- Hunter Harvey had been one of the few locks to start the season in the Orioles’ bullpen, but with his latest setback, opportunity knocks for another of Orioles’ hurler, per Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun. With so many roster spots still up for grabs, the Orioles could use Harvey’s spot to secure a job for another short-stint arm, like Cole Sulser, Dillon Tate, or Travis Lakins. But they could also take the opportunity to have yet another starter/piggyback arm on the roster. Even the Orioles’ likely rotation arms – John Means, Keegan Akin, and Dean Kremer – aren’t locks to pitch deep into games. Bruce Zimmermann seems a decent candidate to make the roster as a swingman – and a near lock to see time on the Major League roster at some point in 2021 – but he may need some help filling the middle innings. Tyler Wells would be one such candidate. A starter in the Twins’ system, Wells is a Rule 5 pick who needs to make the roster in order to stay in the organization.
Orioles Rumors
Nick Markakis Retires
Veteran outfielder Nick Markakis is calling it a career after 15 seasons at the Major League level, he tells David O’Brien and Dan Connolly of The Athletic. The 37-year-old says he made up his mind shortly after the postseason ended and did not pursue any opportunities this winter. “My No. 1 decision and my main focus on this is obviously my kids and my family,” Markakis said, adding that he’s both fortunate and thankful to have been able to play the game as long as he has.
The seventh overall pick back in 2003, Markakis spent fewer than three years in the minors before debuting as a 22-year-old and never looking back. He hit .291/.351/.448 in 147 games and finished sixth in 2006 American League Rookie of the Year voting with the Orioles, setting the stage for a nine-year run of strong play with the organization which originally drafted him.
Baltimore signed Markakis to a six-year, $66MM extension that covered the 2009-14 seasons, keeping him with the O’s for three would-be free agent seasons. Markakis helped the Orioles to playoff berths in 2012 and in 2014, and in total he posted a strong .290/.358/.435 slash through 5966 plate appearances as an Oriole, winning two Gold Gloves along the way.
Free agency took Markakis to his native Georgia, however, as he inked a four-year, $44MM contract to join an up-and-coming Braves club as their primary right fielder. He spent his next (and final) six seasons in Atlanta, batting a combined .283/.357/.402 and making his lone All-Star appearance with the ’18 Braves — a season in which he also took home a Silver Slugger Award and his third career Gold Glove.
Markakis was a workhorse both in Baltimore and Atlanta, averaging 151 games played from his 2006 debut up through the 2019 season. His only two injuries of note were a fractured hamate bone 2012 and a fractured wrist in 2019. He played in all 162 games of the 2018 season — one of seven seasons in which the ultra-durable Markakis played at least 160 games.
All in all, Markakis will wrap up his career as a .288/.357/.423 batter over the life of 9321 plate appearances. He racked up 2388 hits along the way, including 189 home runs, 514 doubles and 22 triples to go along with 66 steals, 1046 runs batted in and 1119 runs scored. Always somewhat of an under-the-radar star, Markakis derived much of his value from strong on-base percentages and terrific defense for much of his career — one that was valued at 28.7 wins above replacement by FanGraphs and 34 WAR by Baseball-Reference. Markakis earned more than $120MM over 15 seasons in the big leagues and will be remembered as a beloved member of two franchises.
Hunter Harvey Dealing With Oblique Issue
- Orioles righty Hunter Harvey exited his outing Friday with a left oblique issue. The severity isn’t known yet, but Harvey – who had been in line for a bullpen spot – is unlikely to be ready for Opening Day, per Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com. It’s the latest injury-related setback for Harvey, a 2013 first-round pick who has dealt with multiple health issues (including Tommy John surgery) during his professional career. The 26-year-old has totaled 15 innings out of the O’s bullpen dating back to his 2019 debut.
Cubs Return Rule 5 Pick Gray Fenter To Orioles
The Cubs have returned Rule 5 Draft pick Gray Fenter to the Orioles, per an announcement from Baltimore. The O’s have assigned the right-hander to major league spring training as a reserve.
Fenter was a seventh-round pick of the Orioles in 2015 who joined the franchise for a massive bonus ($1MM) relative to his draft position. While Fenter has since pitched to a 3.21 ERA and struck out over 10 batters per nine in 230 minor league innings, the 25-year-old hasn’t climbed above the Single-A level yet. He also underwent Tommy John surgery in 2016, wiping out that season and a large portion of the next year for him.
Fenter had an excellent year during the most recent minors season, 2019, when he logged a 1.81 ERA in 94 1/3 innings in Single-A. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote last December that Fenter “sat 91-93 and touched 95” that season.
Latest On Maikel Franco
Free agent third baseman Maikel Franco is likely to choose his next club either today or tomorrow, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. The former Phillies and Royals slugger has been connected to both the Mets and the Orioles over the past week, and Heyman now adds that the Braves are among the teams “in the mix” for Franco.
While Franco has been connected to three clubs over the past week now, there have been indicators that not every rumored club is a serious player for his services. The Athletic’s Tim Britton reported that although the Mets indeed checked in on Franco at one point, they also don’t believe a deal will come together at this time. Meanwhile, in the days since the Orioles were first tied to Franco, Baltimore general manager Mike Elias has publicly stated that he does not foresee any free-agent additions for his team (link via MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko).
“I don’t feel that there are any imminent additions at this time coming from the free agent market.” Elias said as recently as Wednesday. “That could change, but I don’t see anything kind of barreling down the pike here right this second.” Certainly, that doesn’t rule out the possibility that Franco could land there, but it does throw some cold water on the possibility.
Turning to the latest rumored fit, the Braves make some sense as a potential landing spot for Franco, although they’ve already added veteran corner infielder Jake Lamb to the third base competition. Lamb signed a one-year, $1MM contract earlier in the spring, and while the deal isn’t fully guaranteed, it did place him on Atlanta’s 40-man roster. That gives the Braves three possible options already, as Lamb joins holdovers Austin Riley and Johan Camargo in the mix for playing time.
Riley excited fans and the organization alike with a huge first month in the big leagues back in 2019, he’s struggled since that point. Over his past 380 Major League plate appearances, Riley has posted a .211/.274/.387 slash with a 31.1 percent strikeout rate. Add in last year’s postseason numbers, and the overall line dips to .207/.270/.371 in a sample of 429 trips to the plate. Camargo, meanwhile, turned in an impressive 2018 effort but has posted a dismal .222/.267/.378 slash in 375 plate appearances since. As for Lamb, his 2018-19 seasons were ruined by shoulder injuries, and he got out to a miserable start in 2020 as well. After being cut loose in Arizona and landing in Oakland, however, he looked like the Lamb of old in 13 games down the stretch with the A’s.
Riley is a former top prospect who won’t turn 24 until next month, so there’s still quite a bit of upside in the former No. 41 overall draft pick. Lamb gives the Braves upside as well. He belted 59 home runs from 2016-17 in Arizona and made the 2017 All-Star team. Camargo, at the very least, is a strong defender at the hot corner and a switch-hitter at the plate.
Franco could still fit into the mix, particularly if he’s open to a minor league pact. It’s also possible that the Braves aren’t thrilled with Lamb’s slow start this spring — he’s 1-for-12 with a walk and a HBP — and could look to pivot. Lamb could be cut from his non-guaranteed deal prior to Opening Day for $161K or $242K, depending on the point at which the club makes the move, although 14 plate appearances would be an extraordinarily brief audition.
Baltimore represents the cleanest and most obvious fit of the three teams rumored to be in the mix for Franco. Incumbent Rio Ruiz hasn’t hit much over the past two seasons and is out to a slow start in camp. He also has a pair of minor league options remaining. Prospect Rylan Bannon figures to eventually get a look in 2021, but he’s only played 20 games of Triple-A ball and could potentially benefit from some additional development time.
Franco was at least a mildly surprising non-tender by the Royals back in December, as he’d turned in a solid 2020 season and drawn public praise from both his manager and general manager. Appearing in all 60 games for Kansas City, the former top prospect posted a .278/.321/.457 batting line with eight homers, 16 doubles and improved defensive marks at the hot corner. The Royals, however, cut him loose and moved Hunter Dozier back to third base, opting instead to add several players to their outfield mix.
Elias: No Timeline For Davis' Return To Baseball Activities
- Chris Davis has been down since last week due to a lower back strain, and Orioles general manager Mike Elias today told reporters that there’s still no timeline for when he’ll return to baseball activities (Twitter link via the Baltimore Sun’s Jon Meoli). He saw a specialist earlier in the week. Davis, who’ll turn 35 next week, missed the bulk of the 2020 season due to knee problems and was slowed by a hip injury in 2019 as well. He was likely ticketed for a somewhat limited role now, given the return of Trey Mancini and the emergence of several prospects at the MLB level (Ryan Mountcastle chief among them). With no timeline at the moment, it could be tough for Davis to be ready by Opening Day. The Orioles owe him $23MM in 2021 and 2022.
Orioles Likely To Host Fans At Camden Yards In 2021
- Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced that sports venues will be allowed to open in his state at 50 percent capacity, per WBAL Anchor Phil Yacuboski and others (via Twitter). For the Orioles to open the doors at Camden Yards on opening day, they’ll still need approval from Mayor Brandon Scott, notes Pete Kerzel of MASNSports.com (via Twitter). That last bit of bureaucracy notwithstanding, it does appear that the O’s will have fans in the stands for 2021.
Offseason In Review: Baltimore Orioles
It was another quiet winter for the Orioles, who continue to focus on building up their farm and keeping payroll down during a lengthy stretch of lean seasons.
Major League Signings
- Freddy Galvis, SS: $1.5MM
- Total spend: $1.5MM
Trades and Claims
- Traded SS Jose Iglesias to the Angels in exchange for RHPs Garrett Stallings and Jean Pinto
- Traded RHP Alex Cobb and cash to the Angels in exchange for 2B/OF Jahmai Jones
- Acquired INFs AJ Graffanino and Greg Cullen from the Braves as a PTBNL from August’s Tommy Milone trade
- Acquired RHP Miguel Padilla from the Astros as a PTBNL from July’s Hector Velazquez trade
- Claimed 2B Yolmer Sanchez off waivers from the White Sox
- Claimed RHP Ashton Goudeau off waivers from the Pirates
- Claimed 1B Chris Shaw off waivers from the Giants (later outrighted to Triple-A)
- Selected RHPs Tyler Wells (Twins) and Mac Sceroler (Reds) in the Rule 5 Draft
Notable Minor League Signings
- Felix Hernandez, Matt Harvey, Wade LeBlanc, Fernando Abad, Tom Eshelman, Nick Ciuffo, Conner Greene, Seth Mejias-Brean
Extensions
- None
Notable Losses
- Jose Iglesias, Alex Cobb, Renato Nunez (non-tendered), Hanser Alberto (non-tendered), Asher Wojciechowski, Dwight Smith Jr., Bryan Holaday
The Orioles kicked off the winter with what appeared to be a rather straightforward decision on a $3.5MM club option for shortstop Jose Iglesias. It was somewhat curious that Baltimore waited until the last minute to formally exercise that option, considering that a $500K buyout made it a net $3MM decision, but the end result to pick up the option came as little surprise after a productive season for Iglesias. General manager Mike Elias said after the fact that the option was never in doubt and called his shortstop a “perfect fit for what we need right now.” Iglesias was traded to the Angels 29 days later.
As has regularly been the case for the O’s, their return included a pair of low-level pitchers. Righty Garrett Stallings has yet to appear in a pro game, though he was a 2019 fifth-rounder who is regarded as a polished arm that could quickly move through the ranks and become a back-of-the-rotation starter. Twenty-year-old righty Jean Pinto has just 12 pro innings under his belt and is further from the big leagues. Baseball America rated Stallings as the organization’s No. 26 prospect earlier this winter.
Absent the “perfect fit” comments from Elias, it wouldn’t have been much of a surprise to see Iglesias on the move. The O’s have been willing to listen on any players as they reshape the organization, after all, and as an affordable veteran with one year remaining on his contract, he was a logical player to market. To the Orioles’ credit, they eventually added a similar player in Freddy Galvis, who’ll fill the same role with an even more modest price tag for the coming season.
That proved to be the Orioles’ lone big league free-agent signing this winter, though it wasn’t the only player acquired to help the 2021 roster. Baltimore plucked 2019 Gold Glove winner Yolmer Sanchez off waivers and figures to give the 28-year-old plenty of run at second base. Paired with Galvis, he should form a strong defensive tandem in the middle infield, although Sanchez could eventually face some competition from the player acquired in the Orioles’ other major offseason transaction.
Few would’ve expected the Orioles to be able to both offload some of the remaining $15MM on Alex Cobb’s four-year deal and do so in a trade that brought a young player of some note back to the organization. But the Orioles managed to do just that, shipping Cobb to the Angels in a trade that saved the O’s about $5MM and brought in one-time top prospect Jahmai Jones.
While the 23-year-old Jones has seen his stock dip since he was on the back end of Top 100 lists at Baseball America, MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus, he’s still a near-MLB-ready piece who got his feet wet with a three-game call to the Majors for the Halos last year. The Orioles have said he’ll work mostly at second base, but if Sanchez settles in nicely at that spot, Jones does have a good bit of outfield experience as well.
It was a surprising trade on many levels. The market had plenty of mid- and back-of-the-rotation options available around the same price point as Cobb — many who are more durable than Cobb has been. The Angels clearly saw something they like in Cobb more than comparable, available arms (e.g. Rick Porcello), but the market for the right-hander couldn’t have been too strong. The O’s did well to shed some of that contract and add an intriguing young player, even if he’s in need of a rebound.
That said, it’s also worth pointing out that Cobb is still the team’s second-most expensive player. The $10MM they’re paying him to pitch for the Angels is more than they’re paying everyone other than Chris Davis. The money saved in their two trades and series of non-tenders apparently won’t be put back into the 2021 club, so fans will have to simply hope such moves lead to greater spending down the road.
Baltimore had the opportunity to choose among any number of veteran starting pitchers or relievers, but the Orioles settled on minor league deals with some veteran pitchers in dire need of a rebound. Felix Hernandez and Matt Harvey haven’t been high-end pitchers since 2015, and Harvey in particular has been clobbered in several stops since his days as Citi Field’s Dark Knight. Hernandez, meanwhile, barely cracked 90 mph with his average fastball in his final year with the Mariners. He opted out of the 2020 season after signing a minor league deal with the Braves. Hernandez was able to survive when his once 95-plus velocity dipped to the 93 mph range, but as it’s continued to drop further, his overall effectiveness has waned.
It’s a stretch to expect Hernandez and Harvey to regain their form at this point, yet that duo joins Wade LeBlanc and Tom Eshelman — both back with the club on minor league deals — as the only additions to the rotation competition. The Orioles have plenty of young arms they’d like to take a look at, some of which will get that chance in 2021. Keegan Akin, Dean Kremer, Zac Lowther, Bruce Zimmerman and Michael Baumann are all on the 40-man roster.
Still, it already feels as though there will be a frequent question of how they’re going to get through a given week of starts. John Means is locked into a rotation spot. The only other starting pitcher on the 40-man roster who has even 30 innings of MLB experience is out-of-options righty Jorge Lopez, who carries a career 6.03 ERA and isn’t even a guarantee to break camp with the team.
There’s something to be said for the pedal-to-the-metal, ultra-aggressive rebuild approach, and perhaps the Orioles will indeed catch lightning in a bottle on Harvey and/or Hernandez. But there’s also something to be said for the value of bringing in some stability to help such an unproven staff, and the Orioles chose not to lock themselves into such a commitment despite myriad options being available over the winter (and even up until the time of this writing). As MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes noted while he and I were chatting about this very subject: the Cubs probably wouldn’t have won the 2016 World Series if they hadn’t signed Scott Feldman in Nov. 2012. The Jake Arrieta trade is an extreme example of cashing in on a veteran placeholder, of course, but there’s value in making such additions and not relying too heavily on younger arms who aren’t accustomed to the rigors of a full MLB season’s workload.
Turning to the lineup, the Orioles didn’t add much beyond Galvis, Sanchez and Jones, and many onlookers — particularly Orioles fans — were stunned to see the club non-tender slugger Renato Nunez. The 26-year-old (27 in April) belted 43 homers from 2019-20 while batting .247/.314/.469 in Baltimore.
However, the Nunez decision was also in many ways foreseeable. He doesn’t walk much, has a higher-than-average strikeout rate and brings minimal defensive value to the table. The home runs are obviously nice, but clubs have stopped paying much for skill sets that are heavy in power but light in OBP and defensive value. That Nunez went unclaimed on waivers and ultimately settled for a minor league deal in Detroit only further underscores that market trend. Hanser Alberto found himself in a similar spot due to marginal on-base skills and a lack of power, and he was also cut loose before settling on a non-guaranteed pact in Kansas City.
While some holes in the game for Nunez and Alberto surely contributed to the Orioles moving on, the decisions were also accelerated by the growing number of MLB-ready bats Baltimore can evaluate in the near term. Austin Hays has seemingly put his injuries behind him and earned another chance to be a regular. Anthony Santander may have had a breakout in right field. Ryan Mountcastle debuted in 2020 and raked through 35 games. DJ Stewart showed some three-true-outcomes intrigue. Rio Ruiz hasn’t given much reason for optimism at third base, but prospect Rylan Bannon is more or less ready for a big league look. Chance Sisco will get another opportunity behind the plate, but uber-prospect Adley Rutschman looms in the minors.
Best of all for the 2021 Orioles, they’ll welcome back their clubhouse leader and best all-around hitter. Slugger Trey Mancini took a leave of absence a year ago around this time, disclosing weeks later that he’d been diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer. Mancini underwent surgery, endured chemotherapy and battled for several months until thrilling fans throughout the game by announcing that he was in remission. It’s been great to see Mancini get back into a game setting, and it’ll be a truly special moment to see him take the field for the Orioles on Opening Day. They’ll no doubt look forward to welcoming his leadership back to the clubhouse and welcoming the bat that produced a .291/.364/.535 slash in 2019 back to the heart of the lineup. For all the questions surrounding the pitching staff, the Baltimore lineup has its share of intriguing hitters.
All in all, the Orioles’ offseason was something of a mixed bag. Both trades of established big leaguers made sense, and the Cobb deal in particular was well-received around the industry. Galvis is a perfectly sensible stopgap option at shortstop, and they operated around the fringes of the 40-man with some waiver claims and Rule 5 adds. The non-tender decisions, while a surprise to some, were at the very least defensible.
At the same time, the Orioles appear set to trot out a $59.5MM payroll despite the fact that the 20 pitchers on their 40-man roster have combined for a total of 1036 2/3 innings at the Major League level. The top depth options they brought in to supplement the group haven’t been big league contributors for years. The hope is that several young arms will claim long-term spots both in the rotation and the bullpen, but the results along the way could be ugly.
How would you grade the Orioles’ offseason? (Link to poll for Trade Rumors iOS/Android app users)
Market For Maikel Franco “Heating Up”
TODAY: The Orioles are one of the teams interested in Franco, Heyman tweets.
MARCH 5: There hasn’t been much buzz centering on third baseman Maikel Franco since the Royals non-tendered him at the beginning of December, but his market is now “heating up,” according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network. It’s unclear which teams are interested in Franco.
MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projected in October that Franco would land anywhere from $4.5MM to $8MM in 2021, his final season of arbitration control, though the Royals were unwilling to go to those lengths to keep him. But the 28-year-old did have a productive 2020 in his lone season as a member of the Royals, with whom he batted .278/.321/.457 (106 wRC+) with eight home runs in 243 plate appearances. Franco also appeared in all 60 of Kansas City’s games, earned nice marks at third (zero DRS, 1.3 UZR) and struck out in only 15.6 percent of his trips to the plate – which aligns with his lifetime K rate of 15.3.
Franco now looks like one of the most appealing players remaining on an ever-shrinking free-agent market, and it’s easier to dream on him when considering his past promise. He ranked as high as 17th in Baseball America’s top 100 list of prospects as a Phillies farmhand back in 2014, the year he made his major league debut. Franco didn’t play much that season, but he opened eyes over 80 games in 2015, hitting .280/.343/.497 (129 wRC+) with 14 HRs across 335 PA. He wasn’t able to keep that up from 2016-19 as a Phillie, however, as he batted an uninspiring .247/.299/.427 (86 wRC+) in 2,146 PA. The Phillies gave up on Franco when they non-tendered him going into 2020.
Cedric Mullins Gives Up Switch-Hitting
- Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins is giving up switch-hitting to bat lefty full-time, writes Rich Dubroff of Baltimorebaseball.com. After a horrendous 2019, Mullins bounced back somewhat in 2020, doing enough to stay on the Major League roster to appear in 48 games and 153 plate appearances with a palatable .271/.315/.407 slash line. Mullins is trying to make the Orioles roster as a fourth outfielder, though there are certainly more at-bats available if he proves capable. Giving up his right-handed swing could force him into a more straight platoon, but he hasn’t been helped by his work on the short side of that split anyhow. For his career, Mullins has hit just .146 as a right-hander with a 26 wRC+ (versus 90 wRC+ as a lefty). The split was even more pronounced last season when he earned a 118 wRC+ as a left-handed hitter versus 34 wRC+ from the right side. If nothing else, Mullins should be able to simplify his routine by focusing on one swing.
