The Orioles have released outfielder Michael Bourn, according to a club announcement. Bourn exercised his opt-out clause yesterday, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter), and the team obviously elected not to add him to the active roster.
Bourn thrived with the O’s late last year, hitting .283/.358/.435 over 55 plate appearances. And he might well have earned an Opening Day roster spot had he not gone down with an injury during camp. At this stage, though, the opportunity wasn’t there.
While Baltimore surely would’ve preferred to maintain the depth that Bourn offered, there wasn’t really a place for him at the major league level. The club already carries two part-time, left-handed-hitting outfielders in Seth Smith and Hyun-Soo Kim, with righties Trey Mancini and Joey Rickard also part of the outfield picture alongside center field stalwart Adam Jones.
It’s possible, though hardly certain, that Bourn could command a big league job with another organization upon his return to the open market. His ability to handle center field is an obvious benefit. And he has reached base at a .373 clip through eleven games at Triple-A on the year, with ten walks against eight strikeouts, and has swiped three bases.
At the same time, Bourn carries only a .220 batting average through his 51 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors and has managed just two extra-base hits in that brief span. It’s worth bearing in mind, too, that Bourn had largely struggled at the plate over the prior two seasons before landing in Baltimore.
I really thought they would add him to the Major League team and try to trade Kim.
Kim is a DH playing corner OF, hard to trade that really, tho do see your point. Might be Boras putting pressure on Duquette to let him go and attempt to find a job, but I really don’t see it now. Bourne has no power, really doesn’t steal bases like he did and never was a superb glove, only capable with it in the field.
Think he’s doomed now to be another D’aza type and float around looking for jobs whenever he can, then get released if wants to play.
Jesus Christ It’s Jason Bourne’s Long Lost Brother Micheal
Wow, you thought of that all on your own? Impressive.
Wow you managed to spell Michael incorrectly and not notice that they spell their surnames differently. Way to go
The Bourn Departure?
He would be a heck of a lot better as a late inning defensive replacement for the Pirates than Danny Ortiz right now. At this point for the Pirates though, late inning defense doesn’t really matter anyway since they can’t hit their way out of paper sack just to score a run or two.
yes that would be a nice addition but would the bucco brass do it? most likely no
my first thought was.. well hes got an okay glove and still has some wheels though not as good as they used to be and probably would hit better than Cutch has been..
Get him on a cheap deal do it..
I don’t see how it could really hurt the team much to try.
Hello Atlanta!
Help me anyone that knows….so if another team picks him up, they would be responsible for paying him the league minimum, correct??
Since he resigned on a minor league deal, and wasn’t on the 40 man. No I don’t think they would.
Anyone who signs him would pay him the terms of the pro rated minimum if he signs a minor league deal with no incentives.
Teams are free to offer him a major league deal though, even though that’s unlikely to happen.
If another team picks him up the new team would be responsible for paying him whatever they negotiated to pay him. He is a free agent since he exercised his opt out of his contract with the Orioles.
“Bourn thrived with the O’s late last year,”
Nice
“over 55 plate appearances.”
Uh
Could have been worse, as the even more truthful statement would have been
“over his first 8 games” (.333/.429/.917/1.345 over 15 PA)
Of course, post those 8g was pretty miserable (.265/.333/.265/.598 over 40 PA)
Yeah, a nearly. 800 OPS is good production.
I thought Leonys Martin would be a better option than Michael Bourn for someone seeking a CF ie. DETROIT.
Detroit seems to not be looking for help. They could really use a true CF. Collin’s and Mahtook are not working. They have 11 stolen bases and caught 14 times. Makes too much sense for them to pick up a slightly better player than what they have.
I expect SF to be in on Bourne. Gorkeys isn’t cutting it as a CF backup.
Yeah, I could see him landing there.