It was another quiet winter for the Orioles, who continue to focus on building up their farm and keeping payroll down during a lengthy stretch of lean seasons.
Major League Signings
- Freddy Galvis, SS: $1.5MM
- Total spend: $1.5MM
Trades and Claims
- Traded SS Jose Iglesias to the Angels in exchange for RHPs Garrett Stallings and Jean Pinto
- Traded RHP Alex Cobb and cash to the Angels in exchange for 2B/OF Jahmai Jones
- Acquired INFs AJ Graffanino and Greg Cullen from the Braves as a PTBNL from August’s Tommy Milone trade
- Acquired RHP Miguel Padilla from the Astros as a PTBNL from July’s Hector Velazquez trade
- Claimed 2B Yolmer Sanchez off waivers from the White Sox
- Claimed RHP Ashton Goudeau off waivers from the Pirates
- Claimed 1B Chris Shaw off waivers from the Giants (later outrighted to Triple-A)
- Selected RHPs Tyler Wells (Twins) and Mac Sceroler (Reds) in the Rule 5 Draft
Notable Minor League Signings
- Felix Hernandez, Matt Harvey, Wade LeBlanc, Fernando Abad, Tom Eshelman, Nick Ciuffo, Conner Greene, Seth Mejias-Brean
Extensions
- None
Notable Losses
- Jose Iglesias, Alex Cobb, Renato Nunez (non-tendered), Hanser Alberto (non-tendered), Asher Wojciechowski, Dwight Smith Jr., Bryan Holaday
The Orioles kicked off the winter with what appeared to be a rather straightforward decision on a $3.5MM club option for shortstop Jose Iglesias. It was somewhat curious that Baltimore waited until the last minute to formally exercise that option, considering that a $500K buyout made it a net $3MM decision, but the end result to pick up the option came as little surprise after a productive season for Iglesias. General manager Mike Elias said after the fact that the option was never in doubt and called his shortstop a “perfect fit for what we need right now.” Iglesias was traded to the Angels 29 days later.
As has regularly been the case for the O’s, their return included a pair of low-level pitchers. Righty Garrett Stallings has yet to appear in a pro game, though he was a 2019 fifth-rounder who is regarded as a polished arm that could quickly move through the ranks and become a back-of-the-rotation starter. Twenty-year-old righty Jean Pinto has just 12 pro innings under his belt and is further from the big leagues. Baseball America rated Stallings as the organization’s No. 26 prospect earlier this winter.
Absent the “perfect fit” comments from Elias, it wouldn’t have been much of a surprise to see Iglesias on the move. The O’s have been willing to listen on any players as they reshape the organization, after all, and as an affordable veteran with one year remaining on his contract, he was a logical player to market. To the Orioles’ credit, they eventually added a similar player in Freddy Galvis, who’ll fill the same role with an even more modest price tag for the coming season.
That proved to be the Orioles’ lone big league free-agent signing this winter, though it wasn’t the only player acquired to help the 2021 roster. Baltimore plucked 2019 Gold Glove winner Yolmer Sanchez off waivers and figures to give the 28-year-old plenty of run at second base. Paired with Galvis, he should form a strong defensive tandem in the middle infield, although Sanchez could eventually face some competition from the player acquired in the Orioles’ other major offseason transaction.
Few would’ve expected the Orioles to be able to both offload some of the remaining $15MM on Alex Cobb’s four-year deal and do so in a trade that brought a young player of some note back to the organization. But the Orioles managed to do just that, shipping Cobb to the Angels in a trade that saved the O’s about $5MM and brought in one-time top prospect Jahmai Jones.
While the 23-year-old Jones has seen his stock dip since he was on the back end of Top 100 lists at Baseball America, MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus, he’s still a near-MLB-ready piece who got his feet wet with a three-game call to the Majors for the Halos last year. The Orioles have said he’ll work mostly at second base, but if Sanchez settles in nicely at that spot, Jones does have a good bit of outfield experience as well.
It was a surprising trade on many levels. The market had plenty of mid- and back-of-the-rotation options available around the same price point as Cobb — many who are more durable than Cobb has been. The Angels clearly saw something they like in Cobb more than comparable, available arms (e.g. Rick Porcello), but the market for the right-hander couldn’t have been too strong. The O’s did well to shed some of that contract and add an intriguing young player, even if he’s in need of a rebound.
That said, it’s also worth pointing out that Cobb is still the team’s second-most expensive player. The $10MM they’re paying him to pitch for the Angels is more than they’re paying everyone other than Chris Davis. The money saved in their two trades and series of non-tenders apparently won’t be put back into the 2021 club, so fans will have to simply hope such moves lead to greater spending down the road.
Baltimore had the opportunity to choose among any number of veteran starting pitchers or relievers, but the Orioles settled on minor league deals with some veteran pitchers in dire need of a rebound. Felix Hernandez and Matt Harvey haven’t been high-end pitchers since 2015, and Harvey in particular has been clobbered in several stops since his days as Citi Field’s Dark Knight. Hernandez, meanwhile, barely cracked 90 mph with his average fastball in his final year with the Mariners. He opted out of the 2020 season after signing a minor league deal with the Braves. Hernandez was able to survive when his once 95-plus velocity dipped to the 93 mph range, but as it’s continued to drop further, his overall effectiveness has waned.
It’s a stretch to expect Hernandez and Harvey to regain their form at this point, yet that duo joins Wade LeBlanc and Tom Eshelman — both back with the club on minor league deals — as the only additions to the rotation competition. The Orioles have plenty of young arms they’d like to take a look at, some of which will get that chance in 2021. Keegan Akin, Dean Kremer, Zac Lowther, Bruce Zimmerman and Michael Baumann are all on the 40-man roster.
Still, it already feels as though there will be a frequent question of how they’re going to get through a given week of starts. John Means is locked into a rotation spot. The only other starting pitcher on the 40-man roster who has even 30 innings of MLB experience is out-of-options righty Jorge Lopez, who carries a career 6.03 ERA and isn’t even a guarantee to break camp with the team.
There’s something to be said for the pedal-to-the-metal, ultra-aggressive rebuild approach, and perhaps the Orioles will indeed catch lightning in a bottle on Harvey and/or Hernandez. But there’s also something to be said for the value of bringing in some stability to help such an unproven staff, and the Orioles chose not to lock themselves into such a commitment despite myriad options being available over the winter (and even up until the time of this writing). As MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes noted while he and I were chatting about this very subject: the Cubs probably wouldn’t have won the 2016 World Series if they hadn’t signed Scott Feldman in Nov. 2012. The Jake Arrieta trade is an extreme example of cashing in on a veteran placeholder, of course, but there’s value in making such additions and not relying too heavily on younger arms who aren’t accustomed to the rigors of a full MLB season’s workload.
Turning to the lineup, the Orioles didn’t add much beyond Galvis, Sanchez and Jones, and many onlookers — particularly Orioles fans — were stunned to see the club non-tender slugger Renato Nunez. The 26-year-old (27 in April) belted 43 homers from 2019-20 while batting .247/.314/.469 in Baltimore.
However, the Nunez decision was also in many ways foreseeable. He doesn’t walk much, has a higher-than-average strikeout rate and brings minimal defensive value to the table. The home runs are obviously nice, but clubs have stopped paying much for skill sets that are heavy in power but light in OBP and defensive value. That Nunez went unclaimed on waivers and ultimately settled for a minor league deal in Detroit only further underscores that market trend. Hanser Alberto found himself in a similar spot due to marginal on-base skills and a lack of power, and he was also cut loose before settling on a non-guaranteed pact in Kansas City.
While some holes in the game for Nunez and Alberto surely contributed to the Orioles moving on, the decisions were also accelerated by the growing number of MLB-ready bats Baltimore can evaluate in the near term. Austin Hays has seemingly put his injuries behind him and earned another chance to be a regular. Anthony Santander may have had a breakout in right field. Ryan Mountcastle debuted in 2020 and raked through 35 games. DJ Stewart showed some three-true-outcomes intrigue. Rio Ruiz hasn’t given much reason for optimism at third base, but prospect Rylan Bannon is more or less ready for a big league look. Chance Sisco will get another opportunity behind the plate, but uber-prospect Adley Rutschman looms in the minors.
Best of all for the 2021 Orioles, they’ll welcome back their clubhouse leader and best all-around hitter. Slugger Trey Mancini took a leave of absence a year ago around this time, disclosing weeks later that he’d been diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer. Mancini underwent surgery, endured chemotherapy and battled for several months until thrilling fans throughout the game by announcing that he was in remission. It’s been great to see Mancini get back into a game setting, and it’ll be a truly special moment to see him take the field for the Orioles on Opening Day. They’ll no doubt look forward to welcoming his leadership back to the clubhouse and welcoming the bat that produced a .291/.364/.535 slash in 2019 back to the heart of the lineup. For all the questions surrounding the pitching staff, the Baltimore lineup has its share of intriguing hitters.
All in all, the Orioles’ offseason was something of a mixed bag. Both trades of established big leaguers made sense, and the Cobb deal in particular was well-received around the industry. Galvis is a perfectly sensible stopgap option at shortstop, and they operated around the fringes of the 40-man with some waiver claims and Rule 5 adds. The non-tender decisions, while a surprise to some, were at the very least defensible.
At the same time, the Orioles appear set to trot out a $59.5MM payroll despite the fact that the 20 pitchers on their 40-man roster have combined for a total of 1036 2/3 innings at the Major League level. The top depth options they brought in to supplement the group haven’t been big league contributors for years. The hope is that several young arms will claim long-term spots both in the rotation and the bullpen, but the results along the way could be ugly.
How would you grade the Orioles’ offseason? (Link to poll for Trade Rumors iOS/Android app users)
Going to be a long season for the Orioles
A long season of Mancini hitting nukes off the Bronx Bombers and Means carving up Blue Jays hitters. While Santander hits bomb to the Pesky Poles and Green Monster, Finally Mountcastle hitting lazers in to the sting rays tank
…and still winning just 1/3 of their games and battling for first place…in the 2022 MLB draft!
I forgot to mention they will go 130-32 and win the WS
Hopefully the orioles get that #1 pick. More money to spend on the draft and the opp to take the best player available.
However, the pirates look much worse. So I’m not optimistic!
Pirates looked worlds better in that 13-1 win the other day actually
There’s a reason that spring training games don’t count;
Pass the pot brownies please.. I’m hungry. Lol
Facing a lineup that would look more at home in Norfolk instead of Baltimore. More than half that lineup will be in triple-A once the season starts.
Delusional.
The trade of Alex Cobb was huge IMO. I have no clue how they got the Angels to do that. I think King Felix may actually be a really good trade piece for the O’s at the deadline. He was great in Spring training with the Braves last year before COVID hit. He had a starting spot locked down and an ERA in the 1.00’s. He chose to leave for Baltimore because he wants a real opportunity to pitch and I expect him to do that. I don’t really get the Freddy Galvis signing. It seemed pointless and they should have been able to plug someone cheaper in that role so they could spend the extra couple million on a later season. I would say they need to do everything they can to move that Chris Davis contract but I think we all know no teams will take him. That might be the most untradeable contract in all of baseball. Especially with the no-trade clause. I have a question for anyone reading. Would you rather your team be stuck with the Chris Davis contract or stuck with the much more expensive Miguel Cabrera contract that is more than twice as long? I might actually prefer Chris Davis. He is much worse but at least your team can finish it’s rebuild a couple years earlier and spend less money in the process. Can anyone guess a prediction for Chris Davis’ 2022 season (assuming he isn’t released by then)? That’s the last year of his deal so it theoretically should be the worst season of that deal. If he starts, it could be the worst season of any MLB hitter in history. I’m betting in 2022 Chris Davis hits right around .100 with possibly the lowest OPS in history. Something like a 10 wRC+. Thoughts anyone?
Other than super delusional homers like Juan Soto over here, we Orioles fans fully expect this to be another 100-ish loss season. Matt Harvey is toast, Hoping that Felix finds a few more mph so his changeup is back to dominant and he can win a few games. Mostly hoping that Akin and Kremer take their next steps and continued development in a talented farm system.
Hanging hopes on Felix is sadly misplaced. He’s throwing batting practice. Should’ve retired after 2019. Remember when the O’s started 0-21? Yeah they could break that record.
I heard the Orioles were the worst team in baseball last year and then they finished ahead of the Red Sox…..
They aren’t that bad. I’m predicting 69 wins
Is MLBTR reviewing every team?
Yes. It’s an annual series this time of year.
Cool, i’m going to guess your going in order of power rankings
That means the Rangers are soon! Lol
Yeah it’s kinda like MLB networks 30 clubs in 30 days.
I might’ve been the only one to give the O’s an ‘A’ so far. There is nothing the O’s can do but to rebuild. They managed to get three decent little pieces from a roster with very little valuable pieces.
Hard to say it was an “A” though. There isn’t much that the O’s can do right now. The roster is pretty much bare as far as moveable vets. Mancini needs to rebuild his value after beating cancer. He’s the best chip they have but he needs to show he’s back.
The only thing that limits an A from me is the lack of rebound additions. The rotation needs help. An innings eater would’ve been nice to add. Or take a gamble on a reliever who could pay off big. But it looks like the Angelos’ didn’t want to lay out any cash this winter.
It depends on what you’re grading.
Cutting payroll and working within the confines of a restrictive budget while re-tooling a farm system with a longstanding reputation of being barely serviceable and leaning into J2 for the first time in franchise history but nevertheless not investing whatsoever into the major league team? A+++++++
Putting the best major league team that you can afford on the field in April? Certainly not higher than a D-.
I think adding to the ML team in some way is a potential boost to your farm system down the line. You sign an Alex Colome or Sean Doolittle and they end up pitching well—you get yourself a top 10 prospect or two. I think something like that is a worthwhile gamble. There’s plenty of space available in the pen. Particularly after they dealt Bleier, Givens, and Castro last season. Relievers are a highly valuable commodity in July.
If they want to get through the season with junk arms and prospects in the rotation—I’m cool w/ that. A Tommy Milone doesn’t fetch very much. But the team did get actual prospects back for Givens and Castro. Would’ve made sense to add a reliever that might fetch that again IMO.
Yup that’s how you rebuild. Jays and orioles went fell off a cliff at the same time yet jays were ready to start playing competitive ball again last year (yes I know only because of extended playoffs) yet Baltimore is still 3-5 years away from that.
Blue Jays got good faster because they did not really wait an extra year to blow it up and traded most of their players at a good value. O’s should’ve blown it up in the 2017 offseason but waiting until 2018’s trade deadline made it a couple of years longer because at that point guys they could’ve traded had their values diminish.
Low standards.
I gave them a C because I thought dumping Iglesias washed out the Cobb deal and everything else was meh. If Stallings can rise through the system and be a #3 or 4 starter in three years, I’ll re-evaluate.
If stallings is a #4 or 5 it’s a win. Iglesias wasn’t part of the future. If we really want him back then we can go sign him this offseason.
I gave them a B mainly for that Cobb heist. Why the Angels would want him and not a similarly priced vet is beyond me.
As an O’s fan I was sad to see Nunez and Alberto go, but both deals make a lot of sense. Both have 1 great skill and are best as a bench guy on a playoff team, not the center of a rebuild.
For once there is excitement with the young guys. I remember the dark ages 98-2011 well. The O’s always sign some cheap but slightly over the hill vets. Good enough for 4th place but not much more. So I’m glad they haven’t continued on that path.
What does a good offseason even mean? For the O’s it’s sticking to the plan. Now if they got some fool (like Colorado) to take Davis that would push it to the A category for me. But failing that the O’s did about as well as you could want.
C made some good trades to build more minor legate depth. Some alright minor league signings that could work out as well. Didn’t improve the major league team much but for sure improved the farm more.
Being old enough to remember the time of the Reserve Clause, with fairly static rosters, if you had bad luck in signings, traded badly, had misfortune in injuries, you could be a bad team for a long time. From 1918 to 1948 the Phillies had exactly one winning season (78-76 in 1932). Baltimore might be building a good farm, and maybe they will be on the upswing at some point, but this has to be a little depressing for O’s fans.
The Phillies were bad for nearly their entire first century if we are honest
Not really depressing if you understand the game. The team Elias took over was depressing. Huge money obligations to burnt out players with no farm system. We’re still stuck with Davis, but our farm is improved big time and there’s at least a light at the end of the tunnel.
They got an F for overall offseason, but when factoring in other things, like this being a rebuild, this being the Orioles, and the AL East, tbh they probably got a C. Got to get rid of some Cobb money, Galvis isn’t Iggy but he’s cheaper, and Mancini is back.
I’d put their off season in the C+ to B- range. Got back some pretty good returns for Iglesias and Cobb. Essentially did what they needed to do.
A solid “C” offseason, mainly for being able to offload Cobb.
yeah maybe I should’ve been a little less harsh. getting Jones out of that disaster of a contract was nice
I’d give them a “C’. It’s tough to rate the off-season without realizing the financial constraints they’re under. Are the for sale? All those deferrals (they’ll still pay Cobb this year, and for 3 years after)? The MASN mess?
They’re coming back, but it’s a slooooooooooooooow rebuild. That said, the top 5 in the order actually looks strong; I’m a big Mullins and Hayes fan, Mancini-Santander-Mountcastle can be very good. The issues start after that, and of course, some pretty horrible pitching.
If you’re looking for a team to buy, this is it. Great fanbase, great ballpark, great history. And they’ll fill the joint with a decent team.
But it looks like a few more years of being out-of-it.
I like the Sanchez pick-up. That’s about it.
That’s the only thing of note I’m seeing as well, although Galvis is a decent player. Serviceable.
I can see some improvements coming on the field offensively, but that pitching staff remains scary.
Hopefully we can sign maikel franco yet
Nobody mentions this is pretty much the old Astros front office, so they are tearing it down just like the Astros and hopefully replicate what the Astros did.
Minus Cora and Beltran installing the sign stealing scandal.
Time to sign Cashner back.
And only two more years of Chris Davis unless you count 50 yrs of deferred payouts.
I would have thought that they would have signed more FA’s with hopes of trading them for prospects at the deadline.
The rebuild continues…..
It doesn’t matter much, but Yolmer Sanchez was claimed off waivers from the White Sox, not from the Giants: baseball-reference.com/players/s/sanchca01.shtml
He had resigned with the White Sox late last year after the Giants released him.
Agh! Thank you. Updated.
Great to see Trey Mancini in camp and having a good spring.
No mention of Cedric Mullins. He’s in the mix for PT.
Gave a D, because the pitching to get them thru a 165 game season just isn’t there. Throwing the youngsters out there, ready or not, will be taxing to both arms and psyche.
less then impressive
Really pulling for Felix Hernandez.. he looked sharp for the Braves before he opted out due to covid last season.
The fact that people are giving their offseason a D or an F is ridiculous. You have to judge the offseason on where the team is in the competitive cycle. If the Yankees or Dodgers pulled these moves an F is appropriate.
For a team that is admittedly in a full rebuild, I gave it a B. Being able to offload Cobb and get Jones back is a win. Adding Sanchez and Galvis is a win. I didn’t give it an A because they definitely needed to add a veteran that could add 175-180 innings and some bullpen arms.
I think their lineup is going to be solid but their rotation and bullpen is going to struggle mightily.
I know they’re going to lose at least 92 games but their offseason was not a D or F.
its a matter of what your getting. not enough good returns for traded players, not enough reclamation projects signed.
Not enough good returns for traded players?
Buddy you blow me away with nonsense. They traded Alex Cobb and Jose Iglesias.
Should that have brought back Wander Franco? Because I think they did pretty alright in their trades.
@mikep2k
F for excitement created, but yeah B+,B,B- for doing his job
Drafting Heston Kjerstad might be a disaster though
The thing is that you can’t really judge the drafting of Kjerstad by itself. You have to take into account the players that they drafted and paid overslot bonuses to in order to get them to sign.
I would be easy to say that Kjerstad was a horrible pick because Asa Lacey or Austin Martin are better MLB players (maybe) but you have to account for Westberg etc.
Well the Orioles didn’t really lose Jose Iglesias or Alex Cobb, they traded them
Although, if they lost Chris Davis,……but he would come back like a lost cat in all probability
I’m an O’s fan and I’m not ‘depressed’ or mad or whatever the narrative is lol for the first time since I’ve been fan we seem to actually be building something. Homegrown talent. The entire 2000’s we would add guys like Miguel Tejada or spend money on some veteran but what are you adding them to? A crappy team? Wow. Great. You build a system and see what you have and then spend money to fill in the gaps. Add a star. Bam. You’re on track. If we get to a point where the Orioles are a big arm away or a power stick away and they are being cheap. Then I may become disgruntled. But as a business owner myself. I don’t see any reason to spend money right now. Next offseason maybe. 2022 definitely. Hopefully you close your window with a Championship and if not you destroy and rebuild with the model you believe in and trust. Orioles would be way closer if in 2015 they realized the run is over. Could of got max value for a lot of desirable players. Instead they received no value for every asset they had. Now we’re here.
It was really in 2017 that they should’ve seen the writing on the wall, but yeah.
The amount of talent they had available to trade was insane for a 75-win team. The guys I’d have traded:
Machado (with 1.5 years left)
Gausman with 2.5
Brach, Givens, Bleier, O’Day, Britton
Even with that, they’d have still had a couple of guys left, and likely still wouldn’t have won less than the 47 games they wound up winning in 2018. I always said that one of the best attributes a GM can have is to recognize the direction his team is going, and have the guts to act accordingly.
Going to ask the same thing I asked on the Pirates thread. To all those voting D or F, what exactly is it that you think they were supposed to do?
I thought they should have added a few starters that could soak up innings and possibly last thru the season. Wasn’t expecting Odorizzi but Urena, Perez, Rondon, Moore, Sanchez, and Tehran, were all reasonably priced veterans. I can see them being forced to call up players and starting their clocks just to cover innings.
While your suggestions make sense from one perspective, doesn’t this also assume those guys were willing to come to a team almost guaranteed to have a losing season? Some pros just can’t hack that mentally and probably convince themselves that other teams & situations are better for them. That would certainly seem to be the case with Moore (Phillies) and Perez (Boston). Now you could also argue that picking the Tigers (Urena & Teheran) isn’t all that smart, but it also takes them away from having to pitch in Camden Yards, Yankee Stadium Fenway Park countless times in a single season.
Both the Orioles and the Pirates should be dropped from the proud ranks of MLB and reduced to what they actually are, AAA level organizations. Elevate 2 well run, forward thinking, AAA teams in their place. Send a strong message to the remaining MLB teams.
AAA ??! That’s way to much credit
In 2017, the bottom 6 teams were Oakland, Atlanta, Cincy, SD, TB, and Minny. All 6 made the playoffs last year, 4 were division winners, and had 5 of the best 6 records in BB.
Just think if Os would have kept all their current players for what they make now. Bundy, Britton, Gausman (well not what he makes now but u get my drift) machado. They’d have maybe 60/70 mill annual wrapped up into that bunch along w current flock and that’s a decent team.
Instead they spend 1.5 mil in free agency after shedding WAY more salary than that. And a slew of no name prospects in return for quality big leaguers. Worst ran team in AL
The Orioles repeatedly make the sound “cheap, cheap, cheap”
O’s have some thump in their lineup. They can compete against the mediocre to bad clubs in the Central and West. I expect the O’s to lose less than 100 games.
Gotta have goals!
“JAWS MOVIE ”Don’t tell me, don’t tell me…..ANGELOS? Hahahahhaah. Man between him and Roch Kubatko this team not going nowhere
Been a long ugly rebuild. Royals and Tigers look to be trending up and ready to try and compete. Pittsburgh just started its rebuild and I think they have a better 2023 2024 outlook then Baltimore.