The Orioles figure to be major players on the trade market this summer, though Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com tweets that the team will not move Ty Wigginton unless they receive a young shortstop in return. Rosenthal calls it a "self-defeating stance," because no team will meet that demand.
Baseball America rated Baltimore's farm system as the ninth best in the game coming into the season, but basically all of their top shortstop prospects are in Single-A. They hope to have their shortstop of the future in Manny Machado, who they selected with the third overall pick in the draft a few weeks ago.
As for Wigginton, the 32-year-old is enjoying a fine season for the last place O's, hitting .274/.359/.487 with 13 homers while playing every day at primarily second base. He offers power and extreme versatility, capable of playing anywhere on the field except short, center, pitcher, and catcher. Every team in the league could use a guy like him.
Wigginton is just one of several Orioles' veterans that could be on the block, joining Kevin Millwood, Miguel Tejada, Cesar Izturis, Will Ohman, and Luke Scott. Reports indicate that the team is not looking to shed payroll, however.
haha good luck there andy
White Sox get
Ty
Orioles get
Beckham
Alexi
That’s way too much for Wigginton. You need to throw Atkins in, too.
LOL as an Orioles fan I’d love that. Too bad that would never happen
You can have Quentin and Pierre too if you want
How do some of these guys have jobs in baseball? The best they can get for Wiggington will be MAYBE a double A player and taking his salary off the books. The Wizzer is in baseball’s new washed zone – 32 years old. He’ll only get 1 year contracts from here on out
Emmanuel Burriss from the Giants org might be a good fit, and Wiggi’s 14 bombs certainly would look nice in the G’s lineup.
Emmanuel Burriss is out for the entire season due to injury. I am not saying … I am just saying.
Rehabbing in AAA-Fresno right now as I type this. Has played a dozen or so games thus far and looking great…
I’m Just Say’n
The Yankees have a bundle of young shortstops in AAA/MLB.
Ramiro Pena, Reegie Corona, Kevin Russo, and Eduardo Nunez.
So with the Rockies pretty much being linked to Wigginton, I’m guessing the Orioles are thinking Chris Nelson is their main target now.
Good luck convincing O’Dowd of that Macphail.
No, I don’t think so. I would prefer not to go after Wigginton and just play Nelson.
I never said it was a good idea, I said that Macphail had his work cut out in trying to convince O’Dowd that it was a good idea. I think trading Nelson, who could easily replace Barmes next year, would be idiotic.
This correlates with the rumor that the Orioles were interested in Minnesota’s Trevor Plouffe. As a Twins fan though, I wouldn’t trade 6 years of Plouffe, who is a former 1st round pick, for a rental player like Wigginton.
So the Orioles are looking for a team that just wants to get older, more expensive, and less flexible?
Diory Hernandez for Ty Wigginton? Diory is young, and a SS. I believe he is under contract until after 2014.
Or Brandon Hicks who’s great defensively and has some pop.
lillibridge, and jones for Wiggington sounds a fair deal for the sox and O’s
What an absolute pathetic joke Andy MacPhail’s “plan” is. A young shortstop for Ty Wigginton? Sure, how about a little league shortstop?
Wigginton had a fantastic start to the season .314 with a .686 slugging percentage through May 15th. Since then, he’s hitting .233 with a .284 slugging percentage. The O’s would be lucky to get an A-ball reliever for him at this point.
So what MacPhail should have said is that he expected a 35 year-old AAA outfielder that is hitting .240 or less?
No. He shouldn’t have said anything.
The Orioles should be actively shopping Wiggington, along with Miguel Tejada and Luke Scott, for whatever they can get. At this point, it looks like MacPhail is sitting back, waiting for other teams to offer him a valuable package for players who don’t have much value.
As Rosenthal said, announcing this (or letting it slip, or whatever) is self-defeating.
It’s all posturing at this point. MacPhail knows he’s not getting a “young SS” for a guy like Wigginton. That simply means “don’t bother making an offer now, but check back with me circa July 31”.
This is Ken Rosenthal people, don’t get too carried away….
Ramiro Pena for Ty Wigginton, make it happen.
Chin-Lung Hu? Ivan Dejesus? Dodgers have quality, young SS in minors & need a better 2B-man than DeWitt/Bellliard/Carroll. Wiggy has the pop we need, too.
He can be a damn good backup infielder.. But I don’t think Wiggington at 2nd makes us a better team.
Carroll has been AWESOME.. ugh I hate that signing still but hes been a godsend.
As an O’s fan, I really have to give Wiggy some credit. He has not been as bad at 2nd as people make him out to be . Sure hes not a gold glover, but his bat makes up for the lack of range and D.
The people getting all hot and bothered about MacPhail saying he’s looking for a young shortstop would do well to note he didn’t say he was looking for a world-beating, top-ranked shortstop prospect. Most likely, he’s looking to take a chance on a second tier guy he might like better than the team who has him now… not a superstar, just someone who has a shot at being a serviceable major league regular… you have to remember–that’d be huge for Baltimore.
Its a shame that the once proud and successful Orioles franchise has been reduced to garbage. That team needs to be reworked from ownership down.
I like Lillibridge for Wigginton or that Mets Tejada. There is no way in hell that they get Alexei or Beckham. Not happening no way no how.
Tyler Greene? He’s kind of young and a shortstop, I guess. Wigginton would definitely be better than Miles on the bench…
I think Dayton Moore’s the only one who can help with that plan…
Lillibridge and Christian Marrero to the O’s for Wigginton.