The Orioles have claimed right-hander Christian Roa off waivers from the Twins and optioned him to Triple-A, according to Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports. With the transaction, Roa takes the 40-man roster spot of Lou Trivino, who was designated for assignment earlier in the day.
The Twins designated Roa for assignment on Wednesday to clear space on their 40-man roster for Yoendrys Gómez. He had been with the Astros prior to being claimed by Minnesota on April 23rd. As the Orioles have now done, the Twins optioned Roa to Triple-A immediately after claiming him, so his seven big league appearances in 2026 have all come with the Astros. Roa has a 5.19 ERA in 8 2/3 innings in those games, walking more hitters than he’s struck out and posting expected numbers that are even higher than his ERA. In total, Roa has only thrown 11 2/3 innings in the Majors between the Marlins and Astros from 2025-26.
He had some success in the minors last year. In 60 1/3 innings with the Marlins’ top affiliate, Roa had a 2.83 ERA. His 26.1% strikeout rate was solid, though he also walked 11.4% of hitters and gave up an unsustainably low .224 batting average in balls in play. In terms of stuff, Roa averages in the mid-90s on his four-seamer and sinker, while he uses an upper-80s slider about a third of the time. His age and limited big league track record make him a fringe reliever at this point, albeit one with decent velocity.
Roa has less than a year of service time and comes with two remaining option years. He can be brought up if the Orioles need a fresh arm and then sent back down without needing to be designated for assignment. Roa has been outrighted before, so if he is designated anyway and clears waivers, he would have the option to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.
Photo courtesy of Steven Bisig, Imagn Images
