The Orioles have collected a large number of candidates to replace Nate McLouth in the left field, CSNBaltimore.com's Rich Dubroff reports. They already had Nolan Reimold, Steve Pearce and Henry Urrutia (who could also DH), and this offseason, they've added David Lough, Francisco Peguero, Julio Borbon, Xavier Paul and Quintin Berry. The Orioles could also add another righty-hitting outfielder or two before spring training starts as they aim to patch together a group of players to play alongside center fielder Adam Jones and right fielder Nick Markakis. Here are more notes from the American League.
- Major League Baseball has officially announced the suspension of 2B/OF prospect Eddie Rosario for a drug of abuse, and the Twins are disappointed, reports Phil Miller of the Star Tribune. "Losing 50 games, that's a huge setback," says GM Terry Ryan. "That's a lot of development time, a lot of learning that he'll miss. It sets back his progression [toward] going up to the big leagues." MLB.com ranks Rosario the Twins' fifth-best prospect. He hit .302/.350/.460 while collecting 544 plate appearances between Class A+ Fort Myers and Double-A New Britain in 2013.
- The Blue Jays announced that they have re-assigned bullpen coach Pat Hentgen due to family issues. Bob Stanley, who was the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons' pitching coach in 2013, will serve as the Jays' bullpen coach in Hentgen's absence.
Wow. MIN’s 5th-best prospect. That’s pretty big.
Its even bigger since he is trying to transition to 2B from the OF, and he needs the work at 2B since he is still raw at the position.
Eddie will have his spot waiting for him
“Losing 50 games, that’s a huge setback”. Yeah, it really crushed Jhonny Peralta’s ability to earn a living.
Jhonny Peralta is a veteran, not a prospect still trying to earn his way to the Majors.
Point well taken, but obviously if even a prospect is willing to use a banned substance (for whatever reason), knowing he’s only going to miss seven weeks, it’s still a slap on the wrist whether he’s 22 or 32.
Was it ever confirmed that the drug was a PED? I have only read articles refer to the violation as a drug abuse and that sounds more like narcotic/recreational drug.
I don’t know if it was PEDs or pot, but either way, it wasn’t legal, at least by MLB standards. You break the rules, you act stupid, you pay the price. My point/issue is that the price is too low. First offense should be 1 calendar year (suspended on 5/15/14, you come back 5/15/15). Second offense….gone. Plain and simple. Also, you would become ineligible for post-career “perks”, i.e. pension, HOF eligibility, etc. In a nutshell, I know it’s illegal to run someone over in my car, so I drive in the street, not on the sidewalk.
Why did the Royals let Lough go? He was worth 2.7 bWAR last year and that wasn’t even in a full season. He would be a great 4th outfielder.
They got a great platoon 3rd basemen in return. Neither players are great, but both can contribute a bit. The Royals traded for Aoki who is way better than Lough.
Lough and Aoki seem like similar players. Both have limited power and their value comes from speed and defense. Lough had 2.7 bWAR in only 315 AB last season while Aoki had 3.0 bWAR in 597 AB. It’s likely that Lough outperformed his true value, but even if he did, he would still be worth around 3.0 bWAR over a full season. Lough is also 5 years younger than Aoki. Aoki may be better than Lough, but definitely not “way better”.
Lough overperformed and Aoki performed the way he should. Aoki is a way more talent hitter.
Was the suspension for drugs like weed or was it PED’s?
It appears to be an undisclosed recreational drug.
Thank you.
I’m guessing it was for a recreational drug like weed
Was anyone else hoping that the Rosario in the headline would be Sandy Rosario?
If the Orioles outfielders gets crowded, Reimold can be packaged to the Seattle Mariners for Tom Wilhelmsen & a low level prospect after Balfour’s signing did not work out well. Would of been nice if Nick Franklin was available for the O’s but have a second already. Jack Z & Duquette should work out on a possible trade between both teams. In case few of those players beat out Reimold for roster spot in the outfield, he could be traded to the Mariners to be a backup outfielder.
The problem is the Orioles have 8 possible replacements for someone that was a platoon player in McClouth!
We could have tried to sign Franklin Gutierrez and the matter would have been closed. Now, we have a whole legion just to fill one position.
It really is surreal!
and a prospect? i think that’s a little greedy for an often hurt Reimold. At this point i would take a decent prospect. I think he needs a change of scenery the window has passed.
If you have a lot of candidates it means you don’t have a real starter. Reimold and Lough as a platoon would be the best option here because the others should not get regular abs at this point.
This is the 2nd time in 4 or 5 years that Hentgen was “re-assigned” due to family issues, I believe.
Wish him the best.