With just ten days left until Opening Day, the Orioles are still trying to answer a number of questions about their roster. In my last column, we talked about what I expect will happen with the 25-man roster regarding right field. Today, we’ll talk about the utility infield situation and who should–and probably will–head north with the ball club.

The utility infielder needs to play good defense above all else. He needs to be able to fill in at every infield position in a pinch, and for Buck Showalter, shortstop is key. For most of the last six seasons, that role has belonged to Ryan Flaherty. But Flaherty is in Philadelphia now, and unless he exercises his opt-out clause, that’s where he’ll stay. So who will replace him?

Utility Infielder

In 2017, due to a shoulder injury that limited Flaherty to career-low 23 games, the Orioles had to use a number of players for their ever-important bench role. Players like Paul Janish, Ruben Tejada, and Johnny Giavotella.

Janish has since retired, taking an assistant coach’s role for the Rice University baseball program. Tejada was back with the Orioles this spring, but has already been reassigned to minor league camp. And Giavotella is now a member of the Miami Marlins organization.

Ideally, the Orioles would have liked to bring Flaherty back for 2018, but with the free agent freeze over the winter and his salary projected to rise well above $2MM (pocket-change for most major leaguers, but pricey for a utility man), the Orioles never made a formal offer.

According to Eduardo Encina in a February 24^th article for The Baltimore Sun, Flaherty remained in contact with Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Dan Duquette, Buck Showalter, and VP of Baseball Operations Brady Anderson throughout the offseason, and even sat on his minor league offer from the Phillies for a few weeks before the team set an early February deadline for him to accept or decline the contract. With no offer from Baltimore, and no other offers pouring in, he agreed to a minor league deal that will pay him $1.9MM should he make the MLB roster.

As noted above, however, Flaherty does have an opt-out clause in his contract. If he has not made the major league roster by March 22^nd, he can opt-out and become a free agent, making him eligible to be signed by any other team. Should that happen, chances are the Orioles will jump all over the opportunity.

Unfortunately for Baltimore, Flaherty has performed well this spring, batting .333 in 30 AB while playing every position except for pitcher, catcher, and centerfield. His chances of making the Opening Day roster in Philadelphia seem to be improving by the day.

The Orioles, in turn, must look elsewhere to fill the role. Tejada was brought back but has already been reassigned. Also invited to spring training were Engelb Vielma and Luis Sardinas, but both have left much to be desired defensively, leaving the Orioles in a bind. In steps Danny Valencia.

Valencia was signed to a minor league deal back on March 3^rd, a pact that will pay him $1.3MM if he makes the team and up to $3MM if he reaches certain incentives. The Orioles and Valencia are not operating under any false pretenses. Valencia has let the team know that if he does not make the team, he will not go to the minors, which means that if there is not a roster spot for him, he will become a free agent.

For those that don’t recall, Valencia played for Baltimore in 2013, batting .304 in 161 AB and was arguably the team’s most consistent hitter down the stretch. He has experience playing 1B, 2B, 3B, LF and RF at the major league level, and absolutely mashes left handed pitching, owning a career .313/.370/.493 slash line against southpaws.

The one glaring omission is shortstop. Valencia has never played the position in his professional career, and while the Orioles might be open to trying him there in the final week of spring training, it is unlikely that we will see him there at any point in the regular season. Still, the Orioles like his bat and overall versatility.

With the injury to Mark Trumbo (strained right quad), Valencia is basically guaranteed a spot on this roster, despite his inexperience at shortstop. The Orioles will simply have to be content moving Tim Beckham and Jonathan Schoop around should Manny Machado need a day off or suffer an injury.

Pedro Alvarez also has an excellent chance of making the team with Trumbo on the shelf, and while he has played both third and first base in his career, and even experimented in the outfield in 2017, his playing time will most likely come as a designated hitter. The further he stays away from a glove, the better. In fact, the Orioles might even accidentally “lose” his gloves when the team travels north next weekend.

The bottom line is this: the Orioles probably expected Flaherty to re-sign with the ball club, and when he didn’t, they were caught with their pants down. Now, given the choice between below average offense and suspect defense from Vielma and Sardinas, or decent-to-solid offense and suspect defense from Valencia, the team is probably going to have to go with the lesser of two evils. Unless Flaherty opts out. In that case, forget most everything I’ve said here.

Next time, we’ll look at the starting rotation and discuss whether or not they have the artillery to get the Orioles out of last place and back into contention in the American League East.