The Orioles announced today that they have designated infielder Danny Valencia for assignment. The move will make way for outfielder Cedric Mullins, whose contract was selected.
Valencia, 33, joined the Baltimore organization on a minors deal but had played a fairly significant role on the roster for much of the season. Over 282 plate appearances, he carries a .263/.316/.408 batting line — good for an exactly league average 100 OPS+ (albeit only a 93 wRC+).
Though he has mostly lined up at third base, Valencia has also spent time in right field for the O’s. He’s not generally regarded as much of a defender, and the advanced metrics have reflected that reputation this year.
It’s perhaps not out of question that a contending organization in search of a bench threat against left-handed pitching could put in a claim. As he has for much of his career, after all, Valencia has bludgeoned opposing southpaws this year. He’s also earning a palatable $1.2MM salary for the season.
As for Mullins, the diminutive 23-year-old will make his MLB debut. He has steadily ascended the ladder since joining the Orioles organization as a 13th-round pick in 2015. This season, he knocked around Double-A pitching before earning a promotion to the highest level of the minors, where he carries a .267/.332/.425 slash with five home runs and a dozen steals over 267 plate appearances.
Oh Danny boy… He was great in Oakland…
I’d like to see the Yankees get him and get rid of Robinson.
Geez. Didn’t realize how bad Robinson is. Valencia would be solid contributor.
Wow, I’ll be honest, I’m shocked at this. He had been a nice offensive piece who probably could have been a nice addition to a contending bench.
And he still can be a nice bench piece. He’s not going to bring anything back. We have 10 days to find a trade partner. This doesn’t do anything to that. We need to see the young guys, not Valencia. DV has been slumping and sitting on the bench recently anyway. We’ve been playing Nunez at 3rd and Peterson/Rickard in RF.
There was the fight between him and Billy Butler. One where as far as I know Butler provoked but Valencia punched.
My guess is that they want to play more youth to see what they got in the minors but in 3 weeks rosters expand anyway.
Mullins has been knocking at the door for a while. Exciting call-up.
Not terribly surprised that Valencia was DFA’d the team already has Trumbo to DH and play below average RF. But Danny still hits lefties very well ( .303/.368/.505), so wouldn’t be surprised to see him catch on with a contender fairly quickly.
What? All the losers they have on this team and they dump Valencia???
I’ve never read anything bad about Velencia. But for a solid stat line player. He seems to always be on a 1 yr deal with a bad team.
He’s a bad defensive player and only hits Lefties. Guys like him are finding it harder and harder to find spots. See Adam Lind.
He’s been run out of town on at least two previous stops. Locker room issues.
You must have read very little about Valencia (apparently proven by your spelling of his name). He is well known locker room cancer. That is one of the main reasons he is so well-traveled despite putting up good numbers almost everywhere he goes.
Yankees get him! He might be too expensive for Brian Cheapman though.
Did you really just insult your genius GM
Everyone’s talking about Danny, but Mullins is gonna be a key piece of the Orioles future. Looks great in his first game
He should have brought something Os are pitiful