The Orioles have acquired outfielder Keon Broxton from the Mets and claimed righty Chandler Shepherd from the Cubs, per a club announcement. $500K in international signing bonus slots are headed to the Mets in the swap.
Those additions created a need for two 40-man slots. To do so, the team moved starter Alex Cobb to the 60-day IL and designated fellow righty Yefry Ramirez for assignment.
Broxton, 29, obviously drew some interest since it took a non-trivial trade return to add him. He’ll need to stay on the active roster since he’s out of options. It’ll be interesting to see whether the O’s give him an extended audition in center field. While the results just haven’t been there for Broxton at the game’s highest level, he also has not had much of a chance to get going since the 2017 campaign.
This year has been a wreck so far for Broxton, who saw action in 34 games but took only 53 plate appearances with the Mets. He struck out 22 times in that span while delivering just one extra-base hit. Broxton did still manage to swipe four bags and figures to be a strong contributor in the field and on the bases.
As for the 26-year-old Shepherd, he’s on the move again just days after being claimed by the Cubs from the Red Sox. The right-handed hurler has been hit exceptionally hard this year at Triple-A, allowing 33 earned runs on 53 hits (eleven of them long balls) in 29 2/3 innings. But he had previously been a solid performer in the upper minors. The O’s are in need of innings and may have some ideas for getting him sorted out.
In any event, the organization obviously preferred Shepherd to Ramirez, who has had his own struggles this year. In 10 1/3 MLB frames, Ramirez has issued nine walks against eleven strikeouts while coughing up eight earned runs. Though it had never been an issue in the minors, he also struggled with the free passes last year in the majors.
Surprised they gave up on Yefry so soon he’s not real good but it’s the orioles
But they’re in win-now mode.
Only if your definition of “now” is between today and 2025.
LOL
That soon?
Maybe not really giving up on Ramirez, hoping he can get through waivers. He just doesn’t seem to be able to translate his AAA success to the majors.
Given the amount of starters we have in Norfolk with ERA’s over 6 I’m a little surprised.
I bet they are both ecstatic to join a good minor league team.
Was Zaidi taking a nap? I am surprised he didn’t try to make a trade for Broxton…..well there’s always Cargo lol
Maybe ownership has put him in time out? Or maybe he spent all week working on his fantasy football draft?
Well if the Orioles claimed him they have priority over the Giants cause of their record but trust me as a Mets fan you don’t want Broxton he was horrible offensively and his defense wasn’t even amazing
The Orioles traded for him.
That isn’t the case. A player has to clear waivers in his own league before he goes through waivers in the other league. In Broxton’s case, if the Giants put in a claim they would be awarded Keon before the O’s would get a chance.
It’s not August, he didn’t need to clear waivers to be traded.
I bet Broxton does a decent job for Baltimore. Small ballpark, regular playing time.
I don’t think anything in Broxton’s offensive stats history suggests he’ll do a decent job for anyone, small ballpark or not. I’ll take that bet
At what odds?
Everyday ABS. Losing team, no pressure. We’ll see what he does. I’m just happy we finally have a true CF.
He was striking out 42% of the time for the Mets. Doesn’t matter how far the fence is if you can’t make contact.
He cant do any worst in Baltimore than he did in New York!
He might!
Some guys you don’t want to challenge that way… Broxton might be one…
Cobb to the long 60 day IL. With last year and this years horrible performances and now this, it shows what a terrible signing this was for Baltimore.
If he can hit the cut off man, hes better then we have now
I wonder if this is the end of Rickard or Nunez? My vote would be Nunez so Wilkerson can get back to being an infielder. IMO he should be logging starts at 2B over Alberto. Rickard is best suited for the two starts a week role…And it’s not as if we have a clear solution for 2B/SS next year. Villar is a sure fire non tender candidate if he’s not traded. No way on Earth we pay him 8-9 MM next season.
I’m looking forward to the day when we’ll be able to call up Mason McCoy from the Baysox as SS.
I am amazed that the mets got anything for Broxton
I was amazed the Brewers got anything for him before that.
And didn’t have to eat his (or someone else’s) contract.
The Cubs just claimed that dude. How did Baltimore claim him already?
Theo does stuff like that almost constantly. Claim somebody and dfa him immediately so they don’t actually have to roster them.
Best case scenario they sneak them through waivers and stash them in Iowa, worst case you pay the guy one weeks salary.
It’s becoming an increasingly popular tactic among a lot of analytically minded front offices as a way to maximize the value of a roster spot otherwise going to waste most of the season.
World Series here they come.
Chandler Shepherd, we hardly knew ye. Actually, we didn’t know ye at all.
they cry like a lil c***….ernie is rollin’ in his grave