Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman has functioned as a starter in all 194 of his major league appearances, but he’ll come out of the bullpen next time he takes the ball. Tillman has been the weakest link in an awful Orioles staff this year, having logged an 8.10 ERA over 66 2/3 innings, leading them to shift the impending free agent to a relief role, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among those to report. The once-quality starter may be in his last weeks with the Orioles, but Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com argues that they should re-sign him now in a buy-low maneuver. Connolly’s reasoning: Baltimore will be desperate for starting pitching in the offseason, and the team’s unlikely to bid for big fish such as ex-Oriole Jake Arrieta or Yu Darvish, so re-upping Tillman on a one-year, $6MM-$8MM deal with a club option for 2019 would be a worthwhile gamble.
More from Baltimore and two other AL East cities:
- When the Red Sox placed left-hander David Price on the disabled list last week on account of elbow issues, they were confident he’d return this season. Now, “the clock is working against” Price, writes Evan Drellich of CSNNE.com, as he’s dealing with soreness that prevented him from throwing from flat ground Friday. Afterward, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was unable to provide a timetable for a potential Price return. While Dombrowski noted that Price’s elbow has been “fine” when he has thrown, the executive conceded “the longer that he’s out, the longer it takes to come back, because you have to then build yourself back up.”
- Designated hitter Matt Holliday wasn’t in the Yankees’ starting lineup Saturday after tweaking his lower back Friday, and a DL stint is possible, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. Judging by his output lately, a Holliday absence wouldn’t be the worst thing for the scuffling Yankees. The 37-year-old got off to a sizzling start this season before going on the DL in late June with a viral infection. He has been a drain on New York’s offense since returning in mid-July, with a .136/.165/.198 line and 24 strikeouts against three walks in 85 second-half plate appearances.
- In an act that has become commonplace for the Orioles, they traded international bonus slots for a minor leaguer on Saturday, when they acquired High-A infielder Brallan Perez from the Rangers. Owner Peter Angelos doesn’t allow Dan Duquette to make splashes internationally, notes Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun, and the general manager explained Saturday what he has tried to accomplish by dealing the money for players who are already stateside. “We’ve been utilizing the international slot money to help us acquire some pitching to help our team,” said Duquette, who added that he’s “utilizing a trade resource to impact your team now rather than three, four, five years down the road.” The trade Duquette made Saturday wasn’t for a pitcher, nor will Perez make a big league impact imminently. However, previous swaps have netted the club hurlers in Yefry Ramirez, Matt Wotherspoon, Jason Wheeler and Damien Magnifico – the last of whom is now in the Angels organization.
Man… That’s a sign of the times when a pitcher posting an 8.10 ERA has a journalist opining that the team should offer him six to eight million bucks for next season…
For real i could gladly post a 8.10 era for them for like $50 and some beer
It’s cute you think you could have an 8.10 era
It’s cute that you can’t understand a joke
You haven’t seen my curveball pal i would have like at most a 2.28 era
same
I would think his 2017 numbers get brought up in every negotiation and he signs at 1yr/$4-$5mil
u think the bosox would just let price miss the rest of the season or if it came down to it use him out of the pen down the stretch and into the playoffs?
If it turns out to be serious enough then maybe. If the Sox make the playoffs, which is starting to look more likely since they’ve started playing better this week, then the bullpen will be more important. Sale, Pomeranz, and praying for Porcello and Rodriguez to get 5 solid innings might be enough.
Yeah price hasn’t enjoyed the playoffs In his career so I wouldn’t be happy he wouldn’t be with but, I wouldn’t think it’s the end of the world either.
Price needs surgery. The only reason that he hasn’t is because it gets in the way of his ability to walk in 2018. Nobody will sign him to a contract as crazy as the one he is playing under. He hates being in the fish bowl in Boston. Tough luck Baby David. Suck it up and take the $$$. You signed the contract, now own up to it.
Besides the litany of stupid comments to the press and general brooding he is a me first player who now will cost the Sox ALL of next year as well as he rehabs.
I live in the Carolinas and thus can’t see any Orioles or Nationals games (thanks MASN!), so I wasn’t aware exactly how horrible Tillman had been on the mound this season. I looked at his 2017 splits. Yikes! He is throwing BP for the other team, with opposing hitters hitting .352 this season with OPS of 1.010.
As stated above, can’t see the silver lining that would make anything other than a minor league contract in 2018 a wise move.
I live in NC and get every game.
I suspect that”s got more to do with your cable company than MASN
I don’t care if Tillman says he is fine. He is obviously not fine. I highly suspect he changed arm slot slightly after his SHOULDER injury last year…and will never be the same.
My first thought was that Tillman will be one of the best bargains next year. A one year deal with a pretty low guaranteed salary seems about right. But looking at his stats, he’s a guy who has always had a high fip, even when he was at his best. Is this the real Tillman who was fluking his good years, or is he just a guy who can outperform his peripherals?big question
Chris Tillman will be a Pirate next year; they’ll probably be willing to pay a few million to see if Searage can fix him. You heard it here first.
If the Sox have the chance to trade for a decent starter then they should and then shut Price down for the rest of the yr (not like he gives us anything in the playoffs) I honestly wish the could find a trade partner for him never like him or the signing maybe we can get Detroit to bite and say JV and Upton for price and a few low prospects or out of option players like Owens
Funny that you think the Tigers would even look at such a one sided deal. So an injured Price who has a huge contract left for two quality players. Riiiiiiight.
Who both also have very big contracts god talking 2 20+ million players with at least 3-4 yrs for one player at 30M so it could save them money witch the owner really wants so Idk get why you think that and ya Price is injured but I think you get him out of Boston he may turn to his old self
I wonder who the Yanks will bring up to replace Holliday? My guess is they’ll activate Hicks and alternate him and Frazier in the OF/DH slots.
Can someone please help me. With all the issues at 1B why haven’t the Yankees given Mike Ford a show? I understand he’s not on anyone’s top 100 or organization top 10 list but he looks like a guy who can do it all as a hitter minus speed.
.282/.404/.497 w/ 18 hrs and more walks than kos @ 71/61 seems like he deserves a shot. He also seems like the kind of hitter the Yanks covet.. Power and plate discipline. I heard he’s a decent 1B but he never comes up with regards to call ups. Any Yankee fans have any info? Is it a 40 man roster issue? I know he needs to be added to it. I would hate for him to be one of those Ben Gamel situations where a guy doesn’t appear on anyone;s top 100 list but consistently puts up good numbers then becomes a Rule 5 potential loss who get’s traded for nothing just to clear him off the roster and give him a chance to debut elsewhere. I can understand Gamel being buried behind Judge, Frazier, Williams, etc but Ford should’ve been the 1st or 2nd 1b call up when Bird/Carter departed.
Price is out of the line-up again. Now if he could just go sit in the corner out of sight and be quiet we might be able to get him out of mind. Jack Clark, Panda Sandoval, or Drivel Price, which signing was the worst?
Carl Crawford
Hanley Rameriz
Price was just a bad signing. Send him to middle America and he will be fine. He can’t take the intensity that playing in Boston entails.
He’s not exactly a bad signing yet. He won 17 games last year and threw 238 innings leading the AL. They don’t win the AL East without that and if they think they have a chance against the Astros, Cubs, Dodgers etc… they probably need him with Sale and Pomorantz. Who knows maybe Roderiquez get hot again or Porcello figures it out but maybe not. If Price comes back healthy next year he still has 5 years left and he can be a major force. Even though he is a cry baby he is still one of the best pitchers in the game. When DD signed him the Sox did not have a #1 and it took all the $ to get him to Boston. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
Hey GMB…he is not only a bad signing, this contract has the potential to go down as the worst one sided contract in MLB history. He is a selfish player who has never shown the ability to rise to the occasion during the post season. Had John Henry not had his head up his butt, he would have signed John Lester (a proven winner in Boston) to an extension. Instead he insulted Lester. Do a chart and compare performance since, vs. $$$ spent as well as $$$ committed.
Bruce to the yanks would look good. Let Holliday ride out the rest of year on the DL.. plus that keeps Bruce out of the field (even if this years numbers suggest he’s tolerable out there).
Bruce would be a huge addition to the Sox with Hanley having oblique strains and Moreland starting to hit again but coming off a broken toe. No doubt Nunez and Devers have been really good to get the bats going. JBJ and Bennentindi had 2 run HR’s last night. Should be an interesting 2 months.
Hey mikeyank55: I would agree with probably 70% of what you said but he had a good year last year. Porcello just had a much better year. I liked the Sox getting Price but I could not believe the size of that contract. Guess what if he comes back in the next week or two (looks to be the case) and he Sale and Pomorantz lead the Sox to the division and they win round 1 or maybe round 2, people will not be talking about his contract. And oh by the way if Price has a good year next year he has an out clause and the Sox will be obligated to pay him 0 which means it won’t be a bad contract at all. Henry probably expected that to happen. Let’s not kid ourselves a lot of teams including the Yankees would love to have David Price. After the Sox traded for Sale Brian Cashman said the Red Sox are the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors have a lot more that Stephen Curry. As for John Lester I tend to agree with you but Lester was already 30 and he’s been good in Chicago but not dominating. He’s never really been dominating. Price has had some really good years. Just look at the #’s.
The key point is Price’s opt out clause and if he’s not happy in Boston he is likely to opt out. As long as he has a decent year, the St Louis Cardinals and others will give him a lot of $. Theo in Chicago will pay Price a lot of $.