The Orioles announced that they have acquired minor league outfielder Natanael Delgado and infielder Erick Salcedo from the Angels in exchange for right-hander Chris Jones.
Jones, 27, was designated for assignment less than a week ago. Now, he has been traded for the third time in his career. As Tim Dierkes noted on Wednesday, Jones was sent by the Indians to the Braves in October 2011 in the Derek Lowe trade. In April 2013, he was traded from Atlanta to the Orioles for Luis Ayala. Last year, Jones made 22 starts and eight relief appearances for the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate. In that span, he posted a 2.94 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9. Jones will help provide rotational depth in Triple-A, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (on Twitter).
Delgado, 20, was ranked as the No. 27 prospect in the Angels’ system after the 2014 season by Baseball America. Delgado signed with the Angels for $280K in 2012 and has tacked on muscle mass and strength since then, per BA. Blessed with “extremely strong hands and above-average bat speed,” Baseball America believes that he’ll have to improve his hitting in order to have value going forward.
Salcedo, 23 in June, has seen time at shortstop, second base, third base, center field, and right field in the minors. The Orioles’ press release indicates that his future will be in the infield, however. Salcedo was ranked as the Angels’ No. 27 prospect after the 2013 season by BA.
This is confusing
Huge overpay for the Angels.
Not really, considering the current health of the Angels rotation. Two former mid-20s ranked prospects for a guy that could step in and give them some innings this year doesn’t seem to high a price.
Is Salcedo a defensive wizard? He’s never hit a professional homerun. Even the lightest of hitters run into one once in a while.
Given the orioles’ predicament with Hyun Soo Kim and the Angels’ less than inspiring outfield situation I’m a little surprised this deal wasn’t slightly more interesting. Could have been a win-win move, at least in theory
That’s assuming Kim would even have accepted a trade.