The Orioles non-tendered one of their most productive and popular players from the past two seasons at Wednesday¡¯s deadline, parting ways with second baseman Hanser Alberto amid a flurry of moves that reshaped their infield and continued to bolster their farm system with an eye toward the future.

Alberto, 28, was the only non-tender for an Orioles club that also traded starting shortstop Jos¨¦ Iglesias to the Angels, tendered contracts to its two biggest stars and reached one-year agreements with four other regulars. Alberto, who was expected to command between a $2-4 million raise through arbitration as a first-time eligible player, is now a free agent.

¡°We absolutely loved having Hanser in every way, shape or form since he got here,¡± Orioles general manager and executive vice president Mike Elias said. ¡°It was an incredibly difficult decision. On and off the field, he¡¯s been so good."

Multiple times when explaining the decision, Elias pointed to economic restraints of ¡°operating within the economic framework of the collective bargaining agreement and the quirks of the arbitration system,¡± while indicating the Orioles would be open to bringing Alberto back on a lesser deal. Elias also cited industry-wide financial factors exacerbated by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as part of the decisions not to go to arbitration with Alberto or reigning home run leader Renato N¨²?ez, whom the club released last month.

The Orioles played with MLB¡¯s lowest payroll in 2020, the second season of their long-term rebuild plan. Based on arbitration projections provided by the website Cots Contracts, the Orioles saved roughly $8.5 million by parting with Alberto, N¨²?ez and Iglesias, whose $3.5 million team option had recently been exercised.

¡°I think it¡¯s accurate to say that we¡¯re still in the phase of accumulating talent,¡± Elias said. ¡°There will come a time when we flip the switch to maximizing wins in the upcoming season, but we are not there yet."

Part of the short-term price was Alberto, a former two-time waiver claim who emerged as one of the feel-good stories of their rebuild¡¯s early years. He hit .305 in 2019 and .283 in 2020, compiling 222 hits, a .735 OPS and one of MLB¡¯s lowest strikeout rates across 193 total games in Baltimore. Alberto batted .394 against left-handed pitching over that stretch, the best in baseball among players with at least 100 plate appearances vs. southpaws.

The Orioles also worked on Wednesday to retain Alberto¡¯s two obvious in-house replacements, striking one-year deals with recently acquired second baseman Yolmer S¨¢nchez ($1 million) and utility man Pat Valaika (terms unknown), as well as catcher Pedro Severino ($1.825 million) and reliever Shawn Armstrong (terms unknown). Additionally, Trey Mancini and Anthony Santander were tendered contracts as expected.

S¨¢nchez, whom the O¡¯s claimed off waivers from the White Sox on Oct. 30, won a Gold Glove with Chicago in 2019 and represents a defensive upgrade over Alberto at second. He can also play third, but he hit just .245/.300/.360 with 32 homers and an 81 OPS+ from 2014-20 with Chicago. Valaika played six positions for the O¡¯s in 2020 while hitting .277 with eight homers and a career-high 114 OPS.

¡°We did have many infielders in this arbitration class, and it was probably expected we wouldn¡¯t be able to tender all of them at the exact same moment,¡± Elias said.