Orioles bring in slugger who quickly became Yankees enemy in 2024 playoffs

Give the Baltimore Orioles credit for something: They've been active after a disappointing 2025 season, trying their best to put pressure on the Yankees and the rest of the AL East. Sometimes, their moves have looked like hits, like bringing in Pete Alonso. Other times, they've left you scratching your head, like trading a treasure trove of young assets for ... Shane Baz.

Their latest addition seems to serve no other purpose than to troll the Yankees, as the Orioles have now successfully claimed Jhonkensy Noel off waivers from the Cleveland Guardians. After a miserable 2025 campaign, it's questionable what purpose the 24-year-old known as Big Christmas truly serves, besides giving New York horrifying flashbacks.

Orioles signing Jhonkensy Noel brings back brutal memories of the 2024 ALCS for the Yankees

Noel broke in with Cleveland in 2024, and his hulking six-foot-three, 250-pound frame quickly looked imposing in the batter's box. The Dominican Republic native had developed a reputation for immense raw power, and flexed those muscles in the bigs, crushing 13 long balls and posting a .268 ISO in just 179 at-bats.

Unfortunately, with that power came a truckload of Ks. Noel posted a 31.8% strikeout rate in his rookie campaign, which depressed his overall line to .218/.288/.486. There were a lot of holes in his swing, but if he got the opportunity to get a hold of one, he'd make his presence known.

That's exactly what he did against the Yankees in the 2024 ALCS. In the series, Noel batted .250/.333/.625 while authoring a couple of memorable moments. First was the mammoth game-tying homer he launched off of Luke Weaver in Game 3 with two outs in the ninth. The second was his near-follow-up in Game 4, when some wonky camera work and a hilariously off-base call from Guardians radio announcer Tom Hamilton made it seem as if he had done it again before the ball fell harmlessly into Alex Verdugo's glove.

Fast forward to 2025, and one would expect progress from Noel. At the very least, the monstrous righty should be able to crush left-handed pitching. Except with another look, pitchers around the league further exposed Noel's warts.

He struck out even more, hitting a 34% K-rate on the season and would walk just four times over 153 plate appearances. His big whiffs limited his home run total to just six, and his overall line came in at a ghastly .162/.183/.297. Combine that with shoddy defense in the outfield and first base, and Big Christmas siphoned off 1.1 fWAR from the Guardians in 2025.

Without options remaining, it's confusing what the appeal is to the Orioles. They already have Tyler O'Neill, Ryan Mountcastle, and Coby Mayo in the first base/outfield mix off the bench, and while all three of those players have disappointed recently, none of them reached the depths that Noel plummeted to in 2025.

There are only two possible answers. One is simply making a move for the sake of making one, perhaps with designs on a follow-up transaction to clear the logjam. The other is simply to poke at the Yankees. If that's the case, congratulations, mission accomplished.