Headlines

  • Orioles Acquire Cole Irvin From A’s
  • Astros Name Dana Brown General Manager
  • Rays Extend Jeffrey Springs
  • Royals, Red Sox Swap Adalberto Mondesi For Josh Taylor
  • Red Sox Designate Matt Barnes For Assignment
  • Scott Rolen Elected Into Baseball Hall Of Fame
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • Top 50 Free Agents
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2023
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Arbitration Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Four Orioles Players Elect Free Agency

By Mark Polishuk | October 25, 2021 at 5:17pm CDT

OCTOBER 25: Baltimore announced that each of Valaika, Eshelman and Wade has elected free agency as expected. That’s also true of catcher Austin Wynns, who was designated for assignment himself last week.

OCTOBER 23: The Orioles have outrighted infielder Pat Valaika and right-handers Thomas Eshelman and Konner Wade to Triple-A, according to MLB.com’s official transactions page.  All three players have the option of rejecting the outright assignment and opting for free agency.

Valaika has the most big league experience of the trio, with 373 games under his belt with the Rockies and Orioles, including 142 appearances in a Baltimore uniform over the last two seasons.  Valaika hit .277/.315/.475 over 150 PA in 2020 but his numbers cratered to a .540 OPS in 281 plate appearances this year, and he no longer seems to be in the club’s plans.  Valaika was projected to earn $1.3MM in his second trip through the arbitration process this winter and already seemed like a non-tender candidate.

Eshelman could be a candidate to return for another season with the O’s, as he re-signed with the team on a new minor league deal after opting for free agency last offseason in the wake of an outright assignment.  Eshelman has spent parts of the last three seasons with Baltimore, with a 5.77 ERA to show for his 98 1/3 career innings.  While he has some extra utility as a swingman, Eshelman has only an 11.3% strikeout rate over his brief MLB career.

Wade made his MLB debut this season, posting an 11.68 ERA in 12 1/3 innings over seven appearances for Baltimore.  A seventh-round pick for the Rockies in the 2013 draft, Wade pitched in the Mexican League and the independent leagues amidst stints in the Colorado and Boston farm systems before landing with the Orioles on a minor league deal this past winter.  A groundball specialist earlier in this career, Wade has a 3.76 ERA over 735 innings in the minors, starting 109 of 175 career outings.

Share 0 Retweet 6 Send via email0

Baltimore Orioles Transactions Austin Wynns Konner Wade Pat Valaika Tom Eshelman

Lance McCullers Jr. Won’t Pitch In World Series
Main
Giants’ GM Scott Harris Not Expected To Take Position With Mets
View Comments (19)

Comments

  1. Yankee Clipper

    1 year ago

    Pat Valaika good be a really nice pickup for a small-market team. He was well-regarded in the Rockies’ system a few years back. I could see a turnaround with him, back to his 2020 slash.

    Reply
    • DarkSide830

      1 year ago

      how? that year is aberration.

      Reply
      • Yankee Clipper

        1 year ago

        How could I see a turnaround? If that’s the question, it’s because of his ceiling when he was in the minors. He was fairly highly touted at one time.

        Reply
        • DarkSide830

          1 year ago

          that was years ago and he wasnt ever a top 100 caliber guy.

      • DarkSide830

        1 year ago

        is an*

        Reply
        • Yankee Clipper

          1 year ago

          Yes, that’s why I said he “could be” and he “had” a high ceiling. Simply put, the possibility is there. You’re predicting the future. Plus, he’s better than Didi, lol. So…. You’re just being ornery.

        • Thornton Mellon

          1 year ago

          The Orioles and their farm system are a graveyard for players that “have/had a high ceiling”. Half of their offseason strategy is to claim players on the Rule 5 draft, by definition, players that another team doesn’t deem worthy of a 40 man spot.
          The bottom line is, if you’re getting released or outrighted by a team that has averaged over 110 losses the last 3 full seasons, you are not a major league caliber player. Perhaps an NL team can pick up Valaika for his glove versatility, but they are better off to bat the pitcher.

        • LordShade

          1 year ago

          It’s a full blown organizational rebuild. The point is literally to lose until you call up your top prospect, at which point you have a restocked farm system, MLB ready call ups, and the money to fill out the team in FA.

        • oriole

          1 year ago

          As someone who watched Pat Valaika all year…it’d have to be one hell of a turn around

        • irz8130

          1 year ago

          I wouldn’t assume that the Oriole’s talent assessment is infallible. There are a handful of MLBs recently that have been cast off and turned in to quality players elsewhere.

        • astrosfansince1974

          1 year ago

          I think he was being realistic. Valaika isn’t even a journeyman at this point

  2. Cgoss

    1 year ago

    Wade and Eshelman will be back on a minors deal but I don’t think Pat will.

    Reply
    • Dr. Chim Richalds

      1 year ago

      If any of these 3 are back on the O’s next year, then progress isn’t coming quick enough. They need to be getting away from these types. From the outside looking, this is definitely a bottom 5 run organization. Throw in Pit, Col, Tex, and LAA and you have your all-stink division.

      Reply
      • Lefty_Orioles_Fan

        1 year ago

        All Stink division lol
        I mentioned something like that years ago and the Orioles would have to earn their way out by playing well
        Anyway, I liked Valaika, I appreciated his competitiveness

        Reply
      • osfandan

        1 year ago

        We have the top rated (some say #2) farm system in baseball. We were run wrong for years, but this regime has us headed in the right direction. Enjoy our suck while it lasts.

        Reply
  3. Peart of the game

    1 year ago

    Valaika isn’t even good enough to be a CPBL target.

    Reply
    • Lefty_Orioles_Fan

      1 year ago

      Oh come on, man

      Reply
  4. bravesfan

    1 year ago

    There is clearly more than we can see to this story. These guys have been terrible… no way they were like, “hey, after years of being terrible and getting DFA’d by the worse team in the league, I think I can sign on a major league contract with a much better organization.” Clearly the O’s highly encouraged them to leave

    Reply
    • JohhnyBets67

      1 year ago

      That’s a pretty simplistic view. They can sign a more lucrative minor league deal somewhere or they can simply pick a different city that they’d like to play AAA baseball in. Or go overseas etc etc.

      Flexibility has value and is common. Wouldn’t be surprising to see a few of them return to BAL on minor league deals either.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Orioles Acquire Cole Irvin From A’s

    Astros Name Dana Brown General Manager

    Rays Extend Jeffrey Springs

    Royals, Red Sox Swap Adalberto Mondesi For Josh Taylor

    Red Sox Designate Matt Barnes For Assignment

    Scott Rolen Elected Into Baseball Hall Of Fame

    Red Sox Sign Adam Duvall

    Brad Ausmus Reportedly Among Astros’ GM Finalists

    Mike Clevinger Under Investigation For Domestic Violence Allegations

    A’s To Sign Jesús Aguilar

    Arte Moreno No Longer Pursuing Sale Of Angels

    Twins Acquire Michael A. Taylor From Royals

    Padres Sign Nelson Cruz To One-Year Deal

    Sal Bando Passes Away

    Twins, Marlins Swap Luis Arraez For Pablo Lopez In Four-Player Trade

    Marlins To Move Jazz Chisholm To Center Field

    Pirates Sign Andrew McCutchen

    Mariners Sign Tommy La Stella, Designate Justus Sheffield

    Royals To Sign Aroldis Chapman To One-Year Deal

    Twins Sign Chris Paddack To Extension

    Recent

    Brewers Sign Robert Stock To Minor League Deal

    Red Sox Have Shown Interest In Matt Moore

    Gary Peters Passes Away

    Mariners Outright Justus Sheffield

    Orioles Acquire Cole Irvin From A’s

    Orioles Designate Darwinzon Hernandez For Assignment

    Marlins Outright Daniel Castano

    Mets To Sign Michael Perez To Minor League Deal

    Astros Name Dana Brown General Manager

    Orioles, Austin Voth Avoid Arbitration

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Offseason Outlook Series
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2023
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • MLB Player Chats
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version