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Orioles Return Rule 5 Pick Nestor Cortes To Yankees

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The Orioles have returned Rule 5 selection Nestor Cortes to the Yankees, per a club announcement. The southpaw was designated for assignment recently.

Cortes took a spot on the Opening Day roster but coughed up four runs on ten hits and four walks in his 4 2/3 innings to begin the season. That led the O’s to part with the second of their three Rule 5 picks this season. Only righty Pedro Araujo remains among this year’s picks.

The Yanks will pay $50K to their division rivals to take back the rights to Cortes, who will not need to be added to the 40-man roster. He will try to pick back up where he left off in an impressive 2017 season, when he spent most of the season in the upper minors and ended with a 2.06 ERA over 104 2/3 total innings.

Jones Discusses Free Agency, Trade Scenarios

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  • Orioles center fielder Adam Jones sat down with Bill Ladson of MLB.com for a Q&A in which the two discussed his impending free agency and the possibility of a midseason trade if things don’t go well in Baltimore. Asked what it would take for him to stay in Baltimore, Jones suggests his focus in free agency will be winning in the long term. Baltimore’s offseason signings of Andrew Cashner and Alex Cobb to multi-year deals “showed that we are going to make a commitment to pitching,” Jones noted in praising the front office. The longtime O’s cornerstone did note that his family lives on the West Coast, though he emphasized that he wasn’t so much voicing a preference to head west as acknowledging that he has alternatives if things don’t work out in Baltimore. Regarding a potential trade, Jones pointed out that he has 10-and-5 rights which would allow him to the right to refuse any deal and said it’d have to be a decision he made with his wife. Jones adds that he hopes to play until age 40, and he also talks with Ladson about his love for the city of Baltimore, his post-playing plans and the times in which he’s had to deal with racism throughout his career. The conversation is well worth a full read.

Orioles Halt Trumbo's Rehab Assignment

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  • The Orioles have halted Mark Trumbo’s rehab assignment, manager Buck Showalter told reporters, including Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com. While Showalter wouldn’t state that Trumbo had a setback, he did reveal that Trumbo “wasn’t quite comfortable” going full speed in the first game of a rehab stint with Double-A Bowie. The team didn’t provide a new timeline for Trumbo. Pedro Alvarez and Danny Valencia figure to continue platooning at the DH spot in his absence.

Orioles Designate Nestor Cortes

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The Orioles have designated lefty Nestor Cortes for assignment, per a club announcement. The team promoted righty Yefry Ramirez to take his place on the active roster.

Cortes was taken from the Yankees in the 2017 Rule 5 draft. If he clears waivers, he’ll be offered back to the New York organization for a $50K sum, which the Yankees will all but assuredly pay. Regardless, the O’s have opened an additional 40-man spot for the time being.

The 23-year-old Cortes was one of two Rule 5 picks the O’s made back in December and one of three players with Rule 5 restrictions to crack the Opening Day roster. Baltimore also selected Pedro Araujo out of the Cubs organization, and outfielder Anthony Santander still comes with Rule 5 status for the first 44 days of the 2018 season after spending the bulk of the 2017 season on the disabled list.

Cortes appeared in four games for the Orioles and was tagged for four runs on 10 hits and four walks with three strikeouts through 4 2/3 innings of relief. Last year with the Yankees, he logged an impressive 2.06 ERA in 104 total innings between Class-A Advanced, Double-A and Triple-A, while averaging a strikeout per inning and just 2.8 walks per nine frames.

Orioles Place Colby Rasmus On 10-Day DL

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  • The Orioles placed outfielder Colby Rasmus on the 10-day DL due to a left hip flexor strain, the team announced prior to today’s game.  Right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis was called up from Triple-A to take Rasmus’ spot on the active roster.  Rasmus has battled hip problems in the past, and the latest injury apparently was caused several days ago when he was hit in the hip with a cleat.  This could account for Rasmus’ slow start to the year, as he has just two hits in his first 23 plate appearances for the O’s.  Rasmus’ injury will cost Baltimore one of the few left-handed bats in their lineup; switch-hitter Anthony Santander is now likely to get more playing time in right field against right-handed pitching.
  • Brandon Drury has been bothered with migraines and blurred vision since early in Spring Training, the Yankees third baseman told reporters (including the New York Post’s Zach Braziller).  Drury was placed on the 10-day DL due to the problem, which led him to be removed from Friday night’s game against the Orioles.  This newest issue seems to be the latest manifestation of an ongoing problem for Drury, as he told the team last night that he has been dealing with similar symptoms for the last six years.  This came as news to the Yankees, according to GM Brian Cashman — Drury was known to have suffered a migraine while playing for the Diamondbacks in 2016, though an MRI at the time came back clean.  Cashman said that Drury will receive “an entire assessment” on Monday: “All I care about is finding out what’s going on.  He’s in a great city and we’ll give him the best medical care that New York City has to offer.  I can’t say what my level of concern is at this point.”

Orioles Notes: Machado, Cobb

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Faced with questions about his free agent plans next winter, Orioles shortstop Manny Machado mostly declined to offer much insight — and didn’t take the bait when asked about playing in New York. As Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun was among those to report, though, Machado did reiterate that he is only interested in signing as a shortstop, which is certainly notable given that he has just moved back to his accustomed position after lining up at third to this point in his MLB career. His decision to press for a return to short wasn’t about future financial considerations, Machado added. Rather, he says that’s “just where my heart is and has always been.”

  • Orioles righty Alex Cobb is now planning to take another outing in extended spring training on Monday, as Meoli further reports. While there had been some suggestion he might be activated at the end of the weekend, it seems Cobb prefers to continue a measured build-up before going at full bore. The Baltimore rotation could use an early season shot in the arm, which is why Cobb was signed in the first place, though clearly there’s little sense in rushing him onto the mound with a long season (and three more seasons under contract) still ahead.

Orioles Notes: Gausman, Cobb

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  • Alex Cobb is nearing readiness to join the Orioles, Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun writes. It seems likely he’ll take the ball on Monday, though that won’t be finalized until the weekend. Baltimore skipper Buck Showalter said the club is mostly allowing Cobb to drive the process while understandably preferring to “err on the side of caution.” Trusting the veteran hurler but maintaining a conservative approach seems wise given Cobb’s health history and the team’s $57MM investment.
  • Orioles fans will certainly also want to check out this lengthy chat between righty Kevin Gausman and the Sun’s Jon Meoli. The talented 27-year-old has not quite turned the corner to being a front-line starter, despite showing hints of it at times. He’s now entering an important season in which he’ll try to bounce back from a messy 2017 showing in advance of his final two arb-eligible campaigns. Likewise, VP of baseball ops Brady Anderson recently joined the podcast of MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. He discussed how his history as a player helped spur his current career, as he began his post-playing involvement in the game by helping his former teammates. Though he’s hardly the only former player with a prominent executive role, Anderson is somewhat unusual in that he still gets down on the field quite a bit.

Orioles Acquire Luis Ysla From Dodgers For Jesus Liranzo

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The Orioles have acquired lefty Luis Ysla from the Dodgers, per a club announcement. Righty Jesus Liranzo is heading to Los Angeles in return.

Ysla had been designated and removed from the Dodgers’ 40-man roster at the end of the 2017 season. Accordingly, the transaction will leave a MLB spot open for the O’s.

Liranzo, meanwhile, had recently been designated for assignment. He will go to the 40-man for Los Angeles, which moved righty Tom Koehler to the 60-day DL to accommodate the acquisition.

Soon turn 26, Ysla has shown his share of promise with intriguing arm strength from the left side. But he has also not yet established that he can command the ball in the upper minors. Last year, he pitched to a 5.28 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 6.1 BB/9 in 58 Double-A innings.

Really, the situation isn’t all the different for Liranzo, though he is more youthful at 23 years of age and obviously held more appeal for the Dodgers. Liranzo, who was generally rated among the twenty or thirty best prospects in the Baltimore system, worked to a 4.85 ERA with 10.4 K/9 and 6.0 BB/9 over 65 Double-A frames in 2017.

Orioles Trade Stefan Crichton To Diamondbacks

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The Orioles announced that they’ve traded right-hander Stefan Crichton to the Diamondbacks in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. Crichton was one of four right-handers designated for assignment by the Orioles on Opening Day as they created roster space for veterans Colby Rasmus, Danny Valencia, Craig Gentry and Pedro Alvarez.

Crichton, 26, debuted with the Orioles last year, though he tossed just 12 1/3 innings in the Majors. In that brief sample, he yielded 11 runs on a whopping 26 hits and four walks with eight strikeouts and a 46 percent ground-ball rate. The former 23rd-rounder did average better than 94 mph on his heater in the bigs, though, and he logged a strong 3.02 ERA with 9.4 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and 0.38 HR/9 in 47 2/3 Triple-A innings. He has a pair of minor league options remaining, so the D-backs can shuttle him back and forth between Reno and the Majors this year and next, if they wish, without needing to worry about exposing him to waivers.

Orioles Sign Michael Saunders

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The Orioles announced that they’ve signed Michael Saunders to a minor league contract. The veteran outfielder, a client of Meister Sports Management, will head to Triple-A Norfolk to open the season. FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets that Saunders’ deal comes with a $1.5MM base salary in the Majors and up to $3MM of additional incentives.

Saunders, 31, struggled through a nightmarish 2017 season with the Phillies and Blue Jays, hitting a combined .202/.356/.354 with six homers in 234 trips to the plate. That, however, came on the heels of a 2016 All-Star selection — albeit one which came as part of a highly uneven season. Saunders slashed a terrific .298/.372/.551 in the first half with the 2016 Blue Jays before cratering with a .178/.282/.357 slash following the All-Star Game.

When healthy, Saunders has demonstrated an ability to play all three outfield slots as well as average or better power. The speed he once possessed has largely fallen by the wayside in recent years, perhaps not surprisingly in the wake of a 2015 operation to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee — an injury that continued to plague him throughout the 2015 campaign.

At present, Saunders is probably best suited for corner outfield duties, though Colby Rasmus made Baltimore’s Opening Day roster as a left-handed-hitting corner bat with a similar skill set, meaning Saunders will likely have to wait for an opportunity in Baltimore. As Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com observes (Twitter link), Saunders will join a crowded Norfolk outfield mix which already includes lefties Alex Presley, Jaycob Brugman and D.J. Stewart (to say nothing of top outfield prospect Austin Hays, who’ll be receiving everyday at-bats there).

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