Forrest Whitley's next destination couldn't be more obvious after Astros DFA

On Sunday, the Houston Astros designated Forrest Whitley for assignment, bringing about an end to his nine-year year run in Houston’s organization after the team picked him in the first round in the 2016 MLB Draft. 

After the move was announced, Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters that Whitley’s career “isn’t over,” while also acknowledging that Whitley didn’t make sense for the current iteration of the Astros. Could he end up with the Baltimore Orioles in his next stop in a reunion with Mike Elias?

In 2016, the Astros drafted Whitley with the No. 17 pick in the draft under Elias’ eye as the team’s scouting director. At the time, he called Whitley a “premium talent.” He currently serves as the Orioles’ general manager.

And while Whitley’s career hasn’t played out like he’s been a premium talent, a reunion with Elias would make sense. 

Forrest Whitley landing with the Orioles makes all the sense in the world

The Orioles are 13 games below .500 and in the basement of the American League East, so they’d have nothing to lose by taking a flier on Whitley — and he’s a known commodity thanks to Elias’ connection with him. 

This all comes with the caveat of how Whitley’s season has gone. After tossing 3 1/3 scoreless innings in his MLB debut last year, he allowed 10 runs in 7 1/3 innings this year in relief before being cut. He likely would have gotten more time on the roster earlier in the season had he not dealt with knee injuries. 

The former top prospect began his career as a starting pitcher before the Astros moved him to the bullpen last year. He has a career 4.75 ERA in 306 2/3 minor league innings. He missed 50 games in 2018 due to a drug policy suspension, and also went 21 months between appearances due to the canceled 2020 minor league season and Tommy John surgery. 

Although Whitley has only worked as a reliever this year, he has that starting experience, which could help him wherever he latches on at. The Orioles’ starting rotation currently consists of Tomoyuki Sugano and the ghost of Zach Eflin, so they could take all the help they could get. 

He was once viewed as one of the best pitching prospects in all of baseball, so he should have plenty of suitors interested in trying their hand at a reclamation project. It seems like there’s a good chance that could happen in Baltimore thanks to their subpar record and Elias’ track record with Whitley. 

While the Astros were smart to cut ties with Whitley when they did, it still doesn’t take away the sting of knowing all the players they could have drafted instead of him. 

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