The Orioles designated third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez for assignment, according to an announcement from the team. The move brings the Orioles down to the necessary 26 players, the deadline for which is fast approaching. As Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com notes, the move also brings the Orioles’ 40-man roster down to 39 players.
Gutierrez, 27, was acquired by the Orioles from the Royals last July for cash considerations after Kansas City had designated him for assignment. He joined the O’s in late August and quickly became the team’s regular third baseman – more of an indictment of Baltimore’s lack of MLB talent at the position than an endorsement of Gutierrez’s abilities. This year, Ramon Urias has been drawing the bulk of the Orioles’ starts at third base.
A 2013 amateur signing by the Nationals out of the Dominican Republic, Gutierrez joined the Royals five years later in a trade involving veteran reliever Kelvin Herrera. He emerged as a 40-grade, big league capable prospect, known mostly for solid third base defense and a strong arm. Never really having shown an above average bat in the high minors, it’s not a big surprise that Gutierrez sports just a 65 wRC+ in 419 big league plate appearances to date. Since Gutierrez is out of minor league options, the Orioles didn’t have the ability to send him to the minors without exposing him to waivers.
Many, many roster moves today. few more earth shattering.
Sometimes I see the “more to come” and I’m like, no need, this is plenty.
The Orioles need to make a slew of moves in order to become relevant again.
It will be hard to replace the .143 .250 .179 slash line that KG brought to the lineup. Still, that is better than the guy were paying (and still are) $23 million/year for his massive .115 .164 .173 line.
Deep down inside you really love Chris Davis.
Not as much as he loved PEDs.
I’m good with any criticism of Chris Davis but don’t lump him w PED abusers. He took a league approved drug for ADHD for years – but then his script changed and the replacement drug fell outside of MLB approvals. That likely led to his downfall but let’s not make him out to be AROD.
Apparently you don’t recall the actual facts.
He was supposedly taking Adderal for social anxiety, not for ADHD and he did have a medical exemption for it. Then, for some reason, out of the blue, he decided not to apply for the exemption while with the Rangers and while in his first season with the Orioles. It was during this time that he got popped TWICE for using an illegal substance which he said was Adderal. The second pop was when he got suspended.
It was AFTER this suspension that a doctor changed his medication from the instant acting Adderal to another medication which was a sustained release form of that drug. That drug is absolutely accepted by MLB.
It was also after this that Chris’ body began to change and he was noticeably slimmer than he’d been before.
Amphetamines (which is what those ADD medications are) are PEDS when not taken under medical supervision. It is also illegal to take them without medical supervision…which is also what he was doing. Why that angle wasn’t pursued I don’t know….
So, Chris Davis took illegal amphetamines and got suspended for it under the PED provisions. He abused PEDs.
Whether you want to attribute his downfall to no longer being able to take PEDs or the chronic hip injury story we were given I will leave up to you.
miserable little Ed!
Sorry to rain on the “everything is awesome” parade, but Ed is absolutely correct here.
It boils down to the fact that Davis took something for which he did not have an approved exemption, and for which he was obviously warned and then absorbed the suspension. He probably caught a break in 2014 and should have gotten half a season.
Not being on it turned his huge numbers to Mark Reynolds-type numbers. Then Davis just either failed to work or just failed to adapt to the changing aspects of the league (depending on what you read, he either couldn’t or wouldn’t change his approach several years running) so even if he wasn’t quite as strong he could no longer locate and hit the baseball – seriously, pause some swings and misses from 2017 and see where his eyes are pointed!
I am not sure when he experienced “shrinkage” exactly, but 2013 Davis is a lot bigger than 2018 Davis, whatever you attribute it to. What really changed was a big decrease in bat speed by 2017-18.
To me, issue with Davis was mental not physical. A very fragile ego here. Yes? On meds (not peds, Thornton and Ed) to get relief from anxiety. Maybe? Look it, 2013 he goes through proper MLB channels to get relief and relief he gets. What a year for him! So what does he do between 13-14 seasons? Looks like he convinces himself (or his agent) that he doesn’t need the meds. Opts not to apply for the exemption and struggles tremendously in 2014. Realizing his error, he starts back on the meds mid season gambling (did he consult his agent here?) he doesn’t get tested. His numbers start to improve and then the inevitable happens … he gets random tested and bam, busted! The league goes easy on him. 2015 he’s back! And looks like back on his meds exemption status? And, outside of an ugly strikeout total, producing! And producing to the point where the Os are comfortable going big contract. Back to the fragile ego thing. Looks like the meds worked for Chris on “the field” when his pay blended in with the rest of the team. Conversely, no amount of med dosage to quell his anxiety struggles worked when the team’s BMOC. His mental make up could not handle that pressure. Yes? No? Maybe? The Os gambled he could handle it and lost, lost big time. Yes?
Not as miserable as Chris Davis’ batting line the last couple of years he played.
Amphetamines are a PED. When you take Adderal without a prescription and without MLB clearance, you are using a PED. Essentially what those ADD drugs are is legalized speed.
Somehow people think that only steroids or HGH are PEDS, they forget about the other things, like amphetamines.
Chris Davis was using PEDs, that’s WHY he got suspended. In order for you to face a suspension, you have to test positive twice. So, knowing this, it proves he is also stupid, because he allowed himself to get caught again.
Drug addiction can be a heck of a thing and going through withdrawal can be a painful process. Once he lost what he must’ve thought was his “edge,” then perhaps the confidence stuff came into play. He also broke down physically.
He walks away from the game still getting paid millions of dollars over the next few years and made more than enough money to support his new family extremely comfortably for the rest of their lives.
Interesting legal take. A Med can be a Ped. Thanks Ed.
They can be when they are abused. It ceases to be a medication when you don’t see a doctor for it, don’t have a prescription for it, and you take it without being under a doctor’s care.
As for “interesting legal take,” guess what? This opium epidemic we have going on right now started with something people took for pain. That’s what you take it for with a prescription. But, people got addicted to it because it also makes them high. So people started to take it without a prescription. When that happens, you have committed a crime because now instead of medication, it has become a “drug.”
Steroids are a legal drug, too. It is one of the most common things you are given when you have an allergic reaction. Predisone or prednisolone.. Sometimes a steroid is given in the inhaler for asthma patients. But you see what happens when people take too much and take it off label for other reasons.
Example of why both the 26 man MLB Roster and the Team 40 man roster are antiquated and obsolete for today’s game.
Baltimore should have gotten rid of Paul Fry instead of Gutierrez liked they shipped off Armstrong to Miami in which Armstrong got DFA today.
The Orioles should get rid of most of the roster.
Dunking on the Orioles is just so unoriginal.
Tanking year after year because they want to be cheap and being sold a bill of goods about a “rebuild” is also so unoriginal.
Hey Orioles, I’ll play for the minimum! I hit 70 MPH on the radar gun at the state fair in 1991.
“Now making his Orioles debut, Thornton Melton!”
“Not much is known about Melton as the Orioles have adopted an interesting approach to rebuilding this season…reaching out to fans. Turns out Melton was a bit of an under the radar type of guy, as Mike Elias accidentally bumped into him at a state fair.
Melton takes the mound, toes the rubber, gets his sign and here’s the pitch…it FLOATS up to the plate at about 63 mph…and called a ball. It appears to be some sort of variation of the Eephus pitch-”
“No…no, that’s his fastball, Kevin. Now back when I played and never let up a grandslam, you wouldn’t get promoted to the majors if you didn’t throw at least 90 mph. But, in today’s game of advanced analytics and spin rate, we get guys like Melton. Spin rate…nobody ever bothered with what the spin rate on my fastball was. Back when I was playing, all they asked is if you got the man out or not.”