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Orioles Moving Tyler Wells To Bullpen

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The Orioles are taking a look at right-hander Tyler Wells out of the bullpen down in Triple-A Norfolk and could use him as a reliever down the stretch and into the postseason, tweets Jake Rill of MLB.com. Wells was optioned to Double-A last month after an alarming lapse in his command saw him walk or hit a quarter of his opponents in his first three starts following the All-Star break (nine walks, three hit batters, 48 total opponents faced).

Wells, 29 this weekend, got out to a brilliant start for the O’s in 2023, pitching to a 2.68 ERA in his first seven starts (47 innings). That success was largely built on a minuscule .145 average on balls in play and 88.2% strand rate, however, both of which are unsustainable measures for any pitcher over a larger sample. Dating back to mid-May, Wells has turned in a more pedestrian 4.59 ERA, while both his BABIP (.250) and strand rate (80.1%) in that time have begun to regress (though they’re both still a ways from league-average levels). The right-hander also lost a mile per hour off his fastball during that stretch; he averaged 93.2 mph through his first seven starts and 92.2 mph thereafter.

The 106 innings that Wells threw for the Orioles in 2022 (minors and big leagues combined) was his highest total since 2018. The former Rule 5 pick out of the Twins organization tossed just 57 innings from 2019-21, owing to injury and the canceled minor league season in 2020. Including the 9 2/3 innings he’s pitched since being optioned, Wells is up to 123 1/3 innings this season — topping the career-high 119 1/3 innings he pitched back in ’18.

Though the plan might be to manage Wells’ workload down the stretch with shorter relief appearances, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com writes that the organization isn’t necessarily closing the book on Wells a starter entirely. He could get a look in the rotation again next year, depending on the extent to which the O’s address the starting staff in the offseason. Baltimore will see both Kyle Gibson and trade acquisition Jack Flaherty become free agents at season’s end. Wells would join Grayson Rodriguez, Dean Kremer, Kyle Bradish, Bruce Zimmermann and DL Hall as in-house rotation options next season (though Hall has also been working in relief since returning from a stint on the minor league injured list).

If Wells acclimates well to the relief role and pitches his way back onto the big league roster, he’d be a boon for what’s already a strong relief corps — headlined by All-Stars Felix Bautista and Yennier Cano. Baltimore relievers rank sixth in the Majors with a 3.58 ERA, third with a 26.5% strikeout rate and first with just 0.82 homers per nine innings pitched. Wells pitched out of Baltimore’s bullpen in 2021, logging 57 innings of 4.11 ERA ball as a rookie. In 274 1/3 innings at the big league level — all with the O’s — he’s posted a 4.04 ERA with a roughly average 22.9% strikeout rate and an excellent 6.6% walk rate but a more troubling 1.64 homers per nine frames.

Wells needed a full 172 days of Major League service time in 2023 to reach three years of service, which he won’t get after being optioned late last month. However, assuming he’s recalled at some point between now and season’s end, he should still gain enough service to qualify as a Super Two player, making him arbitration-eligible four times rather than the standard three. This optional assignment has nevertheless likely delayed his path to free agency by a year; since he can’t reach three years of service this season, he’ll now be controllable at least through the 2027 campaign instead of after the 2026 season, as he’d been on pace for entering the year.

Orioles Reinstate Austin Voth, Transfer Keegan Akin To 60-Day IL

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The Orioles have reinstated right-hander Austin Voth from the 60-day injured list and optioned righty Mike Baumann to Triple-A Norfolk, per a team announcement. Left-hander Keegan Akin, who’s been out since late June due to a back injury, was moved from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL to create 40-man space for Voth’s return.

Voth, 31, has been out since mid-June due to an elbow issue but recently wrapped up a minor league rehab assignment, pitching 11 1/3 frames of 3.97 ERA ball across three minor league levels. Prior to hitting the injured list, Voth had pitched to a 4.94 ERA in 31 innings out of the Baltimore bullpen, punching out 21.5% of his opponents against a 9.7% walk rate along the way.

The O’s claimed Voth off waivers from the Nationals on June 7, 2022, and immediately received improved results from the longtime Nats prospect. He’d allowed 21 runs in 18 2/3 innings with Washington in 2022 and posted an overall 5.70 ERA in 189 2/3 innings as a member of that organization. Voth, however, tossed 83 innings of 3.04 ERA ball down the stretch in Baltimore, making 22 appearances — 17 of them starts. Voth and the O’s agreed to a one-year, $1.85MM deal with a club option over the winter, avoiding arbitration in the process.

Given the way the 2023 season has played out, the O’s might not be keen on picking up that $2.45MM club option. Even if the team declines, however, Voth would remain under club control as an arbitration-eligible player. The O’s could decline that $2.45MM salary and still try to work out a deal with Voth at a lower rate — somewhere between this year’s salary and that would-be club option price. Of course, Baltimore could also consider non-tendering Voth and moving on entirely. His performance down the stretch will go a long way in determining that outcome.

Akin, 28, finds himself in a relatively similar situation. The southpaw had a strong 2022 season with the O’s, compiling 81 2/3 innings with a 3.20 ERA, 23.4% strikeout rate, 6.1% walk rate, 49.3% grounder rate and 1.10 HR/9. He’s had a rough go of it in ’23, however, pitching to a 6.85 ERA in 23 2/3 innings. Akin has actually slightly improved his strikeout rate, maintained his walk rate and cut back on the home runs he’s yielded. However, his grounder rate has also tanked, and opponents are clobbering his pitches (90.7 mph average exit velocity) after struggling to make hard contact in 2022 (87.8 mph). A .434 average on balls in play is surely due for some regression, but the uptick in hard contact and a line-drive rate that’s jumped from 18.1% to 28.6% underlines the fact that Akin’s struggles can’t be chalked up to poor luck alone.

Like Voth, Akin will be eligible for arbitration this winter. He’s going through that process for the first time, so he’ll be looking for his first raise of note over the league minimum. Akin’s success out of the ’pen in 2022 could well be enough to convince the Orioles to tender him despite this year’s poor results, but it’s not a lock they’ll choose to do so. Akin has already been out since late June, so the move to the 60-day IL is largely procedural. He’s already missed nearly 60 days, so this move won’t materially alter his path to a return. Akin began a minor league rehab assignment in late July but had a setback after two appearances and has yet to get back into a game.

Orioles Release Mychal Givens

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TODAY: The Orioles announced that Givens has been officially released.

AUGUST 19: Givens has cleared DFA waivers, and the Orioles announced that he has been placed on unconditional release waivers.

AUGUST 13: The Orioles announced that right-hander Mychal Givens has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and designated for assignment.

Givens, 33, signed a one-year deal in the offseason with a $5MM guarantee. Unfortunately, injuries have prevented him from providing much of anything this year. He began the season on the injured list thanks to left knee inflammation. He was activated in May but returned to the IL after just six appearances, this time due to right shoulder inflammation, eventually getting transferred to the 60-day version of the IL.

He seems to be healthy again, as he began a new rehab assignment a couple of weeks ago. But the O’s seem to have decided they don’t have room for him on their roster and have cut him loose instead. As a veteran with more than five years of service time, he can’t be optioned to the minors. He also has the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of electing free agency while retaining all of his salary.

The deal that he signed came with a $3MM salary here in 2023 and then there’s a $6MM mutual option for 2024. If Givens declines his end of the option, he would receive a $1MM buyout. If he triggers his end and the team declines, it’s a $2MM buyout. There’s still about $790K of that salary left to be paid out, as well as the buyout/option. Given his health issues this year and that money, he’ll almost certainly clear waivers, leaving the Orioles responsible for that cash.

That will allow any of the 29 other clubs to sign him and pay him just the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the O’s pay. Although he’s been injured for much of the year, other clubs could still be interested based on his previous track record. Givens has a career ERA of 3.47 over 425 appearances dating back to 2015, striking out 28.2% of hitters while walking 10%.

Orioles Place Aaron Hicks On 10-Day Injured List

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Prior to tonight’s game with the A’s, the Orioles placed outfielder Aaron Hicks on the 10-day injured list due to a lower back strain, with a retroactive placement date of August 16.  Ryan McKenna was called up from Triple-A to take Hicks’ spot on the active roster and as part of Baltimore’s outfield mix.

Injuries have plagued Hicks throughout his career, and his recent setbacks are at least less serious than some of his past season-shortening issues.  However, Hicks missed about three weeks due to a hamstring strain before being activated last Monday, but he played in just one game before being sidelined again with his back problem.

As Hicks told MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko and other reporters, “as soon as I start hitting it kind of starts to flare up a little bit….Walking around I feel fine, doing little things feel fine, rotation feels fine.  And then as soon as I start to try to fire it up and get moving as fast as possible is when it starts wanting to shut down.”

The Orioles’ plan is to shut Hicks down for around two weeks, manager Brandon Hyde told Kubatko and company, then re-evaluate.  With this cautious approach, Hicks will need some ramp-up time and perhaps more minor league rehab games before returning, so the veteran seems to be looking at a rough return timeline of the second week of September.  Because the injury is “kind of hit or miss right now,” as Hicks put it, the timeline might conceivably be shorter if his back spasms quickly dissipate.

The two IL stints have put a damper on a nice comeback run for Hicks in an O’s uniform.  After the Yankees designated and subsequently released Hicks in late May, he caught on with the Orioles for a minimum salary, as New York is still paying the rest of the roughly $22.6MM still owed on Hicks’ contract through the 2025 campaign.  The change of scenery seemed to help, as Hicks is hitting .261/.355/.440 with six homers over 155 plate appearances for Baltimore, after managing only a .211/.322/.317 slash line in 579 PA with the Yankees in 2021-22.

Given Hicks’ previous IL trip, the Orioles have gotten used to adjusting with Hicks in the lineup.  Austin Hays, Cedric Mullins, and Anthony Santander will remain the club’s primary outfield trio, though Santander is missing today’s game due to what Hyde described as “general soreness.”  Ryan O’Hearn and McKenna will also provide outfield depth in a part-time capacity.

John Angelos Reportedly Seeking Public Land, Extra Funding In Orioles’ Stadium Lease Negotiations

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It was reported back in February that the Orioles had declined a five-year lease extension on their lease at Camden Yards. The hope was that they could work out a longer deal that would allow them to take advantage of a new Maryland law and borrow $600MM for stadium upgrades. It was hoped that the longer deal would be worked out by the All-Star break, but it hasn’t come to fruition, with new reporting from Andy Kostka, Brenda Wintrode, Hallie Miller and Pamela Wood of The Baltimore Banner indicating club CEO and chairman John Angelos is trying to leverage the negotiations to acquire public land.

As noted in the report, Angelos and Maryland Governor Wes Moore took a tour of The Battery in March. The Atlanta area development houses Truist Park, where the Braves play, as well as various other spaces for retail, commercial and residential uses. He seems to see The Battery as a kind of model to emulate, though there are logistical challenges to following that blueprint in Baltimore. As noted in the report from the Banner, the Braves moved away from Turner Field in Atlanta to the suburb of Cumberland, purchasing 82 acres of land and spending $452MM on The Battery.

With that model in mind, Angelos is reportedly trying to get an extra $300MM in state funds as well as public land around Camden Yards, which is holding up a deal as the deadline looms at the end of the year. There are several obstacles to Angelos getting his wish, per the authors of the report.

One complication involves the Baltimore Ravens, who play in M&T Bank Stadium, just south of Camden Yards. The Maryland Stadium Authority lease with the Ravens, which that club signed in January, contains a clause requiring “parity” with their fowl neighbors. If the authority negotiates more favorable terms for the Orioles, they would have to modify their agreement with the Ravens in a comparable fashion.

Another part of that lease is that 4,000 nearby parking spaces have to remain surface lots, not to be turned into underground parking, so as to allow tailgating. The report notes that there are also state-owned parking lots nearby, with the revenue generated from those lots goes to the teams. If the O’s wanted that land, the authority would need to start a procurement process that could involve bids from other developers. One source with knowledge of the negotiations tells the authors that Angelos won’t get the land or money he is seeking.

Regardless of the complicated details, the report notes that the negotiations have shifted, with the plan moving from straightforward stadium upgrades to a much more complex design. A public opinion poll was circulated this week, from an unknown source, asking Marylanders how they felt about the Orioles potentially pursuing a larger revitalization project in a “public-private partnership.”

All this comes on the heels of an apparently tumultuous period for the Angelos family. Reports from 2022 indicated the family had been battling each other over how to move forward with the club after Peter Angelos collapsed in 2017, with Goldman Sachs having been retained to look into the possibility of a sale. There were various lawsuits involving Peter’s wife Georgia and their sons John and Louis, though it was reported in February of 2023 that those had all been dropped, just a few days after the club declined to renew its lease at Camden Yards. John was formally approved by the league’s other owners as the Orioles’ new control person following the 2020 season.

John Angelos has declined to comment on the current matter but Governor Moore expressed optimism about the process. “There is a core belief that this is about what we need to do to create a winner on the field, but also I’m committed to making sure that this is a win for Baltimore, and that this is a win for the state of Maryland,” he said. “We have a shared vision to be able to build a new journey and a new era where having the Orioles and the Ravens and all the other activities you can have in Baltimore … [happen] simultaneously. And we’re all going to win.” The current lease expires on December 31 of this year.

José Bautista To Officially Retire

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José Bautista hasn’t played in a big league game since 2018 but had never officially retired in the years after his last appearance. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet was among those to report today that Bautista will sign a one-day contract with Toronto to officially retire as a Blue Jay, as part of the ceremony wherein he will be added to the club’s Level of Excellence on Saturday.

Bautista, now 42, didn’t have the typical path to baseball stardom as he wasn’t a high draft pick or top prospect. The Pirates selected him in the 20th round of the draft in 2000 and he would get some modest attention from prospect evaluators after that, with Baseball America ranking him #14 in the system in 2002 and #7 in 2003.

In 2004, he had an especially unusual season, getting selected by the Orioles in the Rule 5 draft. As the season wore on, he was claimed off waivers by the Devil Rays, then was subsequently traded to the Royals, Mets and back to the Pirates. He would stick with the Pirates for a few years, mostly as a third baseman but also playing some outfield. He showed glimpses of his potential at the plate, hitting 16 home runs in 2006, 15 the year after and another 15 in 2008.

That 2008 season saw him traded to the Blue Jays in August for a player to be named later, which was eventually revealed as Robinzon Díaz. A fairly forgettable transaction at the time, it would later prove to be the start of the defining era of Bautista’s career.

His first full season as a Blue Jay wasn’t especially noteworthy, as Bautista hit 13 home runs in 2009, though there were a few developments that would prove to be important in later years. He began incorporating a leg kick into his swing and also started to spend more time in right field, with his strong throwing arm a good fit for that spot.

In 2010, at the age of 29, Bautista broke out in stunning fashion. He launched 54 home runs for the Jays that year, setting a new single season record for the franchise. He also showed a keen eye at the plate, drawing walks in 14.6% of his plate appearances. His .260/.378/.617 batting line amounted to a wRC+ of 165, indicating he was 65% better than the league average hitter. The Jays decided to bank on that breakout, giving Bautista a five-year, $65MM extension that covered his final arbitration season and four free agent years, with a club option for 2016.

He followed that up with an even better season overall. His home run tally dropped to 43 in 2011, but his patient approach allowed him to take advantage of pitchers giving him less to hit. He was walked in 20.2% of his trips to the plate in 2011, leading to a .302/.447/.608 slash line. His 180 wRC+ was the best in the majors that year and would eventually prove to be his personal best as well. He was considered to be worth 8.1 wins above replacement by FanGraphs and 8.4 by Baseball Reference. He came in third in AL MVP voting behind Justin Verlander and Jacoby Ellsbury.

His production would continue in fairly similar fashion for years to come, defined by both his power output and on-base abilities. From 2012 to 2016, he hit between 22 and 40 home runs each year with his walk rate never finishing below 13.1%. Despite that excellent production, and that of another late-blooming star in Edwin Encarnación, the Jays struggled to push too far beyond .500 in most of those seasons.

The 2015 season finally changed that, with the Jays aggressively bolstering the roster by adding Josh Donaldson, Russell Martin and others in the offseason. The trade deadline saw further aggression, with the club adding a batch of players headlined by Troy Tulowitzki and David Price. The moves paid off when the Jays surged in the final months of the season and finished 93-69, winning the American League East and cracking the postseason for the first time since 1993.

Bautista’s first opportunity to play in the playoffs would lead to a singular moment and image that are now cemented in the minds of millions of baseball fans. The Jays squared off against the Rangers in the Wild Card series, which had a best-of-five format at that time. The Jays lost the first two games but rallied to tie it up and force a fifth contest.

In the deciding game, the Jays fell behind in the top of the seventh 3-2 on a strange play wherein Rougned Odor scored when Martin’s attempted throw back to pitcher Aaron Sanchez hit the bat of Shin-Soo Choo and ricocheted away. Home plate umpire Dale Scott initially ruled the ball dead but the umpiring crew eventually allowed the run to score. That soured the mood in the stadium, with many fans throwing debris to express their displeasure.

In the bottom of the frame, several defensive miscues from the Rangers allowed the Jays to tie the game up before Bautista launched a two-out, three-run home run to give the Jays a 6-3 lead. Bautista reacted to the emotionally-charged atmosphere by flipping his bat high into the air, which proved to be controversial in some baseball circles, though it would quickly become an iconic moment among Jays’ fans. Toronto held on to win that game but would lose to the Royals in the ALCS.

After Bautista’s extension ended, the Jays gave him a $17.2MM qualifying offer for 2017. He rejected that and became a free agent but eventually returned to Toronto via a one-year, $18.5MM deal. He still hit 23 home runs and walked in 12.2% of his plate appearances, but his overall production fell to .203/.308/.366 and a wRC+ of 81.

In 2018, he returned to the journeyman status that started his career, bouncing to the Braves, Mets and Phillies. He didn’t sign with a club in the years to come, though he did reportedly consider a comeback as a two-way player in 2020, but later threw some cold water on those reports. He played for the Dominican Republic team in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which were pushed to 2021 by delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now it seems his playing days will be officially ended during this weekend’s festivities, tying a bow on one of the more unique baseball journeys. Though Bautista began and ended his career as a journeyman, he had a late bloom that led to a lengthy stretch as one of the best players in the league. From 2010 to 2015, he hit 227 home runs, easily the most in the league for that time with Miguel Cabrera second at 199. He slashed .268/.390/.555 in that time for a wRC+ of 156 and tallied 33.2 fWAR, that latter figure placing him sixth among position players. His 60 outfield assists in that stretch were topped by just three other big leaguers. He engineered many memorable moments during that peak, too many to list here, featuring both his tremendous talents as well as his fiery and standout personality.

Over his career as a whole, he played 1,798 games and took 7,244 trips to the plate. He launched 344 home runs and walked at a 14.2% rate, leading to a .247/.361/.475 batting line and 126 wRC+. He had 1,496 hits, 1,022 runs scored, 975 driven in and stole 70 bases. He tallied 35.3 fWAR and 36.7 bWAR. He made six straight All-Star teams from 2010 to 2015, led the league in home runs twice, earned a couple of Hank Aaron awards and three Silver Sluggers. As a Blue Jay, his tallies of 38.3 bWAR and 36.2 fWAR are both the best in franchise history among position players, with only Dave Stieb and Roy Halladay ahead of him overall.

We at MLB Trade Rumors salute Bautista on an incredibly special career and wish him the best in all his post-playing endeavors.

Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Injury Notes: Means, Neto, Treinen, Heim

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The Orioles are sending left-hander John Means on a minor league rehab stint on Thursday, tweets Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. He’ll take the ball for their Double-A club in Bowie.

It’ll be Means’ first game action since he underwent Tommy John surgery last April. The 16-month recovery timetable is towards the longer end of the typical TJS rehab, in part due to a back strain Means suffered this past May. The rehab outings represent his final steps as he builds back to MLB readiness. Pitchers are typically allotted 30 days on a stint, though players working back from Tommy John procedures can get a longer window with league approval.

If all goes well, it stands to reason Means will be back on the Camden Yards mound sometime next month. The 2019 All-Star will get to pitch in a pennant race for the first time in his career. After tonight’s dramatic loss at the hands of the Astros, Baltimore holds a two-game lead on Tampa Bay in the AL East.

A few other health situations around the game:

  • The Angels placed shortstop Zach Neto on the 10-day injured list on Friday due to lower back inflammation. A specific recovery timetable is unclear, though he’ll be out well past the minimal stay. Manager Phil Nevin informed reporters (including Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com) that Neto will be out for several weeks after recent imaging revealed increased inflammation. The club still expects the rookie infielder back before season’s end, but it’s another hurdle for a team that has been floundering since the deadline. Luis Rengifo has kicked over to shortstop with Neto out while Brandon Drury handles second base.
  • Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen has missed the entire season after undergoing shoulder surgery last November. The club announced a rough 10-month recovery timetable at the time of the operation. Almost exactly 10 months out, Treinen has yet to begin a rehab assignment. The veteran right-hander has been throwing bullpen sessions, however, and he told reporters this afternoon he remains hopeful of getting back to the majors this year (relayed by Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times). Treinen has barely pitched over the last two seasons because of shoulder woes but had a 1.99 ERA over 72 1/3 frames in 2021. The Dodgers hold an option for next year valued somewhere between $1MM and $7MM depending on his health status.
  • Rangers All-Star backstop Jonah Heim took batting practice and caught a bullpen session this afternoon, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. It’s his first cage work since tearing a tendon sheath in his left wrist two weeks ago. The Rangers expressed initial concern that Heim would require season-ending surgery, though it seems he’ll be able to play through the discomfort (likely before an offseason surgery). Grant notes that Heim — normally a switch-hitter — may have to swing solely from the left side for the time being, as the wrist is in more pain when he hits right-handed. Heim has been excellent from both sides of the dish this season, and Texas has righty-swinging catchers Mitch Garver and Austin Hedges as their duo with Heim out. Even if skipper Bruce Bochy wanted to limit Heim’s looks against left-handed pitching, Garver — a career .272/.366/.523 hitter against southpaws — should be well equipped to step in.

Orioles Claim Jacob Webb

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The Orioles announced Monday that they’ve claimed righty Jacob Webb off waivers from the Angels. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, right-hander Austin Voth was transferred from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL. Voth has already been out since mid-June due to elbow discomfort.

Webb, 29, was designated for assignment in Anaheim over the weekend. He’s appeared in 29 games this season, pitching to a 3.98 ERA through 31 1/3 innings. Webb has fanned 24.3% of his opponents but has also issued free passes at a far-too-high 14.3% clip so far on the season. He’s sitting just shy of 95 mph with his average fastball, inducing swinging-strikes at a strong 12.5% rate and has shown a knack for inducing fly-balls in the infield. On the flip side, Webb has been far too homer prone and has benefited from a .218 average on balls he’s unlikely to sustain.

Since Webb is out of minor league options, he’ll report directly to the big league bullpen. The O’s can’t send him down to the minors without first designating him for assignment and passing him through waivers. If Webb is able to continue his run of strong results and/or improve upon the command issues he’s experienced in Anaheim this season, he’d be arbitration-eligible through 2026 season.

Prior to his stint with the Halos, Webb’s only big league experience had come with the Braves, for whom he pitched during the 2019-21 seasons. He’s compiled a career 2.91 ERA in 108 1/3 innings, albeit with a roughly average strikeout rate (22.6%), a hefty walk rate (11%), and this year’s uncharacteristic home run problems (1.71 HR/9 in ’23; 1.16 career).

Orioles Acquire Jack Flaherty From Cardinals

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The Orioles have acquired right-hander Jack Flaherty from the Cardinals, per announcements from both clubs. Infielder César Prieto, left-hander Drew Rom and right-hander Zack Showalter are heading the other way.

Flaherty, 27, has seemed like a clear trade candidate for a while now. He’s an impending free agent on a Cardinals club that has struggled all year, currently sporting a record of 47-60 that has them 10 games out of a playoff spot. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak admitted about three weeks ago that the Cards would have to make moves aimed at improving their chances in 2024. With his impending free agency, Flaherty was one of the obvious pieces to go and recently received interest from clubs such as the Dodgers and Rays.

Not too long ago, Flaherty seemed to be a burgeoning ace in St. Louis. He tossed 151 innings over 28 starts in 2018, allowing 3.34 earned runs per nine innings. He followed that up with an even better showing in 2019, dropping his ERA to 2.75 in 196 1/3 over 33 starts. He struck out 29.9% of batters faced that year while walking just 7.1%, finishing fourth in the voting for National League Cy Young.

But it’s been a different story since then. He struggled in the shortened season by posting a 4.91 ERA in nine starts. The year after, he made multiple trips to the injured list, being sidelined by a left oblique issue and then a right shoulder strain and ultimately tossing 78 1/3 innings that year. Those shoulder issues lingered into 2022 and he was only able to throw 36 innings last year.

With all of those issues, he came into 2023 having only thrown 154 2/3 innings in the previous three years combined. That made him a fairly unknown quantity, but he has settled in somewhere in between his previous ace form and the more recent struggles. He’s stayed healthy all year, having taken the ball 20 times and logging 109 2/3 innings already, but with a 4.43 ERA that’s not terribly exciting. His 21.9% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate are both a few ticks worse than league averages, with his 44.6% ground ball rate only slightly better.

If one wanted to be more charitable, they could look to the fact that his results have gotten better over time, in a sense. He had a 6.29 ERA through the first week of May, thanks in part to a 10-run disaster against the Angels on May 4. Since then, he’s posted a much nicer 3.58 ERA over 75 1/3 innings. Any pitcher’s stats would look better if you removed their worst start, but with Flaherty’s limited workload in the previous three years, perhaps he was still getting into a groove.

The Orioles will seemingly be hoping that the charitable outlook on Flaherty is correct. They have shot up to the top of the American League with a 65-41 record, though mostly on the backs of their position players and bullpen. Their starting rotation has been an obvious weak point, with a collective 4.48 ERA that puts them 16th out of the 30 major league teams. They were connected to various starting pitchers from Justin Verlander, Michael Lorenzen and Shohei Ohtani but the deadline has now passed with Flaherty as their sole rotation upgrade.

The club recently optioned Tyler Wells, leaving them with a rotation of Kyle Gibson, Grayson Rodriguez, Dean Kremer and Kyle Bradish, with Flaherty added in. Bradish is the only one of that group with an ERA better than 4.40. They have shown they can win with this group, but it will be an interesting gambit come playoff time, when the front of a club’s rotation tends to become more important.

For the Cardinals, they have added many young players to their system this week by trading away Jordan Montgomery, Jordan Hicks, Paul DeJong, Génesis Cabrera and Flaherty. In this deal, they will add three more players to their system.

Prieto, 24, broke into the Cuban National Series as a teenager before signing with the Orioles in January of 2022. He split last year between High-A and Double-A, hitting .273/.314/.404 for a wRC+ of 96. This year, he’s hit .349/.393/.475 between Double-A and Triple-A, leading to a 132 wRC+. He’s played all three of the infield positions to the left of first base this year. Baseball America recently ranked him the #14 prospect in the Orioles’ system with FanGraphs putting him at #26.

Rom, 23, has been starting in Triple-A this year with a 5.34 ERA over 86 innings. He’s struck out 25.1% of batters while walking 11.5% and getting grounders at a 47.7% clip. It’s possible his .391 batting average on balls in play is pushing some extra runs across the board, leading to his 4.21 FIP. BA ranked him the #16 prospect in Baltimore’s system with FanGraphs at #30. Showalter, 19, was just drafted in the 11th round last year and has been pitching in the lower levels of Baltimore’s system this year.

For the Cardinals, this trade and the others have allowed them to stockpile some young talent as they look to reload for 2024. For the Orioles, this is their first competitive season since Mike Elias became the general manager in November of 2018. The club has generally been cautious in free agency in that time, having not given out any multi-year deals to free agents. Now their first deadline in buyer position has seen them acquire two rental pitchers in Flaherty and Shintaro Fujinami.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported that the O’s were close to getting Flaherty. Francys Romero first had Prieto’s involvement. Jeff Passan of ESPN first had Rom while Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com added Showalter.

Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Mariners Acquire Eduard Bazardo

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The Mariners have acquired right-hander Eduard Bazardo from the Orioles in exchange for minor league righty Logan Rinehart, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports (Twitter link).  Baltimore designated Bazardo for assignment two days ago.

Bazardo has seen limited action in each of the last three Major League seasons, debuting with three innings for the Red Sox in 2021, 16 1/3 more frames (over 12 appearances) in 2022, and then 2 1/3 innings over three games with the Orioles this year.  The Sox also DFA’ed Bazardo after last season and he opted for minor league free agency, landing with the O’s on a minors deal during the offseason.  That minor league contract was selected in early July, with Bazardo only getting a few weeks of big league time before being designated once more.

Turning 27 next month, Bazardo has posted some solid numbers throughout his minor league career, including a 3.05 ERA, 27.2% strikeout rate, and 7% walk rate over 38 1/3 frames with the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate this season.  He makes for some interesting bullpen depth for a Mariners team who just dealt Paul Sewald, and could potentially have more openings in the bullpen depending on how other moves may shake out on deadline day.

Rinehart was a 16th-round pick for the Mariners in the 2019 draft, though between the canceled 2020 minor league and a Tommy John surgery, he missed two full seasons of work.  Returning to the mound in 2022, Rinehart has mostly pitched with Seattle’s high-A affiliate and looked good, particularly with a 2.84 ERA, 51.2% grounder rate, and 33.6% strikeout rate over 38 innings.  This is Rinehart’s first season as a full-time reliever, so the 25-year-old’s ultimate future may be in the bullpen.

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