The Baltimore Orioles have one of their deepest rosters in recent memory this year after acquiring veterans like first baseman Pete Alonso, outfielder Taylor Ward, starting pitcher Shane Baz, starting pitcher Chris Bassitt, and more over the offseason. That's partially why they have several players battling for spots on the roster bubble.

New manager Craig Albernaz opened up about the situation on Saturday, via MLB.com's Jake Rill.

“I hope everyone makes a tough decision for us,” he said. “The only thing you can control as a player is just make the decision difficult for everyone. Then, decisions are going to be made either way, but just put your best foot forward, work hard, and try to get better every day, that’s what we’ve been preaching.”

Rill listed the final outfield spot, the final bench spot, and the final two bullpen spots as parts of the roster that are up for grabs. Leody Taveras and Heston Kjerstad are competing in the outfield while Jeremiah Jackson, Thairo Estrada, and Luiz Vasquez are competing on the bench. Finally, the bullpen competition has a host of players including right-handers Rico Garcia and Cade Povich.

While none of the aforementioned players are flawless, there may be some promising ones that don't make the team due to a lack of spots available. But operating from a talent surplus is the best problem to have, and that's why Albernaz wants to make "tough decisions."

Jackson isn't as experienced as some of the other players on that list, but he was productive when he did play last season. The 25-year-old slashed .276/.328/.447 with five homers and 21 RBIs over 48 games. He made his big-league debut on August 1 and stayed at the top level through the end of the campaign.

On top of that, Jackson is 5-for-11 with three RBIs and one walk in spring training thus far. But he's not the only fringe outfielder who is on a hot streak, as Taveras is 4-for-9 with two RBIs.

Meanwhile, Kjerstad is 3-for-11 with one homer, one RBI, and one walk after slashing .192/.240/.327 with four homers and 19 RBIs over 54 games last season. Neither Kjerstad nor Taveras had good seasons in 2025, but they'll have strong cases to make the roster if they keep producing this spring. 

As of now, the spring training sample sizes are too small to draw any definitive conclusions, but Baltimore at least knows that it has several players who are worthy of fringe roster spots.