The Orioles announced that they have signed right-hander Yennier Cano to a two-year contract extension for the 2027 and 2028 seasons with a 2029 club option. Per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, Cano gets a total of $7.5MM over the guaranteed years while the club option is worth $10MM. Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner reports that Cano will make $2.75MM next year and $4.75MM in 2028. Cano was under arbitration control through 2028, so this deal buys out those arb years and gives the O’s an extra year of control via the club option.
Cano, 32, has had an up-and-down tenure with the O’s. He was acquired in the 2022 trade which sent Jorge López to the Twins. That deal quickly went south for Minnesota, as López struggled as a Twin and was flipped to Miami a year later. The O’s made out well, getting both Cano and Cade Povich. Prospects Juan Nunez and Juan Rojas, also acquired in the deal, are still in the system as well.
At the time, Cano only had ten big league appearances under his belt. The following year, he looked like an absolute steal. In 2023, he gave Baltimore 72 2/3 relief innings with a 2.11 earned run average. His 23% strikeout rate was only average-ish but he only walked 4.3% of batters faced and induced grounders on 58% of balls in play.
HIs 2024 season was good but not quite as elite. His walk rate ticked up to 9.6% and his ERA finished at 3.15. Things got worse in 2025, as Cano posted a 5.12 ERA. There was some bad luck in there but his strikeout rate dropped five points relative to the year before and his grounder rate dropped by eight ticks. He got optioned to the minors for a spell that summer.
He has mostly been back on track here in 2026. He has a 2.21 ERA in 36 2/3 innings. His 21.2% strikeout rate is almost an exact match for last year’s but he has cranked the ground balls back up to a 65.1% clip, more than ten points above last year. He has also reined in the walks, as his 5.5% clip is more than four ticks better than last year.
Despite the strong results, he hasn’t been used in the highest leverage situations. Those opportunities have gone to guys like Andrew Kittredge, Tyler Wells and Rico Garcia, but the O’s clearly have some faith in Cano, given this deal. It was reported this week that the Orioles are willing to move a right-handed reliever as they walk a buy/sell line at the deadline but this would appear to take Cano out of the mix. Perhaps that increases the chances of Kittredge, Wells or Garcia being moved.
More to come.
