Infielder Jose Barrero According to Beisbolfr’s Francys Romero, the Orioles are reunited on a new minor league contract in 2026. Barrero signed a minor league contract with the club in July, but the new deal reunited him with O’S in 2026 and included an invitation to attend Major League Baseball’s spring training.
Barrero, 27, appeared in five major league seasons, but has limited play time. He appeared in 161 games in total with a batting line of .182/.238/.257. He has 9 stolen bases and offers defensive versatility. He has extensive league experience in three in-field spots on the left of first base as well as center and right court.
Picking Barrero on his past promising lineage is a bet. Baseball America, along with the Reds in 2021 and 2022, ranked him among the top 100 prospects in the league. He established the .303/.380/.539 line among minors in 2021, and the production is converted to WRC+ 142.
Since then, things have been a little open. As mentioned earlier, his major league doesn’t seem to be helping much. His minor league numbers are also behind. He ran out of his last choice season in 2023. The Red Man waived his immunity in March 2024. The Rangers called him, although the club managed to get him through a waiver shortly thereafter. Most of that year was spent on the minor league injury list. He only played 49 games and cut .188/.277/.345.
He entered his minor league contract with the Cardinal in 2025 and started the season in good shape. He had a 0.299/.396/.517 line in Triple A, when the card called him in late April, although they didn’t play much. He was on the roster for about two months, but only made 31 sets in that sporadic game time, reaching .138/.194/.276 in sporadic game.
He was designated as a mission, clearing waivers and being elected to free agent, which was when he signed the aforementioned minor league deal with the Orioles. He made a rough .190/.261/.344 line for Triple-A Norfolk along the stretch. Despite these numbers, O is obviously like Barrero, enough to bring him back to the non-repository to see what happens next year. He has some ups and downs, but is still only 27, so maybe he can take back some of the previous forms.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry, Image
