Headlines

  • Reds Fire Bryan Price, Mack Jenkins
  • Taijuan Walker To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Braves Sign Jose Bautista
  • Taijuan Walker Diagnosed With “UCL Injury”
  • 2018-19 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings
  • Kevin Kiermaier To Undergo Thumb Surgery
  • Previous
  • Next
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Indians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2018 Arbitration Tracker
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2018
    • 2017-18 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2017-18 MLB Free Agent List
    • Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • MLB Depth Charts
    • Transaction Tracker
    • DFA Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • Last 100 Comments
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

D-Backs Unlikely To Add Michael Bourn

By Jeff Todd | April 15, 2016 at 1:31pm CDT

APRIL 15: The D-backs are passing on Bourn for the time being, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Rosenthal does add “at least for the moment” to his report, indicating that the club could circle back down the line (presumably, if internal options struggle).

APRIL 14: The Diamondbacks have held “some discussions” with the representatives of free agent outfielder Michael Bourn, GM Dave Stewart tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Bourn was just released by the Braves, who will combine with the Indians to cover all of the veteran’s $14MM salary this year — less a pro-rated portion of the league minimum for whatever time he spends with another organization.

Arizona hasn’t yet decided whether it wants to add Bourn, Stewart said. The club is still sorting out its outfield situation after receiving the devastating news that standout center fielder A.J. Pollock will miss much or all of the coming season. As things stand, the D-Backs are relying on infielder Chris Owings and youngster Socrates Brito up the middle, with somewhat less-than-promising results thus far.

“We’ve talked about it internally and haven’t really made any decision which direction we’re going to go and what we’re going to do,” said Stewart. “We’re kind of on hold right now.”

The Diamondbacks will likely look to move quickly if they choose to pursue Bourn, said the GM, as there are other organizations in the mix. He explained: “If we’re going to have an opportunity to get the player – and, believe me, I don’t think we’re the only fish in the water – if we want to have a chance to get the player we’re going to have a make a decision pretty swiftly.”

Bourn was one of the game’s most productive center fielders from 2009-12, but age and injury have slowed him quite a bit in recent years. He had already been reduced to being a below-average performer at the plate in his first two years in Cleveland, but fell off even further to a .238/.310/.282 slash over 482 plate appearances in 2015. Bourn has also declined precipitously on the bases and with the glove — where he once excelled — and hasn’t done enough in those areas to make up for his failing bat in recent seasons.

All said, Bourn isn’t the most exciting choice and could hardly be expected to make up for the loss of Pollock, but there’s not much hope of doing better at this stage of the season. The 33-year-old holds the promise of at least providing a solid defensive presence to go with good baserunning, and could again be a useful player if he can turn things up at the plate.

Share 11 Retweet 11 Send via email0

Arizona Diamondbacks Michael Bourn

MLBTR Podcast: Jason Mastrodonato on the Red Sox, Steve Adams on Slow Starters
Main
Orioles Claim Scott McGough From Marlins
11 comments
newest oldest

Comments

  1. chesteraarthur

    2 years ago

    94 wins!

    0
    0
    Reply
  2. Gogerty

    2 years ago

    Precipitously, nice word Jeff. Figured Arizona would go with Bourn for what $480k at this point, no reason not to. Hope he can sign on somewhere.

    0
    0
    Reply
    • jkim319

      2 years ago

      Agree… Strange. Seemingly low/no risk it would just them a roster spot at AAA

      0
      0
      Reply
      • depressedtribefan

        2 years ago

        I don’t think it has anything to do with the money considering how cheap Arizona could get him since Cleveland and Atlanta are still paying him. I think it merely has to do with the fact of his declining numbers and numerous injuries over the past few years which doesn’t make it worth for Arizona to waste a spot on the 40 man for him.

        0
        0
        Reply
  3. weekapaug09

    2 years ago

    Always liked Bourn. Sad to see guys fade into mediocrity so quickly. Hope he has something left in the tank. Seems like he’s worth a look at the league minimum.

    0
    0
    Reply
    • Larry

      2 years ago

      The cat used to be such a burner. Maybe he finds new life someplace else.

      0
      0
      Reply
    • RunDMCRunDMC

      2 years ago

      He’s not. I understand Peter O’Brien’s defense isn’t very good, but his bat might be worth the upgrade. Bourn’s defense isn’t good at this point, and O’Brien definitely beats him in that aspect.

      0
      0
      Reply
  4. brushbackmlb

    2 years ago

    Ive always wondered about this: if he signs elsewhere, who gets the salary relief? I’m guessing it’s Atlanta, the team he was most recently with, but maybe it’s split between Atlanta & Cleveland.

    0
    0
    Reply
    • davidcoonce74davidcoonce74

      2 years ago

      He’s still getting his 14 million or whatever, which I think is mostly being paid by Cleveland, so I’m guessing Cleveland gets the relief.

      0
      0
      Reply
  5. HalElliott

    2 years ago

    I hope this does not happen, he is no better than what they have on their roster right now who are younger and have a higher up side.

    0
    0
    Reply
    • LanceLance

      2 years ago

      he’s gotta go back to the minors, maybe an independent league to show he has something left in the tank.

      0
      0
      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Reds Fire Bryan Price, Mack Jenkins

    Taijuan Walker To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Braves Sign Jose Bautista

    Taijuan Walker Diagnosed With “UCL Injury”

    2018-19 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings

    Kevin Kiermaier To Undergo Thumb Surgery

    Dinelson Lamet To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Travis d’Arnaud To Undergo Tommy John Surgery; Kevin Plawecki Placed On Disabled List

    Elvis Andrus Diagnosed With Elbow Fracture

    Alex Gordon Placed On DL With Labral Tear In Left Hip

    Recent

    Reds Fire Bryan Price, Mack Jenkins

    MLB Daily Roster Roundup: Buxton, Camargo, Gamel, Hill

    Injury Notes: Anibal, Buxton, Hill, Swarzak, Brewers

    Yankees Re-Sign Adam Lind

    MLBTR Chat: Bautista, Cueto, Hader, Jansen

    Taijuan Walker To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Mike Napoli Suffers “Significant” Knee Injury

    Braves Promote Jesse Biddle, Place Jose Ramirez On 10-Day DL

    Offseason In Review: New York Yankees

    Braves Sign Jose Bautista

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2017-18 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2017-18 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2018
    • MLB Depth Charts
    • 2018-19 MLB Free Agent List
    • Transaction Tracker
    • DFA Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Twitter/RSS Feeds
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
    • Roster Resource

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Indians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version