Orioles

Orioles acquire left-handed hitting 1st baseman Ryan O’Hearn from Royals

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The Orioles filled their need for a backup, left-handed hitting first baseman when they acquired Ryan O’Hearn from the Kansas City Royals for cash considerations on Tuesday.

O”Hearn, who agreed to a one-year, $1.4 million contract with the Royals before last month’s deadline for tendering contracts, hit .239 with a home run and 16 RBIs in 67 games for Kansas City last season.

In five seasons, he’s hit .219. In 2018, he hit 12 home runs in just 44 games, and in 2019 hit 14 home runs, drove in 38 runs and hit .195 in 105 games.

O’Hearn has started 163 games at first base and 21 in right field for the Royals.


To make room for O’Hearn on the 40-man roster, the Orioles designated right-handed pitcher Chris Vallimont for assignment. Vallimont, who was acquired on waivers from Minnesota last season, was 6-7 with a 5.38 ERA in 16 games for Triple-A Norfolk and 1-0 with an 0.69 ERA in three starts for Double-A Bowie.

Rich Dubroff

Rich Dubroff grew up in Brooklyn as a fan of New York teams, but after he moved to Baltimore, quickly adopted the Orioles and Colts. After nearly two decades as a freelancer assisting on Orioles coverage for several outlets, principally The Capital in Annapolis and The Carroll County Times, Dubroff began covering the team fulltime in 2011. He spent five years at Comcast SportsNet’s website and for the last two seasons, wrote for PressBoxonline.com, Dubroff lives in Baltimore with his wife of more than 30 years, Susan.

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