Jose

Mesa

Mesa was designated for assignment by the O’s last week to clear a 40-man roster spot for Alex Cobb. The 24-year-old right-hander has strong minor league numbers but yielded five runs on 10 hits and seven walks over 7 2/3 innings this spring in the Grapefruit League. He has been assigned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter had some nice things to say about the 24-year-old right-hander on the first day of camp Wednesday in Florida. Mesa put up a promising 1.93 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and 101/32 K/BB ratio in 84 innings (eight starts, 21 relief appearances) last season between High-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton, affiliates of the Yankees. He is the son of former 19-year major league veteran Jose Mesa, who pitched for the Orioles from 1987-1992.

The move clears a 40-man roster spot for starting pitcher Alex Cobb, who was officially signed to a four-year, $57 million contract on Wednesday morning. Baltimore selected Mesa from the Yankees in last December’s Rule 5 Draft and he’ll presumably be returned to that organization once he clears waivers.