1:12pm: The player to be named later the Diamondbacks will receive won't be named until after the season and will not be a targeted prospect but a lower-level minor leaguer, tweets Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun.
11:09am: The Orioles have acquired Joe Saunders and cash from the Diamondbacks in exchange for reliever Matt Lindstrom and a player to be named later. Saunders cleared trade waivers earlier in the week, making him eligible to be dealt to any club.
Late last night, we learned that Arizona found a trade partner for the 31-year-old and the O's were said to be the club with the most steady interest in him. Saunders will be owed roughly $1.5MM, the prorated portion of his $6MM salary, between now and the end of the year.
The veteran has a 4.22 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 21 starts for the Diamondbacks this year. For his career, Saunders owns a 4.17 ERA with 5.2 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in eight big league seasons for the Angels and Diamondbacks.
Lindstrom, 32, has a 2.72 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 34 appearances this year. The right-hander is earning $3.6MM in 2012 (roughly $748K remaining) with a $4MM club option for next season. Lindstrom's option can be bought out for just $200K. The deal marks the fifth time that Lindstrom has been traded in the last six years.
The O's also announced that Jake Arrieta has been called up from Triple-A.
Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter) first reported that the Orioles acquired Saunders. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter) added details.
Looks like Lindstrom and Arrieta was called up to replace Lindstrom in bullpen.
Lame. I liked Lindstrom. Why are they taking working pieces out of the bullpen to get a #5 starter?
Lindstrom pitched well, but he wasn’t a major piece in the bullpen.
Lindstrum has been a shocker to me.. Remember him from days as a marlin and he could always throw HARD, but no idea where HP was, nearly as bad as Gregg was as the Fish closer and THAT was bad.
For a guy who throws in the mid to upper 90s, he has consistently gotten around 7Ks per 9IP. That’s not great. Good pitcher, pitched well this year, not irreplaceable.
For the Orioles, Saunders will easily be the #3 starter. Only real dependable guy after Chen and Hammels.
So Gonzalez and Tillman haven’t been dependable this season?
They’ve been solid, but dependable? I need more than a few good starts before I feel safe running a guy out there on a normal basis.
I liked Lindstrom too, but he’s a known quantity, and for whatever reason, he was playing a little above his head in terms of command and health. His last few outings have shown some signs of him regressing back to iffy command times. I think Duquette did really well to sell him high.
This means Guthrie turned into Hammels and Saunders, two starting pitchers. Not bad.
Great point, turned 1 into 2, and got the best from Lindstrom in between. I think its a great job. And lefties are nice to have in a rotation.
Yeah. We need to realize that if he has the right personnel, Showalter is really good at putting players into very favorable matchups, using his unique blend of nuanced details. Lindstrom’s stats have been good, but a big part of that is having good depth in the bullpen to pick up the load, and, placing Lindstrom in favorable matchups against either vs righties, or, vs aggressive swingers where his propensity to lose the strike zone wouldn’t hurt him as much.
We can’t think that suddenly at age 31, Lindstrom becomes a completely different pitcher. He’s been successful for the Os, but selling him high is smarter than counting on him turning into an elite setup/closer type out of nowhere.
I am astonished the DBacks got anything of value for saunders, who has been throwing BP pretty much all season, like vs the Fish a few days back (AAA people pretty much in their lineup) when the marlins got 9R in 3IP off of him.
The DBacks desperately need relievers also, so they came out well for *this*.
I wonder what the original guy who broke the story was talking about last night when he said it wasn’t the Orioles. Glad to see we got him though!
I don’t think it said that. Rosenthal connected him to the Orioles, but didn’t confirm it. The post is still on page one. Glad to see I got you though!
Awesome move for the Orioles. Saunders fills a bigger position of need than Lindstrom, and starters are more important than relievers anyway.
The Orioles were looking at upcoming series against the Rays and Yankees, and Saunders holds left-handed hitters to a .475 OPS.
They’ll probably call up Bundy before the end of the month as well for the bullpen. Lindstrom is a tough pitcher to give up though… why couldn’t Duquette convince the snakes to take Gregg?
This deal is not just about starts. It’s also about having a LHRP option later for a possible playoff roster. Just keep in mind how so many playoff games are decided late, by a critical play or hit. Having that guy in the back pocket to neutralize LH power could be the difference in a big game.
Hammel, Chen, Gonzalez, Saunders, Tillman.
This means Britton, and Johnson will go back to Triple A until rosters expand.
Arrieta will probably pitch out the BP
This is a good move for the O’s. Saunders is basically the equivalent of Edwin Jackson, whom Baltimore had interest in over the winter. The cost wasn’t bad at all.
Saunders is not equivalent to Edwin Jackson….
Maybe on paper they share some remote resemblance, but in terms of the pitchers, Edwin is a fireballing guy with lots of stuff and a good change and slider. Saunders is a finesses lefty with average fastball velocity and a good curve.
Great trade for the O’s. Its a minor upgrade but thats what DD has done all season, minor upgrades at positions. Saunders > Hunter, plain and simple. Also Lindstrom was falling apart.
Lindstrom had to clear through waivers as well to be dealt, correct?
Didn’t they just release a 36 yr old Verizon of Saunders by the name of J.C. Romero?
This is a good move IMO, Saunders is good
They’re trying to scale back Chen’s workload. He’s already at 150 innings this season. And having too many pitchers is a good problem to have. Buck hopefully won’t have to let Tommy “Run Differential Destroyer” Hunter make a spot start again.
Chen, Hammel, Saunders, Tillman and Gonzo will be the rotation.
Lindstrom was a piece of it, but he hadn’t been a solid piece since he got injured.
Having Saunders means no more disaster starts from Tommy Hunter, who is giving up the most HR/9 over a season ever. EVER.
“They do well against some teams and get lit up against others.”
You just described most MLB starters with a 3.00+ ERA.
disqus lagtime double post!
What don’t you like about the results?
Getting the green light to spend is one thing, but in a trade scenario, it’s not about money only. It’s more about the talent being exchanged. We might have gotten, say, a great power slugging 1b, but would you feel any different about expanding payroll if we had to give up Bundy or Machado to do it? If the system had a few more B prospects, it could be feasible to pull something big off, but where the Os were at, it was either Machado or Bundy or not at all.
I think Duquette has figured out how to find answers, and bargains, where other GM’s aren’t looking. And if the team is winning, why play the hypothetical “get by this team in the playoffs”. I think it would be awesome for the O’s to make the playoffs. Every teams gotta keep the hope alive that lightning will strike in the playoffs and your team will ride it to the championship. Gotta win one game at a time.
If Vargas ever gets traded out of Seattle, you will see how “great” he is. I’m convinced he’s a product of the ballpark.