The Orioles acquired third baseman Renato Núñez off waivers from Texas on May 13 and sent him to Triple-A Norfolk. On July 20, he got the call to join the Orioles and stuck with the team through the remainder of the season.

After almost eight full seasons in the Oakland organization, Núñez is trying to find a major league home, and so far his biggest chance to play has come with the Orioles. In the big leagues, he got 15 plate appearances with the Athletics in 2016 and 16 in 2017. He got 41 with Texas this year before moving on to Baltimore. He had 220 plate appearances in 60 games with the Orioles, playing every day after his July call-up.

"Yeah, you work all these years. I've been working six, seven years in the minors, and now to be here in the bigs and playing every day is great. Pretty excited about playing every day," Núñez said in a late-season interview.

For the Orioles, he hit .275/.336/.445 with 13 doubles, seven homers, 20 RBIs and an OPS of .781. His OPS plus of 116 was above big league average. In 25 games in September, Núñez hit .313/.341/.550 with five homers and an .891 OPS.

In his last nine games of the year, the 24-year-old Núñez batted .400 (12-for-30) with three homers and eight RBIs.

"This is the first time in my career I've been playing every day," he said. "It's amazing to be on an MLB team and part of the Orioles. To be playing every day is amazing. That always helps, every player would say, when you play every day, as you get chances to make adjustments. This game is about adjustments, and when you play you get to know the pitchers better, and that is also a big help."

Núñez has a solid arm and raw power, but some strikeouts come with that and he is not an all-fields hitter. On defense, he showed improvement at times for the Orioles after doing a lot of pregame work with infield coach Bobby Dickerson. Can he become a plus defender? That seems unlikely. Can he play consistently average defense? That seems reachable for him.

The Orioles' new management will have to decide where Núñez fits in the 2019 picture. Do they take another look at him full-time at third base? Should he get a year to show whether he is part of the picture moving forward?

There is probably no reason not to see more from Núñez. He doesn't even become arbitration-eligible until after the 2020 season. He is under team control through 2023. If the Orioles are looking for players they can hang onto for a while, Núñez is one. On a rebuilding team, there is no harm in looking at a player who costs little in salary.

The Valencia, Venezuela, native got a huge bonus at 16 from the A's when he signed for $2.2 million in July 2010. Every year from 2010 through 2017, he was rated among the Athletics' top 30 prospects. He was Oakland's No. 5 after the 2014 season and No. 4 a year later.

After Manny Machado was traded, the Orioles had an opening on the left side of their infield, and Núñez got a big chance. He ran with it and showed power potential, and that he could make improvements on defense.

While Núñez is out of options, the 2019 Orioles seem like the perfect team for him. A rebuilding club could provide a young player an extended chance to be an everyday player.

So should the Orioles take another long look at Núñez in 2019?