The Orioles missed out on Victor Martinez and Adam Dunn, but they're still in the hunt for Paul Konerko. Here's a look at some of their other offseason targets…
- Chris Tillman's name has been mentioned in connection with the Mark Reynolds trade rumors, tweets Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic thinks the D'Backs "seem to like" David Hernandez more, but Hernandez would be just one piece of what's likely to be a pitcher-centric package (Twitter links).
- The O's are one of three teams known to be exploring a Reynolds deal, but they're the ones with "the heaviest interest" in the third baseman according to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. The Blue Jays and Padres, in fact, "strongly deny" that they're even pursuing Reynolds.
- "Some progress has been made" between the Orioles and Koji Uehara, reports Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. The club has been keeping in touch with Uehara's agent and Zrebiec says team officials "feel pretty good" about their ability to re-sign the reliever.
- Zrebiec also notes that Baltimore has been in discussions about a number of free agent relievers and have contacted the representatives of Grant Balfour, Jesse Crain, Scott Downs, Brian Fuentes, Matt Guerrier and Kerry Wood. The O's "have at least one offer out" to one of these pitchers, Zrebiec says.
- Baltimore has contacted Bobby Jenks' agent, reports Zrebiec in another piece.
- From that same article, Zrebiec writes "the next person I speak to in the organization who feels the O’s have a shot at Konerko would be the first." The Orioles' interest in Konerko is "largely overblown" and most insiders feel Konerko will re-sign with the White Sox.
now i have an idea on reynolds. i know that he has speed and is a good defender. what if the tigers could package something together and put him at short and move peralta to third. move inge to a utility role. inge would play quite a bit in that role. just an idea
Reynolds? You mean Mark Reynolds? The guy’s a butcher at 3rd base. Reynolds and “good defender” cannot be put in the same sentence.
Sure you can. Reynolds isn’t a good defender.
He’s actually pretty solid. Between ’09 and ’10 he got a lot better, and had a high UZR until a hip injury slowed him down in the second half. And he’s a master at fielding bunts.
He’s actually pretty solid. Between ’09 and ’10 he got a lot better, and had a high UZR until a hip injury slowed him down in the second half. And he’s a master at fielding bunts.
He isn’t a good defender. Maybe he could move to first base, but shortstop is a little out there.
He isn’t a good one but I think he is an underrated defender who has been improving.
WHAT? Reynolds at SS? Do you know who Mark Reynolds is??
so your telling me that peralta is a better shortstop.
Reynolds played short in the minors. He was moved to third because he was a terrible shortstop.
Peralta may be a terrible shortstop as well, but he’s probably still better than Reynolds.
Besides, why would you want that automatic out in your lineup?
baseball-reference.com has reynolds’ most similar player by age as mike schmidt… yeah, the hall of fame mike schmidt. reynolds has more rbi than anybody on the dbacks over the last 4 years, even while setting strikeout records year in and year out. reynolds does most of his damage from the 5 and 6 spot in the lineup while having little protection in the lineup, and few runners on base in front of him (his obp with risp is only .414, with runners on is .375, that was in his worst year… compare that to just .355 and .368 for arod).
the only thing the dbacks should take from the padres for reynolds is adrian gonzalez… reynolds is no salary dump.
Reynolds for Agon? lol
lol … well if baseball reference says so
ok guys, just an idea. believe it or not, ive heard people say that they want jeter or a-rod in the outfield
why in the world would you move Inge from 3rd base the guy is a very good defender and detroit signed Vmart to play first so unless you want him for Dh not a smart move
you think hes a good defender? ok, he makes some stellar plays, ill give him that, but he botches some of the easiest. i dont think we are looking at the same guy.
Mark Reynolds in the AL East. Sabathia, Lester, Price, and Romero all approve of of letting the Orioles help to increase their strikeout numbers.
I think Morrow will be pretty happy aswell haha
Yeah because he has been feasting on scrubs like Lincecum, Jiminez, Kershaw, Cain, Latos, Bell, Wilson etc.
People need to stop assuming the pitching in the NL is a bunch of scrubs.
I read your post as his K numbers will get worse and not that those strikeout pitchers will pad their stats, but my point still stands about NL vs AL pitching.
Tillman would be a very strong return for Reynolds, in my opinion.
probably too much in my opinion.
I think David Hernandez and another low level prospect would be enough honestly.
Tillman does nothing for me. I would rather have Hernandez and a prospect.
Then you would be happy lol. But honestly, Tillman still has the ability to be a solid #2 pitcher if he can harness his control.
Hernandez is basically limited to a late inning reliever/closer/long reliever if needed.
Tillman stats in the minors arent that great for the hype and his control is horrible in his MLB stints. Dont get me wrong, I think he projects to a #2 or #3 maybe and could be a great return. I would be happy with Tillman plus a low prospect or Hernandez and a mlb ready prospect. AZ does need bullpen help. I hope AZ gets Encarnacion to play 3B if this deal happens.
From watching games, Tillman’s Knuckle-Curve is just filthy. If he could throw more strikes and get a little more movement on his FB he’d be like a right-handed Kershaw.
he’s only 22. most starting pitchers haven’t even made AAA at that age…
A turkey sandwich would be a strong return for Mark Reynolds.
I mean no disrespect but I believe it would be a more accurate description to call him “Mark Reynolds, the slugging – and whiffing – third baseman”…
He could DH in the AL though, and might do well at that.
Reynolds in the AL East would be a disaster.
Tillman is too much for Mark Reynolds. If he were included in a package (say with Adam Jones and a prospect) for Reynolds and Stephen Drew, then we’re talking.
keep dreaming
You too. Actually, I think Adam Jones and Chris Tillman on their own are about right for Reynolds and Drew – even without the throw in of a prospect. Some might argue that’s too much for Reynolds and Drew based on the age of all the players involved.
He said keep dreaming because Adam Jones as a throw-in about says it all in terms of your knowledge of Os young players
Uh, where did I say Adam Jones is a throw-in? I don’t get what you’re saying. Are you suggesting Adam Jones is a much better player than Stephen Drew? I think Jones for Drew is pretty even trade, though I’m not sure Diamondbacks fans do.
I don’t think it’s even at all because Jones is 3 years younger and a slightly more valuable player (8.1 WAR vs. 7.2 WAR over the last three seasons). I think Jones for Reynolds + Drew would be a “fair” deal, but a stupid one from the Orioles’ perspective because they’d be getting 2 older, more expensive players for a young, cost-controlled guy with great upside.
If Arizona would get Tillman in return, I take it w/o hesitation w/o caring at all who the other prospect in the trade would be if wasn’t just a 1 for 1. Reynolds isn’t worth anything but maybe a decent + fringe prospect.
Konerko isn’t coming to Baltimore and AGon will probably wind up in Boston, so MacPhail needs to make a deal with the Brewers for Prince Fielder. The Orioles have the pitching the Brewers need and they need Fielder’s bat next season.
He may not extend but there’s nothing saying you can’t re-sign him as he’ll likely be the best FA bat available to the O’s after 2011 anyway. And when you re-sign him that’s just as good as an extension and likely be cheaper as the market will likely reduce the amount it will take to lock him up because of concerns about his conditioning and health.
Go get him Andy!
The O’s should make a trade for Fielder. Even if you don’t get him to resign, you get draft picks back.
Draft picks, schmaft picks. The O’s would probably have to include Brian Matusz in any trade for Fielder. Do you really want to give up Matusz for Fielder, watch the O’s finish in last place again, and then get a couple of draft picks as compensation?
The Orioles have plenty of other pitchers capable of bringing back talent in a trade. Matusz is not going anywhere. If anything Tillman, Arrietta, and Britton would be trade pieces.
Right on that Matusz isn’t going anywhere. And that’s why they’re not getting Fielder.
I don’t think you can assume a trade cannot be completed without including Matusz. Melvin has to realize there’s a low chance they retain Prince long-term, so you’d have to think he’d be willing to listen on all offers that include some young, controllable, high-upside pitching. Even if they don’t get the O’s best young pitcher, guys like Tillman, Arrietta, and Britton would be very attractive to a team lacking much young pitching. Do I think the O’s will actually do it? No. But they could.
The O’s can’t sign Prince long term either. Why is why it would be stupid for them to give anything up for Prince.
Britton should be untouchable as well. For the record.
I would agree, but we aren’t the GM lol
matusz for a one year rent you must be crazy
Draft picks will help the team several years down the road … Why trade MLB ready pitching now for draft picks?
I said IF they can’t get Fielder to resign.
Don’t the Brewers want MLB ready pitching?
If they’re trading Fielder, I’m thinking they want at least one MLB ready starter plus three of whatever team’s top prospects.
I’m not interested in trading Jake Arrieta, Zach Britton, L.J. Hoes and Xavier Avery for one year of Fielder. And, heck, that package probably wouldn’t even get the deal done. And I’m certainly not interested in including Brian Matusz in a deal for one year of Fielder.
“The Orioles have the pitching the Brewers need”
You know who else needs that pitching? The Orioles.
If the Os have any aspirations of competing in the offensive juggernaut that is the AL East its gonna be on the back of a strong five. Pretending like they have a surplus of starting pitching, when they don’t, and trading it away is beyond stupid (IMO).
What is the big rush with Fielder? You’re like a little whiny kid on Christmas Eve … everyday.
What is Fielder going to do next season that is worth giving up 4+ seasons of Matusz and several others? Is he that far and away better than our other options that we CAN’T wait a year? I don’t see it.
I know you’re anxious for MacPhail to show he’s serious about winning, but I’m curious to see if Prince is serious about being a star before we ship off our young rotation for him. At 5’10”, 300 lbs with a fat suit on, I don’t know that he is serious about baseball. If he can’t get into shape for his walk year, the chances of him staying in baseball shape into his 30’s doesn’t seem likely.
The Orioles would be foolish to even consider dealing Tillman. Following a path like the Jays, who hoarded their pitching, is the only way they will compete in the East.
How did hoarding Liz, Loewen, Penn, Cabrera etc work out for the O’s the first time? Tillman has enough question marks and red flags so that even at 22 you might be sellling high.
Think what you wish, but the Orioles are never going to go anywhere without good young pitching. Having Reynolds for the next 2 years isn’t going to get them out of the cellar.
If I’m selling high on Tillman, I’d rather acquire someone who can actually help my team.
Mark Reynolds is a terrible baseball player. And exposing him to the best division in baseball, where an 84-78 record would have been good for last place in 2010, is only going to speed up his decline.
Surely you can tell the difference between Liz, Loewen, Penn, Cabrera and Matusz, Tillman, Arrieta, Bergesen, Britton?
Actually being coveted by other organizations is a key difference …
Cabrera was coveted after his first season or two… I remember there were talks in the pipeline for a trade with the Marlins: Cabrera and Jorge Julio for A.J. Burnett and Mike Lowell. I”m sure you can find it in this site’s archives
I know you’re delusional and only see our prospects as pawns to get Fielder, but trading Tillman now is anything but selling high.
He’s shown promise in the minors, dominating for stretches, but has struggled with the Orioles. He has the skills, he just hasn’t put it all together.
If Arizona wants him for Reynolds, that ought to be a clue that his value is low and he wouldn’t be the centerpiece in a Fielder trade.
The more I think about Reynolds in Baltimore, the more I want to throw up.
1. Career: 767 strikeouts, 260 walks. Vomit.
2. Terrible defender. Vomit.
3. Owed $13.5M for 2011-12, plus the $500K he’ll get when his 2013 option is declined. Vomit.
4. Moving from NL West to AL East. Vomit.
Anything else?
he’s actually not that bad at fielding. I mean, he is no Evan Longoria but he isn’t a butcher either. Moving to the Al East with all those little league ball parks might not be a horrible thing either. NL West isn’t the easiest division either with tons of elite pitchers.
He was terrible at short in the minors. He was terrible at third in the minors. The only reason he was promoted was because of his power. He was beyond terrible with the glove in the majors 2008 and 2009. Sure, he was better in 2010, but let’s see if he can replicate a decent year before we make the “he’s not that bad” judgment.
And you don’t see many NL hitters make the switch the AL very easily. Especially terrible ones.
Finally, pitching in the AL East ain’t bad either. Especially once the Yanks sign Cliff Lee.
where did i once say that AL east pitching was bad? I implied that a transition wouldn’t be as hard as it appears because he is already facing guys like Ubaldo Jimenez, Tim Lincecum, Clayton Kershaw, Matt Cain, etc etc sort of aces on a regular basis. And he will be moving to hitters parks.
His defense isn’t elite. no one is claiming that. It is passable.
Why is Reynolds a terrible hitter? Terrible hitters are guys like Yuniesky Betancourt and Skip Schumaker who do absolutely nothing well. Reynolds can hit for power, has a bit of speed, patient hitter who can draw walks, even if he hits around the mendoza line. He can still have Carlos Pena type production with a .225-.240 sort of average with .330 OBP. I’l take that with a side of 35 HR’s. Terrible he is not.
The difference in the East is not in the fact that the West lacks aces. It surely doesn’t. It’s just that many AL East #4-5 starters are really front rotation types.
NL west has some pretty good back end starters as well. I’d put the likes of Zito, Sanchez, Lilly, Bumgarner, Richards, Cook, De La Rosa, and more right up there. I seriously don’t think he will have too much of a problem adjusting to the competition.
And the only team that couldn’t pitch well in the NL West was the one staff he didn’t face, his own.
I think his bad reputation is overblown because of that one season where he committed a ton of errors and had a fielding percentage of like .900. for his career he’s a -6 run defender at 3B over a full season, according to UZR and BBRef. the main reason is that despite his errors, he actually has decent range (almost exactly average for a 3rd baseman). the other 3rd basemen with similar defensive numbers over the past few seasons include David Wright, ARod, and Aramis Ramirez.
Who would you prefer? Arod? In the last three years Arod has put up 256 runs / 95 HR / 328 RBI / 36 stolen bases, hitting in the middle of a far superior offensive team. In the same three year period, Reynolds put up 264 runs / 104 HR / 284 RBI / 42 stolen bases, while spending 2/3 of his plate appearances hitting 5th, 6th, or 7th with no protection and a pitcher in the lineup. Oh yeah, and I nearly forgot, AROD made $94,000,000 over that span compared to roughly $1.6 million for Reynolds. You can do the same comparison with pretty much any third baseman outside of Longoria… Reynolds is worth every penny of what he’ll make in the next few years.
One last thing, your reaction to the 260 walks… the only third baseman during Reynolds’ 3 full seasons to have more walks are Chipper Jones and David Wright (by 13)… but hey, Wright is only owed $29 million over the next two years.
Tillman is wayyyyyyyyyyyy too much for Reynolds. If this happens I will officially be done with the Orioles. Tillman has been HR prone, but a 22 yr old with two very good years in AAA/ #22 ranked prospect only two years ago. This is also not an area within the team where the orioles can take chances. I can deal with moving Hernandez, but a bigger need is shortstop. Try hard for Hardy and at worst settle for Bartlett.
Hernandez for Hardy?
Hernandez could close (and do a damn good job of it) in a few years. Not sure that’s worth giving up.
Tillman? Did he do some good work in the Mexican league that I missed? Being big and 22 doesn’t make you good. He was average in the minor leagues and he’s been horrible in the bigs.
You’re clueless and have no clue about evaluating players. Stats don’t matter in the minors, it’s about performance (especially for pitchers where fielding can be poor).
With a little more movement on his FB and better control of his curve he could be downright filthy.
So, you mean Tillman is not good now? That is what you said, right? And speaking of performance, Reynolds has finished in the top 7 of every offensive category outside of OBP and AVG in each of his first three full seasons, amongst all MLB third baseman. That number is only way down to top 7 because he split his ABs between 5th and 6th last season… and being surrounded by guys who also were amongst positional leaders in Ks… every one of them save for LF.
Two final remarks… Mark Reynolds, despite a career worst season, would have led the O’s in runs, rbi, hr, walks (yes, walks), and probably a handful of other offensive stats last year. And, his OBP was .005 below that of Adam Jones, who hit .284.
Yeah…
I don’t have a problem with Reynolds… so that little rant confused me.
And I didn’t say Tillman wasn’t good. I think he did exactly what anyone would expect from a 22 yr. old in the AL East.
Sooooo yeah… this is awkward…
The difference between the pitching in the NL West and the AL East is a lot of the ‘Big’ starters in the East are left handed. Which is why the O’s want a RH power hitter. .913? Yup pretty nice OPS Mark had last season vs LH pitchers.
Also why would anyone vomit at 260 walks? The guy gets on base! His career OB% is 92 points higher then his batting average. And I’d be thrilled to have a guy who averages 35 HR 100 RBI every 162 games. When is the last time the O’s had a guy do even 30/90?
27/72 missing about 30 games last yr Luke Scott was pretty damn close…I like reynolds but as a compliment type player with this offense, it’s just consistently frustrating when you hear they are going to spend money V-mart was a priority this offseason that got us no where.
Macphail said build the arms and BUY the bats
Tillman for reynolds is overpaying for a guy that’s an average 3b with some pop in his bat
As Orioles fans we need to see an attempt at making this team better bringing in Mark Reynolds isn’t going to put people in the seats and I guarantee that move would be followed with Adam Laroche at first base and then probably bringing Izturis back and we made no progress what so ever this offseason.
The main problem I’m coming across is however is that YES were bad but we can’t value Prospects for Good major league ballplayers, hence Felix Pie(don’t get me wrong I love Pie) is an Oriole when the Cubs thought he was the next superstar along with baseball america
I just don’t think Reynolds is the guy to pull the trigger on
Luke had a good year for the O’s. Sadly he’s a DH and as a DH he wasn’t even in the top 3 offensively. The O’s need more pop. And they need pop from the right side. Someone to slot in between Nick and Luke.
Both Reynolds and LaRoche would be huge upgrades over last years team. Tejada, Wigginton, Bell and Atkins together did not put out the offense those 2 guys did for Arizona at the corners. I’d take corner IFs combining for 57 HR 185 RBI after last years crap. Actually after the crap thats been at the corners for awhile. Also these are players Buck has a hand in getting. So if he sees something in Reynolds I think I will trust him.
I know Izzy can’t hit. And his fielding is so good that people picked Jeter to win the GG. But unless someone comes up with a good SS that can get on 35% of the time I guess I can deal with him.
27/72 missing about 30 games last yr Luke Scott was pretty damn close…I like reynolds but as a compliment type player with this offense, it’s just consistently frustrating when you hear they are going to spend money V-mart was a priority this offseason that got us no where.
Macphail said build the arms and BUY the bats
Tillman for reynolds is overpaying for a guy that’s an average 3b with some pop in his bat
As Orioles fans we need to see an attempt at making this team better bringing in Mark Reynolds isn’t going to put people in the seats and I guarantee that move would be followed with Adam Laroche at first base and then probably bringing Izturis back and we made no progress what so ever this offseason.
The main problem I’m coming across is however is that YES were bad but we can’t value Prospects for Good major league ballplayers, hence Felix Pie(don’t get me wrong I love Pie) is an Oriole when the Cubs thought he was the next superstar along with baseball america
I just don’t think Reynolds is the guy to pull the trigger on
Why do the O’s always want crap?
this guy is too one dimensional, but i guess if you need power…
42 stolen bases in 3 seasons… at least give him two dimensions. He has also increased his walks every year… he had more walks than any other third baseman this season, 11 more than Longoria in 75 fewer at bats.
Konerko is not gonna sign with the Os. Stop reporting they’re “In the mix”. That’s ridiculous.
Tillman when he was on has shown the ability to be a top rotation guy. The problem was his confidence was shot last year in Baltimore, just watching his mechanics you could see he was not pitching but aiming. Now that the Orioles have cleared out their horrible coaching staff he potentially can start fresh. He’s working this off-season with Matusz and that can only help. I don’t see them trading him for Reynolds anyway.
As an Oriole fan I really hope Rosenthal is off base with his “heaviest interest” claim. This would be Garrett Atkins all over again. Oh, the O’s could expect more homers from Reynolds than they got last year from Atkins, but that’s not saying much. AL East pitching will chew him up and spit him out (250 Ks in 2011?) and, worse than signing Atkins as a free agent, acquiring Reynolds would mean the Orioles would be required to give up decent young pitching talent for little in return. If the report is accurate, then someone had better check to see what being put in Andy MacPhail’s cereal, because there’s a good reason the D’Backs are eager to part with a 30-40 HR-a-year hitter…or should I say, 30-40 HR-a-year hacker!
I don’t think Getting Mark Reynolds would be a bad move, considering the HR’s he is capable of putting up from the right side of the plate that overshadows his K’s and defense imo. Plus then the O’s could get some one who could hit for better average for 1b. Obviously signing Reynolds is not going to put the O’s over the top for 2011 but right now I think they need to start improving each season to be able to get some better FA’s in the future.