Orioles acquire Krook from Yankees

SARASOTA, Fla. – The camp roster churn continued today. Another infielder gone, this time replaced by a pitcher.

The Orioles have acquired left-hander Matt Krook from the Yankees for cash considerations. Diego Castillo has been designated for assignment to create space on the 40-man roster.

Castillo was claimed off waivers from the Phillies on Friday, with shortstop Livan Soto designated for assignment.

The Angels claimed Soto earlier today. The Orioles had claimed him from the Angels on Feb. 8.

Please try to keep up.

Krook, 29, was a fourth-round draft pick of the Giants in 2016 out of the University of Oregon. He made his major league debut this summer with the Yankees and allowed 11 runs and eight hits with six walks and three strikeouts in four innings over four relief appearances on June 16, July 1, Sept. 7 and Sept. 9.

The Yankees selected Krook from the Rays organization in the 2020 Rule 5 draft. He was part of the Evan Longoria trade three years earlier.

They designated Krook for assignment last week to make room for infielder Jordan Groshans.

Krook was outstanding last year at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre beyond the extreme wildness, posting a 1.32 ERA and 1.059 WHIP in 27 games and striking out 55 batters in 34 innings. He also walked 26. He’s averaged 5.8 walks and 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings in seven minor league seasons.

Ninety-five of Krook's 187 appearances in the minors have come as a starter.

The Orioles went from having four left-handers in a projected Opening Day bullpen to only two locks with Cionel Pérez and Danny Coulombe. They traded DL Hall to the Brewers in the Corbin Burnes deal and are expected to put Cole Irvin in the rotation while Kyle Bradish and John Means go on the injured list.

Bruce Zimmermann, Nick Vespi, Keegan Akin, Tucker Davidson and Andrew Suárez also are in the mix.

“There are some open spots in our bullpen,” manager Brandon Hyde said this morning. “We’ve done some individual meetings, gotten through the majority of pitchers at this point, and talked about the opportunity’s there to win a job out of camp, and hopefully these guys throw the ball well in spring and make some tough choices for us.”