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.
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.
how? that year is aberration.
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.
that was years ago and he wasnt ever a top 100 caliber guy.
is an*
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.
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.
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.
As someone who watched Pat Valaika all year…it’d have to be one hell of a turn around
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.
I think he was being realistic. Valaika isn’t even a journeyman at this point
Wade and Eshelman will be back on a minors deal but I don’t think Pat will.
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.
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
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.
Valaika isn’t even good enough to be a CPBL target.
Oh come on, man
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
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.