Headlines

  • Orioles Agree To 30-Year Lease At Camden Yards
  • Padres Prefer To Retain A.J. Preller, Bob Melvin In 2024
  • Brooks Robinson Passes Away
  • Reds’ Matt McLain Shut Down For Remainder Of 2023 Season
  • Padres Plan To Reduce Payroll To Around $200MM; Front Office Changes Possible
  • Marlins Place Eury Perez On 15-Day Injured List, Select Jeff Lindgren
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2023-24 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Arbitration Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Guthrie, Not Millwood, May Be Orioles’ Most Tradable Pitcher

By Mark Polishuk | June 10, 2010 at 5:19pm CDT

Baltimore acquired Kevin Millwood last December so he could provide some veteran leadership to their young staff, but even at the time of the trade, there were whispers that Millwood could soon be on the move again.  It made sense that a rebuilding team like the Orioles might try to flip Millwood in a midseason deal for prospects, and Baltimore's poor start to the season has made the right-hander even more expendable.

As FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal points out, however, Millwood might not even be the most attractive trade asset on Baltimore's staff.  Jeremy Guthrie has a lower ERA (3.71 to Millwood's 4.64), a lower WHIP (1.13 to 1.44) and is very close to Millwood in K-BB ratio (2.41 to Millwood's 2.65).  Perhaps more importantly for interested teams, Guthrie isn't a free agent until after the 2012 season and has about $1.9MM left to earn of his $3MM salary for this season.  A team that deals for Millwood, on the other hand, will owe him approximately $7.57MM remaining on his $12MM 2010 salary.  (Texas paid Baltimore $3MM of that salary when trading Millwood over the winter, but it's unknown if the O's would send a representative portion of that money to a trade partner.)  Millwood is also a free agent after this season.

More and more contending teams are shying away from acquiring older rent-a-players at the cost of valuable prospects, and thus Millwood may not be able to pull in the young talent that the Orioles want.  Guthrie's younger age (31), pedigree (he was a first-round pick for the Indians in the 2002 draft) and potential upside might convince a team to part with a decent prospect or two.  Rosenthal notes that Guthrie's situation makes him more attractive to the O's too, but given Baltimore's struggles, it's hard to see them turning down a good offer on any veteran player.

Share 0 Retweet 7 Send via email0

Baltimore Orioles Jeremy Guthrie Kevin Millwood

No Oswalt Trade Talks Underway
Main
Minor League Transactions
View Comments (6)

Comments

  1. Yankees420

    13 years ago

    The O’s should definitely deal Guthrie, his value will only decrease as he gets closer to FA, and thus becomes more expensive to retain. They could probably get one or two top 10-15 prospects from someone if McPhail handles it right.

    Reply
  2. Civilization

    13 years ago

    Selling this. Millwood’s ERA is reflecting an abnormal amount of home runs surrendered. 16.2% HR/FB ratio compared to his career high of 10.6%. When this adjusts Millwood’s numbers will be more appealing then Guthrie. Note the difference in xFIP between the two.

    Guthrie might be a better investment but the argument made is counter intuitive to the idea. Teams are less likely to give up prospects for rent-a-player older players, and while Guthrie may not be a rent-a-player he’s no spring chicken. And the price tag for Millwood isn’t going to be much compared to a Guthrie. Teams will take a flier on a salary dump of Millwood before considering adding Guthrie.

    Reply
    • Yankees420

      13 years ago

      Guthrie isn’t that old, he’ll turn 32 at the start of next season, while Millwood is already 35. Also I don’t think his salary will get that high, maybe 5-7MM next year and ~9MM in 2012, which isn’t a bad price to pay if his production is ~180IP near a 4ERA (or even lower if an NL team acquires him.) All in all, I don’t think Guthrie is as good as he is now but I do believe he will fetch more in a trade than Millwood.

      Reply
      • Civilization

        13 years ago

        Exactly. While Guthrie isn’t that old, he’s at that age where you expect to see that downward slope of production to appear. Combined with a reasonable contract that has team control past this year and probably a midlevel contract would resign him, the prospects involved would be a bit pricey. We’re not talking top level guys, but it’ll take a B level prospect or two. Where as Millwood could be had for a warm body and half his prorated salary.

        Either a team can send the Os a warm body and about 3.5 million or send them a B and C level prospect to get Guthrie…

        Reply
        • Yankees420

          13 years ago

          I agree, and maybe someone like the Cards that are looking for pitching might prefer Guthrie because he can be a relatively cheap innings eater in the #4 slot for more than just this season. I don’t know if they want to take the hit to the farm but if they can work something out that they agree with then they basically have their rotation for next season and can concentrate on resigning Pujols. Just a thought.

          Reply
  3. aap212

    13 years ago

    Really? The younger, cheaper, more durable, and team controlled pitcher is more appealing? Tell us more, Professor Rosenthal.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Orioles Agree To 30-Year Lease At Camden Yards

    Padres Prefer To Retain A.J. Preller, Bob Melvin In 2024

    Brooks Robinson Passes Away

    Reds’ Matt McLain Shut Down For Remainder Of 2023 Season

    Padres Plan To Reduce Payroll To Around $200MM; Front Office Changes Possible

    Marlins Place Eury Perez On 15-Day Injured List, Select Jeff Lindgren

    Sandy Alcantara Shut Down For Rest Of 2023 Season

    Brandon Lowe To Miss 4-6 Weeks With Kneecap Fracture

    Rays Promote Junior Caminero

    Sean Doolittle Announces Retirement

    Tigers Name Jeff Greenberg General Manager

    Qualifying Offer Value To Land Around $20.5MM

    Shohei Ohtani Undergoes Elbow Surgery

    Marlins Claim Matt Moore From Guardians

    Rays To Announce New Stadium Deal

    Reds Designate Hunter Renfroe For Assignment

    Shohei Ohtani Out For Season With Oblique Strain

    Marcus Stroman To Pitch Out Of Bullpen

    Red Sox Fire Chaim Bloom

    Orioles Select Heston Kjerstad

    Recent

    Pirates Shut Down Mitch Keller, Roansy Contreras For 2023

    Orioles Agree To 30-Year Lease At Camden Yards

    Jeff McNeil Diagnosed With Partially Torn UCL; Surgery Not Expected

    NL West Notes: Rockies, Giants, Heyward

    NL Notes: Contreras, Pirates, Santana

    Offseason Outlook Chat Transcript: Pittsburgh Pirates

    Blue Jays’ Jay Jackson Will Be A Free Agent This Winter

    Brewers Designate Brian Anderson, Reinstate Garrett Mitchell From 60-Day Injured List

    Offseason Outlook: Pittsburgh Pirates

    Brewers’ Colin Rea Will Be A Free Agent This Winter

    ad: 300x250_5_side_mlb

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Shohei Ohtani Rumors
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • 2023-24 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • MLB Player Chats
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version