Orioles Acquire Utilityman to Add Depth in Trade With Detroit Tigers
The Baltimore Orioles have acquired utilityman Nick Maton from the Detroit Tigers according to their own social media account. In exchange, the Tigers receives cash considerations. With the addition of Maton, the Orioles now have 39 players on the 40-man roster.
The 26-year old out of Eastern Illinois joins his third team in his fourth year in the big leagues. He made his major league debut with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2021 and was part of that team in 2022, before being traded to Detroit in January of 2023.
Organization depth is what this deal looks like for Baltimore due to the fact that the Major League roster looks to be set, outside of a few questions heading into Spring Training regarding top prospects like Jackson Holliday.
General manager Mike Elias has been known to pull off some pretty solid moves in the past like the trade for Ryan O'hearn who had a big impact on the 2023 Orioles team that won 101 games.
Maton likely starts the season down in Triple-A Norfolk and bides his time before he gets called up depending on an injury. It's also possible the newly acquired infielder could take the bench spot away from Ryan Mckenna since he's out of minor league options.
Elias likes players to be versatile, and Maton gives them that considering he can play the infield and outfield.
This move shows Baltimore are going to keep improving the depth on their roster and in their pipeline so they can be prepared for any type of situation that may happen during the long season.
