- With an 8-26 record, it’s seemingly only a matter of time before the Orioles start making some necessary changes, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal writes (subscription required) in a follow-up to his piece last month about Baltimore’s evolving front office and ownership dynamic. Since executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette seems to be losing influence within the organization, Rosenthal asks “why would they keep Duquette at all?” as the team approaches some critical long-term decisions at the trade deadline. Duquette considered firing pitching coach Roger McDowell after last season in the wake of the poor performance of Baltimore’s arms, though it isn’t known whether moves like coaching changes are still under consideration, or if Buck Showalter could step in to prevent firing members of his coaching staff. Whatever changes are made, fans aren’t buying into the current (lack of) direction, as attendance is way down at Camden Yards.
Orioles Rumors
Orioles Injury Notes: Jones, Britton, Mancini
X-rays were negative on Adam Jones’ right hand and wrist after the Orioles center fielder was hit by a pitch during Saturday night’s game. Jones wasn’t in today’s lineup, though it was already a scheduled off-day for the veteran and he told reporters (including Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com) that he was feeling fine. Manager Buck Showalter also spoke to the media about some other Orioles injury situations, including the news that Zach Britton will face live hitters during a batting practice session on May 15. Outfielder Trey Mancini is also battling minor knee soreness and didn’t start today’s game, though he did appear as a pinch-hitter.
Potential Trade Fits For Manny Machado
- The Dodgers, Yankees, Braves, Blue Jays, and Phillies could all be potential trade fits for Manny Machado this summer, the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo opines in his latest notes column. The Orioles would obviously want prime prospects in return for their star shortstop, though Cafardo doubts that some of the elite young players on these teams (i.e. Ronald Acuna, Ozzie Albies, Walker Buehler, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.) would be made available, given that Machado would just be a midseason rental. Then again, there isn’t any guarantee that Machado will be shopped at all, given “the unpredictability of Orioles ownership,” as Cafardo writes. Owner Peter Angelos has traditionally been resistant about any sort of midseason fire sale, even though Machado looks like a prime trade chip as an impending free agent and the O’s front office explored Machado’s trade value last winter.
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Jonathan Schoop Could Return Tuesday
- The Orioles are likely to activate second baseman Jonathan Schoop from the disabled list on Tuesday, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com suggests. Schoop has been working back from the right oblique strain that sent him to the DL on April 14. Although Schoop got off to a poor start before then, hitting, .230/.266/.344 (64 wRC+) in 65 plate appearances, it’s fair to say his lengthy absence has helped lead to the O’s league-worst 8-24 record. Schoop was one of the best second basemen in the game last year, after all, and no one from the Jace Peterson–Engelb Vielma–Luis Sardinas trio has performed well in his stead over the past few weeks.
Tillman's Struggles Highlighting Lack Of Rotation Depth
- Chris Tillman’s struggles are putting the Orioles in an increasingly difficult spot, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com, but the organization presently has little in the way of alternatives that are ready to step into the big league rotation. Tillman tossed seven shutout innings and allowed one hit last week, but he was clobbered by the Angels last night and pulled after recording just three outs and watching his ERA balloon to 9.24. Kubatko suggests that Double-A lefty Keegan Akin could eventually be an option, though he’s made just five starts above A-ball. Speculatively, right-hander David Hess is off to a respectable start in Triple-A and is on the 40-man roster. But other options, both on the 40-man and of the non-roster variety, are struggling in the upper minors. Tillman’s struggles could eventually force the team’s hand, but it doesn’t sound likely that he’s on the verge of being cut loose.
Machado On Free Agency, Trade Possibilities
- In the wake of the Seager injury, Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times spoke to Manny Machado about the widespread speculation of the Dodgers potentially pursuing him on the trade market. Machado said he’s not had anyone reach out to him about the possibility, and Shaikin writes that the superstar infielder didn’t sound overly amenable to granting a potential trade partner a window to negotiate an extension. “Everyone has waited for the time to become a free agent,” said Machado. “You want to go out there and explore your options.” The 25-year-old did leave the door open a bit, adding that there’s “a price for everything” before stating that he hopes to remain with the Orioles at least through the 2018 season. Of course, as Machado also acknowledged, his future is largely out of his hands; he has no say over whether he’s traded or remains an Oriole. Per Shaikin, the O’s have no plans to accelerate their timeline for a potential Machado deal now that the Dodgers have a glaring need. Certainly, it’s possible that other clubs will join the pursuit later this year, thus driving up the price. And while the O’s had a dreadful start to the season, the organization undoubtedly is still holding out faint hope for a rebound in May and early June before conceding that the season is lost.
Jones On Future, Legacy In Baltimore
- ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick has a lengthy feature on Adam Jones and the possibility of whether he’ll remain with the Orioles beyond the 2018 campaign. Crasnick speaks with Jones, manager Buck Showalter, GM Dan Duquette and Jones’ teammates in highlighting how important Jones has been to the organization and to the city of Baltimore as one of the faces of the franchise for a decade. Jones noted that given his impending free-agent status, he’s “obviously” hoping to put up big numbers but emphasized that his focus is on trying to right the ship in Baltimore after an ugly start to the season for the O’s. Duquette tells Crasnick that the team “absolutely” considers things like charisma, appeal to fans and intangibles such as leadership when placing a valuation on a player and praised Jones’ impact on the organization and Baltimore community. One anonymous GM noted to Crasnick, though, that Jones is the type of player who could be the “type of guy who gets to free agency and is a little disappointed” — a reference to Jones’ questionable OBP skills and declining defensive ratings in center field. O’s fans in particular will want to check out the column, as it gives a terrific look back at Jones’ legacy in the Charm City.
Orioles Activate Trumbo, Place Sardinas On DL
- The Orioles announced that they’ve activated Mark Trumbo from the 10-day DL for his season debut, though they also had to place infielder Luis Sardinas on the DL in his place due to a strained lower back. Sardinas’ DL placement is retroactive to April 29, and defensive specialist Engelb Vielma is up from Triple-A to take over Sardinas’ infield duties for now. Pedro Alvarez’s resurgence at the plate could prompt Trumbo to see some time at the outfield in order to keep Alvarez in the lineup at designated hitter. Jace Peterson figures to get starts at second base until Jonathan Schoop returns.
Poll: What Last-Place AL Team Is Likeliest To Turn Its Season Around?
With one day left in April, we’ve already seen a wide gulf emerge within the American League standings. Three clubs (the Red Sox, Yankees, and Astros) are on pace to surpass 105 wins, while six teams are also currently on pace to win fewer than 70 games. By comparison, only six teams in all of baseball failed to surpass the 70-win plateau in 2017.
Obviously, it’s still very early, and there’s plenty of baseball still to be played for these struggling teams. Three teams, however, will head into May in the basement of their respective divisions, and in those cases, a slower start could be much harder to overcome. The Rangers, Royals, and Orioles all faced rather tricky paths to contention even in the best of circumstances, and their poor April records may force them to make some hard decisions about how long they’re willing to go before considering selling pieces at the trade deadline.
Let’s check in on the three last-place teams to see which has the most potential to make April simply a “slow start” en route to a respectable or even a contending season…
Rangers (11-18): With Adrian Beltre, Elvis Andrus, and Rougned Odor all on the disabled list, Texas fans are beginning to have some unpleasant flashbacks to the team’s disastrously injury-plagued 2014 campaign. Still, while the injury bug explains the lack of offensive production, the Rangers’ pitching situation has looked as shaky as it appeared to be heading into the season. Other than the surprise continuation of Bartolo Colon’s late-career renaissance, it’s been mostly bad news for both the rotation and the bullpen, with Martin Perez, Matt Moore, Matt Bush, Alex Claudio, and Kevin Jepsen all getting off to particularly tough starts.
The team’s big infield trio may not all be back until June, so can the Rangers at least tread water until then? It doesn’t help that the rest of the AL West teams are all at the .500 mark or better, though the Angels (+5), Mariners (-2), and A’s (+3) are all nothing special in terms of run differential. (Of course, Texas is a miserable -39 in that department.) The Rangers will need more arms to step up if they are to turn their season around, plus some internal reinforcements have already come in the form of Delino DeShields and Tony Barnette, who are both back after lengthy DL stints of their own. Top prospect Willie Calhoun could also provide more help for the lineup, though Calhoun is off to a quiet start at Triple-A this year.
Orioles (8-20): The Orioles and Rangers share pretty similar tales of woe. Baltimore has also been hurt by a tough division, a lack of quality starting or relief pitching, plus several key injuries — Zach Britton and Mark Trumbo have yet to play a game, while Jonathan Schoop, Tim Beckham, and Colby Rasmus are all on the DL. Manny Machado’s individual brilliance has been tempered by a lack of hitting from almost everyone else on roster, with Chris Davis standing out as the single worst position player by fWAR (-0.6) in baseball so far this season.
Dan Duquette unofficially cited Memorial Day as the date when teams begin to evaluate where they really stand in a season, so the O’s therefore have just under a month to get on track. That might be enough time to get at least some of the injured parties back, plus it’ll give time for Alex Cobb to hopefully start rounding into form given that the late-to-sign righty has a 13.11 ERA over his first three starts. On paper, Baltimore has too much hitting talent to be as bad as they are at the plate, so you figure that at least some type of positive correction is in store.
Royals (7-20): The Royals held off on a full-fledged rebuild over the winter, though their decision about whether to try for another playoff run may have been made for them by their lousy April. The Royals entered Sunday’s play with the fewest runs in the majors, as only Mike Moustakas and Jorge Soler were putting up good numbers at the plate, and some quality returns by the starting rotation have been undermined by arguably baseball’s worst bullpen. Even with closer Kelvin Herrera still boasting a perfect 0.00 ERA through 9 2/3 innings, the road to Herrera has been plagued by potholes, as the relief corps is collectively at or near the bottom of the list in just about every major statistic.
One bright side for the Royals? Their competition. The AL Central has been baseball’s worst division through the first month, with the first-place Indians holding just a 14-12 record. As bad as Kansas City has been, the Royals are still just 4.5 games back of the second-place Tigers. Since the White Sox and Tigers are rebuilding and the Twins are struggling to recapture their 2017 form, there is some opportunity for the Royals to regain some ground if they can beat up on their division foes.
Which of the AL’s last-place squads do you think has the best chance of recovering from its shaky April? (Link for app users)
Mark Trumbo To Return From DL On Tuesday
- Mark Trumbo is slated to be activated from the DL on Tuesday, with the Orioles already optioning Joey Rickard back to Triple-A today to create roster space. Trumbo will be making his season debut after missing six weeks with a quad strain, with the slugger looking to personally rebound from a poor 2017 season and also add some pop to an Orioles lineup that has struggled to score runs this year. The O’s figure to use Trumbo as a right-handed hitting complement at first base, DH, and right field, as those positions are respectively occupied by lefty-swingers Chris Davis and Pedro Alvarez, and switch-hitter Anthony Santander. Manager Buck Showalter also told media (including BaltimoreBaseball.com’s Dan Connolly) that Luis Sardinas will be placed on the 10-day DL due to a bad back, and Engelb Vielma looks to be the likeliest candidate to replace Sardinas as the utility infielder.
