Orioles Rumors

Marlins Claim Austin Brice, Designate Isaac Galloway

By Steve Adams | February 4, 2019 at 3:00pm CDT

The Marlins announced that they’ve claimed right-hander Austin Brice off waivers from the Orioles and designated outfielder Isaac Galloway for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Miami also announced its previously reported trade of Nick Wittgren to the Indians.

Brice, 26, returns to the organization for which he made his MLB debut back in 2016. The right-hander was initially a ninth-round pick by the Marlins back in 2010 and has spent part of the past three seasons in the Majors after going to Cincinnati with Luis Castillo in the Dan Straily trade, but he’s yet to find any real success. Brice saw a career-high 37 1/3 innings with the Reds last year but was knocked around for a 5.79 ERA with a 32-to-13 K/BB ratio (although, notably, six of those walks were intentional in nature).

It’s been an eventful offseason for Brice, who was claimed by the Angels back on Nov. 2. He went to Baltimore on a waiver claim two months later in early January and will now join his fourth organization since the season ended. If he heads to camp with the Fish, he’ll bring a fastball that sits 94 mph and a solid, albeit unspectacular career swinging-strike rate of 10.1 percent.

Galloway, 29, reached the big leagues for the first time in 2018 but hit just .203/.301/.391 in 74 trips to the plate. He did swat three homers and doubles apiece in that short time, but he’s never been much of a power threat in the upper minors. A career .256/.304/.393 hitter in parts of four Triple-A seasons, Galloway has logged more than 7600 innings in center field as a professional and has experience at all three outfield positions.

AL East Notes: Orioles, Sanchez, Farquhar, Pham

By Steve Adams | February 4, 2019 at 9:36am CDT

Cuban shortstop Yolbert Sanchez will formally be eligible to sign with teams beginning tomorrow, and Joe Trezza of MLB.com looks at the Orioles’ chances of signing the soon-to-be 22-year-old. While Baltimore’s level of interest in Sanchez isn’t fully clear to this point, they still have to be considered the favorite to add Sanchez given that their near-$6MM international pool is more than four times larger than the next-largest pool: the Dodgers’ $1.4MM. Trezza spoke to one non-Orioles exec who likened Sanchez to a second- or third-round pick in terms of overall talent, given his limited offensive potential but quality glove and speed. Still, while he may not be an elite prospect, Sanchez looks like the best international talent on the board at the moment, and the O’s have the spending capacity to trounce any offer made during the current signing period. Sanchez could, alternatively, wait until July 2 to sign, which would open the field up considerably.

Elsewhere in the division…

Right-hander Danny Farquhar discussed his remarkable comeback in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link, with audio). Farquhar, who recently inked a minor league contract with the Yankees, was fighting for his life 10 months ago after suffering a brain aneurysm in the White Sox’ dugout. Soon to turn 32, Farquhar acknowledged that he’s lucky to be alive but also put a positive spin on his harrowing medical status, noting that in the time since recovering, he’s been able to dedicate himself solely to training. While this time of year brings about frequent “best shape of his life” stories, Farquhar’s is certainly of more note than most others given a recent near-death experience. While the Yankees’ bullpen will be a tough one to crack, Farquhar can either head to Triple-A as a depth option if he doesn’t make the roster or, potentially, attract the interest of another team with a strong spring showing for the Yankees.
Outfielder Tommy Pham’s arbitration hearing with the Rays is set to take place today, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Pham logged a ridiculous .333/.448/.622 slash with seven homers, seven doubles and six triples in 174 plate appearances with Tampa Bay following last summer’s trade from the Cardinals organization. He’d struggled previously in St. Louis, though his combined .275/.367/.464 slash between the two teams was still quite strong. Pham filed for a $4.1MM salary, while the Rays countered at $3.5MM — as can be seen in MLBTR’s 2019 Arbitration Tracker.

Orioles, Jesus Sucre Agree To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | February 1, 2019 at 10:32am CDT

The Orioles are in agreement on a minor league contract with catcher Jesus Sucre, tweets USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. He’ll be invited to Major League Spring Training and would earn $850K if he makes the big league roster. Sucre can also opt out of the contract on March 22 if he’s not on the MLB roster at that point.

Sucre, 30, spent the past two seasons with the Rays, hitting a combined .232/.268/.330 with eight homers in 390 plate appearances spanning 135 games. Those numbers line up fairly well with Sucre’s career marks, though he’s more of a defensive-minded option behind the dish. Throughout his big league career, Sucre has halted 32 percent of stolen-base attempts against him, and he’s consistently registered above-average framing grades throughout his career (with the exception of last season), per Baseball Prospectus.

Presently, the Orioles have only two catchers on the 40-man roster in Chance Sisco and Austin Wynns, though they’ll also have Carlos Perez and Andrew Susac in camp competing for roster spots.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Bleier, Gurriel, Rays

By Steve Adams | January 31, 2019 at 9:16am CDT

The Red Sox have been surprisingly silent on the bullpen market this winter despite the fact that Joe Kelly has left for the Dodgers and Craig Kimbrel remains unsigned — seemingly likely to land with another organization as well, based on comments from Boston president of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski. ESPN.com’s Buster Olney writes (subscription required), however, that the Sox are confident in a number of internal options. Recent draftees Travis Lakins (sixth round, 2015) and Durbin Feltman (third round, 2018) could both emerge at the MLB level in 2019, while many in the Red Sox’ analytics department are intrigued by trade pickup Colten Brewer (whom the Sox tried to acquire last summer as well, Olney notes). Tyler Thornburg represents a notable bounceback option, as well. It’s nonetheless jarring to see the Sox take a passive approach to rounding out the ’pen on the heels of a World Series championship. Perhaps there’s yet another move in store with several relievers still available (MLBTR Free Agent Tracker link), but it seems likely that the Boston ’pen will have to prove its share of naysayers wrong in 2019.

Here’s more from the division…

Orioles southpaw Richard Bleier tells Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com that he believes he’ll be ready to roll for the start of the 2019 season. That’s great news for the O’s, as Bleier had been a revelatory hurler before suffering a major injury to his lat. Already 31 years of age, Bleier certainly qualifies as a late bloomer. He’s also an outlier, having now made it through 119 MLB innings with a sub-2.00 ERA despite averaging just 4.1 strikeouts per nine. A big 63.3% groundball rate and low 1.6 BB/9 walk rate go a long way toward explaining the results. Before he can get back to disproving those who question the sustainability of that success, Bleier will need to show he’s back to full health. For the O’s, it would help quite a bit if he can do so. After all, Bleier could be quite a nice trade asset this summer or in the winter to come, especially since he’s still shy of reaching arbitration eligibility.
The Blue Jays’ signing of Freddy Galvis this week was tied to the club’s uncertainty about the glovework of Lourdes Gurriel Jr., writes Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. As Davidi explores at length, the Jays are wary of poor infield defense at a time when they’re developing numerous young pitchers and when rotation holdovers Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez are heavy ground-ball pitchers. Gurriel has more offensive upside than Galvis but could be squeezed for playing time with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Brandon Drury and Devon Travis all still factoring into the infield mix. There have been suggestions that Gurriel could land in the outfield eventually, but as Davidi outlines, that already crowded mix is further muddied with the now-out-of-options Dalton Pompey surprisingly still on the roster. It’s a comprehensive look at a crowded roster, though surely injuries and Spring Training roster moves could eventually impact how things play out. It’s also worth noting that Gurriel still has a minor league option remaining.
Juan Toribio of MLB.com tackles a number of questions on the Rays’ roster in his latest Inbox column, highlighting several battles for Opening Day roster spots while also writing that the Rays look unlikely to add another free-agent reliever this offseason. That, he notes, could open the door for Triple-A standout Colin Poche to crack the big league roster either out of camp or early in the season. The Rays, as Toribio notes, are rife with infield depth both on the 25-man roster and in the upper minors but are also cognizant that their projected group of 2019 infielders is lacking experience. So while players such as Christian Arroyo and Kean Wong don’t have clear paths to the Majors at the moment, Tampa Bay is likely to hang onto its depth. Arroyo, once a top prospect with the Giants and the key player received in last winter’s Evan Longoria trade, struggled through a lost season in 2018 and still has a minor league option remaining.

Orioles Claim Jack Reinheimer, Designate Austin Brice

By Jeff Todd | January 28, 2019 at 1:34pm CDT

The Orioles announced today that they have claimed infielder Jack Reinheimer off waivers from the Rangers. To create a 40-man roster opening, the O’s designated righty Austin Brice for assignment.

This move makes for a textbook example of 40-man musical chairs. Reinheimer was designated by the Texas club after previously pinging from the Mets to the Cubs and then on to the Rangers. Likewise, Brice was a recent waiver addition for the Baltimore organization.

Reinheimer, 26, has minimal experience at the game’s highest level. He has shown very little power in the minors but does have enough contact ability and plate discipline to carry a lifetime .344 on-base percentage. He has experience across the infield but has spent most of his time at shortstop.

As for Brice, who’s also 26, there’s a bit more of a major-league track record to go on. Unfortunately, he carries only a 5.68 ERA through 84 innings. He does, however, have a mid-nineties heater and 10.1% swinging-strike rate in the big leagues.

AL East Notes: Rays, Orioles, Hyde, Elias

By TC Zencka | January 27, 2019 at 12:17pm CDT

Matt Duffy is slated to be the Rays starting third baseman, with newcomer Yandy Diaz also seeing time at the hot corner. Diaz figures to split his time between third, first and “eventually” the outfield, according to manager Kevin Cash. In terms of further offseason additions, pitching remains an eternal area of concern, though Cash is confident with the group they have now, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Signing a closer is not out of the question, but the trio of Jose Alvarado, Chaz Roe and Diego Castillo are likely to earn opportunity in the ninth. The Rays have consistently taken a depth approach to roster building, and it seems likely they will continue to avoid over-reliance on any one individual player (save maybe Blake Snell, who accepted his Cy Young award at the BBWAA award winners annual banquet this week). Topkin suggests an interesting trade target for the Rays in Ben Zobrist, and though it’s only speculation, Zobrist certainly fits the profile. If the Cubs are indeed listening to offers on the second baseman/outfielder, a return to Tampa would be one of the more intriguing matches. The acquisition of Zobrist (or a different veteran) would alleviate some urgency from less proven assets like Austin Meadows, Avisail Garcia and Ji-Man Choi, who as of now are being counted on to produce consistent offense in an AL East without much margin for error. Some rumblings from the depths of the AL East…

All signs point to a long process of development and roster building for new Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde, but it starts with the complex process of getting to know and evaluate the 58 guys scheduled to report to spring camp. Hyde hasn’t seen the Orioles live in action since July of 2017 with the Cubs, so it’s a lot of new names and faces for the first-time skipper. His plan: emphasize the simple. Per baltimorebaseball.com’s Rich Dubroff, Hyde’s philosophy starts and ends with a focus on the fundamentals, with sound defense and baserunning, and with a “workmanlike” and “positive” approach. Of course, striking the balance between workmanlike and positivity is much of the battle with a young squad sure to face its share of adversity, but as Hyde himself puts it, “that’s part of development, also.” Hyde is no stranger to rebuilds from his time with the Cubs – experience he will surely draw upon as he whittles the roster down to 25 by Opening Day.
There may be further additions to camp in coming weeks for Hyde to consider, per the Baltimore Sun’s Jon Meoli. This winter has unfurled another late-developing free agent market, making for an especially slow offseason for a bargain-bin hunter like the Orioles. Still, GM Mike Elias is keeping his eye on some short-term additions, especially on the pitching side. They do not anticipate adding any multi-year free agents, but bringing in a veteran or two on one-year contracts makes sense for a team without much flippable talent currently on hand. There are innings to be had in Baltimore, for sure, though without much urgency, Elias is taking his time evaluating the available options. It’s not a sexy approach, and it’s certainly a data point on the increasingly complex debate about team spending, but it’s good to see the Orioles taking a long-term outlook to building up their talent base under a new regime.

AL Notes: Orioles, Jones, Indians, Tigers, Cowart

By Connor Byrne | January 26, 2019 at 11:54pm CDT

Here’s a quick look around the American League:

In terms of name value, Adam Jones ranks among the majors’ most prominent free agents, thanks to a successful 11-year run with the Orioles. Jones is coming off a below-average season, though, and as a 33-year-old corner outfielder whose best days as a hitter and defender are gone, he hasn’t drawn much reported interest in free agency. But there’s at least a glimmer of a chance the longtime Baltimore fan favorite will end up back with the Orioles, Joe Trezza of MLB.com relays. Asked Saturday about the possibility of re-signing Jones, rookie general manager Mike Elias said, “I don’t think anything is a dead issue,” and added the Orioles are “monitoring everything.” At the same time, however, Elias suggested the rebuilding club may continue to avoid major league free agency, as it has done so far this winter. Should that prove to be the case, it seems likely to rule out a return for Jones, who figures to command a big league deal.
The Indians ran a franchise-high payroll in every season from 2016-18, each of which included an AL Central title, but that degree of spending “was unsustainable,” president Chris Antonetti said Saturday (per Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com). “So we did need to reposition ourselves financially, which we were able to do with a series of moves earlier in the offseason and provide ourselves that necessary financial flexibility that we needed (for 2019 and beyond).” After opening last year with a payroll in the $135MM range, the Indians are projected to begin 2019 near $119MM, according to Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. Obviously, then, Cleveland hasn’t been aggressive in upgrading its roster this winter, though it’s still the favorite in its division. If the Indians find themselves in contention during the summer trade season, they should be in position to bolster their roster from outside, Antonetti noted. For now, though, any further offseason additions will be modestly priced, Hoynes writes.
The Tigers claimed infielder Kaleb Cowart from the Mariners on Thursday with the idea of using him as a two-way player, general manager Al Avila confirmed Saturday (via Chris McCosky of the Detroit News). “We felt there was a possibility of a two-way guy here,” Avila said. “We’re going to put him on the mound and see if he can recapture what our guys saw when he was drafted.” Cowart was a first-round pick of the Angels in 2010 as a position player, but he impressed Tigers scouts back then as a high school pitcher. “I always followed his career because of what I saw him do on the mound,” said assistant GM David Chadd, who was the Tigers’ director of scouting during Cowart’s draft year. At the time, Cowart offered a 92 to 95 mph fastball “with heavy life and a slider he threw for strikes,” in addition to a splitter, Chadd recounted. Now, given that Cowart has been a woeful hitter in the majors, has no minor league options remaining and is set to face plenty of competition for an infield spot, the 26-year-old’s best hope to make the Tigers may be to show he can be a viable MLB pitcher, as McCosky points out.

AL Notes: Verlander, Correa, Hahn, ChiSox, Elias, Font

By Mark Polishuk | January 26, 2019 at 3:26pm CDT

Buzz from around the American League…

There haven’t been any extension talks between Justin Verlander and the Astros front office, the right-hander told reporters, including MLBcom’s Brian McTaggart (Twitter and video link). “I don’t know what their organizational plans are. It’s something I wouldn’t be opposed to….we’ll see what happens,” Verlander said. It isn’t necessarily surprising to see a lack of negotiations between the two sides at this point, since most teams wait until their offseason business is complete and Spring Training begins before turning focus to extending in-house talent. Still, there is some urgency in Verlander’s case, given that 2019 is his last guaranteed year under contract (he agreed to waive a possible vesting option for 2020 as part of his trade to Houston in August 2017). Verlander is coming off one of his finest seasons, a campaign that saw him finish second in AL Cy Young Award voting after leading the league in both K/BB rate (a career-best 7.84) and strikeouts (290, another career high) while posting a 2.52 ERA over 214 innings. There certainly doesn’t appear to be much evidence that Verlander is slowing down, even though he turns 36 in February.
There also haven’t been any long-term contract talks between Carlos Correa and the Astros, the shortstop tells the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome. Persistent back problems limited Correa to just 468 plate appearances in 2018 and a .239/.323/.405 slash line, easily the worst of his four MLB seasons. “For me, right now is not the time to talk about [an extension],” Correa said. “Obviously coming off the injury last year and the down year. I’m looking forward to bouncing back this year, be the player I am and we go from there.” The first step is an arbitration hearing between Correa and the Astros on January 31, with Correa submitting a $5MM salary figure for 2019 and the team counting with a $4.25MM offer. This is Correa’s first of three years of arbitration eligibility, so there is still plenty of time for the two sides to eventually work out a longer-term deal once Correa feels he’s coming off a better platform year.
White Sox GM Rick Hahn said he would “be personally disappointed” if the team didn’t sign Manny Machado or Bryce Harper, though he told MLB.com’s Scott Merkin and other reporters that the mere pursuit of such top-tier stars represents a new stage of the team’s rebuild. “The fact that we are now sitting here in a potential position — or at least in a position where, if we don’t convert, people are going to be disappointed — I think is an important step forward for this organization,” Hahn said.
The Orioles aren’t likely to sign any free agents to multi-year contracts this winter, GM Mike Elias told Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com and other media, and the team could avoid any Major League contracts whatsoever for free agents. With the O’s in the early stages of a rebuild, the team wasn’t much of a candidate to be making any long-term commitments, as the focus will instead be on giving time to young players. That said, Elias didn’t close the door on any possibilities for his club, noting “we’re looking for ways to be opportunistic and true with the players that are left unsigned right now.”
Rays right-hander Wilmer Font has recently started to throw fastball-only bullpen sessions and expects to be ready for Spring Training, he tells MLB.com’s Juan Toribio. Font suffered a lat strain in late June that wound up being a season-ending injury, rather than an eight-week DL stint as originally projected. The injury brought an abrupt end to a very promising start for Font as a Ray, since the righty had a 1.67 ERA over his first 27 innings for Tampa after the club acquired him from Oakland in May. A healthy Font would give the Rays yet another intriguing pitching weapon, able of a traditional bullpen role or perhaps again working as an “opener.”

AL Notes: Davidson, O’s, Kelley, Gonzalez, Rays

By Steve Adams | January 23, 2019 at 11:01pm CDT

To no one’s surprise, the rebuilding Orioles have been extremely quiet this offseason, focusing more on front office, player development and analytics hires while also piecing together a coaching staff under new GM Mike Elias and manager Brandon Hyde. However, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweets that Baltimore does have some interest in free-agent corner infielder/designated hitter Matt Davidson, who was non-tendered by the White Sox earlier this winter. Davidson, 28 in March, more than doubled his career walk rate last season, drawing a free pass at a 10.5 percent clip after walking in just 4.3 percent of his plate appearances in 2017. However, the increase in patience came with a bit of a dip in power, and strikeouts remained a severe issue (33.3 percent). In all, the slugger hit .228/.319/.419 with 20 big flies in 496 plate appearances. Davidson has 46 home runs in his past 939 PAs but is still a work in progress at the plate. He could potentially give Baltimore some pop off the bench, and his right-handed bat could help to shield Chris Davis from opposing lefties as the veteran attempts to rebound from a catastrophic 2018 season.

Orioles Announce 2019 Coaching Staff

By Steve Adams | January 23, 2019 at 3:54pm CDT

The Orioles on Wednesday formally announced their coaching staff for the 2019 season under first-year skipper Brandon Hyde.

Don Long will serve as the team’s new hitting coach, and Howie Clark will reprise his previous role as assistant hitting coach, making him the lone holdover from last year’s big league staff. Doug Brocail, meanwhile, will join the organization as the new pitching coach and work alongside former O’s minor league pitching coordinator John Wasdin, who is being promoted to bullpen coach. Arnie Beyeler and Jose Flores will handle first and third base coaching duties, respectively. Tim Cossins has been named Major League field/catching coordinator, and Jose Hernandez will join the club as a Major League coach. It seems, then, that Hyde will operate without a bench coach in his first year on the job, as Baltimore’s release makes no mention of the position.

Several of the new hires have ties to Hyde or new Orioles GM Mike Elias. Brocail, 51, spent a combined six years as a pitching coach with the Astros and Rangers before being replaced in Texas just this offseason. His time with the ’Stros from 2011-13 overlapped with the early stages of Elias’ time in Houston. Similarly, the 48-year-old Cossins is a known commodity to Hyde, as the two spent time together in the Cubs organization, where Hyde was the Cubs’ first base coach and bench coach and Cossins was the organization’s minor league field/catching coordinator. Flores, too, comes to the Orioles with Cubs connections. The 48-year-old spent the 2013-17 seasons as Chicago’s minor league infield coordinator before being hired as the Phillies’ first base coach in 2018.

While Clark is the lone holdover from former skipper Buck Showalter’s staff, there are still a pair of O’s minor league coaches joining the MLB staff. Hernandez, 49, may be a familiar name for some O’s fans, as he’s spent the past six seasons as a coach with the team’s Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk. He should have plenty of familiarity with the bevy of young players who’ll receive an extended opportunity at the MLB level in the early stages of Baltimore’s rebuild. Wasdin could be described similarly, having spent the past two years as the Orioles’ minor league pitching coordinator.

The 54-year-old Beyeler spent the past three seasons as the manager of the Marlins’ Triple-A affiliate and has been involved in baseball as a manager, coach or scout for nearly three decades. Long, meanwhile, joins the Orioles on the heels of a five-year stretch as the Reds’ hitting coach. The 56-year-old has more than three decades of coaching and managerial experience, having also spent time with the Angels, Phillies, Pirates and Braves.

« Previous Page

Load More Posts

Show all

Headlines

Orioles Rumors

Navigation

MLBTR INFO

Connect