2:10pm: The Orioles announced that Jones has been recalled, Greene has been claimed, Martin has been optioned and Franco has been designated for assignment. Kubatko now tweets that the Gutierrez move won’t become official until tomorrow, so it seems there’s some additional roster tweaking on the horizon.
1:30pm: The Orioles have also reclaimed right-hander Conner Greene off waivers from the Dodgers, tweets Dan Connolly of The Athletic. The O’s lost him to the Dodgers on waivers earlier this month but have now claimed him back after the Dodgers designated him for assignment themselves.
12:38pm: The Orioles will announce multiple roster moves today, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). Baltimore is set to designate third baseman Maikel Franco for assignment and option infielder Richie Martin to Triple-A Norfolk, per Kubatko. They’ll recall second baseman Jahmai Jones and third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez in their place.
Franco, who’ll turn 29 this week, has never really found his footing with the O’s after signing well into Spring Training. He’s been Baltimore’s primary third baseman this season, appearing in 104 games and totaling 403 plate appearances, but he’s mustered only a .210/.253/.355 slash with 11 home runs and 22 doubles in that time.
The O’s were surely hoping for something closer to Franco’s 2020 production, when he appeared in all 60 games for the Royals and batted .278/.321/.457 with eight homers and 16 doubles in 243 plate appearances. Kansas City still non-tendered Franco last winter rather than pay him a raise in arbitration — his second non-tender in as many years — and he lingered in free agency into Spring Training before finally settling on a one-year, $800K deal with Baltimore.
In an ideal setting, the Orioles probably would’ve enjoyed a few reasonably productive months out of Franco and subsequently flipped him at the deadline for whatever return they could get. His minimal salary would’ve made him an affordable addition even as a bench bat with a contending club. His general lack of production this season understandably dried up any real interest on the trade market.
The Orioles will now place Franco on either outright waivers or release waivers in the coming days. He’s unlikely to be claimed, as doing so would mean picking up the remainder of his salary, which recently jumped from $800K to $1MM when he recorded his 400th plate appearance of the season. Once he clears waivers, he can become a free agent and sign with any club for the prorated portion of the league minimum from that point through season’s end.
Jones, 24, was acquired in the offseason trade that sent righty Alex Cobb and cash to the Angels. The former second-round pick was once considered one of the best prospects in the Halos’ system and one of the top 100 prospects in all of baseball, but his stock had dipped in recent seasons.
After a hot start to the 2021 campaign, Jones has seen his bat tail off considerably in Norfolk. He posted a .311/.435/.516 line through his first 30 games with the Tides but has batted just .201/.257/.370 in 42 games since that time. Jones posted a .349 average on balls in play during the 30-game stretch to open the year and saw that mark fall to .242 over his next 42 games, but a climbing strikeout rate has also been a primary reason for his downturn in performance. Jones walked 22 times (16.8 percent) against 20 strikeouts (15.3 percent) over those first 30 games, but in his past 42 contests he’s fanned at a 29.2 percent rate against a greatly diminished 6.5 percent walk rate.
Recent slump notwithstanding, Jones ranks in the middle tier of the Orioles’ top prospects and will use the remainder of the 2021 campaign as an addition for a larger role next season. The Orioles’ infield is largely unsettled beyond first baseman Trey Mancini, so there should be plenty of opportunity for younger players to stake a claim to some more playing time. Jones does have some experience in center and in left as well. However, the O’s have used him primarily as a second baseman in 2021 and have a much more settled group on the outfield grass than the infield dirt.
One of the worst players in baseball easily
And yet somewhere out there is a barrage of fans thinking, “oh man, someone’s gotta pick this guy up! A change of scenery blah blah! I’ve heard of his name so he’s gotta be good!”
Used to be a real solid bat with a nice glove. Unfortunately he steadily regressed in both areas. Ironically for a franchise that had the best third baseman in history, the Phillies just can’t seem to develop one. Even the 2008 WS team had Pedro Feliz, great defender sub par hitter. For awhile there Franco was the answer, but after an impressive rookie campaign, he just couldn’t get going anymore.
He’s a great dude. I constantly hope for a bounceback, but I don’t see it.
I actually wanted the Mets to take a chance on him this off season. But now it’s obvious that he’s done.
There was a guy they developed named Scott Rolen that was pretty decent at 3rd, but point taken it has been awhile.
Franco’s glove was pretty good. A shame he can’t hit worth a lick anymore. If you can’t get it done offensively in Baltimore—there’s not much hope.
Yea that’s a pretty big omission by Von. But he was also Rolen along on his post so I guess that explains it.
Wow…
Yea. Rolen was amazing. Loved him on the Phillies. Probably the last great 3B they had.
Yup. Didn’t forget him, but that was 20 years ago. Sticking to modern history.
I remember watching him a few times when he came up. Just seemed really overwhelmed. I think another year in AAA might have helped.
Greene was so bad that the O’s waive him, Then was so bad the Dodgers DFA him. Now that baseball “genius” Mike Elias wants him back? What in the last few weeks did Greene accomplish to make Elias decide to retrieve him? Or does Elias just view him as a way to keep the worst pitching staff in the majors the worst pitching staff in the majors? Just sad.
The Diamondbacks are still uncomfortably close in that race for the #1 draft pick
Moves elias has made and not made is insuring that the rebuild will take awhile. He is completely responsible for the joke of the bullpen run out there daily.
Scott Rolen has entered the chat…
Trying to think who would pick him up
No one with sense. Like what does it take? How bad does a player need to be before folks accept he’s done? Just how far can name recognition take a player?
He’s better than Matt Carpenter….but then again so is everyone else in the league and some in the minors are too
I mean, he’s actually not better than Matt Carpenter (he’s worse: -1.3 WAR, 67 OPS+ compared to -0.6, 76) statistically but whatever. They’re both terrible at this point.
When buying low goes bad… Can’t flip ‘em all.
Yep. As a Pirate fan I know that all too well. Sometimes it works out, and sometimes this happens.
Cubs please sign him.. just so I don’t have to keep looking at the same garbage names.. I want some new garbage
Another top prospect bites the dust.
He might have value if he can reinvent himself as a bench piece. As a Phillies fan I can tell you first hand however that he is not an every day player.
He’s a one position player with no bat. Not becoming a bench piece.
Franco is a ML player. He just has not lived up to his rated potential. Another move just to make moves! Does this GM get extra money every time he changes chairs on the bench with more bad players!
I’ll freely admit that I thought the Orioles made a solid move when they signed him, a low cost guy who could at least give them average production while they develop their youngsters. Whoops. He’s been hot garbage, no question.
Yeah. He didn’t block anyone—had some upside. Didn’t work out but the move made sense
rip
So glad to see this move by Elias. Gig is up for Franco. Wanted him to do well…but he did not.
He probably heads to Korea play one year hits like avg 788 74hrs 187rbs and comes back to MLB as the “beast”
Very good exaggeration but he could in theory be a decent signing for an NPB or KBO team. Not great as he’d be relegated to 1B since he’s not a good defender.
He hasn’t produced like the Orioles we’re hoping for. He is pretty decent at 3rd. He can field his position, but as far as offense he isn’t anywhere near consistent and he’s very slow on the base paths. He is probably a very good teammate. I hope one day he finally gets it.
Mexican League he will hit 50hrs sign with the Mutts next year for 3yrs 30M the mutt fans will think he will bring them a world series only to get hurt and play 10 games over 3 years.He is cooked and has been but the Mutts like dumpster diving James McCann what a joke he turned out to be.
Did Steve Cohen pee in your cereal? I don’t see the reason for your anger.
I think him and MetsFan22 got into a fight
I hate the Mutts and you Mutt fans think every player they sign is going to take you to the promise land and you get taken every year i think it is great.DUMPSTER DIVERS and crappy owners again.
Bob, maybe next time break the Prozacs in half, eh?
The Yoan Moncada look alike
They wanted to keep his Jersey to save money
yess we got Greene back
Can the Dodgers swap Shane for Connor without anyone noticing?
Keep an eye on the bullpens!
What was that futures company he signed with when he first came up who players cash advances for points on future contracts they might sign?
Franco needs to go somewhere with an actual talented coaching staff! Hard to improve in Philly, KC, and Baltimore. Needs a stress-free environment to work on his skills. He has them but with the pressure to perform ASAP right out the gate didn’t do him any good.
He was on a team expected to finish last place and had made it clear they were in rebuild mode.
I highly doubt that the highest of expectations were placed on him, especially considering his mediocre track record.
As for the coaching staff, I am assuming you do not have inside information on them let alone me or anyone else.
It can also be said that the Orioles are working with a mixed bag of players, with some being brought or drafted by Baltimore during the previous GM’s reign.
The guy is also 29 years old and has been in the Majors for 8 straight years. Maybe he finds his groove elsewhere, but a big part of that lies in his own efforts and how he digests what a coaching staff does or says to help him.
I’m not trying to reject the possibility of what your saying, but your giving the Orioles coaches far more credit for his failures this year then the player himself imo.
Franco isn’t even worth paying the league minimum…
He should just retire, but there will be some franchise out there stupid enough to sign him…
certainly has the arm and, usually, the bat for the Majors, but very possible a year in the NPB would do him good.
Wish the Dodgers kept Connor Greene over signing Shane Greene
Like Gregory Polanco, Franco came up in 2014. Both are probably finished in MLB and have surprisingly similar statistics.
Polanco: 818 games, 690 hits, 96 homers, 360 RBI, .241 batting average
Franco: 820 games, 724 hits, 121 homers, 428 RBI, .246 batting average
Both will appear in a MLB game again. Not saying they’ll be good, just saying they’re not finished with getting chances.
Was nice of Elias to let Franco reach that 400PA and get that extra $200k.
Guess it makes for a nice motivator too, though I don’t think he really earned it moreso then he kept his seat warm for the next guy.
Maybe he finds his groove elsewhere, though I highly doubt that the opportunity nor chance of it happening will be this year.
Ahhh memories, Connor Greene with Dominic Leone traded from the Blue Jays to the Cardinals for none other than, Randal Grichuk.
Jones had a decent minor league season, I’m surprised it took this long. He should get regular reps to see if he can be the starting 2B next season
Jones has been a subpar defender at 2B in the minors, that’s why he wasn’t recalled earlier. in the year.
I wonder with Martin being sent down if that means Mateo will get a long look at SS.
Someone will bring him to camp next year. Can’t flip everyone. Greene throws 96 so that’s easy to see why they brought him back. Problem is they’re going to DFA him again either during the season or after it. Why not just try to sign him to a minor league deal and bring him to camp?
Shuffling players, trying to grab that elusive 39th win. Maybe Merv Rettenmund would be up for a 10-day looksee?
I suggest Marv Thornberry. O’s need someone ‘Marv-a-lous”……
I was hoping the Dodgers had DFA-ed Shane Greene after that piss poor performance yesterday.
He’ll go when they reactivate urias tomorrow
Alec Bohm demoted the same day, Wow. I was thinking M.F. should open up his stance again, Just say to hell with it and bring back the gold bling. Guarantee you it would improve the launch angle on his swings, and maybe bring his sorely missing power back. Sometimes these batting coaches ruin players. I know the knock was he can’t hit soft stuff on the outside of the plate, but at this point (should he get another chance – and that’s doubtful – ehllo Mexican League? Japan?) he’s got nothing to lose.
So it only took 3/4 of a season to realize he sucks. With moves like this no wonder the “rebuild” will take “a while”.