With a need to address in the outfield, the Orioles are showing interest in free agent Michael Saunders, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link).
Orioles general manager Dan Duquette said Sunday that he’s comfortable with a platoon of Hyun Soo Kim and Joey Rickard in left field. There’s no clear answer in right field, however, which is where Saunders could enter the equation. The 30-year-old has primarily manned left field in his career, including in 2016 as a member of the the Blue Jays – the team that knocked the Orioles out of the playoffs.
At the midway point of last season, Saunders looked as though he was playing his way to a qualifying offer and a lucrative multiyear pact. In 344 first-half plate appearances, the former Mariner batted an outstanding .298/.372/.551 with 16 home runs and a .252 ISO en route to his first All-Star appearance. Saunders’ production cratered thereafter – .178/.282/.357 with eight HRs and a .178 ISO in 214 PAs – which put a damper on his seemingly skyrocketing value and led the Blue Jays to elect against tendering him a qualifying offer. It also didn’t help that Saunders graded poorly in left, ranking toward the bottom of the majors in Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating.
While he comes with negatives, including a checkered injury history, Saunders would add some variety to a Baltimore lineup whose only current lefty-swinging everyday player is first baseman Chris Davis. He’s also not going to sign for a bank-breaking price, with MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes projecting a three-year, $33MM deal (from the Orioles, in fact). That’s the same contract the O’s nearly signed outfielder Dexter Fowler to last offseason.
I like Saunders, but as a Jays fan, please do it Baltimore. He might’ve had one of the worst all star seasons in a long time this past year. He was basically a guarenteed strikeout at the end of the year too. Add in the bad defence and base running and he just got so frustrating to watch
Orioles should pass. Need to look more into outfield defense, lots of defensive-first guys available.
Yeah exactly like Ben Revere
Kim’s 2016 split numbers make me wonder what a “top 10 worst split seasons ever” would look like.
Oriole’s need pitching not outfield right now come on guys
They need both.
Tillman, Gausmen, Bundy, Gallardo, Miley & Jimenez that’s already 6 SP for 5 spots.
But three of them range from garbage to hot trash and bundy has workload, injury, and ineffectiveness questions. They need more, even if it’s only somebody that’s better than Jimenez and gallardo
True. I do think Bundy is past the workload/injury issues though. Between Gallardo, Jimenez & Miley is about 40 million dollars of question marks.
I hope bundy is you don’t want to see a highly talented guy like him have a career derailed by injury
Which is worse, garbage or hot trash?
Tillman, Gausmen, Bundy, Gallardo, Miley & Jimenez that’s already 6 SP for 5 spots
EE to Orioles?
Please no on Saunders.
I’m up for this. As long as he can catch fly balls and put up an average year next year, we won’t have to use Kim. I like Hyun-Soo Kim, except he performed the exact opposite of how the O’s thought he would, hitting for average instead of power. Pick Saunders up for two years, Orioles.
i watched him all year in toronto. good, solid player but he makes some bone-headed defensive plays and had MULTIPLE baserunning mistakes in big situations this year. but hey, maybe he’ll play for Canada in the WBC and fight the mexicans again