The Orioles have declined their 2013 option for Mark Reynolds, MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli reports (on Twitter). The infielder obtains a $500K buyout instead of an $11MM salary.
Reynolds remains under team control via the arbitration process. The Orioles have until November 30th to decide whether to tender him a contract for 2013. If the Orioles offer Reynolds arbitration, he'd get approximately $8.9MM in the estimation of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
Reynolds started the 2012 season slowly, but hit 15 home runs after August 1st, finishing with 23 homers and a .221/.335/.429 batting line. The 29-year-old struck out 159 times, but didn't lead the league in strikeouts for the first time since 2007.
The Orioles don't have any option decisions remaining. They exercised Luis Ayala's option earlier this week.
Kind of figured after the Chisox declined Youk’s.. Now look for both Youk and Reynolds to switch teams, with Youk signing in Baltimore 1st. Duquette originally drafted Youk, is far shrewder than anything currently at the Chicago FO and hopefully will target Youk quickly as his 1b and p/t emergency 3b.
I’d look for a decent uptick in Youk’s performance as well, as long as Baltimore could keep him at 1b as much as possible and away from the grind at 3b.
I’m wondering what youk’s on base percentage is? Reynolds for youk might not be a bad trade, but Reynolds has proven himself defensively at first. I just don’t think youk can play as good a first base as mark R. Don’t look at his first month or so cause he dramatically improved since moving to first.
What? youk is a previous GG winner, had the MLB all time record for consecutive errorless games at 1b (forget what it was, now broken) and is STILL a well above average 1b and at the plate? He grinds out every ab and doesn’t chase each and everything thrown in the dirt, or in his eyes like Reynolds.. There is -0- comparison in pitch selectability..
Youk= Greek God of Walks.. Pitch selection…
I wouldnt be surprised especially since Angelos has a soft spot for greek players.
Kevin Youkilis isn’t actually Greek.
“The Greeks don’t want no freaks, no the freaks don’t want no Greeks.. Put a little smile on them rosy cheeks, ’cause the freaks don’t want no Greeks”
The Eagles in one of their best (and funny) tunes ever…
Thing about Youk is he is gonna be 34 and his skills have gone downhill. He has missed 141 games last 3 season. He isnt the player he was in 2008-2009, and no green monster to pad his doubles numbers.
I explained that.. Keep him away from 3b. it’s mostly the grind of that position and a little of getting hit so often by pitchers.
Mostly it was the hammering he took at 3b.
BTW: Baltimore is every bit as friendly of an offensive stadium for where he hits as is Fenway.. Youk hits to LF/LCF and he is not a high fly ball hitter, but more hard liners.. His hard liners hit the wall and didn’t leave..
People have this misconception about fenway.. it helps and it hurts…
He still gonna be 34, and his game is to get hit by pitches. He got hit 17 times this year in 120 games that is about .035 OBP added.
17 in 509 PAs so about .033 more OPS
Nice of you to change the post there.. As for what you originally wrote? His game is NOT to be hit by pitches. he gets targeted and always has.. opposing pitchers generally do not care for his 100% HARD style of play that few others have.
Same with fans, unless they get to watch him on a dailey basis.
Reynolds is horrendous at 3B. He’s great at 1B, but not tenable at the other corner.
Right. I was shocked watching Baltimore games through the month of September how decent he was.
I still think getting Youk would fit better, just keeping him at 1b as much as possible and away from 3b would keep him on the field.
The other thing that lands keeps him out of a few games every so often is pitchers continually hitting him. he seems to wear a target on his back. probably the 100% way he plays the game that isn’t fully appreciated until he is on a team you like, but then is understood.
This is just a thought, but if we can teach Davis to play first, then the problem would be solved. Not sure it would work, but he can’t play the outfield all that well. I need to see what the status is on BRob is cause Markakis will be back. I think we should find someone who can play second and first due to the instability of Roberts and if he remains healthy then put him in at first. Although the type of person I’m looking for to do that is hard cause he would have to hit for power and average and still be able to go deep now and then.
I would rather have a great defense than have tons of hitters that can’t play the field. Remember mark Belanger? He had a monster glove and a toothpick at bat. That’s ok for you knew nothing was getting by on the thirdbase side. Need to shore up the firstbase side and we are set. After that, we need more stable starting pitching. Fix those two areas and we would have been there instead of Detroit this year. Just look at the Yankee series. How many runs did we miss out on, including Davis on third with no outs. It’s situations like that we can’t squander. I remember having the bases loaded with 1out a few times and other situations that we should have brought the runs home.
Roberts can not play 1B he is like 5’8. Besides the dude needs to go plan and simple. He cost the O’s too much money for little to no production b/c he is hurt all the time. Reynolds should not be signed, neither should Thome.
Dbacks need a 3rd baseman… what’s the chances?
Less than zero. Reynolds is a travesty defensively at 3B, and KT has repeatedly made it quite clear that he has little to no patience with high strikeout players, hence the jettisoning of Reynolds the first time, along with Johnson, LaRoche, and now Chris Young.
I guess it all is left up to see who else we can get for a first baseman. Although his batting skills are shaky and strikes out a lot, he has really developed defensively at first base. I’m sure they are looking for someone that can come through in scoring situation with a more regular result, but if they can’t find someone before November, I think they should bring him back as a new signee and offer him less than his 11M resign for I don’t believe his hot and cold approach is something any team can depend on to come through in that scoring opportunity. Although he has helped the team win, he also missed out on some opportunities that a more consistent hitter could have done resulting in wins the O’s missed out on in crucial situations especially during the playoffs. Hitting home runs is nice but even 30 home runs doesn’t make the 200 average strikeouts seem worth it. The team needs a first baseman that can hit for average as well as power.
It’s very simple: The Orioles move Chris Davis back to 1B, Markakis returns to RF
Except that Davis was really bad at 1B the few games the O’s put him there. Reynolds on the other hand handled 1B well.
I agree Chris Davis was bad the first few games at 1B, however it was a small sample size. Plus, Davis came up as a 3B in the Rangers organization, so we know he can field. With that 6’4″ frame he will give a huge target for a very good infield. Davis is also younger, cheaper, cost controlled, and isn’t on pace to break the all-time K record as Reynolds is. While I admit Davis is by no means immune to the K, he’s young enough to learn some plate discipline, and as Davis learns MLB pitchers better, both his BB & IBB will increase.
So who becomes the O’s DH? Betemit? It isn’t like there are good options on the market right now. Youk is the best option. The O’s will show some loyalty to Reynolds. If he’ll sign for 6 million, I’m sure the O’s will jump at him.
Buck doesn’t like to have a set DH. He likes to use the spot to get rest for his position players. I see it as a rotation of guys like Betemit, Davis, Wieters for rest, 4th OF, etc,,,
His OBP makes up for his low BA.
Option declined but imo he won’t be nontendered.
Smart move….pretty much a no-brainer. Better options available IMO.
His defense sucks. To quash all rumors, no, Boston won’t want him.
It would be uber epic if O’s could get Hamilton and Napoli. Napoli can play 1B and even give Weiters a break behind the dish. Hamilton even though he struggled during post season is a better OF option than anyone we have. Davis should not be signed for more than 3-4 years due to his D. But I’m sure there will be no big signs b/c O’s seem to be notorious for signing older washed up players. I wouldn’t be surprised if they bring Otis Nixon out of retirement.