The Orioles have acquired veteran slugger Jim Thome from the Phillies for Single-A prospects Kyle Simon and Gabriel Lino, both teams have announced. O's GM Dan Duquette told reporters (including Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com) that the two sides had been talking for about a week before finalizing the trade on Saturday (Twitter link).
Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. recently disclosed that he was open to moving Thome if there was a deal that made sense for both the slugger and the team. After his recent strong showing at designated hitter during interleague play, Thome was on board with joining an American League club in need of a bat. Philadelphia had been reportedly shopping him to teams in need of a DH and the O's fit the bill.
Thome, 41, is hitting .242/.338/.516 with five homers in 71 plate appearances this season. Most of that damage has come as the DH during interleague play, including a 6-for-13 showing during a three-game series in Camden Yards earlier this month. Thome missed more than a month with a back strain earlier this season.
Baltimore's designated hitters have hit a solid .258/.349/.439 this season, though they've rotated between Nick Johnson, Mark Reynolds, Chris Davis, and others. Johnson was recently placed on the DL with a wrist problem, so Thome gives them a replacement left-handed bat, one that should provide more power. The Orioles designated left-hander Zach Phillips for assignment in a corresponding move to free up a 40-man roster spot.
Simon, 21, was Baltimore's fourth round pick in last year's draft. The right-hander has pitched to a 3.96 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 14 starts and 72 2/3 innings down in A-ball this year. Baseball America ranked him as the Orioles' 18th best prospect before the season in their Prospect Handbook, saying Simon "should be an innings-eating starter." He was originally drafted by Joe Jordan, the Phillies farm director who was previously with the Orioles.
Lino, a 19-year-old backstop, is hitting .218/.282/.340 in 227 plate appearances down in Low Class-A this year. Baseball America ranked him as Baltimore's 21st best prospect before the season in their Prospect Handbook, noting that he offers power potential but is raw behind the plate.
Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com first reported that the two sides were in talks while Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported the trade agreement (on Twitter). Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com and Rosenthal later added details (Twitter links). Photo courtesy of US Presswire.
Wow…
See ya in Cooperstown, Jim.
lol
hows that funny?
It’s funny because Thome isn’t even close to being a Hall of Famer. He only has 609 homers…Wait.
What a slap in the face, can’t even let an all time great retire with his team. Trading him for a couple of D- prospects…geez…
Lol, you make it sound like I’m Ruben Amaro Jr. I didn’t want him traded either, but it’s best for both sides. We get prospects, and he gets to play. Still one of the most respected players to ever play the game.
They asked him if he wanted to be traded weeks ago, if the right situation came up.
Nice of the Phillies to do, honestly. And I guess Baltimore’s been emboldened by that extra “playoff” spot.
They really didn’t give up anything of value. The prospects may turn out to be something but that is very unlikely. Halfway through the season and they are 1 game up on the last wildcard spot. The team lost 93 games last year, and hasn’t competed in awhile. Might as well give it a shot, their fanbase really needs a playoff run, they were previously capable of a big payroll in the 90’s
A 41-year-old DH isn’t going to help a team with only two reliable starting pitchers.
Thome will be fun to watch and all, but this move seems fairly pointless to this O’s fan.
Waiting for the “Lefty update” on this maneuver now…
Looks pretty good, so far. Better (and cheaper) than retaining Luke Scott would have been.
Good move for Thome,Thanks for the memories big fella, Now where does the other shoe drop.
Thank God Detroit didn’t trade for him…
why?
Because Detroit doesn’t already have enough defensive liabilities and even more when VMart returns?
VMart won’t return until september if at all. Detroit should have tried to get him if this is all it took. They have been using delmon young at dh alot, and he is a terrible hitter.
I wonder how many bats the Orioles are sending over to the Phillies? And I mean that figuratively and literally.
Got-R-Done!
I am happy!
Now lets do some more Wheelin and Dealin Duquette!
I gotta admit, it would have been pretty hilarious if Tejada and Moyer stayed with the team and made the team prior to this trade, and then we signed Vlad just for good measure. In all seriousness though anyone who has been following the O’s knows this is a 100% upgrade to the lineup.
Source: Jim Thome to Baltimore for a cold turkey.
Lino is a very good haul in this type of trade.
A Single-A catcher hitting .218 who’ll more than likely turn out to be a dud is hardly a good haul for a team with nobody in their bullpen besides a closer.
If you base your whole perception of him on a quick stat search then I guess you are right.
boom
Teenage catchers take a while to develop, look at Bethancourt in ATL, for years he put up horrible numbers offensivly and he is finally sparking up some. Lino is seen as possibly being a plus defender with some raw power. That’s not bad for a guy nearing retirement.
A .622 Ops catcher? Especially we have a catcher. Does he have upside at all?
He plays good defense, pretty good power potential. Potential problems with contact down the road, but pretty good baseball acumen behind the plate. Even if he was a backup catch eventually for the Phils for many years its a good move for the future.
OPS for a 19 year old? c’mon you’re better then that
Truly an honor to watch this guy play the game. Wish him the best in Baltimore.
I know its players late in their career and all that, but its still always cool to see Hall of Famers in O’s uniforms.
Good luck in Baltimore, Thome. I hope you have another shot at the playoffs.
Phils are giving up on the season already!?!?!
Professional courtesy. Jim would get maybe 30 at bats if he stayed with the Phillies for the rest of the year and he’s proven he’s not very effective as a pinch hitter.
Really surprised the Orioles gave up Lino for Thome
Nice to see us get some catching depth in the system beyond Rupp and Valle.
I like the trade for both sides. The Orioles get a definite upgrade in Thome who will benefit from a consistent amount of ABs and the Phillies manage to come away with value in Lino. The American League East adds to its crop of very solid DH types and the Orioles are able to bring in a future HOFer which will surely get fans excited no matter how old he is. Thome is a great veteran presence to help the youngsters during the heat of a playoff race.
I really hope that the additional players will help push the O’s into the playoffs. I don’t think the O’s fans could bare to stand another 2005 season.
But at the very least, I think it’s a good thing the lost prospects aren’t highly rated.
3rd big trade of the season.
The Freri(spelling?) trade I can see, but what is the other one?
Sean O’Sullivan. C’mon man. Youk.
I wouldn’t define that as a huge trade yet. Name value: sure, actually production remains to be seen.
Now Reynolds to Dodgers.
that is a terrible move for reyolds and the Dodgers. Chavez Ravine is too large of a park for a real 2 result hitter (strike out or homer). Reyolds would still hit 240, but instead of hitting 30-40 homers, he goes to 25-30 at best.
The dodgers need to build around small ball, speed and D. Kemp is the ideal player there, but gordon as a 2b would fit well. They need a Sean Casey type of 1b (great average and solid D) not a Pena or reynolds type. sorry but could not think of a guy in the same mold as casey playing now
Well looks like the Cub’s are stuck with Soriano for another year
Great for the O’s! This guy is no doubt headin to the hall. I had the pleasure of watchin him hammer the ball around Target Field with the Twins. I hope the he has a chance at that ring he deserves! Go O’s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Whoa whoa WHOA. Aren’t we burying the lede here, guys?
Nick Johnson’s injured?
And it’s his wrist?
How could ANYONE have seen this coming?
That walk-off he hit against the Rays still gives me chills. Thanks buddy and good luck!
yay for having 4 DH’s now!
I know how you feel look at the Rays. LOL
Or the Blue Jays.
Who’s DH on the jays?
E5 is a terrible feilder that should DH, Joey bats is minus feilder, Adam Lind is their Dh now, but is at least a neutral feilder, Arencebia is just blocking a real C from reaching the bigs… That makes 4, you may disagree with bautista, but that still is 3.
The Os have a lot of prospect washouts that are more like DH players. Chris Davis, Wilson Betemit, Mark Reynolds, Nolan Reimold, Xavier Avery (who should only hit lefties)… and now Thome. Betemit is the only guy you can agrue on that list (he is not a good fielder, but is a slightly below average fielder at 4 or 5 positions).
Rays have Luke Scott and Hideki Matsui as obvious DH players. But they do not have too many guys. 2 just means that the 5 or 6 vets most teams that need a DH bring in every year, 2 panned out.
wrong on all accounts. good show
This is a great move for the O’s. Showalter has been given another important piece to use in games.Even when Thome doesn’t play, he alters the strategy late in the game.
Not an earth shattering transaction, but with Orioles playing as well as they are, it’s made the AL East race much more interesting.
Thome is going to Rake with regular at bats and Camden Yards as his Playground. The AL Beast just got a whole lot better!
both prospect are near bottom of orioles top 20, don’t see a big deal in who baltimore gave up
Lino is only 19 with a ton of upside. He’s ranked low now and struggling, but the people who follow the O’s minor leagues feel in a year or two he could really shine. In fact the Orioles “top 20” list is no real indication of the talent of the players.
for a team that lost 93 games last year and finally has a chance to make a playoff run this is a very good move. Lino could work out, but there is a big chance he never makes it,
No doubt the risk is there, but this is a good upside haul for Thome.
TBH, I really don’t see the O’s making the postseason. To me their team is not nearly good enough, and they are more a fluke. 3 of their starters have an era over 5.00, and one of their 2 good starters has an era close to 5 in 700 previous innings. Their lineup also isn’t that great, to pick up for all that slack.
Proof, They have allowed 16 more runs then they have scored, yet are 7 games over .500.
The first paragraph is mostly true.
The second paragraph is true on its face, but they had a positives run differential before the absolute collapse of the past week so its really not a telling stat in this situation.
Also in the O’s defense, they are about to get Nick Markakis back in the lineup and they have some really promising starters in AAA knocking on the door. Further, the bullpen has been so good that it really picks up slack for bad starting pitching.
I hope you’re not talking about Chris Tillman…
He is, but supposedly Tillman is a completely different pitcher this year. He apparently radically altered his mechanics based on some new biometrics analysis the Orioles have been doing. I’m certainly still dubious he’s a major league pitcher, but I’m sure we’ll see before July is over based on the last turn through the Orioles rotation…
haha! no I’m not! In the pecking order for me its: Johnson, Gonzalez, then Tillman for starters, but Gonzalez is about to come up it seems.
Ok, but you really can’t call a team a playoff contender when their “ACE” is Jason Hammel. I’ve never been big on markakis. Sure he gets on base, and gets some doubles but he doesn’t really have that much power and he is making 12M this year, he plays rf and hits 15 hr per year.
There are at least 5 teams better than them competing for the 2 wc slots.
I never did call them a playoff contender. With that said, with the exception of last game Hammel has pitched like an ace.
Your statements on Markakis aren’t really valid. He plays + defense in right field and gets on base (as you said). Who cares how much he is making? There isn’t a team in baseball who wouldn’t want him in RF for that price.
Welcome to Baltimore hope You will be a good addition and a great teacher to these young birds
What was Big Jim doing back on the Phillies?
It’s a waste of money and a roster spot to just have him be a pinch hitter once a game.
thome for Adam Jones!
Because one of these days, he’s going to stay healthy. And he’s got a career OBP of .399, so you could do worse if he could stay off the DL. Then again, he hasn’t played 100 games in a season since 2009 (only 774 PA’s since then). So while he’s a useful part (OPS+ above 100 every year from 2003 to 2009, save 2004 and 2007, and he was OPS+’ing 98 this season), he just can’t stay on the field.
So to answer your question, front office optimism.
I hate to say it, but you sarcasm detector is broken…
I’m talking overall, as in they’ve not played this well to this point in years. The O’s have played tough and have been in many more games than in previous years. The addition of Thome will bolster their improvement and make reaching .500 a realistic goal at a minimum.
it’s a long season, which means anything is possible. That includes them falling on their faces, but they’re showing real signs of improvement. All teams go through tough patches, so you shouldn’t judge them on just the month of June.
Agreed. Could be Cleveland.
you are also missing the gold glove level 1b he plays. he has some big pluses to his game. Overall he is a solid DH (as a solid bat) and very good part time 1B. He is an ideal bench player especially for a team that really had some questions at 1b (reynolds is there now, but he and Davis were both primarily 3b before this year so the team did not have a real 1b in camp)
To be fair, Mark Reynolds is really only a 3B on his baseball card. Although I could’ve sworn the Rangers played Chris Davis at 1B when they called him up, even though I know he could go 1B/3B.
mostly since they have had a bunch of good 3b in recent memory… even blalock was very good for a few years.
or Detroit, if he can play RF