona’s World Series-winning division rivals in Los Angeles. How’s that for symmetry?

On Tuesday, the Birds and the Snakes continued to parallel one another, at least as far as their lineups are concerned. In the afternoon, the Orioles announced they had signed righty-batting outfielder Ramón Laureano, reportedly to a one-year, $4 million deal. Not long after, the D-backs confirmed they had re-signed righty-batting outfielder Randal Grichuk, reportedly for one year and $5 million guaranteed. Both deals also come with options for 2026. Laureano’s is a $6.5 million team option, while Grichuk’s is a $5 million mutual option with a $3 million buyout. His salary for 2025 is technically only $2 million, with that buyout making up the rest of his $5 million guarantee. There was a time when both Laureano and Grichuk were promising, multi-talented, everyday players. These days, however, they’ve each become role players with two primary jobs: handle a part-time gig in the outfield and hit well against left-handed pitching. That should be exactly what the Orioles and Diamondbacks ask them to do in 2025.

Before the 30-year-old Laureano was a part-time player with an injury-prone reputation and the big black mark of a PED suspension on his transcript, he was a budding star. From 2018-21, he played 313 games for the Athletics, hitting 49 home runs, swiping 34 bases, and racking up 9 DRS and 13 FRV as a primary center fielder. Although he was never able to play a full season in that time, he averaged 4.4 WAR per 162 games. That’s an All-Star-caliber pace. In 2021, he came in at no. 40 on our annual trade value ranking. The following year, he earned an honorable mention. Yet, since Laureano returned from his suspension in May 2022, his value has faded fast. In each of the past two seasons, he’s gotten off to such poor starts that his teams were willing to give him away for free.

In 2023, the A’s DFA’d their once-promising outfielder to save a little cash after he put up an 81 wRC+ and 0.3 WAR in 64 games. The Guardians claimed him that summer, but his tenure in Cleveland would last for less than a year. With Laureano slashing just .143/.265/.229 through 31 contests in 2024, the Guardians released him in May.

To his credit, however, Laureano found a way to salvage both seasons. In 2023, he rebounded enough with Cleveland to finish with an overall 90 wRC+ and 1.0 WAR in 105 games. Meanwhile, in 2024, he looked like a whole new player after the Braves scooped him up on a minor league deal. In 67 games, he slashed .296/.327/.505 with 10 home runs and a 129 wRC+. All told, he finished the season with a 108 wRC+ and 0.9 WAR. That’s a far cry from the production he put up in his early 20s, but it’s enough to keep him in the major leagues on a guaranteed contract. A fourth outfielder who can offer one-win production over 100 or so games is the kind of player that every team can use. For proof, just look at the Orioles. They already had more than enough outfielders to fill their active roster but decided to bring Laureano into the fold anyway.

When the Orioles signed Dylan Carlson last week, Davy Andrews pointed out that the O’s were so loaded with outfielders that they “probably don’t have enough roster spots to keep all of them in Baltimore.” Laureano is yet another outfielder, and unlike Carlson – who has three minor league options and a mere six-figure salary – Laureano isn’t just a depth piece. The Orioles signed him with the expectation that he’ll play a role for the big league club throughout the season.

Baltimore has three starting outfielders: AL Rookie of the Year runner-up Colton Cowser, long-time center fielder Cedric Mullins, and free agent addition Tyler O’Neill. The O’s also have the young slugger and former top-100 prospect Heston Kjerstad, whom they’d surely like to get in the lineup on a regular basis. That doesn’t seem to leave a lot of playing time for Laureano. The key is that three of those four outfielders – Cowser, Mullins, and Kjerstad – bat lefty, and all three have had their struggles against left-handed pitching. Cowser produced an 89 wRC+ against lefties in his rookie season. Mullins came up as a switch-hitter, but after three seasons he decided to stop batting righty; at the time, he had a career 25 wRC+ in 111 plate appearances against lefties. Over the four seasons since he ditched switch-hitting, he has an 86 wRC+ in 664 plate appearances when facing southpaws. That’s better, to be sure, but it’s still not good. Kjerstad, meanwhile, had wide platoon splits last season in the minor leagues. On top of that, the Orioles will be counting on three additional lefty batters in 2025: Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday, and Ryan O’Hearn. With all those lefties in the lineup, it’s easy to see why they wanted another right-handed bat – especially because of the new, more hitter-friendly dimensions in left field at Camden Yards.

Laureano’s platoon splits were negligible during his best seasons in Oakland, but he has turned into a short-side platoon bat over the past few years. His shortcomings against righty pitching have tanked his overall numbers, but the splits reveal he’s been just as productive as ever when he has the platoon advantage:

With a left-handed pitcher on the mound, manager Brandon Hyde can use Laureano to replace either Mullins, Cowser, or Kjerstad in the outfield. Alternatively, Hyde could play Laureano in the outfield and move O’Neill to DH, giving O’Hearn (career 51 wRC+ against left-handed pitching) a day off instead. On top of that, if one or two of Baltimore’s outfielders land on the IL, Laureano is a safer choice to take on a more regular role than someone like Carlson or Daz Cameron. So, as surprising as it might seem that the Orioles signed yet another outfielder, Laureano is actually a pretty great fit. The O’s have no shortage of opportunities for him against lefties and no shortage of depth to shield him from righties. That sounds like an arrangement that should work out well for both sides.

Much like Laureano, Grichuk suffered a sharp decline in his age-27 season, transforming from a well-rounded starter into a flawed role player. From 2015-18 with the Cardinals and Blue Jays, Grichuk averaged 30 homers and 3.0 WAR per 162 games. In addition to his powerful bat, he brought extra value as a fast and productive baserunner and a strong defender in all three outfield spots. Early in the 2019 campaign, he earned a five-year, $52 million extension from the Blue Jays. Yet, his offense, defense, and baserunning all slipped that season. Take a look at how his numbers from 2015-18 compare to his numbers from 2019-23:

While Grichuk took a step back in almost every respect, he continued to thrive against left-handed pitching. In fact, he punished southpaws even more than he had before. From 2015-18, he was relatively platoon neutral, with a 112 wRC+ against righties and a 108 wRC+ against lefties. He had a higher walk rate and lower strikeout rate with the platoon advantage, but he made up for that with slightly more power against right-handed pitching. Yet, starting in 2019, Grichuk’s bat disappeared against same-handed opponents. He produced a meager 79 wRC+ in more than 1,600 plate appearances against righties from 2019-23. His saving grace was his strong performance against lefties. Facing southpaws in that same span, he hit .285 with 38 homers and a 125 wRC+ in 732 trips to the plate.

Ahead of the 2024 campaign, the Diamondbacks inked Grichuk to a $2 million deal to be their fourth outfielder and the short side of a DH platoon with Joc Pederson. To call that signing a success would be a massive understatement. In 279 plate appearances, Grichuk hit .291 with a 139 wRC+ and 1.5 WAR. His .359 xwOBA would have ranked in the 91st percentile if he had enough batted ball events to qualify. And while his 151 wRC+ against lefties was the driving force behind his success, he was quietly quite effective against same-handed pitchers. In 95 plate appearances vs. righties, he registered a 116 wRC+ and .317 xwOBA. Although he wasn’t in the lineup every day, he made a huge difference for the D-backs when he played. No Diamondbacks hitter averaged more RBI per plate appearance than Grichuk. Indeed, only eight players in the majors drove in runs at a higher rate:

Unlike Laureano’s fit in Baltimore, Grichuk’s fit in Arizona is rather self-explanatory. It’s safe to presume he’ll take on a similar role this year as he did in 2024. The only question worth asking is if he could end up playing more often against right-handed pitching. Barring any further additions, the D-backs will ask the lefty-batting Pavin Smith to fill a Joc Pederson-shaped hole in their lineup. If Smith continues to mash like he did last season, that should be a seamless transition; in 2024, Smith produced a 142 wRC+ and a .395 xwOBA in 158 trips to the plate. However, we’re talking about a player with a career 98 wRC+. Maybe something finally clicked for Smith, but until he proves otherwise, I’m inclined to believe his 2024 performance was an unsustainable hot streak in a small sample of games. So, if Smith struggles this year, Grichuk could end up as manager Torey Lovullo’s best option at DH – even against right-handed pitching.

Grichuk’s strong performance in 2024 helped him earn a slightly higher guarantee than Laureano, but ultimately, we’re talking about two similar players who can expect to fill similar roles in 2025. Neither one of these short-side platoon bats is going to move the needle in any significant way, but as we saw last season from Grichuk with the D-backs and Laureano with the Braves, both can be valuable role players on contending clubs.