TODAY: Rasmus would earn a $3MM salary in the majors and can add another $2MM via incentives, per Feinsand (via Twitter).
YESTERDAY: The Orioles have agreed to a deal with free-agent outfielder Colby Rasmus, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (Twitter link). Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun had strongly connected the sides this morning. It’s a minor-league pact, per the report.
Baltimore has been looking for a lefty outfield bat all winter long, and may now have found its man. Rasmus will still need to earn his way onto the roster, of course, but the O’s presently have no left-handed-hitting outfielders on the 40-man after designating Jaycob Brugman earlier today.
Rasmus, 31, logged 129 plate appearances last year with the Rays before going on the DL. Rather than returning when he was back to health, though, the veteran outfielder decided not to continue playing and was placed on the restricted list for the remainder of the season, foregoing the remainder of the $5MM deal he had signed.
Now, it seems, Rasmus is interested in resuming his career. He had shown signs of bouncing back from a tough, injury-filled 2016 season in his early showing with Tampa Bay, posting a .281/.318/.579 slash with nine home runs in limited time.
For Baltimore, this move represents a low-risk method of bolstering their overall outfield unit. Rasmus has never come around against left-handed pitching, but has succeeded against opposing righties to the tune of a .252/.318/.463 lifetime triple-slash.
Interesting
Let’s be honest, he was embarrassed of his beard and decided to go into hiding
No, he actually had hip surgery. So he decided to fully heal.
the beard was pretty bad tho
First
I will never understand this, nor do I want to..
You were actually second…
L
His girlfriend said he ALWAYS finishes 1st. Usually in less than a minute
/rim shot
Rim job?
Car ramrod
Can he pitch? O’s need pitching !
They’ve pitching could be actually better than expected (though that might not be saying much, since not very much is expected :-). Their front two guys could be very good this year.
I believe this. I think Gausman and Bundy are both ready to break out which alone will really help this team. If Cashner can pitch close to last season and Tillman could bounceback it’s a pretty formidable 4. Still need a young guy to take control of 5 spot or need to sign another pitcher, like Feldman or Loriano on minor league deal
Exactly. And it’s a Buck-led club, which usually leads to surpassing expectations.
I’d like to see what Miguel Castro could do. He was pretty solid in long relief last year.
“If Cashner can pitch close to last season…” hmm. That would not be a plus. He struck out like 4.5 batters/9 last year and all the rest of his peripherals stunk. I think Baltimore seems to win despite poor pitching usually, but this staff is just really bad.
I hope it works out for both parties. If I recall correctly Rasmus walked away from the game in June or so last year.
Last year Colby walked out of Tampa and said he was retiring, now he’s back..
he never said retiring, he simply said family reasons.. the dude was doing very well in Tampa…
His father said he left the Rays b/c of a hip injury.
“Well a sad day today as Colby’s hip just wouldn’t heal and I’m not sure he wanted to have another surgery on it. . . Tony said Colby told him he “wasn’t coming back until he’s healthy. He just didn’t want to be rehabbing the rest of the year, and I don’t think he wanted to take their money if he wasn’t playing. He’s a weirdo when it comes to that.” Asked whether Colby is retiring, Rasmus said, “If his hip heals up, he may want to come back and play again. You don’t want to close any door.”
Thanks man!
St Louis fans know this guy is a prima donna and his daddy makes it worse.
DD was on 105.7 the fan this morning. Seems like this is the last addition. I don’t make mind Rasmus. I was hoping for Lynn or Cobb also. All DD talked about was how much they loved the pitching currently in camp. Maybe he’ll surprise us.
That’s a shame. We cleared 42 million from the payroll this year and added only 8 guaranteed. We should have some money to spend on another pitcher.
If it means we can extend Schoop and Bundy, I’m fine with it.
Shouldn’t have any bearing on that. Jones, machado, Britton, brach and Tillman will all be off the books next year. There’s plenty of money
We or they?
I wasn’t quoting him… I was giving the gist of his radio conversation. So it’s “they” meaning the the Orioles. Nerd.
The Return.
COLBY JACK IS BACK BOYS
No one can ever accuse the Orioles of straying from their formula.
What’s the O’s formula? Dumpster diving and sitting on their butts?
Losing?
Only 1 team has more wins since Buck took over manager.
Last 6 years 0 AL teams have more combined wins than the O’s. So nice comment
Living in the past? That window has slammed shut.
How many World Series have they appeared in during that time?
He’ll retire as usual mid season
As usual ? You mean after he did that ONE time ? You don’t make any sense.
if he can keep his clothes on, it’ll be a good deal
He had 121 AB’s last year and hit .281
With 9 homers and 23 RBI’s while in Tampa Bay. He looks like a great fit for the Orioles good luck.
Another move toward a 90 loss season. WTG Orioles. They’ve got a plan, it’s just a very bad one.
Good luck with that head case…
Now they need Bret Lawrie too
As long as his dad leaves him alone he’ll be fine.
That’s what got him ran out of St. Louis
Yep, trading him to Toronto for Dotel and Rzep.. Rczep… Scrabble is what pushed us over the top in ‘11. Sured up the ‘pen.
I like the move, but l would rather have signed Jarrod Dyson. Unfortunately, the O’s didn’t show a lot of interest in Dyson and the D-backs signed him.
buck doesn’t send runners so Dyson is useless
Just send it.
Buck is all about pop and good defense. Colby Rasmus fits the bowl.
Seriously there were better options out there and they bring in this head case. They aren’t making good enough moves to make me want to come see them play. I used to go all the time but as of last year i haven’t gone to a game and attendance has dropped big time
not a bad move low risk high reward for a guy who actually was hitting well last year before stepping away. just hope this doesn’t mean they view Austin Hays as a platoon guy.
they don’t, they are just giving him some more time to develop. if they bring him up at the beginning of the year than that starts his service time clock.
Plus he can play pretty good defense in all 3 OF spots! Good cheap depth !
D-BAG
I would have rather Brugman get an opportunity.
Seems like we’ll never know who was the better coach, Tony LaRussa or Colby Rasmus’s dad.
High K/Low avg – perfect fit.
If Rasmus is healthy he us a great add probably for cheap too. I watched him for years in Toronto. He is what he is. Phenominnal bat speed, good runner, decent arm but not always too bright. He has a high upside and could do very well for the O’s. Good signing. #scoutseyes
#BULLSHITEYES
Bat speed is a good thing if you make contact with the ball. They need someone in the lineup who gets on base.
For sure the Orioles need a lot, a high OBP guy or guys would be a help. They are a last place in the AL east team anyways, so I can’t be enthusiastic about too much with them.
I don’t think he adds any value to the team unless he is willing to report to AAA when the season starts instead of opting out. I would like the O’s to just put Santander out in RF full time for the first 45 days and if he can’t handle it then send him to AAA once he’s fulfilled the mandatory Rule 5 stay.
Santander better than Hays? you trippin’
Isn’t Steve Ontiveros the same guy who gave up that game winning HR to Jeff Conine in the all star game? Well if there is a silver lining in any of this HE DID lead the AL in ERA that year so it should be interesting to see what he can bring to this clubhouse in terms of veteran leadership.
Orioles are one SPer and maybe 1 RPer from being a WC contender. Jays getting close too and Rays could still be in it of they pick another bat off the scrap heap (Holliday or Bautista) and hope for rebound (and then deal them at the TD for a prospect)
teams shouldn’t fill positions by the side a guy hits from.
So the Orioles cleared about $41mm in payroll this year and added $8mm guaranteed with Cashner. They needed a LF bat and they sign a guy who wasn’t even playing part of last year because he didn’t want to. They have substantial opportunities to add a real serious producer and they are cheap out like always and sign Rasmus on a wing and a prayer they get something out of him. They had 3 open rotation spots and they add ONLY Cashner. While Cobb, Lynn and Arrieta are out there. Exactly how are they going to compete. They lead the league in offensive KO’s and have the lowest OPB in the league.
Then tell me what the future holds. Another $70mm will be coming off the books and losing a face of the franchise in Machado. They’ve made zero attempts to sign Machado or extend their so called future in Schoop, Guasman or Bundy. Tell me what the hell we have to look forward to? Losing more good young players that we saw develop? How exactly can the Os cry small market poor when they will see their payroll drop $121mm before ’18 season and after this season. How do fans buy this garbage?
Next year is a legendary free agent class. While losing Manny would suck, we can certainly afford to keep him and/or add other elite free agents next year worst comes to worst. Hopefully we trade some guys and add to the farm this year if that’s the plan.
Do you honestly believe they will be in on any major free agents next year? Like cornerstone type players? Or will they continue to shop in the bargain bins?
Making up stats doesn’t make them true. Tampa, Texas and Oakland all had more offensive KOs. Assuming you meant the AL. If not add in Milwaukee, San Diego, Arizona, Philadelphia with more K’s than the O’s. KC, San Diego, San Fransico had lower OBPs and Toronto was tied with Baltimore.
Team WRC+ puts them 16th overall. So right about average.
So the Orioles are #4 in strikeouts in the AL-15 teams. And they are tied for #2 in OBP.. You can’t really compare to the NL since they have pitchers striking out all the time and batting about .100.
Well this changes everything…
LOLOLOL
Watched him coming up in AA Springfield a lot . Even my Dad said “ that kid swings out his ass “ he’s going to have to slow that torque on his back down or he won’t last long.
He was wrong about the back, but the hip did give out!