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Orioles Willing To Listen To Trade Offers On Cedric Mullins

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The Orioles have shown a willingness to listen to trade offers on center fielder Cedric Mullins, reports Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (Twitter link). The 27-year-old is coming off a 2021 campaign in which he was MLB’s only 30-homer, 30-stolen base player.

Mullins entered the season as an unestablished player, with just a .225/.290/.342 line across 418 plate appearances between 2018-20. He’d been regarded as a solid but not elite prospect, and it wasn’t clear entering 2021 that Mullins projected as a long-term regular, either in Baltimore or anyone else. Perhaps no one around the league has raised their stock more over the past eight months, though, as Mullins broke through with an All-Star showing that garnered him some down ballot MVP support.

The North Carolina native played in 159 games and tallied 675 plate appearances, mashing at a .291/.360/.518 clip. That’s 36 percentage points above the league average by measure of wRC+, and Mullins added further value on the basepaths. In addition to his Silver Slugger winning offense, he was credited with ten Outs Above Average by Statcast in nearly 1300 innings in center field. Defensive Runs Saved wasn’t as bullish on his outfield work, but it’s likely most clubs around the league will view Mullins as an average or better gloveman in center.

There’s no question he’ll be in high demand after that breakout campaign, although that doesn’t guarantee he’ll wind up on the move. There’s a difference between the O’s being willing to hear out offers on Mullins versus actively attempting to move him, and there’s no indication they’re doing the latter. Heyman suggests Baltimore has placed an “extremely high” asking price in talks, no surprise since there’s no pressing incentive for the Orioles to give the Campbell University product up.

Mullins only has between two and three years of major league service time. Barring changes to the service structure in the next collective bargaining agreement, he’ll remain under club control through the end of the 2025 season. Mullins hasn’t even yet qualified for arbitration, so he’ll play next season on a salary just above the league minimum. As with starter John Means — on whom the O’s are also reportedly fielding offers — general manager Mike Elias and his staff can set a high asking price and hold onto the player if no other clubs are willing to meet it. The ask on Mullins figures to be even a fair bit loftier than that on Means, considering that Mullins would seem to have less injury risk and comes with an additional year of contractual control.

Broadly speaking, a willingness to discuss Mullins in trade shouldn’t seem out of the ordinary. Very few players around the league would be absolutely untouchable in trade talks, since front offices have a responsibility to consider all avenues through which they can improve their club. That’s particularly true in the case of a rebuilding organization like the Orioles that stands little chance of competing in 2022 and could have its work cut for out it to contend for a playoff spot in 2023.

That said, the Orioles surely expect to contend before Mullins reaches free agency in 2025-26. Even coming out of a massive rebuild, they’ll need some core players to anchor their next competitive club. Teams understandably covet controllable, star position players in particular. That’ll lead to plenty of strong offers, but it also reduces the Orioles’ urgency to pull the trigger on any deal, since Mullins looks to be precisely the kind of player around whom a franchise can build.

Orioles Claim Cionel Perez

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The Orioles have claimed lefty Cionel Perez off waivers from the Reds, per a team announcement. Baltimore’s 40-man roster is now full.

Perez, 25, was a prominent international signing out of Cuba by the Astros back in 2016, when current Orioles GM Mike Elias was an assistant GM in Houston. Cincinnati acquired him from Houston this past January, and he went on to tally 24 big league innings with a 6.38 ERA with a 22.5% strikeout rate, an 18.6% walk rate and a 51.5% ground-ball rate at the MLB level. In 50 2/3 innings between the Reds and the Astros, Perez has a 6.04 ERA.

While he’s worked exclusively as a reliever in the Majors, Perez has split his time between the rotation and the bullpen in the minors. He has a 4.46 ERA with a 24.5% strikeout rate and 11.7% walk rate in 82 2/3 innings of Triple-A ball, and although that walk rate is rather bloated, Perez’s 52% grounder rate in Triple-A is strong. He was particularly sharp in Triple-A Louisville this past season, notching a 3.26 ERA and 41-to-13 K/BB ratio in 30 1/3 innings of relief.

Perez is out of minor league options, so if he makes it through the offseason on Baltimore’s 40-man roster, have to either break camp with the Orioles or else be exposed to waivers a second time.

Orioles Reportedly Discussing John Means In Trade Talks

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As  the Orioles prepare to enter what will be the fourth season of a full-scale rebuild, ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that they’re “dangling” lefty John Means in trades in talks with other clubs (Twitter link).

Means, 28, is the lone established starter on the Orioles’ roster. Over the past three seasons, he’s pitched to a 3.73 ERA through 345 1/3 innings out of the Baltimore rotation. Means is the only pitcher who’s started more than 31 games for the O’s over the past three seasons (63), and of the 18 pitchers to make at least seven starts in that time he’s one of just three with an ERA south of 5.00. (Andrew Cashner and Dylan Bundy, no longer with the club, are the only others.)

Dating back to 2019, Means’ 5.1% walk rate is the sixth-lowest among all pitchers with at least 300 innings. His strikeout rate sat at 19% in 2019 but has jumped to 23% in 2020-21, bringing that roughly in line with the big league average. Home runs have been an issue for Means, who has yielded 1.69 big flies per nine frames. Being an extreme fly-ball pitcher at the homer-friendly Camden Yards can’t help the matter, but Means has struggled with the long ball on the road as well.

The 2021 season looked to be something of a breakout showing for Means early on, before a shoulder injury sidelined him for a portion of the year. The lefty pitched to a 2.05 ERA through his first 11 starts, headlined by a 12-strikeout no-hitter (and near perfect game) against the Mariners on May 5. Means faced just five hitters in his 12th start of the season before departing with a shoulder strain that would sideline him for more than six weeks.

There was no appreciable change in Means’ velocity upon returning from that IL stint — 92.9 mph average fastball pre-injury; 92.8 mph post-injury — but the southpaw yielded a 4.88 ERA with a diminished strikeout rate in 14 starts to close out the season, finishing out the year  with a seven-run drubbing at the hands of the Blue Jays.

With three-plus years of service time now under his belt, Means is arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects a $3.1MM salary for Means in his first trip through the arb process. He’d be eligible for further raises upon that salary in each of the next two offseasons before reaching free agency following the 2024 season.

Means’ first notable salary increase of his career surely plays a role in any willingness to trade him, but it should be noted that there’s no reason that salary should cause payroll issues in Baltimore. The Orioles don’t have a single guaranteed contract on their 2022 roster, with the lone set cost coming via the dead money they owe to Chris Davis following his retirement. Even with that sum, Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez projects a payroll around $56MM, which would rank among the lowest in baseball. Potential trades of Means, Trey Mancini (projected $7.9MM salary), Anthony Santander ($3.7MM), etc. would further drop that figure.

With three years of affordable club control remaining, Means ought to command a strong return even with this past season’s shoulder injury and subsequent scuffles. That said, if the Orioles actually make the leap and trade their lone rotation lock, the 2022 staff could look quite grisly — at least early on. Top pitching prospects Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall are nearing big league readiness, but the immediate rotation options behind Means have yet to find much in the way of MLB success. Jorge Lopez, Bruce Zimmermann, Keegan Akin, Zac Lowther, Dean Kremer and Spenser Watkins have all started big league games, but Zimmermann’s 5.30 ERA is the best of the group.

The Orioles could, of course, bring in a veteran or two on a low-cost deal in free agency, but they haven’t been willing to spend on veteran starters since their rebuild began. They’ve handed out a few minor league deals for veteran arms (Matt Harvey, Tommy Milone, Wade LeBlanc, Felix Hernandez), but the only pitcher given a guaranteed contract under GM Mike Elias was an $800K deal to Nate Karns in Feb. 2019.

Organizational Notes: Red Sox, Groopman, Orioles, Murray

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Mike Groopman is joining the Red Sox organization as an assistant general manager, per Chad Jennings and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Groopman was previously with the Brewers as VP of International Scouting and Player Personnel.

After short stints with the Reds and Mets, Groopman was hired by the Royals in 2008 and ended up staying for a decade, before moving to Milwaukee in 2017. When he joined Kansas City, the club was in the middle of a years-long tank job that ultimately proved fruitful, as they had four consecutive seasons of .500 or above from 2013 to 2016, which included back-to-back trips to the World Series, losing to the Giants in 2014 but then defeating the Mets in 2015. Since Groopman came to the Brewers, they have also had a nice run of success, having just made the postseason for a fourth straight year.

Of course, front offices are comprised of dozens of employees and no individual can take full responsibility for a club’s successes or failures. Still, the fact that Groopman has been given this new job and new title shows that his work is well regarded in the industry.

Moving across the AL East, Collin Murray will be joining the Orioles as a development coach, he himself announced on Twitter. Over the past few years, Murray has worked with some colleges, in addition to jobs with the Marlins, Angels and Tigers.

Development is going to be extremely important for the Orioles over the next few years. They are currently bottom feeders in a stacked AL East, with the other four teams each logging at least 91 wins in 2021, compared to the 52 notched by the Orioles. However, their farm system is held in high esteem by prospect evaluators, with FanGraphs and MLB Pipeline ranking theirs as the best in the league, and Baseball America slotting them second behind the Mariners. Helping those talented youngsters blossom into productive major leaguers will be extremely important for them to gain ground on their rivals and get back into contention.

Offseason Outlook: Baltimore Orioles

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The Orioles lost 110 games in 2021, the third time in the past four seasons with a sub-.400 winning percentage. It’s been five seasons since the Orioles last made the postseason, and the odds are stacked against them in the AL East.

Guaranteed Contracts

  • None
  • 2022 commitments: $0MM
  • Total long-term commitments: $0MM

Projected Salaries For Arbitration-Eligible Players (projections from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)

Option Decisions

  • None

Free Agents

Take a look at the guaranteed contracts section above and that’s about all you need to know about the state of the Baltimore Orioles. The good news is that they no longer have any onerous contracts on the books, but no amount of frugality will turn you into a rich man. At some point, the Orioles are going to need to start putting some long-term building blocks in place if they want to compete in the AL East.

The fact is, before the 2021 season even started, we pretty much knew what the two biggest stories of the year would be for these Orioles. Trey Mancini’s return was going to galvanize the fanbase and give the Baltimore faithful a real feel-good story to follow, and Adley Rutschman would continue his march towards the Major Leagues. Both narratives played about almost exactly as expected — and that’s not to diminish Mancini’s comeback, which was genuinely heartwarming, or Rutschman’s impressive march towards Camden Yards.

Mancini put on a show in the Home Run Derby and played in 147 games during the regular season. He hit .255/.326/.432 with 21 home runs in 616 plate appearances, good for just 0.8 rWAR overall. It was a good, albeit not great return to action for Mancini, who nevertheless gave fans in Baltimore something to cheer about.

Rutschman took another giant steps towards becoming the face of the franchise. He hit .271/.392/.508 in 80 games with Double-A Bowie before earning his promotion to Triple-A, where he slashed .312/.405/.490 across 185 plate appearances. If Rutschman isn’t in the Major Leagues in 2022, it’s because something went seriously wrong with the CBA negotiations and nobody is playing baseball. He’s ready.

Beyond those narratives, there was a third story that somewhat unexpectedly took over headlines in Baltimore this season: the emergence of Cedric Mullins. The 26-year-old broke out in a major way, posting MVP-caliber numbers, making his first All-Star game and earning his first Silver Slugger Award. He posted a 5.7 rWAR season while slashing .291/.360/.518, hitting 30 bombs and stealing 30 bases to be the Majors only 30-30 player. Those of us who remember Mullins from a dismal 22-game stint back in 2019 need to seriously re-calibrate expectations for Baltimore’s newest star.

The rest of the roster remains in serious flux, especially on the pitching side, where John Means continues to be their undisputed top starter. Means had a good year, logging 146 2/3 innings in 26 starts with a 3.62 ERA. At 28 years old, he may not seem like the ideal building block for the rotation, but he is still under team control for three more seasons, which is why the team hasn’t seriously explored trading Means up to this point.

Again, however, we must look to the minor leagues to see the most impactful developments for Baltimore. Grayson Rodriguez looks like an ace in the making, and like Rutschman, he’s nearing Major League readiness. Rodriguez made 18 starts in Double-A, logging 79 2/3 innings with a stellar 2.60 ERA/2.73 FIP. The towering 6’5″ right-hander is a significant talent, and he could be pitching in Baltimore by next summer.

Southpaw D.L. Hall could join him there soon. Hall was just added to the 40-man roster. He made just seven starts in Double-A but nevertheless posted a promising 3.33 ERA in those 31 2/3 innings. He also put up a 3.46 ERA/3.22 FIP over 80 2/3 innings in High-A. Nothing is a sure thing in the prospect world, but in Rodriguez and Hall, the O’s have a pretty strong pair of rotation arms that are pretty close to kicking Baltimore’s rebuild into high gear.

Given how close Baltimore’s highest profile prospects are to the Majors, it’s fair to wonder if this might be the winter when GM Mike Elias finally make a significant play for a free agent. They aren’t ready to compete, but they also might not be quite as far from the types of pre-contender free agency deals that we’ve seen for veterans like Jayson Werth and Manny Machado.

There’s certainly some room on the roster (and obviously on the payroll) to add a veteran or two. They’re fairly well stocked in the outfield where Mullins was flanked by Anthony Santander and Austin Hays. Whichever of Mancini and Ryan Mountcastle aren’t playing first base can also spend time in the grass, though they’re both better suited in a designated hitter role. Hays had a bit of a breakout 3.1 rWAR season, though Santander took a step back after a solid 2020. Santander and Hays are under team control for three and four more years respectively, so they are likely to continue to log a starter’s workload in the grass. That said, Mancini, Mountcastle, Santander, and Hays may be a perfect barbershop quartet, but the O’s could easily split up the timeshare for left, right, first, and DH more than four ways, should Elias find a free agent at the right price.

There’s room for another character in the outfield carousel, but if Elias is to inject some talent into this lineup, he’s most likely to do so in the infield. As of today, Jorge Mateo, Ramon Urias, and Kelvin Gutierrez rank as the incumbents next to Mountcastle in the infield. Mountcastle, at 24 and a longtime top prospect, probably has the longest leash of the four after slashing a palatable .255/.309/.487 with 33 home runs and 89 RBIs in 586 plate appearances. He has now been 16 percent better than average with the stick by measure of wRC+ in 726 career plate appearances in the Majors. That’s a promising chunk of action for Mountcastle, though the bar will be set high since he does not add much value with his glove.

Mateo, Urias, and Gutierrez are more place holders than long-term pieces. Mateo is the youngest, and he will turn 27 in June of next season. Urias as been the most productive of the bunch, as the 27-year-old has hit an impressive .286/.365/.425 in 323 plate appearances over two seasons since being claimed off waivers from the Cardinals.

Urias should feel secure in his roster spot, but his ability to move around the infield makes the right-handed hitter a pretty ideal fit as a fringe starter/utility type. That might be the ceiling for Mateo and Richie Martin, Urias’ theoretical backup at short, who hasn’t shown enough bat to stick it in the Majors (.214/.343/.348 in 134 plate appearance in the minors last year).

They can’t all be tenth men, however, which is where a free agent or two could make sense for Baltimore. Their prospect lists aren’t real deep in terms of infielders nearing the Majors, outside of Jahmai Jones, a former Angels’ prospect acquired last February for Alex Cobb. Jones hit alright in the minors this season (.251/.343/.445), but the numbers aren’t so flashy as to block the acquisition of a potential free agent. They recently added Lucius Fox from the Royals to join this pool of potential infielders.

Of course, this is all speculation, as Elias has yet to show a willingness to spend in free agency since taking over in November 2018. To his credit, there has been little reason to spend on a team destined for the AL East basement. Given that they are a near certainty to finish in the basement again in 2022, it may be a year or two early for Elias to open up the pocketbook.

Elias’ challenge, after all, is unique for a rebuilding given the incline of the uphill climb they face in their division. The Red Sox nearly made the World Series, the Blue Jays are just beginning an era of presumed prosperity, the Rays have a farm system that should keep them in contention for the next half decade, and the Yankees’ haven’t had a losing season since Derek Jeter’s draft year. In that climate, the Orioles aren’t likely to luck into a playoff spot.

Still, if Mullins’ breakout is real and Rutschman has the type of 2022 that dreams are made of, the Birds will have long-term answers at the two toughest positions to fill. The third position on that list – shortstop – happens to have a robust collection of talent available in free agency this season. I know, it’s not super likely that the Orioles will reel in Carlos Correa or Corey Seager, but they could be players at the tail end of that market, especially if the jobs dry up elsewhere and someone like Javier Baez begins to consider a short-term make-good kind of offer. Speculatively speaking, there’s also a potentially robust secondary market on the trade block, should they want to make a move for someone like Paul DeJong, a spiritual successor for J.J. Hardy whose contract should make him an easy get in terms of the talent return.

Elias could also look to the hot corner, though there aren’t as many appealing options after Kris Bryant and Chris Taylor. The same can be said for second base. At the very least, Baltimore could look to make the type of addition they’ve made in recent seasons, bringing in a veteran on a short-term deal in the mold of Freddy Galvis, keeping one eye on flipping them at the deadline. Jose Iglesias, Cesar Hernandez, Josh Harrison, Leury Garcia, Jonathan Villar, Matt Duffy, or Marwin Gonzalez might merit consideration for that kind of deal. Former Mariner Shed Long is a textbook target as a former top prospect who is still relatively young at 26 years old.

Galvis’ one-year, $1.5MM deal was the only Major League contract Elias handed out last offseason, and until we see otherwise, that’s probably the level of dealing that we can expect from Elias.

There’s even less likely to be a splashy free agent pitcher making his new home in Baltimore, though the O’s ought to at least explore the middle of the market. One of Elias’ trademarks in recent seasons has been acquiring enough low-cost, quad-A-type arms to keep their farmhands fresh. He hasn’t wanted to rush any of their pitching prospects through the system, and that means having enough talent on hand to survive a full 162-game season.

Players like Bruce Zimmermann, Zac Lowther, Dean Kremer, and Keegan Akin give the Orioles options for the rotation, but only Means has a rotation spot on lockdown. The others not only could be bumped from the rotation, but they have options remaining as well. Paul Fry, Dillon Tate, Rule 5 pick Tyler Wells, southpaw Tanner Scott and breakout righty Cole Sulser did enough to earn bullpen seats next year, but there’s definitely room for an addition or two beyond that group.

Frankly, Elias has already been relatively busy this winter. He allowed Hunter Harvey to be claimed off waivers while re-signing Marcos Diplan and Spenser Watkins on minor league deals. Elias and manager Brandon Hyde also brought in a pair of hitting coaches to bring some new voices into the clubhouse.

The Orioles aren’t breaking any doors down yet to get out of the AL East basement, but there is intrigue at the top of Baltimore’s roster for the first time in years. Rutschman is the type of two-way talent that can change the course of a franchise, but when he arrives, the ticking clock starts, too.

Check out the rest of MLBTR’s Offseason Outlook series here.

Orioles Select DL Hall, Five Others

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The Baltimore Orioles have added 6 players to their 40-man roster, the club announced. The names making their way to the roster include left-handed pitchers DL Hall and Kevin Smith, right-handed pitchers Félix Bautista, Kyle Bradish, and Logan Gillaspie, and infielder Terrin Vavra. These additions bring Baltimore’s roster up to just shy of full capacity, at 39 players.

A starting pitcher, DL Hall has been a frequenter of top prospect lists for a few years now in the Baltimore organization. The former first-rounder dominated in his first taste of Double-A in 2021, pitching to a 3.13 ERA with a ludicrous 43.8% of batters striking out against him through 31+ innings. The 22-year-old incurred a left elbow injury that ended his season prematurely, however.

Fellow left-hander Kevin Smith had a mixed season in 2021, flashing strong strikeout (35% strikeout rate) and run prevention numbers (1.34 ERA) in 26 Double-A innings but struggling upon promotion to Triple-A. MLB.com projects Smith as a serviceable Major League-caliber pitcher in the future, but he’ll first have to iron out the rough control issues (17.9% walk rate) that spoiled his Triple-A season.

The 26-year-old Bautista saw his stock sore after a brilliant 2021 season across three levels. Altogether, the right-handed reliever posted a minuscule 1.54 ERA through Triple-A, striking out droves at each level and surrendering just two home runs in 46 innings. If there was one nit to pick, it would be that Bautista’s command was wobbly, as his walk-rate rose as high as 19.3% at the Double-A level.

Right-handed starter Kyle Bradish followed a similar trend as the two most previously listed pitchers, as he dominated in Double-A before coming back to earth a bit after a promotion to the next level. After striking out nearly two batters in inning in 13+ scoreless Double-A frames, Bradish struggled to miss bats or hit the strike zone as often in Triple-A, putting up 4.26 ERA in 86 innings. All told the 25-year-old pitched to a 3.68 ERA and may find himself making his debut for a pitching-strapped Orioles squad in the near future.

Logan Gillaspie, a catcher-turned-reliever out of indie ball, pitched to a 4.97 ERA across 41 innings as he climbed to Double-A for the first time. That ERA may not be the best indicator of Gillaspie’s skills however, as the 24-year-old had a strikeout rate just under 30% to go with above average command and groundball-inducing abilities.

Terrin Vavra is last on the list, as the 24-year-old second baseman is being protected on the heels of a .275/.406/.449 showing. Injuries allowed Vavra to play in just 48 games during the 2021 season, but his patience and ability to play center field in a pinch clearly drew the favor of Baltimore evaluators.

Orioles Claim Lucius Fox From Royals

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The Orioles announced Friday that they’ve claimed infielder Lucius Fox off waivers from the Royals. The waiver claim gives Baltimore 33 filled spots on the 40-man roster.

Fox, 24, was a big-time international signing by the Giants out of the Bahamas back in the 2015-16 international signing period. Signed to a $6MM bonus, Fox was viewed as a gifted up-the-middle defender with a promising hit tool but a lack of power. San Francisco clearly wasn’t the only club enamored of his skill set, as he’s been included in a couple of notable trades — going from San Francisco to Tampa Bay in the Evan Longoria swap and from the Rays to the Royals in exchange for Brett Phillips.

To this point in his career, Fox has gotten on base at a respectable clip but has indeed demonstrated a lack of power. In five minor league seasons, he’s posted a .244/.339/.332 batting line — never topping five home runs or 20 doubles in a given season. Scouting reports on Fox, including this one from FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen, note that he has plus speed and strong defensive tools but is still inconsistent with the glove. Fox’s prospect star has dimmer in recent year, and he now comes to the Orioles as the next in a growing line of former-top-prospect waiver claims (e.g. Jorge Mateo, Jahmai Jones).

Fox still has an option remaining, so if he can’t win a piece of what should be a wide-open shortstop competition in Spring Training, he can still be sent to Triple-A Norfolk without needing to first pass through waivers.

Minor MLB Transactions: 11/18/21

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Some recent minor moves from around baseball:

  • The Orioles are re-signing righty Marcos Diplán to a minor league contract, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). He’ll receive an invitation to big league Spring Training. Diplán made his first 23 big league appearances this past season, working 30 frames of relief. The 25-year-old managed a respectable 4.50 ERA, but that came with an unimpressive 19.5% strikeout rate and an elevated 12.2% walk percentage. The O’s outrighted Diplán off the 40-man roster after the season, but he’ll return to the organization and look to pitch his way back onto the big league club next spring.
  • The Reds agreed to a minors pact with righty Connor Overton yesterday, according to a report from Robert Murray of FanSided (on Twitter). The 28-year-old made his MLB debut with the Blue Jays in August, then landed with the Pirates via waivers the following month. Between the two clubs, he tossed 15 1/3 innings of 4.70 ERA ball with roughly league average strikeout and walk numbers. Overton had a great showing with the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate, posting a 2.03 ERA in 57 2/3 frames — working mostly out of the bullpen.
  • The Cubs reached agreement on a minor league deal earlier this week with catcher Tyler Payne, per a report from Russell Dorsey of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link). Payne made his big league debut on the final day of the regular season, going hitless in two plate appearances. Chicago outrighted him off the 40-man roster after the season but they’ll bring the 29-year-old back to bolster their organizational depth behind the plate. The right-handed hitting Payne posted a .231/.291/.363 line over 234 plate appearances with Double-A Tennessee this year.

Orioles Hire Matt Borgschulte And Ryan Fuller As Co-Hitting Coaches

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The Orioles announced a pair of additions to the coaching staff this morning, hiring Matt Borgschulte and Ryan Fuller as co-hitting coaches. (Joe Trezza of MLB.com first reported the moves yesterday). They’ll replace Don Long, who was let go last month after a three-year stint in Baltimore.

Borgschulte comes over from the Twins organization, where he’s spent the past four seasons. The 31-year-old worked his way up to hitting coach with the Twins’ top affiliate in St. Paul before earning his first big league job in Baltimore. Fuller, also 31, is an internal promotion. The O’s hired him as a minor league instructor over the 2019-20 offseason. As with Borgschulte, this’ll be Fuller’s initial job on a major league staff.

In addition to the coaching changes, the club also provided reporters (including Trezza and Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com) updates on a trio of injured players this week. Left-hander Keegan Akin recently underwent a hip adductor repair, his second procedure within the past couple months. Outfielder Austin Hays and infielder Ramón Urías, meanwhile, each recently underwent core repair surgeries. It’s expected that all three players will be ready for Spring Training.

Julio Lugo Passes Away

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Former major league infielder Julio Lugo has passed away after suffering what is believed to be a heart attack, his family tells Enrique Rojas of ESPN. He was 45 years old.

Lugo played in twelve major league seasons, suiting up for the Astros, Devil Rays, Dodgers, Red Sox, Cardinals, Orioles and Braves between 2000-11. He was the primary shortstop on the Red Sox’s 2007 World Series-winning team, part of a seven-year run as a regular at the position.

Lugo appeared in 120+ games in six of seven seasons between 2001-07 before transitioning into a utility role later in his career. Altogether, the slick-fielding infielder appeared in 1352 MLB games, hitting .269/.333/.384 with 80 home runs over 5338 plate appearances.

MLBTR sends our condolences to Lugo’s family, friends, teammates and loved ones.

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