The Orioles are among the teams eyeing Tigers’ starter Michael Lorenzen, reports Jon Morosi of MLB.com (Twitter link). They join the Astros and Rays as clubs reportedly in the mix for the Detroit righty.
Just as Lorenzen is a sensible target for Houston and Tampa Bay, the fit for Baltimore is straightforward. Lorenzen seems highly likely to move before next Tuesday’s deadline. He’s an impending free agent on a Detroit club that fell 11 games below .500 upon getting swept in a doubleheader against the Angels today.
The first-time All-Star is having arguably the best season of his career. It’s his second straight season as a full-time starter. After posting league average numbers in 18 starts for the Angels last year, the 31-year-old has been a mid-rotation caliber arm this season. Even following a five-inning, three-run performance against the Halos this afternoon, he carries a 3.58 ERA across 105 2/3 frames.
Lorenzen’s underlying marks aren’t quite that strong, largely because he’s not missing a ton of bats. His 19.9% strikeout rate is a couple points below league average, while his 42.5% grounder percentage is right around par. The nine-year MLB veteran has walked only 6.5% of opponents, though, a notable improvement on last year’s 10.7% figure. He’s mixing five pitches with some amount of regularity and hasn’t had any platoon concerns.
That production makes him a logical target for win-now teams seeking rotation help. The Orioles certainly qualify. Baltimore has the best record in the American League at 62-40. They’re up a game and a half (three in the loss column) on Tampa Bay for the AL East lead. The rebuild is over, and while there’s still some question about how aggressively the O’s will push chips in, they could make a competitive offer for Lorenzen without subtracting from the top of the farm system.
Detroit signed Lorenzen to an $8.5MM free agent deal. Just over $3MM of that salary is yet to be paid out. Lorenzen has already locked in an extra $250K in incentives by passing the 100-inning mark and would earn a matching amount at 125, 150, 175, 195 and 205 frames.
That’s a modest price to pay for a mid-rotation arm who’d likely step into the projected playoff rotation. Baltimore’s starting staff is its relative weak point. The O’s have an excellent offense and elite relief corps but rank 17th in MLB with a 4.52 rotation ERA.
Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells each have a sub-4.00 mark with slightly above-average strikeout/walk profiles. Kyle Gibson has offered his typically steady back-of-the-rotation innings. Dean Kremer has been a bit homer-prone en route to a fine but unexciting 4.59 ERA in 21 starts. Offseason trade pickup Cole Irvin has struggled and bounced in and out of the rotation, while top prospect Grayson Rodriguez has an ERA pushing 7.00 through his first 12 big league outings.
They should be aiming higher than that. He’s ok but I’d go for someone like Stroman. Giolito was a perfect fit IMO but that ship has sailed. Jordan Montgomory would make sense.
Stroman has allowed 21 ER in his last five starts my guy.
Yeah, he’s struggling now. I bet he knew he would never sustain his 2 era and that’s why he was pushing for a midseason extension.
Tried to cash in early before the bottom fell out.
Stroman was laughing at the Cardinals dugout tonight after Happ hit Contreras with his backswing and drew blood. I have a bit of a bias but gosh he doesn’t seem like a good teammate.
I’ve thought that for some time. Somethin’ ain’t right with that fella.
Thanks, I didn’t realize that, last I checked on him he was doing great, still may be worth acquiring but I like Montgomory more. Orioles can’t just assume things will keep continuing to get better for them each season, so they should strike now, but without totally getting out of hand (ie: Ohtani)
And that was in not quite 24 innings pitched.
Montgomery is available. So are Hicks and Stratton. What are you giving up? Last time I asked Orioles fans it didn’t go all that well.
I would do Montgomery and Goldschmidt for Cowser and something else perhaps Fabian.
You aren’t getting Cowser no matter how many times you post this lol.
And you aren’t winning a championship.
Do you even care?
Maybe you don’t. I don’t understand Orioles fans.
“Waaaaah, you won’t give us 6 years of a 5th overall draft pick who has developed into a top 25 overall prospect for a rental mid-rotation starter, you guys just don’t want to win!”
Okay.
Pretty sure I said Montgomery and LAST YEARS MVP.
But yeah you don’t need him. You got all you need for the postseason good luck.
Maybe they will meet the cardinals in the postseason. Where stl can really show off that MVP magic.
Ohhh, wait.
Hey the Cardinals suck this year for sure no doubt. But geez a week ago we weren’t even for sure sellers we were still fighting.
You don’t get it man.
I get it. Cardinals are going to miss the playoffs for the first time in like 2 decades. You guys were high on the hog for a while. Now, you guys have a rat king of a team and you’re trying to untie the tail knots. You are looking at your team with rose colored glasses thinking one trade deadline can set you up for years going forward.
That rarely happens. I’m sure you think you can trade Goldschmidt and Montgomery to get like 3 top 100 prospects and do a quick reset to contend in 2024.
Apologies. I meant winning season not playoffs. First under .500 season in like two decades
I use trade simulator for ideas I don’t just pull them out of the sky and say it’s fair.
I imagine the Cardinals will do quite well at the deadline. And it’s not a rebuild gonna be right back go contending next year.
I use On the Road – Truck Simulator for PS5 for all my ideas.
Unfortunately, I checked the big rig tea leaves and they will not be contending next year. On the plus side, I got that transcontinental shipment of spark plugs delivered on time and in pristine condition in game.
Trade simulator doesn’t take into account whether a team actually would be interested in the trade. Player values don’t mean much if the trade doesn’t have interested parties.
Also Goldschmidt plus Montgomery is less than 2/3 the value of cowser in trade simulator.
I just added Arenado and Flaherty to Montgomery and Goldschmidt. And guess what?
Cowser: 35.8
Those four “stars”: 33.20
Okay, I lol’d. Might need to see if that game is available for Xbox, it sounds pretty lit.
Cowsers value is going to go down based in his poor start at the big league level. Wait and see.
Plenty of teams to trade with. Cardinals need pitching over anything else anyways and the Orioles certainly don’t have any of that to spare.
Yeah, just like Adley after his poor start last year and Gunnar after his poor start this year. Couldn’t even trade those guys for a bag of balls at this point!
Poor Colton Cowser, his career is over at age 23 after only 41 ABs… :'(
I’m going to be honest with you King Floch, I lied for comedic effect.
The game exists, I’ve never played it and I made up that spark plug in-game scenario. I’ve heard it’s great, but I would be forlorn if you bought a game based on my lies.
Closest I’ve come to driving a digital big rig is playing Skyrim with the Thomas the tank engine dragon mod
Cards on the table, I may have been exaggerating for comedic effect as well. I’m much more of a RPG/fighting game kinda guy.
Enjoy the playoffs. I am sure you will be there year after year with all that young talent and ownership that is committed to winning. Have fun.
Sometime my sister, she show her vajeen to my brother Bilo and say “You will never get this you will never get it la la la la la la.” He behind his cage. He cries, he cries and everybody laughs.
You’re Bilo, King of Cards. Cowser is the sister.
But unlike Bilo, you never get her
Are you drunk?
No just upset at Nursultan Tulyakbay.
I get iPod, he only get iPod Mini. Everybody know it for girls!
King of Cards is gonna keep screamin’ the same thing till the Cowser comes home.
His value won’t drop after such a short stint. That would be unfair
Stop listening to HAL2000. It’s a computer program that is full of s$#@!
Ortiz is probably the highest rated prospect that Elias would offer for Montgomery. If you’re looking for outfielders, Beavers? Kjerstad is a bit steep for a rental. That said, I’d like to see Montgomery added at the deadline instead of Lorenzen or another mediocre starte. Until Elias adds a reliable starter, Os fans will be skeptical about playoff success.
No kidding. Baltimore does not have to break its bank to get Stroman or Montgomery as rentals. The O’s have a deep system and teams like the Cards and Tigers KNOW they ain’t getting Jackson. But they certainly can reload their farms.
That being said, the Angels just got Giolito for two of the top three in their system. Our biggest obstacle is suicidal GMs around the league, in charge of teams that are on the bubble and have decided to either win or go down in a blaze of glory.
Mike I don’t think you understand what it takes to win in this league. Winning isn’t hoarding prospects and telling everyone how frugal you are. When you get a chance you gotta go for it. I truly don’t think you understand this.
SUSTAINED winning – which is the best winning – year after year after year after year after year – means you acquire the pieces, usually smaller ones, you need each year. See Astros deadline deals last 2 seasons
I think he was agreeing with you, king. No need for the condescension. Do you have any self awareness in how you come off?
I don’t understand the “blaze of glory” comment man. If my team was in first that’s not where my head would be at.
You gotta grab opportunity when it knocks. And Orioles fans don’t seem to understand this at all.
All these new to the game contenders don’t seem to get it.
I’m talking about player development in relation to their bumper crop of position player prospects. Elias is clearly content to let the situation sort itself out before making any big moves. The goal is to build a sustainable contender.
A player with zero major league track record has limited value, regardless of their pedigree, or minor league stats. What you’re suggesting, to trade a number of top 100 prospects for pennies on the dollar and rush the rebuild, makes no sense.
A number of season predictions had the Orioles finishing fourth in the AL East. Now they’re contenders for the pennant and commentators are still offering the same solution; trade for more pitching. Clearly this advice isn’t taking into account where the Orioles are as a team.
Dude – that’s my point!!! We have prospects on top of prospects on TOP OF PROSPECTS. It would actually BENEFIT this team to trade a few of these guys. And right now, we have such an opportune time.
Apologies if I wasn’t clear the first time around.
Who is suggesting trading prospects for pennies on the dollar??????
Rush the rebuild?? You are in first place goofball!!!!
I don’t get it. Where is your head at???
Dude I tossed out what I thought was a legit attention getting offer and not one of you even acknowledged it.
I give up. I am gonna start rooting against the Orioles because of these silly fans.
I’m not an Orioles fan.
Ortiz needs a longer look. Kjerstad, Norby, Mayo and Holliday still need to be called up. Baltimore has plenty of player evaluation left before they can know who to keep and who to trade. Again, there will be inevitable injuries and failures so best to let the situation sort itself out. Establish value for as many of these players as possible.
A rental mid-rotation SP and an expensive older veteran with 1 more year of control at a position we’re already well set at for Cowser+ isn’t exactly an “attention getting offer.”
Hudson Haskin and Connor Norby for Montgomery would probably be pretty fair though.
Haskin is OK but I don’t want Norby not a need. Haskin for Stratton. Someone else will make a better offer for Norby.
You think you don’t need last year’s MVP because you have Ryan Mountcastle?
I guess thats an opinion.
Between Ryan Mountcastle, Ryan O’Hearn, Anthony Santander, Heston Kjerstad, and Coby Mayo, first base isn’t a need for the Orioles currently and isn’t likely to be a need anytime in the near future.
Accept that you aren’t getting Cowser and move on with your life.
What’s Cowsers OPS since being called up?
Goldschmidt is signed through 2024. Not exactly blocking all the prospects.
Dude we will trade with another team. Good luck with Lorenzen.
You’re so mad lol.
Dankyank excellent post. Fans don’t understand anything about sustainable success. They always just want their team to go all in every time they’re a contender.
Orioles are far better off trading for a starter that can not only help them this year but next. The options on the block appear to be limited. I have no idea why Logan Gilberts name keeps coming up but it’s highly unlikely he’d be available. If Dylan Cease isn’t available which I don’t think he truly is either, then I’d make a call to the Mets about Verlander.
Stop thinking people are fans of a certain team because they disagree with you buffoon.
The issue is maximizing value. Prospects are only worth so much in trades and dealing several for a single starter who won’t be enough to defeat the Braves isn’t a good investment, even with multiple years of control. The only solution is to let the youngsters play and sort through the pile.
Lange and Lorenzen for Basallo and Jud Fabian, who say’s no.
The Angels 3rd prospect is closer to 12-15 in our system.
That’s not true
blogs.fangraphs.com/baltimore-orioles-top-38-prosp…
I implore you to take a look at these lists if you’re not familiar. Ky Bush wouldn’t crack our top 15 prospects, actually. Quero Was the big piece.
He’s really not their 3rd best prospect. That’s the issue. You ignored that part because you wanted to tell everyone how great Orioles prospects are and don’t mind being deceitful.
Lol I just read “Angels gave up 2 of their top 3”
mlb.com/prospects/orioles/
Feel free to peruse mlb.com if you prefer that outlet. The Angels current 3 rd prospect has a 45 grade. You’d have to go down to the 13th prospect for Baltimore to get that grade. So yeah there’s a large gap in system quality.
Keep spewing crap!
He’s not actually in their top 3 the list hasn’t been updated in a while and he’s having a bad year.
That’s the part you are ignoring so you can pretend your prospects are better than they are.
So your argument against it is, well yeah he’s top three on the list, but if they redid the list now it would change? You’re a joke king. You come on here and run your mouth about how stupid everyone else is, but I’m not sure you even understand the game. Nothing more than a couch GM who always thinks they have the best answer, and when their idea turns out to be absolutely ridiculous time after time, you just bank on the fact that no one will go back and see how stupid everything you wrote was. Give it up, you’re wrong on every argument you’ve made on this article.
I come here as a Cardinal fan on an Orioles post and you Orioles fans think it’s cool to gang up on me like you are trying to do here
Come on over to a Cardinals post and talk tough fella. I dare you
If you didn’t act like such an entitled, pretentious clown in the comments section on every single Orioles-related article because you really, really, REALLY want an Orioles prospect that simply isn’t available for anything that the Cardinals have to offer, perhaps you would not be having this problem. Just a thought.
Best fans in baseball!
Bush is ranked 9th at Fangraphs who just released their new rankings.
Feel free to look it up.
Thanks for taking the lead on this one, King Floch. I’ve been trying to do my part to quell the ridiculous King of Cards takes recently but it doesn’t seem to have gone through quite yet.
Big win tonight for the Orioles. They didn’t let those ugly jerseys hold them back and they got a big win.
Watch what other teams do at the deadline. Watch and learn.
Again, just because you’re outrageously condescending to others on this website doesn’t mean you have some guru knowledge that they lack. The O’s were the winningest team in the American League from 2012-2016–O’s fans know what buying at the deadline looks like. What you have failed to understand is that many O’s fans have bought into the new organizational approach that Elias and Co. have developed and don’t want to see the fruits of that approach thrown away at the very beginning of the team’s window.
So you’re not trying to win in 2023?
Of course the O’s are trying to win in 2023. But trading Colton Cowser and other top-50 prospects for 2-month rentals is not the way to build a SUSTAINED winner, which is ultimately what Elias is trying to do.
So suggest a trade that makes sense?
I hate it when people get on here and criticize my idea and then can’t offer one of their own. You are too afraid to be criticized for it.
That’s lame. If you have a better idea SPEAK UP!
Look, King, you and I have no real idea who’s available on the market. Unless you’re secretly a member of the Cardinals front office (and every post you’ve made on this thread suggests the exact opposite), neither of us knows who’s on the block.
As an O’s fan, I’d like for them to go after controllable starting pitching. Someone like Dylan Cease. And I’d be fine with them giving up a prospect or two in the Norby/Ortiz category for it, for example. Two lower-end top-100 prospects or 1 higher-end top-100 prospect + a couple lower-end organizational top-30 prospects for a guy like Cease seems pretty reasonable to me.
But what I want doesn’t really matter. And regardless of how much you want the O’s to trade Cowser for a Cardinals rental, that doesn’t matter either. So instead of giving yourself a heart condition over an online forum, chill out and let’s have a more civil discussion here.
So you have no ideas but you can criticize mine?
I stopped reading after that. I don’t like using the ignore feature but I might have to here.
Oh I read it. Cease for a couple prospects????
Come on dude. Get real.
You biased fans are lame. It’s not worth talking to you.
In 2017, the Astros traded for Justin Verlander and his 4 years of control. To get him, they traded P Franklin Perez (then #3 in the Astros organization and a consensus top-50 prospect), OF Daz Cameron (then #9 in the Astros organization and not in the top-100), and C Jake Rogers (then #11 in the Astros organization and not in the top-100).
Set aside the fact that Cease has not been his usual dominant self this year–and that the O’s would only be getting 2.5 years of control–and these seem like pretty comparable situations, do they not?
What was Verlander making at the time?
No it’s not comparable.
Aw, man. I thought you had ignored me.
I told you I was thinking about it.
Look at what the Reds got for Castillo. Think that plus a lot more for Cease. That’s what a fair trade for Cease looks like.
Actually, you bring up a great point here. Castillo is a good comparison.
And I’m not seeing how what I’ve proposed for Cease is much different. They each would have 2.5 years of control at the time of the trade. Castillo was traded for for the #17 overall and #52 overall, plus two organizational depth players.
I’m proposing something like #61 overall, #64 overall, and organizational depth for a player with a worse track record.
Pretty sure Castillo had a year and a half of team control left not 2 and a half.
And let’s be clear here–what I’ve proposed for Cease is a much more honest take than what you’ve proposed for guys like Cowser.
Oops! You’re right. That’s my mistake.
What did I propose for Cowser?
I want you to say it out loud. And then tell me again how it isn’t reasonable.
Alright this clearly isn’t going anywhere. Have a nice rest of your day, Cards!
They might be done adding after Fujinami. An established major leaguer will always have more value than a prospect. There will inevitably be failures and injuries so it make sense to graduate as many position players to the majors before making a final assessment. Elias seems focused on building a sustainable contender and opportunistically stocking the minors with arms would be in line with that approach.
Dude what are you talking about?
The Orioles are in 1st freaking place
I hope you’re wrong dank.
ERod from Detroit (unless they can pry Cease from the WhiteSox) and maybe Sam Moll (A’s) or Jordan Hicks (Cards) would be a huge boost to the O’s rotation and bullpen that are nearly all at their career highs in IPs We’re already seeing tired arms and lower arm slots in players like Cano.
Another reliever makes a lot of sense and might get them the pennant. But any single starting pitcher is unlikely to be enough to overtake the Braves. Elias seems disinclined to trade top 100 prospects.
@dankyank – I think you have a good read on Elias and his goals. He weighs the long-term over the short-term. I do think he’ll make trades to bump some short-term odds. But I don’t think he’s interested in trading prospects who he believes have a shot at All-Star caliber/adjacent production even with the prospect failure risk to sacrifice long-term goals.
Brian, that’s an interesting take on Elias. He definitely plays it close to the vest. It’s hard to get into the GM and front office mindset but my hope is that it is NOT the case that they feel like this year’s success is a year early and that they are not adjusting to the fact that with a few additions at the deadline and with the understandable leverage of using their abundant surplus of talent, that the O’s can realize the Series after a lot of dark years
I predict the O’s get out bid for the Tigers Starters. I predict they do bid high enough to pry Foley from the Tigers though. I predict Rodreguez to Tampa Bay & Lorenzen plus Faedo to Cincinnati. .
Montgomery would be a great fit but the Cardinals want controllable starting pitching, which the Orioles don’t really have to trade.
Cardinals need a lefty hitting centerfielder. Walker is not an outfielder take my word for that.
Lefty hitting centerfielder. You got one of those right? Colton something or other…..
Cowser isn’t available, and especially not for a rental, so get over it.
Or continue crying about it in the comments for every single Orioles-related article, up to you 😉
Stay after it, King!!
You just like Colton Cowser due to his equine/bovine nomenclature.
Cowser is not as good as you are making him out to be dude. You’d think you were talking about Ken GriffeyJr the way you are going in! Montgomery would be a great add for any team at the deadline and pitching costs what it costs right now. Prospects are just capital to fill needs, especially when you have as many as Baltimore.
I’ve done no such thing and I’d be perfectly fine with trading Cowser if the return was worth it, but 2 months of a #3 starter like Jordan Montgomery certainly ain’t it.
Agree with you on that point. Cheers dude.
A supposed noodle arm. Not good for OF.
Heston or Coby for everyone the Tigers have to offer.
If Beamer does that or better…. I’ll climb on board and maybe…maybe….drink some KoolAid. Ken’s not Jeff’s.
Stro isn’t a frontline guy. More mid rotation despite his first half. Great in pressure games, though.
Of all the teams to handle Stroman’s eccentricities, it’d be the O’s. But his performance recently might steer them away. I just like the idea of someone like Stroman causing mayhem in the AL East. Lorenzen, E-Rod, Montgomery make more sense. I’d also be calling on Snell, but that trade seems unlikely.
I was thinking exactly the same thing. Orioles need to aim higher.
The “Birds” are on the clock; do they stand pat, raise or call?
Elias thinking long and hard about Dallas Keuchel.
I wouldn’t make that the only deal I made, but it wouldn’t be a bad deal if they were making it for more starting pitching depth. All depends on price, of course.
Him and Hader. And 1 more bullpen arm. Thats my ideal/realistic deadline. There aren’t many options that are improvements over Wells, Bradish, Grayson, Kremer, Gibson that the Orioles would shell out an Ortiz/Mayo level prospect for. Get Lorenzon for the 10-15 range guys and get Hader with a top 10. This team is going to the playoffs. Build a playoff roster. Starters that will keep you in the game and 3 elite bullpen arms. I don’t worry about no true ace. Who is the biggest name that will be in the AL playoffs this year? Mcclanahan and Framber come to mind. No Verlander, Scherzer, Price rotations from the 2010s tigers. I think this team can win with its current starters. They could use a depth guy. Lorenzon fits that mold.
way things are going, ace of the post season might be JP France. 🙂
I think there’s only room for 1 more bullpen arm. You can give Cole Irvin’s spot to whoever we acquire. Otherwise you have to bump Perez, Fuji, or Baker. May happen but I’d be surprised.
Means and Tate may come back at some point too. I haven’t heard how Austin Voth is progressing but he’s probably on the wrong side of the crunch.
I don’t believe that Tate, Givens and the invisible man, DL Hall, are going to be riding in on a white horse this season.
Best stop thinking about them altogether.
And post-TJ, Means seems destined for the pen this year with a return to the rotation in the Spring.
If all that is true, the Orioles really need to pull the trigger to pick up a starter and another middle relief guy. They have the farm talent to spend and a number of ML players to package as well. Nearly all of the K’s arms are pushing career highs in innings.
I would not be surprised if the Orioles repeat last year’s trade deadline and sell a few surplus veterans for pitching prospects. The farm system is extremely position player heavy. Grod and Irvin are available for the final rotation spot and Means is returning soon. Everything seems to point to a willingness by Elias to conduct an evaluation period for as long as necessary. That’s prudent and will help to ensure fair value in any trade.
I’d be more interested in e-Rod or Snell (or both, he said greedily), although they’d probably require more in return.
I would like to see the Braves get this guy. We need another starter and he would be a good fit without having to give as much for a Snell or E-Rod.
As an O’s fan, not shocked. An average pitcher having a career year. A rental. Not the ballsiest move. Very typical, even for a team that now has the best record in the AL with about fifty games left and have a gold mine of talented players that are tripping over each other down on the farm.
Yes 100% correct. Will be a guy on the end of his contract. Not going to give up big prospects for a guy with team control and give up farm.
Would like to see them get another guy in the pen as well and would be on the cheap.
E-Rod is also available, as are a couple bullpen arms in Shreve and Cisnero. Someone coming back who could play 3B would be nice.
3B would be okay, 2B would be better. Keith will probably end up at 3rd.
Keith will NOT be playing 3B. They already gave up on that.
Coby Mayo would fit. That .413 OBP with lots of runs driven in looks attractive despite the elevated strikeouts. Not sure they would give him up without some other pieces added. Elias has been pretty tight with trading his prospects. I remember them talking about moving Keith to the OF when he got drafted but that must gave fallen by the wayside.
Jared Lorenzen never really panned out.
Hader and Snell. Make it happen Elias
Meh, but about what I’d been expecting. Just not a great year to be in the market for starting pitching at the deadline. I’d probably just focus on the bullpen honestly, it worked pretty well for us in 2014.
Orioles haven’t won a championship since 1983. I had to look it up I was only 3 years old at the time.
And I wasn’t even born yet.
Thanks for the breaking news update though.
Snell and Hader should be the target. Address the rotation, where the majority are near or at career high in IP and add a high quality arm to add to Cano and Bautista to shorten games and that can be used in closing situations when Bautista is unavailable. Then go after another bat, I look at Bellinger as the best option with Cedric dealing with injury and Hicks having a history of his own. Could even move on from Hicks if Bellinger is acquired. Those moves should help greatly for a deep run in the postseason
Who are you afraid of in that lineup though? I understand hitting is harder to obtain the deadline than pitching, but a lack of certifiable stars in that lineup lends me to believe they will be sat down quite comfortably in the postseason against any elite pitching. And right now Baltimore doesn’t have the elite starting pitching to inflict that kind of damage on others.
You’re being ignorant as the name states.
People are terrified of Adley, Gunnar, Hays, and moderately scared of Santander and 3-4 others .
“lack of certified stars” or overpriced vets trying to recapture the magic of their youth?
I realize that Nelson Cruz is still at home collecting checks but that’s a hysterical back of the baseball card evaluation. I like the trajectory of these kids.
With TB and Baltimore competing for the same starters that could drive the prices up and create competition. Scott Harris is not going to trade their pitchers for magic beans like Avila did. Don’t overvalue your prospects if you want to get the pitching you NEED to succeed in the playoffs. We once traded John Smoltz for Doyle Alexander which pushed us into the playoffs.Talk about long term regret! Most trades for prospects don’t work out that well for the acquiring team. Hindsight is 20-20 and if you are going for it this year you need to push your chips in to win…or just let TB or Houston do it.
John Smoltz for Doyle Alexander was worth it. Doyle deserves the lions share of the credit for getting the Tigers into the post season. As for Smoltz, Sparky wasn’t known for giving young players much of a chance and the Tigers were terrible during Smoltz entire career.
I agree and remember being ecstatic when Doyle came over and did so well. Without him we wouldn’t have made the playoffs that year. No one could have predicted how good Smoltz would be and maybe he wouldn’t have been if he stayed in Detroit.
If the O’s get a starter, they move Tyler Wells to the Bullpen, where he’s previously been very good and it’s helps limit his innings.
Irvin is already the lefty long man in the playoff bullpen.
I’m more interested to see if they pick up a high leverage lefty – that’s what the bullpen is lacking.
Although, John Means is starting to throw and he may be a factor in all of this (although as a bonus / good problem rather than a fundamental part of the primary plan).
P.S. Coby Mayo is who we want! We need a 3B or 2B and a run producer with a wicked OPS and he fits the bill better than Ortiz or Norby. Add in other pieces on both sides if needed. Please stop talking about HAL2000’s trade caculations. The post about Colton Cowser being worth something like Goldschmidt, Montgomery and Arenado was ridiculous and shows how limited HAL2000 is. Cowser who is hitting well under.200 in the majors. You can keep him and Kjerstad.
Any deal the Tigers make with the O’s needs to start with Basallo and go from there. A LH hitting catcher is high on my list and he fits the low SO high contact player Harris is looking for. Add Mayo or Povich for Erod and Cisnero. Add Bencosme for Lorenzo.
Basallo and Bencosme caught my eye too. Good call.
You aren’t getting Mayo or Basallo for 2 months of Michael freaking Lorenzen. Maybe Cesar Prieto or Max Wagner.
Add in more bullpen pieces for a bigger trade for Mayo. Prieto and Wagner are great prospects too though. So many possibilities.
Yeah, that was not meant as a dig at Prieto and Wagner or anything. I actually really like Prieto in particular, I think he could turn out to be something along the lines of Diet Luis Arraez. There’s just no real path to significant playing time for him here with Gunnar, Holliday, Westburg, Ortiz, etc.
They list Prieto as an IF on mlb.com. Wasnt sure which position he plays. If he hits lije Arraez then who cares what position! Basallo seems to be in the same boat unless he changes positions ir bevomes an overqualified backup. Rutschman isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
There is a decent chance that Basallo grows out of C and into 1B, but even if not, Adley DHs pretty regularly to keep his bat in the lineup so they could potentially share C and DH on a nearly everyday basis like the Murphy/d’Arnaud arrangement in Atlanta.
In other news….NYY and Brian are…..desperate…..you think a GM worth his.salt would.be strong arming them…..
@Floch not to mention that Basallo is a few years away from the big leagues. We only have Adley for a guaranteed 4 more years. Hopefully we lock him up forever but Basallo becomes a pretty decent backup option if he walks.
A little.high in the ask.
I would.be ecstatic for just 1 or even 2 of those players. If he got.Mayo.and Basallo…..for everything we have to offer….
I would.and will, poop my pants.
Heston prefered
Detroit needs someone who can help them NOW !
Proceed with caution here. There’s need better. He’s just more of what they already have. He is one of those guys likely to get clocked on a contender pitching in more pressure.
I get the sense the O’s are looking more for a mid rotation type to add. I dont think they want to dip too deep into their top calibre prospects at this point. I just don’t think that rotation holds up in the postseason. Maybe Grayson Rodriguez starts developing.
I want to hear who’s interested in Eduardo Rodriguez.
I think they said Arizona, TB, Baltimore, Tampa, Texas and Cincinnati in a couple articles.
Kim Ng in Miami is pushing some chips into the pot too
The Marlins need hitting so I don’t think anyone on the Tigers will help them. The Fish align with Os better.
I forgot Toronto, Houston and Boston as well who were mentioned in relation to Erod and Lorenzen
Lorenzen was mentioned for my Jays but nothing on ERod.
Lorensen perfect fit for Reds. Fills starting spot until injured comes back, then can go back to bullpen if needed when all healthy. They have enough middle infield prospects to do it beyond Marte, who they wouldn’t deal for a rental and shouldn’t. But does the kid GM have the chops to make a deal for real major league talent instead of dumps for prospects? Not so far.
I’d like to see the Tigers pry Justin Foscue away from the Rangers…
100% agree. Foscue is a guy I’d like to see them pick up. Dustin Harris has a good hitting prifile too.