On December 16th, the Orioles agreed to sign Korean outfielder Hyun-soo Kim to a two-year, $7MM deal. However, the pact wasn’t officially announced until one week later on December 23rd. The culprit? – the Orioles’ notoriously thorough physical. Luckily for both sides, however, Kim was never in any real danger of not passing the exam.
Here’s a look at the American League, including some discussion on what the O’s might do next:
- In a recent mailbag, a reader asked Bill Chastain of MLB.com if Rene Rivera will still be in the Rays’ plans for the 2016 season. Rivera had a disappointing first season at the plate in Tampa Bay after coming over via trade, but the Rays are hopeful that he can turn that around while maintaining his solid defense. The Rays could keep Rivera, Curt Casali, and Hank Conger in ’16, or they might opt to trade one of the three to clear out the surplus. Keeping all three wouldn’t be a crazy notion as Casali and Conger can provide offense where Rivera cannot.
- Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com wonders where the Orioles’ next left-handed hitter will come from. Chris Davis, of course, would satisfy that need, but Baltimore has made it clear that it will not wait around for him. Other alternatives could include signing a left-handed DH like Pedro Alvarez or really opening up the checkbook to ink Alex Gordon. Meanwhile, the O’s are also expected to take a peek at the available second-tier starters.
- The Twins were on a mission to keep Mason Melotakis’ recovery under wraps in an effort to keep him away from interested teams in the Rule 5 draft, as Phil Miller writes for Baseball America (sub. req’d). Ultimately, however, the Twins put him on the 40-man roster rather than risk losing him.
Orioles are always just under strength. Maybe a rebuild would serve them well. Build around Machado…
How much longer is left on his contract?
Rebuilding around Machado wouldn’t make any sense unless they can lock him up. He’s only under contract for three more years.
Absolutely no reason to rebuild right now. The O’s are just a few pieces away from becoming a legit contender. They have a very nice young core. Schoop,Gausman,Machado,Britton is a very nice core. Plus Dabis looks more and more like he is going to settle for the O’s offer and if they can add a number 2 as well, they are going to be really, really good.
They’re currently the 5th best team in the division, significantly behind the Red Sox, Jays and Yanks and behind the Rays by a decent amount too. They also have the worst farm system of the group. They’re pitching staff is an unmitigated disaster and they lost more talent to FA than any other team in the division. If they add Davis and one or two pitchers they can probably be an 80-85 win team seeing as Machado, Davis and Jones are so good, but they are way behind the rest of the division and not a real threat to compete for a while. They’re almost certain to be worse than they were last year and they were very mediocre last year.
You’re a nut if you think the Orioles are “behind the Rays by a decent amount”. Aside from their stronger starting pitching, the Rays really have nothing going on. There is virtually no offense to speak of. The O’s as they currently sit are certainly weaker than the other teams in their division, but adding Davis/Kazmir-type pitcher will surely keep them competitive. I’m not entirely convinced the Red Sox will be radically better than they were last year, Price or no.
E Rod would have been a nice part of that core?
Ridiculous. Possibly even delusional.
“They lost more talent to free agency than any other team in the division” nobody on the Orioles end of the season roster has signed with anybody else. Wieters and o’day are coming back. Davis might resign. And if he does that leaves Chen who is gone for sure. I like Chen don’t get wrong but seriously? Ever hear of David Price?
Yeah, like I said, if they resign Davis and replace Chen, they’ll probably be similarly mediocre to how they were last year. I don’t think either of them should be taken for granted though. Davis could very easily sign elsewhere and the O’s don’t seem to want to spend the money to bring in a pitcher as good as Chen. Chances are greater that they’ll sign guys like Pedro Alvarez and Mat Latos and if that’s the case they’ll be lucky to win 75 games.
The other 4 teams in the division just all have much more talent.
Much more talent? You can’t be serious. Machado and Jones are two of the three best players in the division. Schoop continues to improve and might be the division’s best second basemen sooner rather than later. I think Gausman takes a big step this year and could potentially be the division’s third best pitcher this season. Britton is one of the top closers in the game. Wieters will be fully recovered and ready to play a full season. When healthy he is the division’s best catcher. If Davis stays (I think it is a little better than a coin flip he does) he has led baseball in home runs 2 of the last 3 years. Not counting an injury plagued 2014 when he missed half the season, Trumbo has averaged a hair under 30 homers a season for his career. Hardy is a great defensive ss and is a good offensive ss too when healthy. o’day has been the best set up man in the game over the last 3 years. Gonzalez Tillman Ubaldo have all shown flashes of being very good to great at points In their careers. Inconsistent sometimes yes but there is certainly talent there. Not to mention they have the best Manager in the division. The offseason isn’t over yet and a lot can and will still happen. None of these teams are finished products. But to say that the other 4 teams are far and away better and have much more talent is absolutely ridiculous. There is no team in this division that stands head and shoulders above the rest. Honestly I think any of the five could take the division and there isn’t another division in baseball you can really say that about.
Really? The other 4 teams have much more talent? If we’re going to have the farm system argument then yes according to ratings you are correct everyone else is better. I’ll even concede the Blue Jays have more talent although, an argument could be made that the O’s are not far behind. But the other 3 really? The Yankees made the playoffs based on older players exceeding expectations. They got another year older, injected no real new talent and are you saying ARod, Tex and Beltran will all have better years than Trumbo, Kim and whoever the O’s bring in be it Davis or Alvarez?
Aside from ERod and Price compare every single Proposed oriole starter to Red Sox starter, the O’s are either far ahead of it’s pretty damn close. The Red Sox signed Price, that’s their offseason let’s not get carried away. They are stilling relying on Hanley and Panda to have serious bounce back years.
The Rays have some serious young talent and they could get lucky and have a Royals situation where that talent all clicks but the Royals also had stud veterans even in 2014 (Gordon, Shields) which the Rays do not.
I’m not arguing that the Orioles are the best team in baseball or anything close. I’m also not arguing that the farm system does not need work. However, to say the O’s are the least talented in this division is ridiculous. If Davis is back or Alvarez is signed to make Trumo/Alvarez 1B/DH combo They are arguably the most talented outside of starting pitching and no one aside from the Rays in this division has a great rotation. Yes the Red Sox have one of the best starters in Price and one of the best young starters in ERod but not much behind that.
The O’s don’t have anything long term to rebuild around and have enough talent to be in the mix right now. Yes there are holes, (RF, a Left handed starter) and I’m assuming the O’s end up with either Davis or Alvarez(which I see as equal offensively in Camden) but every team in this division is relying on players having bounce back years or continuing to produce at an elderly age in the Yankees case. If Tillman and Miguel have bounce back years to their 2014 performances and Gausman continues to develop and the O’s bring in another arm that’s viable as has been indicated the O’s rotation is plenty good enough to compete in this division.
Ridiculous, take the farm systems out of this argument. Assume that the O’s resign Davis, or pick up Alvarez, Miggy and Tillman bounce back to 2014 numbers and the O’s bring in another arm and they are putting as much talent on the field as anyone in the AL East.
Everyone in this division is counting on something to happen organically either bounce back years (Hanley, Panda) or elderly players to continue to exceed expectations(ARod, Beltran, Tex) or young players to step up(Rays). Blue Jays are talented no doubt but they have questions and holes as well as the rest of the teams.
You also leave out that they added Trumbo and Kim and that 3/5 of their infield spent sizeable time injured or recovering from injuries last year (Wieters, Schoop, Hardy).
I’m pretty high on Kim, but the Os core looks very skeptical. That rotation won’t stand with the rest of the division as is, even if gausman takes strides.
If Kevin strides and Chris goes back to his 2014 form and maybe just maybe bundy will regain what he was supposed to be. Havey is stud that could help sooner than later. Yes they need pitching but the lineup and bullpen is better then a lot of teams they will be a .500 plus team
“Davis could easily sign elsewhere” not really. there are not many teams who would be willing to spend past $150mm. It felt like a miracle when Angeleos was willing to $150mm. It feels like when Davis comes crawling back to accept, that he ll end up getting burned.
As a Rays fan it appears you are way more confident than the rest of the fanbase. I kind of agree with you – a total dismantle now would only be warranted if they fail to sign Davis and/or at least 2 decent starters.
The Red Sox have gotten stronger but as usual it’s always health that dictates how well any team does.
Toronto looked like a powerhouse but they let Price go. I bet the Blue Jay fans will be asking Shapiro’s head as he tries to wal-mart the Blue Jays.
Yankees are old but again will be good if the DL stay away.
Rays – Looks like 2016 just may put a full AAA team on the field as Sternberg hires Nashville executives planning for a future move.
Nashville does seem like a likely destination for Rays in future. It would cut travel costs for Rays and other teams in AL East.
The Rays have a ridiculously good pitching staff though. They’re number 3 starter would be Baltimore’s ace. And Longo, Kiermaier, Miller and Forsythe should all be good. I agree though, the Rays are the most flawed team in the division other than Baltimore. I have them in 4th with around 80 wins.
Rays still have a couple of nice trade chips, which would really help out their cause.
Peter Angelos has plenty of money, until he’s either willing to part with some of it or develop a farm system the Orioles will continue to be an “almost good” team
Keeping Rene wouldn’t be a bad idea. Especially if one of the others heats up at the bat you could always just slot him in as a platoon DH sometimes. Casali being a good case in point.
Ridiculous, take the farm systems out of this argument. Assume that the O’s resign Davis, or pick up Alvarez, Miggy and Tillman bounce back to 2014 numbers and the O’s bring in another arm and they are putting as much talent on the field as anyone in the AL East.
Everyone in this division is counting on something to happen organically either bounce back years (Hanley, Panda) or elderly players to continue to exceed expectations(ARod, Beltran, Tex) or young players to step up(Rays). Blue Jays are talented no doubt but they have questions and holes as well as the rest of the teams.
Rivera pretty much shot himself in the foot when he went public griping about his playing time to the media. Big No-No in Rays speak. His performance pretty much explained it all. If his framing stats would have been sub-par, I’m pretty confident they would have released him.
Play the games