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Orioles Notes: Marlins, Santander, Mancini, Deferrals, MASN

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The Marlins have had some trade discussions with the Orioles about outfielder Anthony Santander, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports (Twitter link).  The depth of these talks isn’t known, Kubatko notes, as it could have been due diligence on the Marlins’ part rather than a sign that Santander could be heading to Miami or anywhere.

Santander enjoyed something of a breakout performance during the abbreviated 2020 season, hitting .261/.315/.575 with 11 home runs over 165 plate appearances before an oblique injury ended his season on September 4.  A look at the advanced metrics reveals some interesting details, as Santander didn’t make much hard contact or take many walks, but he also didn’t get much batted-ball luck in the form of a .248 BABIP.

Still, between some strong right field defense and 31 homers in 570 PA since the start of the 2019 season, Santander has made himself a key part of Baltimore’s rebuilding effort.  He turned 26 last October and is controlled through the 2024 season, as Santander is a Super Two player and only became arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter.  (The two sides are scheduled for a hearing to determine Santander’s 2021 salary, with the outfielder looking for $2.475MM and the Orioles offering $2.1MM.)

This combination of talent and cost-effective team control would make Santander an attractive trade possibility for many teams, but particularly a Marlins club that is looking to both continue contending for the postseason without too much of a budget stretch.  The switch-hitting Santander would also help balance out a Miami lineup heavy on right-handed batters.  Garrett Cooper is currently slated to handle right field for the Marlins, but the team would have plenty of room to find at-bats for everyone if the DH returned to the National League in 2021.  Since Starling Marte and Corey Dickerson are both free agents after the season, Santander would also be a longer-term outfield addition that could fill the void if either player departed.

Whether the Orioles see Santander as a long-term piece is another intriguing element, as a case could be made that the O’s should try to sell high on Santander now (or perhaps before the 2021 trade deadline) if they don’t think he’ll still be a prime contributor by the time Baltimore is ready to contend.  Given that the Orioles still have a long ways to go in their rebuild, they might not be ready to compete by 2024, Santander’s age-29 season and his last under team control.

The Orioles’ financial situation adds another wrinkle, as The Athletic’s Dan Connelly reports that the team offered salary deferrals to Santander and Trey Mancini when talking to both players about their 2021 contracts.  Both turned down the offers, which would have seen around 25% of their salary pushed ahead to 2022 or 2023.  Mancini ended up avoiding arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $4.75MM deal.

Deferrals are a common element of contract negotiations, yet the idea of deferring money on a one-year arbitration contract was unheard of among “multiple agents and baseball arbitration experts…contacted for this story,” Connolly writes.  While the deferral offers could have just been some creativity on the part of GM Mike Elias, Connolly also wonders if the offers were indicative of how little the Orioles might have to spend in the wake of 2020’s revenue losses.  If this is the case, the O’s might look to try and deal Santander, perhaps attaching him to a larger contract (i.e. Alex Cobb and his $15MM salary) to clear as much money as possible off the books.

In other revenue news, The Athletic’s Brittany Ghiroli reports that the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (owned by both the Orioles and the Nationals) has made significant cuts, including several prominent on-air personalities.  “This is a cash-flow problem, and there’s apparently not a lot of it,” a source said.  Changes include the reduction of the pre-game and post-game shows from 30 to 15 minutes, with the broadcasters at the ballpark handling these shows rather than studio hosts and analysts.  If the Orioles or Nationals want to continue the usual pre-game and post-game shows, MASN has informed the teams that they will have to fund them, rather than the network.

Anthony Santander Has Drawn Trade Interest

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Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander has drawn trade interest this winter, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. However, as Kubatko suggests, that doesn’t necessarily mean Santander will go anywhere. The 26-year-old is coming off a highly productive season in which he batted .261/.315/.575 (130 wRC+) with 11 home runs, and he’s not scheduled to become a free agent until after 2024. Santander will earn a projected $1.7MM to $3MM in arbitration next season. All of that makes Santander an appealing trade candidate, but the Orioles could simply retain him as a building block.

Orioles Re-Sign Thomas Eshelman

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The Orioles have re-signed right-hander Thomas Eshelman to a minor league contract, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko reports (Twitter link).  Eshelman chose to become a free agent last month rather than accept an outright assignment to Baltimore’s Triple-A team.

In his second consecutive year of swingman work for the O’s, Eshelman posted a 3.89 ERA over 34 2/3 innings, starting four of his 10 outings.  He had only an 11.2 K%, continuing his near career-long trend of not missing many bats.  While Eshelman’s Statcast numbers aren’t anything to write home about, his return to the organization gives the Orioles another option as they figure out their pitching mix.  Eshelman’s ability to contribute a spot start is useful, particularly in a rotation that may feature several young hurlers who may still be building up their innings.

Of course, Eshelman is himself only 26 years old, and he was a second-round pick for the Astros in the 2015 draft.  He has a 4.22 ERA over 514 1/3 career innings in the minors (with the Orioles, Phillies, and Astros) to go along with his 5.22 ERA, 12.4 K%, and 6.5 BB% in 70 2/3 Major League innings with Baltimore.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 1/15/21

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The deadline to exchange arbitration figures is today at 1pm ET. As of this morning, there were 125 arbitration-eligible players who’d yet to agree to terms on their contract for the upcoming 2021 season. Arbitration is muddier than ever before thanks to the shortened 2020 schedule, which most believe will lead to record number of arb hearings this winter. Be that as it may, it’s still reasonable to expect dozens of contractual agreements to filter in over the next couple of hours.

We’ll highlight some of the more high-profile cases in separate posts with more in-depth breakdowns, but the majority of today’s dealings will be smaller-scale increases that don’t radically alter a team’s payroll or a player’s trade candidacy. As such, we’ll just run through most of today’s agreements in this post.

I’ve embedded MLBTR’s 2021 Arbitration Tracker in the post (those in the mobile app or viewing on mobile web will want to turn their phones sideways). Our tracker can be sorted by team, by service time and/or by Super Two status, allowing users to check the status on whichever groups of players they like. You can also check out Matt Swartz’s projected arbitration salaries for this year’s class, and we’ll do a quick sentence on each player’s agreement at the bottom of this post as well, with the most recent agreements sitting atop the list.

Today’s Agreements (chronologically, newest to oldest)

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Minor MLB Transactions: 1/13/21

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Let’s catch up on the latest minor moves from around the game …

  • Right-hander Branden Kline announced his retirement Wednesday on Instagram. Kline, a hard-throwing Maryland native, joined the Orioles as a second-round pick in 2012 and ranked as one of their most promising prospects early in his career. But four arm surgeries, including the Tommy John procedure Kline underwent in 2015, slowed him, and his injury issues kept him out of minor league action until 2018. Kline did rebound well enough to appear majors from 2019-20, pitching to a 5.48 ERA with a 20.2 strikeout percentage and a 10.8 walk percentage in 46 innings, but the Orioles outrighted him last fall.
  • If Kline’s retirement came surprisingly early, the opposite might be said of former MLB righty Manny Corpas. Panamanian journalist Aurelio Ortiz conveys Corpas’s decision to hang up his spikes, via Twitter. Though he’s far removed from his time in the majors — he last appeared in 2013 — the 38-year-old has until now continued to ply his trade in the indy ball and international ranks. Corpas wraps up his career with 374 1/3 frames of 4.14 ERA pitching at the game’s highest level.
  • Corner outfielder Dillon Thomas has an agreement with the Mariners, per Robert Murray of Fansided (Twitter link). The minor-league accord includes an invitation to participate in MLB Spring Training. Thomas, 28, is a former fourth-round pick who has only briefly reached the highest level of the minors. In 2019, he turned in a .265/.339/.434 slash over 504 Double-A plate appearances.

Orioles Have MLB Offers Out To Starters

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  • The Orioles are looking to add to their rotation, with MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko reporting that the team has “Major League offers on the table to multiple starters.” There was a general assumption that Baltimore might stick to just minor league contracts as it continues its rebuild process, yet offering guaranteed deals indicates that the O’s are planning to shop at a slightly higher tier, though these MLB offers are likely still relatively inexpensive. The Orioles’ current list of rotation candidates is short on big league experience, apart from veteran Alex Cobb and (with just over two years of service time) ace John Means.

Latest On Orioles’ Infield Plans

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At the beginning of the offseason, Orioles general manager Mike Elias expressed a desire to add infield depth at different levels of the organization. Some specific players of interest in that pursuit have emerged.

Baltimore has been in touch with representatives for free agent infielder Jonathan Villar, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. The switch-hitting speedster spent part of 2018 and all of 2019 with the O’s. Villar hit .270/.338/.438 across 950 plate appearances in that time, popping 32 home runs and stealing 61 bases. Baltimore traded him to the Marlins in a salary-slashing move last offseason. The 29-year-old then slumped through a dreadful 2020 season between Miami and the Blue Jays. That’ll depress the first-time free agent’s market, with Villar almost certainly looking at a one-year deal for less than the $8.2MM arbitration salary the Orioles deemed too pricey last year.

A handful of other infielders are also on Baltimore’s radar. The organization has varying levels of interest in Freddy Galvis, Ehire Adrianza and Daniel Robertson, Kubatko adds. Galvis has spent the past six seasons as a regular shortstop for the Phillies, Padres, Blue Jays and Reds. He’s a durable, reliable defender with a bit of power but significant on-base concerns. Adrianza and Robertson have spent most of their MLB careers in utility roles. All four potential targets are capable of playing shortstop. The Orioles have an obvious hole there after trading José Iglesias to the Angels. Additions at second base, on the other hand, don’t seem to be a target. Kubatko notes the team seems “inclined to use” waiver claim Yolmer Sánchez at the keystone.

None of the players mentioned would come at particularly exorbitant costs. Elias downplayed the likelihood of Baltimore making a multi-year free agent splash at the outset of the offseason, and there’s no reason to believe that has changed. However, the Orioles could look to bring in multiple free agent infielders, per Kubatko- one on a single-year MLB contract and another on a minor-league arrangement.

Coaching Notes: Reds, Orioles

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The Reds have named Bryan Conger their new minor league pitching coordinator, per Bobby Nightengale of the Enquirer (via Twitter). Conger himself announced his hiring on Twitter. Conger spent the last two seasons coaching in the Rangers’ organization. The former head coach at Tarleton State, Conger has a history of data-driven innovation that fits the Reds’ ethos. J.J. Cooper of Baseball America wrote this about Conger when the Rangers initially hired him in January of 2019: “Individualization has been a key part of Conger’s approach. Each pitcher at Tarleton State had an individualized throwing program designed specifically for that pitcher. Conger viewed it as his job to use data as much as possible to help customize everything they did for each pitcher.” As the minor league pitching coordinator, Conger will have a broader scope at his fingertips than back in his Division II days, but the Reds no doubt value his personal approach.

  • Conger joines the Driveline/Reds family that also includes 25-year-old assistant pitching coach Eric Jagers. The former University of Iowa southpaw found his way to Driveline as an amateur pitcher struggling to stay healthy. Thoracic Outlet Syndrome further stymied his pitching career, importuning Jagers to commit early to a career in coaching, writes Bobby Nightengale of The Enquirer. Writes Nightengale, “The result was a meteoric rise through the sport. In three years, Jagers went from an injured college pitcher to the Cincinnati Reds’ Assistant Pitching Coach. At 25 years old, he’s one of the youngest coaches on any Major League staff.” Jagers takes over for Caleb Cotham – just 33-years-old himself – who was named the Phillies’ pitching coach this offseason.
  • In Baltimore, Chris Holt attempted to clarify his role for the upcoming season during a recent Zoom call, notes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). Holt has been the Orioles’ Director of Pitching, but he will slide into the dugout this year as manager Brandon Hyde’s pitching coach. He’s keeping his original title, however, which presumably puts an awful lot on Holt’s plate. Holt has been preparing for this role switch for years, with the organization hoping that Holt could form a cohesive organizational philosophy that he himself would usher to the big leagues as some of their developing hurlers made it to the Show. That’s presumably where they are now, with a number of young pitchers like Dean Kremer, Keegan Akin, Bruce Zimmermann, Hunter Harvey, Michael Baumann, Zac Lowther, and Alexander Wells already on the 40-man roster. Top prospects Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall are both approaching the bigs as well, though both are likely to start 2021 in Double-A.

 

Orioles' Sulser Back To Full Health

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  • The Orioles have reason to believe Cole Sulser can return to form as the guy they installed as their early-season closer in 2020, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. The 30-year-old Sulser was a casualty of a roster crunch in Tampa, and the Orioles benefited by claiming him off waivers. The season started well for Sulser as he became a multi-inning weapon for manager Brandon Hyde, but in a freak accident at home, Sulser broke some toes on his right foot. It wasn’t enough of an injury to keep him from the diamond, but perhaps it should have been as he struggled with his command the rest of the way. Sulser finished with a 5.56 ERA/4.91 FIP/5.87 SIERA and an unsightly 17 percent walk rate. Back at full health, the Orioles expect Sulser to once again be a weapon for them out of the pen.

Latest On Yasiel Puig

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Free-agent outfielder Yasiel Puig hasn’t played in the majors since 2019, but the league hasn’t forgotten about him. Several clubs – the Red Sox, Yankees, Astros, Marlins and Orioles – “appear to have varying levels of interest” in Puig, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweets.

After a largely successful career with the Dodgers, Reds and Cleveland from 2013-19, Puig looked like a surefire bet to land a guaranteed contract last offseason. But the former All-Star didn’t encounter as much serious interest as expected, and he didn’t find a deal until the Braves agreed to sign him in the middle of July – shortly before the truncated season was set to begin. However, the contract never became official because Puig tested positive for COVID-19 just a few days later. Considering how long it would have taken Puig to recover and get up to speed, it was seemingly too late for the Braves or another big league club to sign him before the year ended.

Although last year was a lost season for Puig, he does appear to be an appealing buy-low type for MLB teams that aren’t necessarily looking to spend big on outfield help in free agency or via trade. Puig, who turned 30 last month, is the owner of a .277/.348/.475 line with 132 home runs and 79 stolen bases across 3,376 plate appearances. That history of above-average production should help Puig land a reasonably priced contract before next season starts.

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