Headlines

  • Orioles To Decline Five-Year Lease Extension At Camden Yards, Seeking Longer-Term Agreement With Maryland Stadium Authority
  • Mariners, Dylan Moore Agree to Three-Year Extension
  • Blue Jays Sign Chad Green
  • Rays Extend Yandy Diaz
  • Dexter Fowler Announces Retirement
  • Mets Sign Jeff McNeil To Four-Year Extension
  • 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

Mets Acquire Luis De La Cruz From Orioles

By Darragh McDonald | January 13, 2023 at 5:06pm CDT

The Orioles announced that they have traded infielder/outfielder Luis De La Cruz to the Mets as the player to be named later from the James McCann trade.

De La Cruz, 20, has spent the past couple of seasons in the Dominican Summer League, playing first base and the outfield corners. In 60 games over those two seasons, he’s hit .252/.405/.316. He has just one home run but has walked in 16.4% of his plate appearances compared to an 18.5% strikeout rate.

McCann signed a four-year, $40.6MM contract with the Mets going into 2021, but he struggled in the first two years of the deal. In flipping him to the O’s for a player to be named later or cash considerations, it was mostly about getting him off the roster and clearing some money off their ledger. They’re still on the hook for $19MM of the $24MM owed to McCann, but that $5MM drop will actually save them more than that since they are well into luxury tax territory this year and seem likely to be in the same position next year. But in addition to the cost savings, they’ve now added a young player to the lower levels of their farm system.

Share 0 Retweet 5 Send via email0

Baltimore Orioles New York Mets Transactions James McCann Luis De La Cruz

Guardians, Shane Bieber Avoid Arbitration
Main
Athletics Sign Shintaro Fujinami
View Comments (47)

Comments

  1. H E Pennypacker

    3 weeks ago

    De La Who?

    Reply
    • put it in the books

      3 weeks ago

      He can’t possibly be worse than McCann!

      Reply
      • YourDreamGM

        3 weeks ago

        But he can

        Reply
        • candymaldonado

          3 weeks ago

          If he never takes a single major league at bat, he’s an upgrade.

        • Cohens_Wallet

          3 weeks ago

          @Candy

          LMAO Deep.

        • candymaldonado

          3 weeks ago

          Sounds almost mean, but when you realize McCann’s two season WAR with the Mets was -0.3, it’s quite literally true.

        • Cohens_Wallet

          3 weeks ago

          100%

    • Cohens_Wallet

      3 weeks ago

      @H E

      De LA Soul

      Reply
  2. Milwaukee-2208

    3 weeks ago

    Who needs Correa?

    Reply
  3. Metsfan9

    3 weeks ago

    Surprised we got anything at all for McCann, even if it’s just a lottery ticket teenager

    Reply
    • In nurse follars

      3 weeks ago

      Poor performance plus high salary equals de la Cruz.

      Reply
    • YourDreamGM

      3 weeks ago

      Cruz is far from a lottery ticket. You didn’t get anything. You got nothing.

      Reply
      • H E Pennypacker

        3 weeks ago

        Ok Willy Wonka

        Reply
      • JackStrawb

        2 weeks ago

        @YourDreamGM Entirely correct. He’s a corner guy who, even when old for his league, had no pop. despite having already filled out, at 6′-2, 190lbs.

        He also pro rated to 60 errors over a full season. I’m almost assuming he’s somebody’s nephew, to be able to repeat the foreign rookie league at 19 despite already being a little older than most of the guys there the previous season.

        Hard to say ‘never’ with teenaged ballplayers, but it’s mighty tempting to do so here.

        Reply
  4. D2323

    3 weeks ago

    decent numbers in the DSL if you don’t care about silly things like HRs or SLG in your first baseman

    Reply
  5. 10centBeerNight

    3 weeks ago

    And here comes the Massapequa comedy hour in 3…2…1….

    Reply
    • LFGMets (Metsin7)

      3 weeks ago

      @10centBeerNight Yeah maybe anyone with an italian username

      Reply
    • In nurse follars

      3 weeks ago

      What’s a massapequa

      Reply
      • LFGMets (Metsin7)

        3 weeks ago

        @in nurse follars its a town on Long Island in NY, all italians from the old Brooklyn live there

        Reply
  6. rememberthecoop

    3 weeks ago

    I have underwear older than him.

    Reply
    • H E Pennypacker

      3 weeks ago

      Let ‘em go man. They’ve served you well.

      Reply
    • Kruk it

      2 weeks ago

      Mets hope you have more holes in your undies than he has in his swing

      Reply
  7. LFGMets (Metsin7)

    3 weeks ago

    Not impressed, but then again, they traded McCann so I didn’t expect much anyway. Would of liked a relief prospect lotto ticket instead

    Reply
  8. Lefty_Orioles_Fan

    3 weeks ago

    Still no Orioles and Trevor Bauer rumors

    Reply
    • GoRav114

      3 weeks ago

      U want him Lefty? The rotation could certainly use him especially at minimal cost but I don’t see him choosing Orioles. If they wanted him they should have traded for him. Probably could have had LA still pay majority of salary in trade

      Reply
      • Lefty_Orioles_Fan

        3 weeks ago

        I wanted him and thought the Davis Deferrals could be a trade chip and people laughed at me
        Anyway, the Orioles could still get him

        Reply
        • jbigz12

          3 weeks ago

          What do you mean?

          You can’t trade deferred salary

        • Lefty_Orioles_Fan

          3 weeks ago

          Well that was something I could not really confirm and maybe it was an NBA thing where I got the idea
          Getting rid of bad contracts

  9. Privateer

    3 weeks ago

    The real win here is saving some money, completing the deal to get rid of McCann, and a minor leaguer. I’ll take it.

    Reply
    • Lefty_Orioles_Fan

      3 weeks ago

      Love the avatar

      Reply
  10. Bearded Texas Hulk

    3 weeks ago

    At the end of the night, even the ugliest person left at the bar is better than nothing!

    Reply
  11. Waymann

    3 weeks ago

    O’s fan here. If it’s any indication as to the prospect quality, I didn’t recognize this name.

    That being said, De La Cruz had a considerably better season this year than last year. Improvements across the board both offensively and defensively. Even put up a few steals.

    Just might be something a few years down the line of improvement continues.

    Reply
  12. Bright Side

    3 weeks ago

    The good? De LA is a lefty bat who can get on base. The bad? He has no power yet he plays in bat-first positions. Decent lottery ticket.

    Reply
  13. miltpappas

    3 weeks ago

    Looks like he can draw walks and get hit by pitches. That’s all I can add.

    Reply
  14. BennyAgbayaniFanClub

    3 weeks ago

    He hit .291/.396/ .349 in the Dominican Summer League in 2022. He’s only 20. Certainly more than a bag of balls. Which is what I figured the Mets would get for McCann.

    Reply
    • jbigz12

      3 weeks ago

      100 abs…….

      He signed for 130k and is a pop-less 1B. Wasn’t a 16-17 year old either. He’s now a 20 year old.

      This isn’t really a prospect. Just an org depth filler.

      Reply
  15. LongTimeFan1

    3 weeks ago

    He’s listed as 6’2″ 190.

    Need scouting report and projections on him, not just stats. If I correctly recall, Mets were given a choice of 5 players from whom to choose.

    Reply
  16. metfan4ever

    3 weeks ago

    You guys should look at how many shut out McCann caught in 66 games last year. Also lead 5 different pitchers to a no hitter. Also remember how well the whole pitching staff has done since he signed and lastly remember deGrom was 1 game over 500 when he won a Cy Young but was 7 games over 500 with McCann. Houston wins with the worst hitting player in MLB catching for them.

    Reply
  17. WAR_OVERRATED

    3 weeks ago

    Luis De La Cruz
    Statistics and more…
    http://www.fangraphs.com/players/luis-de-la-cruz/sa3016298/stats?position=1B/OF

    Reply
  18. dugmet

    3 weeks ago

    In 2000, Mets traded 20-yo OFer In the DSL named Nelson Cruz for Jorge Velandria. Luis De La Cruz is a long way off but the Mets liked something about him, so who knows?

    Reply
  19. Viveleempireevil

    3 weeks ago

    I consider it one of the truly great feats of baseball ledgerdemain that J. McCann got $40.6 million out of the Mets.
    The O’s are on the upswing so perhaps he can rehab himself? But at least he’s filthy rich…even if he can’t hit a curve. Or anything.

    Reply
    • H E Pennypacker

      3 weeks ago

      He’ll be a good presence for Rutschman if/when he’s healthy… but that’s a big IF.

      Reply
  20. phenomenalajs

    3 weeks ago

    Honestly, I was hoping they’d wait the full six months then acquired the Orioles 2022 late round draft pick who’s a seven-foot tall pitcher that played in the summer for the Savannah Bananas.

    Reply
  21. Mrski

    3 weeks ago

    A crab cake was worth McCann. Adding a cold one was too much

    Reply
  22. Shade 2

    3 weeks ago

    Still Eppler has never made a successful trade.

    Reply
    • JackStrawb

      2 weeks ago

      @Shade 2 Remember when the Cohen sycophants were telling us that Eppler really, really was a talented GM who was only held back by evil Angels’ ownership?

      Reply
  23. JackStrawb

    3 weeks ago

    How thrilling. A punchless corner guy ALREADY two years too old for the foreign rookie league.

    Still, it’s about what you’d expect. The PTBNL was just to keep up appearances of something other than a strict salary dump.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Orioles To Decline Five-Year Lease Extension At Camden Yards, Seeking Longer-Term Agreement With Maryland Stadium Authority

    Mariners, Dylan Moore Agree to Three-Year Extension

    Blue Jays Sign Chad Green

    Rays Extend Yandy Diaz

    Dexter Fowler Announces Retirement

    Mets Sign Jeff McNeil To Four-Year Extension

    Red Sox, Marlins Swap Matt Barnes For Richard Bleier

    Darren O’Day Announces Retirement

    Royals To Re-Sign Zack Greinke

    Braves Extend Manager Brian Snitker Through 2025

    Rays Sign Pete Fairbanks To Extension

    Royals Sign Aroldis Chapman To One-Year Deal

    Athletics Sign Jesús Aguilar

    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

    Recent

    Friedman: Dodgers Won’t Trade From Roster To Avoid Luxury Tax

    Twins Appear Unlikely To Trade Max Kepler

    Orioles Outright Darwinzon Hernandez

    Cubs Sign Mark Leiter Jr. To Minor League Deal

    Pirates Sign Chris Owings To Minor League Deal

    Read The Transcript Of Today’s Chat With Former MLB Pitcher Scott Feldman

    Luis Arraez Wins Arbitration Hearing Against Marlins

    Mariners Notes: Left Field, Brash, Rotation

    Was Brad Hand Good Or Lucky Last Year?

    The Opener: Darwinzon, Mariners, Player Chat

    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