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AL East Notes: Kimbrel, Rays, Orioles, Red Sox

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Though the common belief is that the Rays wouldn’t make an expensive splash to add Craig Kimbrel, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that there’s somewhat of a “never say never” sentiment within the organization as Kimbrel continues to linger (and as his price likely drops in corresponding fashion). The right-hander doesn’t appear likely to cash in on the mega contract he sought early in the offseason, and it’s not clear at this point how many clubs would even have interest on a multi-year pact. I ran through some potential landing spots for Kimbrel on shorter-term deals (with a significant annual value) last Friday and largely glossed over the Rays due to their historic reluctance to spend at that level and due to the fact that Kimbrel would require forfeiture of a draft pick (another prior sticking point for Tampa Bay). However, with a projected Opening Day payroll of just $60MM and only $27MM on the books in 2020 (per Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez), the Rays certainly have the payroll space to add Kimbrel if they look to break character for a second time this winter after already inking Charlie Morton (two years, $30MM). The Rays opened the 2018 season with a $76MM payroll.

Here’s more from the AL East…

  • The Orioles would trade any of their starters who are “making significant money,” Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes in his latest notes column (subscription required). It’s hardly surprising that Baltimore would jump at the opportunity to shed the remaining $43MM (over three years) on Alex Cobb’s contract or the $8MM owed to Andrew Cashner this season, but Rosenthal also lists right-hander Dylan Bundy (earning $2.8MM) among the group. Moving Bundy would be more surprising given his affordable salary and remaining three seasons of control, though it seems unlikely they’d sell low on the former No. 4 overall pick after he led the Majors with 41 homers allowed last season. Bundy, 26, has demonstrated very appealing K/BB numbers over the past two seasons, but home runs have continually been a problem for him at the MLB level. A trade of any of the three seems extraordinarily unlikely to happen before Opening Day, but if any of that trio is performing well early in the year, he’ll emerge as a trade candidate this summer.
  • Red Sox right-hander Brandon Workman opened Spring Training with a fastball that was sitting 92 to 93 mph, writes Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald, but his velocity has dipped substantially in recent outings. Workman has averaged 87 to 89 mph on his fastball in his past two outings, and manager Alex Cora spoke to Mastrodonato about the current “dead arm” Workman is attempting to overcome. As Mastrodonato points out, the majority of Boston’s candidates for the bullpen have struggled this spring, which at least has the potential to open the door for a prospect like Darwinzon Hernandez to get a look.

Dodgers Claim Donnie Hart, Release Josh Fields

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SUNDAY: The Dodgers have released Fields, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets.

THURSDAY: The Dodgers have claimed left-hander Donnie Hart off waivers from the Orioles, per an announcement from both clubs. In order to open a spot for Hart on the 40-man roster, Los Angeles surprisingly designated right-hander Josh Fields for assignment. The Dodgers will now have a week to trade Fields, release him, or pass him through outright waivers. Hart had previously been designated by the O’s when they re-claimed Hanser Alberto from the Giants.

Hart, 28, posted solid numbers for the 2017 Orioles when he worked to a 3.71 ERA with 6.0 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 1.03 HR/9 and a strong 53.1 percent ground-ball rate in 43 2/3 innings of work. That performance came on the heels of strong showings in Double-A and Triple-A, and it looked as if Hart was well on his way to cementing himself as a fixture in the Baltimore ’pen.

The 2018 season, though was demonstrably worse for Hart. While he tore through younger competition at Triple-A (2.41 ERA, 9.9 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 0.22 HR/9, 60.7 percent grounder rate), he was clobbered for 13 runs on 31 hits and 12 walks with 13 strikeouts in 19 1/3 frames at the MLB level. While it’s obviously a small sample of work, it seems that the new-look Orioles front office wasn’t overly impressed with Hart’s abilities. He has a minor league option remaining, which could serve the Dodgers well this year, given their penchant for cycling relievers back and forth between the Majors and upper minors in an effort to keep a fresh slate of arms available to manager Dave Roberts.

Designating Fields for assignment was unexpected both due to his regular-season results over the past couple seasons and due to the fact that the Dodgers had already agreed to a $2.85MM salary with the righty. That’s a non-guaranteed sum, as is the case with all arbitration contracts, but unless the Dodgers find a taker in a trade at that price point, they’ll be on the hook for one-sixth of that sum ($475K) even if they release him and get nothing for him. Fields has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment, as well, so this seems quite likely to lead to either a trade or Fields becoming a free agent.

Since being acquired by the Dodgers, the 33-year-old Fields has tallied 117 1/3 innings of relief and pitched to a terrific 2.61 ERA with 8.8 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and 1.22 HR/9. He’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher, never more so than in 2018 (22.9 percent grounder rate, 51.4 percent fly-ball rate), but Fields averages nearly 95 mph on his heater with solid swinging-strike and opponents’ chase rates. Fields’ heater comes with a middle-of-the-pack spin rate, however, and his curve ranks in just the eighth percentile among MLB hurlers in terms of spin rate, though Hart’s breaking ball ranks even lower.

For one reason or another, it seems that the Dodgers don’t believe Fields to be capable of replicating his previous success. If that’s the case, though, it’s puzzling that they opted to tender him a contract in the first place.

AL Notes: Red Sox, Vazquez, Angels, Adell, Tribe, McKenzie, O’s

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Sometime in the next couple weeks, the Red Sox expect to trade one of their three catchers – Christian Vazquez, Sandy Leon or Blake Swihart. The light-hitting Vazquez seems to have a strong chance to stick around, though, as manager Alex Cora lavished praise on him Saturday (via Alex Speier of the Boston Globe). Cora acknowledged the Red Sox were frustrated at times with Vazquez in 2018, the first season of a three-year contract extension, but the backstop regained the manager’s confidence during their run to the World Series last fall. “The confidence he gained in October is going to have a huge impact of who he is this year,” Cora told Speier. “You can see it.” And longtime organization members have informed Cora that the 28-year-old Vazquez is now amid “probably his best camp, big leagues or minor leagues. He’s in-tune with everything. He’s engaged in every drill.”

Here’s more from the American League…

  • Angels outfield prospect Jo Adell suffered a left hamstring strain and a right ankle sprain on the base paths Saturday, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times was among those to report. Adell was on crutches after the game and will undergo an MRI on Sunday, general manager Billy Eppler announced. It’s unclear exactly how much time Adell will miss, but it’s expected he’ll sit out for at least “several weeks,” DiGiovanna writes. Considering Adell’s likely to begin at the Double-A level this year, his status won’t affect the big league club’s season-opening plans. Still, it’s a less-than-ideal development for the Angels and Adell, the crown jewel of their farm system and one of the game’s elite prospects.
  • The Indians’ top prospect is also heading to the shelf, as the team announced Saturday that it has shut right-hander Triston McKenzie down indefinitely on account of an upper back strain. As Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com notes, it’s now possible McKenzie will miss the start of the minor league season for the second straight campaign, having sat out until June 7 of last year after suffering a strained forearm in spring training. McKenzie, 21, thrived upon his return, though, with 90 2/3 innings of 2.68 ERA/3.62 FIP ball and 8.64 K/9 against 2.78 BB/9 in his first taste of Double-A action.
  • The Orioles, at the expense of international bonus pool space, have added outfielder Dwight Smith Jr. and right-handers Xavier Moore and David Lebron in three separate trades since Feb. 24. It’s a smart approach to improve organizational depth, observes MLB.com’s Joe Trezza, who points out the Orioles weren’t going to spend the money they gave up in those deals. With that in mind, rookie general manager Mike Elias essentially acquired Smith, Moore and Lebron for nothing, Trezza points out. Plus, even after making those trades, Baltimore still easily leads the majors in international cash – which should continue to give the franchise a clear advantage in the chase for Cuban shortstop Yolbert Sanchez.

Offseason In Review: Baltimore Orioles

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This is the latest post of MLBTR’s annual Offseason in Review series, in which we take stock of every team’s winter dealings.

After the worst season in franchise history, the Orioles’ only must-have for the winter was new organizational leaders.

Major League Signings

  • Nate Karns, RHP: One year, $800K, up to $200K more in incentives
  • Total spend: $800K

Trades and Claims

  • Selected SS Richie Martin from A’s with 1st overall pick in Rule 5 Draft
  • Acquired IF Drew Jackson from Phillies for international signing bonus pool money after he was selected from Dodgers with 11th overall pick in Rule 5 Draft
  • Acquired outfielder Dwight Smith Jr. from Blue Jays for $500K in international signing bonus availability
  • Selected RHP Taylor Grover from Reds with 1st overall pick of Triple-A phase of Rule 5 Draft
  • Claimed IF Jack Reinheimer off waivers from Rangers
  • Claimed 3B Rio Ruiz off waivers from Dodgers
  • Claimed IF Hanser Alberto off waivers from Giants (first, from the Yankees)
  • Claimed LHP Josh Osich off waivers from Giants (later designated for assignment)

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

[Baltimore Orioles Depth Chart] [Baltimore Orioles Payroll Outlook]

Needs Addressed

The Orioles as we’ve known them are no longer. General manager Dan Duquette – hired in 2011 to replace Andy McPhail – is gone. Manager Buck Showalter – hired after the All-Star break in 2010 – is gone. Franchise cornerstone Manny Machado – drafted in 2010, in the majors since 2012 – plays in San Diego now. Adam Jones’ tenure was longer than all of those departees; after 11 seasons in Baltimore, he, too, has (likely) played his last game as an Oriole. Four cornerstones from the past eight-or-so seasons, all jettisoned during a four-month period between July 18th and November 3rd – so it’s understandable if those in Baltimore are still feeling a little shell-shocked.

The GM seat remained empty for a curious-long while, but in mid-November Mike Elias finally arrived from Houston. By all accounts, Elias is a good hire, and there’s no reason to think he won’t accomplish at least their infrastructural goals: modernize front office processes, broaden the reach of player acquisition efforts and get the analytics department up to code. Four weeks in, Elias checked the first box of his offseason to-do by hiring Joe Maddon’s bench coach Brandon Hyde as the 20th manager in franchise history. In poaching Elias (from the Astros) and Hyde (from the Cubs), the Orioles now boast a leadership tandem – not coincidentally – from the two most recognizably-successful rebuilding efforts of the last decade.

In terms of player personnel, there really wasn’t much to be done at the outset of Elias’s tenure. With no hope of contending in the near future, filling out roster holes was not a terribly consequential undertaking. The club unsurprisingly pursued a mix of interesting younger players and cheap but solid veteran types to bolster an existing mix that still includes several high-priced holdovers.

If you like underdogs, this shortstop competition is a barnburner: two Rule 5 picks trying to make the jump from Double-A (Richie Martin, Drew Jackson), while minor league signee Alcides Escobar sets the bar. It’s been three years since Escobar produced more than 1 WAR over a season, and he’s never-not-once produced an even league-average wRC+, but he’s a “been-through-the-trenches” guy, he runs the bases well, and he generally won’t fumble the ball when it’s hit right at him. Eric Young Jr. is the best bet of the other minor league signees crack the roster, and he’s off to a good start this spring as he competes for a bench role with Joey Rickard and a slew of IF/OF opportunists like Rio Ruiz, Jackson, Jace Peterson, Steve Wilkerson, Christopher Bostick and Anthony Santander.

On the pitching side, Karns was a nice addition for a rotation lacking depth behind Dylan Bundy, Andrew Cashner, and Alex Cobb. Karns hasn’t pitched in a year-and-a-half, but last we saw him he looked good for the 2017 Royals, striking out 10.13 batter per nine while pitching to a 4.17 ERA (4.48 FIP, 3.71 xFIP). The Orioles get him for $800K this year – the only guaranteed salary the team handed out – and he’s under team control for 2020, making this a pretty good buy for Baltimore.

Questions Remaining

With new leadership in place, the encyclopedic reshaping of the Orioles begins, but there are questions in the short-term that loom even larger (in urgency, if not importance). For instance, how many more chances are they willing to give Chris Davis to get within shouting distance of league-average before donating his roster spot to a youth? Four seasons at $23MM a pop is a lot to eat, but there is a sunk cost threshold, and after a .168/.243/.296 -2.8 rWAR season in 2018, that line can’t be far off.

It seems almost silly at this point to ask whether Davis could regain enough of his former on-field value to allow the team to shed some of his remaining contract. Perhaps that’s still possible, though. And the O’s can hope more realistically that some other players will perform well enough to dump salary during or after the season to come. Bundy, Cashner, and Cobb could all be of mid-season interest. Jonathan Villar and Mark Trumbo might end up holding some appeal. And relievers Mychal Givens and Richard Bleier (if he can get back to health) could be fairly significant assets. There’s not a primo trade piece in the bunch, save maybe Givens, but it’s fair to wonder how long Elias will wait before stripping this team for parts.

Otherwise, the open questions facing this roster are largely those you’d expect from a team in this position. The roster is loaded with players who have yet to establish themselves fully (if at all) in the majors. In most cases, it’s understandable that the organization has decided to allow some space for young players to sink or swim. There’s an argument to be made, though, that more could have been done in the rotation — particularly since Karns has a checkered recent health history.

Mike Wright Jr. looks poised to snag a starting spot, but it’s a little curious the O’s didn’t further explore the bargain bin, especially given their lack of near-term upside arms. David Hess, Yefry Ramirez, John Means, Josh Rogers and Jimmy Yacabonis will happily take the innings, but there’s value even in a rebuild to having vets around. Bounceback candidates such as Drew Pomeranz may have shied away from Camden Yards, but giving a minimal guarantee to someone like Ervin Santana (who settled for a minors deal) might have made sense. Even now, James Shields, Bartolo Colon, former Orioles Chris Tillman and Miguel Gonzalez, and others are all just a phone call away.

It would be hard to blame Elias and his staff for seeking some time to evaluate the in-house goods before running out for upgrades that admittedly wouldn’t move the needle. The longer-term questions are of greater importance, and they relate to roster building strategy. The Orioles’ lack of existing international relationships hampered Elias’ ability to put to use their approximately $6MM in international bonus pool money, which they’ve instead doled out piecemeal through trades with the Twins, Phillies, Rangers, and Blue Jays. The development of those overseas connections will be worth tracking in the long-term, while a push to attain Cuban shortstop Yolbert Sanchez would be a nice short-term success were Elias to get him. An early decision point will come in June, when the Orioles make the first overall selection in the amateur draft. Whether it’s high school shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman or someone else, this is the first major test that Elias and company need to ace.

What to Expect in ’19

On the field, these Orioles aren’t likely to dent the 60+ game gap between themselves and the AL East leaders. Fangraphs projects only the Marlins to finish with a worse record, though they’re not exactly bullish on the Orioles either, pegged for 99 losses and a league-worst run prevention effort. There’s a decent collection of position player prospects who are or soon will be knocking at the MLB door – Yusniel Diaz, Ryan Mountcastle, Austin Hays, Ryan McKenna – but there’s absolutely no rush. In the meantime, Cedric Mullins, Richie Martin, Chance Sisco, Drew Jackson and DJ Stewart should have plenty of leeway to grind through any growing pains. It’ll be a year of tryouts as Hyde hammers the fundamentals and dreams of a future roster filled with athletic, positionally-flexible dirt dogs. Brass tacks: the Orioles are going to lose a lot of baseball games in 2019. Maybe not 115, but the over-under for 2020 draft position should be no higher than 1.5.

How would you grade their offseason? (Link for app users.)

How Would You Grade The Orioles' Offseason?
F 34.16% (1,471 votes)
D 21.48% (925 votes)
C 18.56% (799 votes)
B 15.88% (684 votes)
A 9.92% (427 votes)
Total Votes: 4,306

Orioles Acquire Dwight Smith, Designate Josh Osich

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The Orioles have acquired outfielder Dwight Smith Jr. from the Blue Jays, the Baltimore organization announced. International pool money will go to Toronto in return, with Scott Mitchell of TSN Sports tweeting the Jays will pick up half a million dollars in spending capacity. The O’s designated lefty Josh Osich to open a 40-man roster spot.

With the move, the O’s add an optionable 26-year-old player who has hit well in 104 MLB plate appearances. He owns a solid (albeit modest) .271/.354/.401 batting line in his 810 trips to the plate at the highest level of the minors. A left-handed hitting outfielder who can at least serve as a reserve in center.

It seems the Baltimore org had some competition for Smith, who was recently designated for assignment. The cost is relatively stout for an acquisition of a player out of DFA limbo. $500K in international spending availability is nothing to sneeze at in a world where hard caps tamp down the overall outlay. In this case, the O’s likely did not feel they had terribly productive places to invest their leftover funds, which were accumulated in an ultimately unsuccessful pursuit of top young international free agents Victor Victor Mesa and Sandy Gaston.

As for Osich, he’s the second southpaw removed from the Baltimore 40-man in recent days. The club lost Donnie Hart on waivers; it remains to be seen whether Osich will pass through. Now 30 years of age, Osich is looking to regain his form after a series of rough campaigns. He owns a 5.01 ERA with 7.9 K/9, 4.6 K/9, and a 51.8% groundball rate in 120 1/3 career innings in the majors.

Injury/Rehab Notes: Ohtani, Davis, Cardinals, Kendrick, Delmonico

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Angels right-hander/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani played catch Friday — his first time throwing since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year. The Angels tweeted video of the 23-year-old doing so, and Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times adds that he made about 60 to 70 light tosses from a max distance of “about” 12 feet (Twitter links). It’s an ever so minor first step in the electrifying young talent’s return to the mound — one that’ll be accompanied by a corresponding decline in his swinging for the time being. Ohtani’s hitting drills will be limited to soft toss for the foreseeable future, as the Halos proceed with extra caution regarding his right elbow. He’s reportedly targeting an early May return to the lineup as a DH.

More injury and rehab notes from around baseball…

  • Orioles first baseman Chris Davis underwent an MRI on an ailing left hip that has kept him out of game action since Sunday, manager Brandon Hyde divulged to reporters (link via MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko). The test was described as “precautionary,” though, and Hyde indicated that Davis has been feeling better as the week has progressed. While spring stats don’t mean much, it’s hardly encouraging that Davis is 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts to begin Grapefruit League play. The soon-to-be 33-year-old turned in the worst season of his career in 2018, hitting just .168/.243/.296 with 16 home runs and a staggering 36.7 percent strikeout rate in 522 plate appearances.
  • Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets that Cardinals righty Carlos Martinez is still another five to seven days away from even being able to throw. Meanwhile, a calf strain will sideline utility infielder Jedd Gyorko for about a week. Martinez has been slowed by shoulder weakness this spring and already received a platelet-rich plasma injection, though a timetable on his readiness for game activity will remain murky until the team can see how he responds to throwing. There’s been talk of him working as a reliever in 2019, as he did late in the 2018 season. Meanwhile, Gyorko figures to be a key backup all around the infield. A longer-than-expected absence for him would open more playing time for Yairo Munoz early in the season.
  • The Nationals will be without infielder/outfielder Howie Kendrick for “at least” 10 to 12 days as he nurses a hamstring strain, Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post tweets. Kendrick underwent an MRI earlier this week to evaluate the status of his hamstring after he suffered an injury during a game last weekend. Opening Day is less than three weeks away, so the strain could potentially jeopardize his readiness.
  • Outfielder Nicky Delmonico has been diagnosed with a “mild” concussion, the White Sox announced Friday. The 26-year-old sustained the injury upon crashing into the outfield wall in yesterday’s Cactus League contest. Delmonico piqued the interest of ChiSox fans with a strong .262/.373/.482 slash (166 plate appearances) as a rookie in 2017, but his production cratered in 2018 as he batted just .215/.296/.373. He’s been vying for an outfield job in a mix that includes Jon Jay, Leury Garcia, Adam Engel Danial Palka and non-roster invitee Brandon Guyer. Top prospect Eloy Jimenez obviously looms in waiting, though the widespread expectation is that the Sox will keep him Triple-A for a couple of weeks to open the season, thus buying an additional year of control over the vaunted slugger.

AL East Notes: Yankees, Karns, Rays’ Rotation

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It doesn’t sound as though the Yankees are giving much thought to carrying both Luke Voit and Greg Bird on the active roster this season, as manager Aaron Boone told reporters today that it’s “tough to envision” rostering multiple first basemen (Twitter link via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). Boone noted that DJ LeMahieu figures to serve as a backup at first base, among numerous other positions, so it seems one of Voit or Bird will be ticketed for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to open the season. Both players have enjoyed productive spring showings thus far, though it’s hard to imagine that Voit doesn’t have the inside track after last season’s Herculean .333/.405/.689 slash and 14 home runs in just 148 plate appearances with the Yankees.

Here’s more from the division…

  • Right-hander Nate Karns is generally healthy but may not be stretched out in time to factor into the Orioles’ Opening Day rotation, per Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun. The Orioles’ lone free-agent rotation addition, Karns missed the 2018 season while recovering from 2017 thoracic outlet surgery. He’s made a pair of appearances this spring but only pitched one inning in his most recent outing, prompting new manager Brandon Hyde to cast doubt on Karns’ ability to start games early in the year. “We’re not going to put him in any position to get hurt, and we’re not going to try and push through any kind of injury or any kind of soreness right now,” said Hyde of Karns. Whether Karns will open the season in the ’pen remains to be seen, though it’s worth noting that he does have a minor league option remaining, so the O’s could potentially send him to Norfolk for a couple of outings to continue building arm strength.
  • The Rays are planning to use a three-man rotation consisting of Opening Day starter and reigning Cy Young winner Blake Snell, offseason signee Charlie Morton and 2018 trade acquisition Tyler Glasnow, Juan Toribio of MLB.com writes. From there, they’ll use a pair of openers in the would-be fourth and fifth slots of a traditional rotation; Ryne Stanek, Emilio Pagan, Colin Poche and Hunter Wood are among the candidates to function in that capacity. Candidates to follow the team’s openers include Ryan Yarbrough, Jalen Beeks, Jake Faria and Yonny Chirinos. As has been widely expected, it appears that the Rays will continue an aggressive means of pioneering what was a polarizing but increasingly accepted tactic throughout the league in 2018. Stanek was the team’s most frequent and successful opener in 2018, while Yarbrough was the most prolific followup arm (147 1/3 innings pitched despite making just six starts). Presumably, they’ll reprise those roles this year, with Tampa Bay shuffling the rest of the pitching mix based on matchups, workload and other factors.

Twins Acquire International Bonus Money From Orioles

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The Twins have acquired $750K in international bonus pool space from the Orioles for right-hander Xavier Moore, per Betsy Helfand of the Pioneer Press. This is the second trade of the day involving Moore, whom the Twins acquired from the Rangers a couple hours ago for outfielder Zack Granite.

The Orioles have now traded away international spending room in back-to-back weekends, having previously sent an undisclosed amount to the Rangers for righty David Lebron last Sunday. It’s unexpected on the surface, as Baltimore has recently vowed to spend more internationally after long ignoring the foreign market under owner Peter Angelos. His sons are now at the helm of the team, and they’ve brought in Mike Elias to replace previous general manager Dan Duquette, but the act of parting with international money for relatively unexciting minor leaguers harks back to the prior regime.

Of course, even after these deals, the Orioles continue to lead the majors in international spending capacity. Thus, they could see these trades as easy ways to pick up minor league talent they like while continuing to hold the league’s largest bonus pool. It’s unclear how much the Orioles have left at the moment, but they had $6MM remaining – far more than the second-place Dodgers ($1.4MM) – before the Lebron and Moore acquisitions. With that in mind, the Orioles could still be in on Cuban shortstop Yolbert Sanchez, whom they’ve scouted since he became free to sign with a major league team Feb. 5.

In Moore, the Twins are quickly bidding adieu to a 20-year-old who struggled at the lower levels of the Rangers’ system a season ago. By flipping him, the Twins are adding a notable amount to their bonus pool, as they had just under $80K remaining as of Feb. 8. Minnesota entered the current international market with upward of $6MM to play with, but it has since gone on a spending spree, with outfielder Misael Urbina ($2.75MM) being its most expensive pickup.

Orioles Claim Hanser Alberto, Designate Donnie Hart

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The Orioles have claimed infielder Hanser Alberto off waivers from the Giants, per a club announcement. Southpaw Donnie Hart was designated for assignment to clear roster space.

If you’re keeping score at home, this is now the fourth time Alberto has been designated and claimed this winter — and the second time by the O’s. The Baltimore org had recently dropped him from the 40-man in order to claim lefty Josh Osich from the Giants, who in turn claimed (and have now waived and lost) Alberto.

In retrospect, perhaps it’d have all been easier had the O’s dropped Hart in the first place. Perhaps the team’s evaluation of the 28-year-old — and/or its non-Alberto infield assets — has changed in the meantime.

Hart has appeared in each of the past three MLB campaigns, working to a 3.43 ERA in 81 1/3 innings with 6.0 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 along with a 52.6% groundball rate. He was knocked around in his twenty appearances in the majors last year, though he did manage 41 frames of 2.41 ERA ball at Triple-A.

Rangers Acquire International Bonus Money From Orioles

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The Rangers have acquired international slot bonus money from the Orioles in exchange for minor league righty David Lebron, as per an announcement from the Orioles.

The trade represents an interesting twist for Baltimore, who has been amassing international draft money for months in various other deals in an attempt to revitalize the franchise’s long-dormant international development pipeline.  Owner Peter Angelos had long shied away from spending on int’l prospects, though the organization’s stance changed significantly once Angelos’ sons took on a larger role in the Orioles’ operations.  Under new general manager Mike Elias, the club has hired the well-regarded Koby Perez as Baltimore’s new senior director of international scouting.

After coming up short in their pursuit of Cuban prospects Sandy Gaston, Victor Victor Mesa, and Victor Mesa Jr., the O’s were left with easily the largest bonus pool of any team of the 2018-19 international signing period, with close to $6MM in available funds.  (The Dodgers were next on the list with just $1.4MM.)

Interestingly, both Baltimore and Texas were two of the teams reportedly interested in Cuban shortstop Yolbert Sanchez, who is the most highly-touted prospect on the int’l market after being cleared to sign with Major League teams in late January.  Texas has only $850K remaining in its signing pool, so the Rangers could be trying to add more money to land Sanchez, and could perhaps make more deals in the coming days or weeks to add extra funds from teams that have satisfied their needs in this signing period (or were under spending restrictions in this period).

By specifically trading with Texas, it could indicate that the Orioles are out on Sanchez, since it would make little sense to assist a rival in signing a prospect that the O’s themselves want.  Theoretically, the Orioles might already have a price point in mind for Sanchez that sits at less than $6MM, so they’re simply trading some of their own excess space to the Rangers, who will then pursue other prospects.  Baltimore is in something of an unusual position, as most teams have long since exhausted their bonus pools by this time in the 2018-19 signing period, yet there also isn’t much in the way of premium talent remaining other than Sanchez.

Lebron was a 26th-round pick for Texas in last summer’s amateur draft.  A 25-year-old product of the University of Tampa, Lebron posted a 1.31 ERA, 8.3 K/9, and 3.17 K/9 rate over his first 20 2/3 professional innings.  Lebron pitched exclusively as a reliever for the Rangers’ low-A and high-A affiliates, though his season was cut short to injury in August.

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