This, that and the other

Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias wants to tackle the major league roster again but he’s also diving for depth.

The club announced yesterday that it signed infielder Vimael Machin to a minor league contract. No word on whether the deal includes an invitation to spring training.

Machin is 31 years old and two removed from his last big league exposure. He appeared in 112 games with the Athletics from 2020-22 and batted .208/.290/.261 with 14 doubles and a home run in 361 plate appearances.

On the defensive side, Machin made 81 appearances at third base, 15 at shortstop, seven at second base and one at first. Most of his minor league experience also is at third.

Machin played in 52 games with Triple-A Lehigh Valley in the Phillies’ organization in 2023, but he also made stops in Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. He spent most of this year in Mexico and hit .401/.495/.579 with 31 doubles, one triple, seven home runs and 54 RBIs in 85 games.

The Orioles have found success with players whose careers have taken them to the international side, with pitcher Albert Suárez a shining example. They’ll try again with Machin.

* Former Orioles director of pitching and pitching coach Chris Holt has reached an agreement with the Red Sox to become their new bullpen coach, according to multiple sources. The deal should be official next week.

Holt is replacing Kevin Walker, one of the three major league coaches fired after the season.

Holt followed Elias from Houston as minor league pitching coordinator for the 2019 season. He was promoted to director of pitching in 2020 and pitching coach in 2021 while also retaining his other duties.

The Orioles hired Drew French as pitching coach before the 2024 season, but Holt retained his role as director of pitching.

Forrest Herrmann will be promoted from minor league lower-level pitching coordinator to replace Holt. Herrmann was Double-A Bowie’s pitching coach in 2023.

Holt was born and raised in Portland, Maine, where he still resides.

The Orioles are making their own changes to their staff after co-hitting coach Ryan Fuller became the White Sox’s director of hitting and co-hitting coach Matt Borgschulte accepted a job as Twins hitting coach. They also must replace bench coach Fredi González and major league coach José Hernández.

Those two jobs remained open as of last night.

Offensive strategy coach Cody Asche will be promoted to main hitting coach, and Tommy Joseph left the Mariners to fill an assistant hitting coach role with the Orioles, per a source. Exact titles and structure will be known once the team completes its staff and makes the announcement.

Asche and Joseph were Phillies teammates in 2016.

* We don’t know whether upper-level hitting coordinator Sherman Johnson is returning, but I’ve heard that he could assume a larger role with the Orioles, such as an assistant hitting coach.

They hired Johnson as Double-A Bowie hitting coach in 2023 and promoted him to his current role the following year. The Angels drafted Johnson in the 14^th round in 2012 out of Florida State University and he appeared in 10 games in 2018.

Johnson has strong relationships with some of the young hitters, including Coby Mayo, and he spent time around the major league club over the summer.