A former Oakland Athletics star is joining the Baltimore Orioles in the outfield.

MLB Rumors: A former Oakland Athletics star is joining the Baltimore Orioles in the outfield.

On Tuesday, the Baltimore Orioles announced that outfielder Ramon Laureano had signed a one-year contract with a 2026 club option.

If Baltimore exercises Laureano's option, he will earn an extra $6.5 million in addition to $4 million this season.

The outfielder spent the latter part of 2024 with the Atlanta Braves before joining the Orioles. Atlanta decided not to tender him, even though the Braves could have kept him for an estimated $6.1 million in arbitration.

Laureano hit.296 with 10 home runs and an OPS of.832 in 67 games for the Braves, which is a significant improvement from his performance in 72 games over the previous two seasons with the Cleveland Guardians. 

These figures are more consistent with Laureano's performance with the Oakland Athletics prior to his August 2021 PED suspension. However, as MLB Trade Rumors' Darragh McDonald notes, Laureano hit.380 on balls in play during his time with the Braves, which is far higher than the league average.

However, according to Baseball Savant, he reached his career-high sweet spot percentage of 38.7% in 2024. Unless you include his shortened 2018 rookie season, that corresponds to a hard-hit rate of 40.8%, which is also a career high.

Ramon Laureano joins the Orioles' already packed outfield.

Even without Laureano, the Orioles have a ton of outfield options in 2025, even after losing Anthony Santander to free agency.

But in a lineup that is dominated by lefties, the righty does provide some balance. Only once in his career has Laureano participated in more than 105 games in a season. Brandon Hyde may choose to use him in a platoon role because he is accustomed to it.

In addition, Tyler O'Neill joined the Orioles' outfield group, which also includes Cedric Mullins, Dylan Carlson, Heston Kjerstad, and Colton Cowser. The Big Leagues are also receiving calls from prospects Jud Fabian and Dylan Beavers.

Although the Orioles benefit from that kind of depth, it isn't always long-term viable. The Orioles might use that depth in the last weeks of the offseason to add more pitchers, according to MLB.com's Jake Rill. Baltimore likely possesses the position player and farm system depth to swing a trade for a big name, even though they lost their ace, Corbin Burnes, in free agency.

Notably, Orioles general manager Mike Elias stated only last week that the team is still "targeting improvements" to the squad.