The Orioles announced that they have acquired outfielder David Lough from the Royals in exchange for infielder Danny Valencia.
Valencia, 29, split 117 games between Baltimore and Triple-A Norfolk last season, being recalled to the Major Leagues on May 19. In 170 plate appearances last year for the O's, he had a .304/.330/.553 slash line to go with eight homers. The 29-year-old has seen scattered MLB action since a mediocre stint as the Twins' everyday third bagger in 2011, however. Valencia has spent parts of four seasons in the Major Leagues with Minnesota (2010-12), Boston (2012) and Baltimore (2013).
Lough, 27, hit .286/.311/.413 in 96 games for Kansas City in 2013, playing all three outfield positions. He finished eighth in the AL Rookie of the Year balloting and led all rookies in WAR, as noted by the O's press release. The outfielder also finished the season with a stellar 27.3 UZR/150 rating, good for sixth amongst all outfielders in baseball.
was hoping the yankees would get him o well
Every Yankee fan hopes they can get everyone.
Except A-Rod.
I guess Moustakas just got a platoon partner.
I guess. Valencia has a career .371 BA vs LHP and Moustakas has a .244 career average vs RHP.
With those numbers, maybe Moustakas just got a backup job.
No, because Valencia’s numbers are bad vs RHP .204 (though limited AB’s)
Yeah, I fully expect the platoon. I didn’t realize that Moose was so shakey against RHP. He looks lost against lefties, but I thought he was making up for it a little against righties.
Moose is likely stronger defensively too.
The Ryan Howard of 3rd Base. “That fastball looks so slow and curvy… better swing fast”
Ha! Good comp.
At least Howard occasionally gets a hold of one. Moose just pops up the high stuff and waves helplessly at the low.
Yep, shakey against RHP, but not as much as Valencia, and you’re right his defense is tremendous.
I would avoid using batting average. wOBA or even OPS are better metrics. Neither player contributes much OBP but both good defenders and Valencia absolutely crushes LHPs. If Moose can get to league average offense against RHP (which he’s close 90 wRC+ over his career) then the Royals are going to get tremendous production out of third base. Valencia career 140 wRC+ against LHPs.
Moose’s value isn’t in his batting average, plus he’s thought to have upside to outproduce his past. He’s also known to be an excellent defender.
He’s slashed .222/.275/.332 in almost 400 PAs against lefties – it’s ugly no matter how you slice it. Not to mention that he just looks confused against every LHP he sees. I don’t think he’s ever going to be a legit MLB bat against lefties. Maybe he needs Lasik…
On the other hand, his defense has been really strong. Definitely better than advertised.
371? are you counting the minors?
Didn’t think Lough would be the odd man out. Damn…makes me sad. Good luck to you David, we appreciated everything you did in KC
I guess it makes sense. Aoki doesn’t really have a platoon split, Dyson brings crazy speed as a pinch runner and Maxwell kills lefties. Hate to see him go, but that outfield was getting crowded. I hope Lough continues to exceed expectations in Baltimore.
In Baltimore, we are saying the same thing about Danny.
Here’s hoping it works out great for both teams.
Are we? I liked Danny, but let’s be real – he was lost for much of the year until he finally found it late against lefties. Lough seems like a much more complete baseball player. I like this trade for the O’s.
But that’s not to say the Royals aren’t getting a good player. But he’s probably a role player. Big power, though.
Plus O’s got Valencia for straight cash from the Red Sox, so that’s pretty nice.
The Royals should only play Valencia against Lefties since that is the only value he brings to any team.
He’s also a good defender in the infield
That’s a bit of a stretch. He’s an ok defender at best.
Boo! I liked David Lough. :(
Plus, we already have a decent backup at 3rd. Gah!
I liked him too. But he’s the odd man out. He bats lefty and so does Aoki. Maxwell is right-handed. The Royals fans liked Gio and KK too.
Royals fans hate Gio, and KK has yet to live up to his first round draft status
Moose still has options right? Is this insurance in case he has a rough spring?
I’d guess that a platoon is the plan, but I believe he still has options remaining. There were plenty of rumblings about sending him down this season when he was hitting .140 or whatever and I don’t remember hearing that he was out of options back then.
Valencia has found his place in MLB, lefty masher. That’s pretty much all he can do.
But he does it very very well.
yes, definitely. at least he did last year. Not sure a team should ever use him any other way.
Now i see who the new left fielder will be. Godspeed, Danny Valencia. And thanks.
There’s the O’s left fielder, I guess…
I know he had pretty solid offensive numbers in the minors. How’s his defense?
Quite good from the eyeball test. Metrics like him so far, but there’s not a ton of data yet.
Honestly, I wouldn’t have him as more than a 4th outfielder. But he is pretty average at everything and isn’t overly impressive at anything. However the fans in KC really seemed to like him. But that may be just because he replaced Frenchy in RF.
Kinda surprised the Orioles would trade a player like Valencia who could man 3rd base until Machado came back. But given they also need an outfielder, it at least makes some sense.
Much easier to find a part time 3B instead of a potential starting OF who you can control for the next half dozen seasons.
The rule 5 guy can be a fill in 3B if Machado isn’t ready for opening day. I don’t expect him to be great, but this move makes it easier for him to stick for the year.
The Royals are getting a terrific baseball player. I hope that the Orioles are as well.
Watching Lough play this year and in the minors, I can definitely say they are getting a good player. Great teammate and passion for the game.
No they aren’t. Danny Valencia crushes LHP but that is about it.
That’s all he needs to do. The Royals are still counting on production vs. LHP from Moustakas.
And therein lies the problem. If Valencia plays against the lefties and Moustakas plays against the righties, the Royals are not really helping themselves. Moose is a .252 career hitter vs. RHP. While all of his power comes from that side of the plate, you’re still getting strikeouts about 17% of the time when Moose steps up vs. a HR every 35.4 PAs. Not good. If it weren’t for his defense he’d look even worse.
The Royals really just need someone to push Moustakas to play better or else he will get benched and Valencia can do that at least in the short run. Plus he can be a very dangerous pinch hitter late in games.
…folks have already forgotten that Danny V. was the only man hitting in Sept (even Righties) and singularly kept the O’s even in the play-off race as the Chris Davis and Adam Jones machine sputtered. Danny V. could use some time as a regular to see what could happen, but the guy wasn’t lost at the plate.
Yes! Lough was an Indian-killer. Happy to see him somewhere else.
Indians had it easy.
.302/.302/.419/.721 vs Indians
.314/.342/.514/.856 vs White Sox
.342/.350/.553/.903 vs Twins
Only the Tigers had it easier than the Indians. He was terrible vs the Tigers.
Was probably quality of pitching staff.
Darn…the convos wiht my buddies debating “which OF would get dealt” are now over. It was only a matter of time before one of them would be traded.
I would love to be privy to the plans the O’s have for this offseason. Fair chance Machado isn’t ready by Opening Day and no back up other than Flaherty. I figured Valencia would be part time DH too. Holes in LF, 2b, part of 3b (to start the year), and a mess of a rotation. As of now, the regular lineup would include Flaherty, Weeks, and Lough (opposing pitchers beware!) and a rotation of Tillman, Gonzalez, Chen, Norris and probably Gausman or Britton. On paper, this does not look good.
Reimold and Urrita can DH. That Rule V pick, Almanzar will probably get the look at third if Machado isn’t ready by opening day. Flaherty most likely will be opening the season at second.
LJ Hoes went to Houston in the deal for Norris. Buck never gave him a chance in Baltimore.
Was surprising they never really did Hoes his chance, but they had McLouth, Jones, and Markakis. He wasn’t going to replace Jones or Markakis. Though it would been interesting to see if he was any better than McLouth. If he could’ve fielded better at second, he may have replaced Roberts.
I remember learning about Lough for the first time when I was looking at rookie WAR at the end of the season only to find out Fangraphs put him even with Wil Myers atop the list because of his defense. Nice pickup for the O’s.
What am I missing? People seem to be talking like Lough is a starting lineup caliber player. I get his defense is great, but what’s his upside offensively? He was 26 year old rookie who has 14 major league walks in 400 ab’s. Doesn’t hit for power, doesn’t get on base. Surely he’s helpful, but not as an everyday player.
Here is what you get with Lough: He is a player you want in the ninth inning. He will make exceptional defensive plays when the game is on the line but smart enough to know when it is really necessary, he will work a count to get on base when you’re down a run like no one I’ve ever seen and be smart on the basepaths. It’d be interesting to see his pitchs per at bat last year.
Corner OF for 3B. Royals win.
Deal with Dayton Moore. Orioles win.
It’s good to reduce things down to simplicities.
Let me fix that for you.
“Corner OF for part-time 3B who hasn’t been able to hit righties throughout his career. Orioles win.”
Let me fix that for you.
“3B the O’s don’t need for an OF the Royals don’t have room for. Both win?”
DV played what 2 or 3 games in the field last year ?
Seems like a solid trade for the Orioles. Not a FA till 2020 and has a decent average and good defensively
OK… ticket prices are going up, every team got an extra 25mil from MLB, and we have shed payroll…. and this is our everyday left fielder? I’m sure he is a solid player but he’s not the type of guy that going to put us over the top. We better be getting ready to pony up for a starting pitcher!!!
It’s just amazing that Baltimore probably has one of the best owners in football and one of the worst owners in baseball! Post season appearances and hardware shows the difference between an owner who actually cares about the team and an owner who is just lining their already filled pockets with the fan’s money.
Kinda Apples and Oranges comparison. Football allows 50% of teams to make the post season….Baseball it’s 33% (since last year’s expansion to 10 teams).
Football does not allow 50% of teams to make the playoffs. It’s 12 out of 32, or 37.5%.
I am hoping for Jimenez!
As for Lough, I am ok with it. Valencia was a surprise and our secret weapon last year, so I wish him well. I was thinking Guti or Stubbs since I saw that trade today. I mean when I read about the trade, I was like Duquette didn’t think he had an Outman to offer for Stubbs?
Lets give Lough a chance and a hardy welcome!
I am actually quite pleased with this trade. I’m just more frustrated on how this off season have had and how awful of an owner we have. Mark Cuban please come to Baltimore :)
Hell would freeze over before Angelos sold the Orioles or before MLB let Cuban buy a team even as much as I love Cuban to own the O’s
Without a local owner, I’m afraid the club will get moved.
Zero chance any potential owner would get MLB approval to move the team. Furthermore why would they want to? O’s are the 7th most valuable franchise in MLB due to MASN.
Baltimore is the 4th smallest market in baseball. MASN’s link to the Orioles is tentative (meaning it’s owned by the owner, not the team…PA could sell the O’s and keep MASN.) Lastly, even when the Orioles “area” was all of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina, the new area with the Nationals in D.C., is Baltimore to Greenbelt. That’s much smaller…add to that the economics of loosing the richest 2 MD counties to the Nationals. The Orioles have major issues with being able to bring in revenue.
As a Rays fan, I remember Danny Valencia as the “David Price Killer.”
David Price should have just pitched with his right hand instead. Problem solved.
Lough will likely be our starting everyday LF. I like this trade
Don’t know about starting LF…Nolan Riemold and Steve Pearce would both seem to be above him on the depth charts (and pay roll charts). I like the move, but it seems like a depth/4th OF type of move.
Reimold is lucky he stays healthy playing at LF. Pearce and Peguro could get some time out there.
I like Lough – Royals system guy that fought his way up to the big leagues.
Having said that, I’ll be shocked if he is ever a quality every day player. Relatively versatile, pretty speedy 4th OF is his ceiling.
David Lough = Mike Aviles. Different position, but a 4A player who makes it to the Show after many years in the minors.
David Lough always hit well against the Twins. Glad to have him out of the division. And glad that the Twins get to face Valencia a lot more (if he even makes the team.) Not sure why all the praise for him – he had 3 fairly good months for the Twins.
On the surface, this seems like a pretty fair deal for both sides, and a pretty good opportunity for 2 players who have at least shown sparks of potential. Each team had a need at one position and a possible surplus at another.
a trade of a couple 4As? perhaps. Both damn good players. One or both might blossom in new environs…. Every team needs to have guys like this on the 40