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Orioles Notes: Jones, Catching, Arbitration Hearings

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Here’s the latest out of Baltimore…

  • Adam Jones discussed a wide variety of topics in a radio interview earlier this week on 105.7 The Fan’s Hot Stove Show (hat tip to MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko for the partial transcript), including the evolving free agent market and how it might impact his own potential entry into the open market after his current deal with the Orioles expires after the 2018 season.  “Times have changed, the metrics and all that stuff. How they’re calculating all that stuff is really going into how they’re paying people and it’s crazy how it is,” Jones said, noting the recent trend towards short-term or even one-year deals for veteran talent.  “It’s weird for so many guys, big league and minor league level, there are so many guys who are out there, which is surprising. Obviously, there are still a few weeks left in spring training and there’s a lot of transactions coming, but it’s different.  It’s a different feeling seeing free agency and how slow it is.”
  • Also from Kubatko, the O’s could be looking to sign another catcher to a minor league deal for Spring Training.  Austin Wynns suffered an ankle injury in Dominican Winter League play and may not be back in action until March, which could leave the Orioles without enough backstops to handle all of their spring pitchers.  Given the rather minor nature of both Wynns’ injury and the need behind the plate, Kubatko notes that this situation won’t open the door for a possible reunion between the Orioles and Matt Wieters.
  • The Orioles’ victory over Caleb Joseph in an arbitration hearing earlier this week continues the team’s remarkable success with arbiters since Peter Angelos became majority owner, BaltimoreBaseball.com’s Dan Connolly writes.  With the result over Joseph, the O’s improved to 11-1 in their last 12 arbitration hearings, with the lone defeat coming back in 1995 when Ben McDonald scored a higher salary.  The Orioles have two more arb hearings scheduled this month with Kevin Gausman and Brad Brach.

Orioles Win Arbitration Hearing Against Caleb Joseph

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The Orioles have won their arbitration hearing against catcher Caleb Joseph, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports (on Twitter). As such, Joseph will earn the $700K figure submitted by the team as opposed to the $1MM sum submitted by his camp.

Joseph was a solid fill-in for the injured Matt Wieters for much of 2015, hitting .234/.299/.394 with 11 homers, but he faced an uphill battle in an arbitration hearing coming off a dreadful 2016 campaign. In 49 games and 141 plate appearances, Joseph batted .174/.216/.197 and, remarkably, did not drive in a run. While there’s a greater focus on more modern statistics throughout the industry, the arbitration process still focuses heavily on “baseball card” stats such as runs batted in. That, a lack of playing time and a just three extra-base hits on the season (all doubles) all seem to have outweighed Joseph’s status as a strong defensive catcher. He threw out 31 percent of attempted base thieves in 2016 and graded as a decidedly above-average pitch framer once again, per Baseball Prospectus, as he has throughout his Major League and minor league career.

The 30-year-old Joseph figures to be a backup in Baltimore again in 2017, though he’s behind Welington Castillo and not Wieters this time around. The Orioles still control Joseph through the 2020 season, and he’s arb-eligible another three times along the way. With Joseph’s case out of the way, Baltimore can shift its focus to its remaining two arbitration cases: right-handers Kevin Gausman and Brad Brach (as can be seen in MLBTR’s 2017 Arbitration Tracker).

Orioles Notes: Britton, Arb Hearings, Bourn, Wieters

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While the Orioles have already agreed to an $11.4MM salary with closer Zach Britton for the 2017 season, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reported this week that Baltimore at one point this winter attempted to lock in both of Britton’s remaining arbitration seasons on a two-year deal. That certainly would’ve made sense as a means of establishing some cost certainty, but the caveat in the scenario is that Baltimore sought to have a club option for a third year tacked onto the deal. Unsurprisingly, those talks didn’t come to fruition. It’s not difficult to see why Britton and his representatives wouldn’t be interested in that sort of deal. Since moving to the bullpen, he’s become arguably baseball’s best bullpen arm and just watched fellow relief aces Kenley Jansen and Aroldis Chapman sign respective contracts of $80MM and $86MM. With plenty of financial security already in his pocket, there’s little reason for Britton to delay free agency by another season in exchange for guaranteeing his final arbitration year. That initial multi-year offer doesn’t appear to have led to any more substantial talks at this point, per Heyman.

More notes out of Baltimore…

  • Caleb Joseph’s arbitration hearing took place yesterday, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com, meaning we should find out today whether the presumptive backup to Welington Castillo will earn the $1MM figure submitted by his camp or the $700K figure submitted by the team. Hearings for Kevin Gausman and Brad Brach are set for Feb. 7 and Feb. 16, Kubatko adds. Gausman filed for $3.55MM, while the team countered at $3.15MM. Brach, meanwhile, submitted a $3.05MM figure and was met with a $2.525MM counter (all of which can be seen in MLBTR’s 2017 Arbitration Tracker).
  • In a separate piece, Kubatko writes that the Orioles have met with Michael Bourn’s agent about a possible return to Baltimore. The O’s are looking for an outfielder that can bring an element of speed to the lineup and serve as a defensive upgrade at times, though Kubatko notes that they’re not necessarily looking for an everyday option. Bourn hit well in a small sample of 55 plate appearances with Baltimore last year following an Aug. 31 trade, batting .283/.358/.435 with a pair of homers. The 34-year-old Bourn posted an overall batting line of .264/.314/.371 in 413 plate appearances between the D-backs and Orioles last year.
  • Matt Wieters’ former teammates, including Caleb Joseph and Chris Davis, are somewhat bewildered that the catcher is still on the market, writes Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun. “I didn’t see it playing out like this at all,” said Davis. “I thought it was going to be a lot quicker process, just the whole free agency process this year with the number of guys that were out there and the quality of players that are out there. I feel for Matty right now. It’s really tough not knowing where you’re going to be…” Mark Trumbo also weighed in on the slow-moving market for free agents and the glut of available veterans that remain unemployed for 2017. “There are still some guys fighting for jobs who are very high level major league players that bring a heck of a lot to the table, and they’re forced to look at one-year, incentive-laden contracts for a fairly low dollar amount, considering the type of seasons they put up,” said Trumbo.

Orioles To Sign Johnny Giavotella

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The Orioles have agreed to a minor-league deal with second baseman Johnny Giavotella, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). He can earn $1.1MM annually at the MLB level in the deal, which also includes incentives.

Presumably, Giavotella will compete for a bench spot in Spring Training. If he fails to make the roster, he’ll have a chance to opt out at the end of camp (March 27th). If he ends up opening the year in the minors, and isn’t later promoted, he can also request his release on July 31st.

Giavotella, 29, spent the better portion of the past two seasons as the Angels’ near-regular at second. Though he put up a serviceable .272/.318/.375 batting line in 2015, however, he fell off last year. After 367 plate appearances of .260/.287/.376 hitting, the Halos outrighted Giavotella, who has generally rated as a somewhat below-average defensive performer. Though he hit well in his brief stay at Triple-A, he wasn’t recalled when rosters expanded. Because he had been outrighted earlier in the year, Giavotella was eligible to take free agency after the season.

For the O’s, the move bolsters their infield depth with little in the way of a commitment. It’s possible that Giavotella could push Ryan Flaherty for the team’s utility job, though the left-handed-hitting Flaherty makes for a more natural pairing with the team’s righty bats.

Orioles Hoping For Better Starting Pitching In 2017

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  • The Orioles haven’t made a significant move to address their rotation this offseason (other than their trade of Yovani Gallardo for outfielder Seth Smith), but they still feel their starting pitching will be better next season, Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun writes in a report from the team’s FanFest this weekend (more on Orioles FanFest here and here). “Our starting rotation, I hope, is a little bit stronger,” said O’s vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette. “We had really good starting pitching late in the year in September, and we’re returning that rotation.” The Orioles’ rotation ERA of 4.72 was third worst in the AL last year, better than only the Twins and A’s. The team can hope for more from Kevin Gausman (who got better results last year in the first half than the second, although his underlying numbers didn’t change much), and Dylan Bundy (who didn’t transition to the rotation until July and had a modest degree of success once he got there). Joining Gausman, Bundy and ace Chris Tillman will be Wade Miley and Ubaldo Jimenez, who have both mostly struggled in their Orioles tenures.

Orioles Notes: Tillman, Outfield

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The Orioles opened contract extension talks with right-hander Chris Tillman’s agent in December, though Tillman stated earlier this month that he hadn’t heard anything about a potential new deal. The 28-year-old again touched on his future Saturday, implying that the Orioles won’t have a large window to extend him if they make an earnest attempt. Tillman doesn’t expect contract discussions to begin until spring training, and he’d prefer not to engage in any once the season starts, he informed Rich Dubroff of PressBoxonline.com (Twitter link). In what could be his last year as an Oriole, Tillman is slated to rake in $10.05MM.

  • One of Tillman’s teammates, Orioles center fielder Adam Jones, said Saturday he wants “more speed” and “more athleticism” in the team’s outfield (via Paul Folkemer of BaltimoreBaseball.com). General manager Dan Duquette, meanwhile, acknowledged that “the outfield defense is an area where the club can improve” and talked up Rule 5 picks Aneury Tavarez and Anthony Santander as potential solutions. The Orioles had the worst defensive outfield in the majors by measure of both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating last year, but – Rule 5 choices aside – they haven’t done much to improve in that area. Seth Smith, who’s not exactly a defensive ace, has been the team’s only prominent outfield acquisition from outside, while it also brought back the bat-first Mark Trumbo. Jones spoke on the pair, saying, “They’re very good athletes, but they’re not top of the line defensive players first.”

Orioles Notes: Britton, Machado, Worley, Brach, Joseph

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Here’s the latest from the Orioles’ FanFest event…

  • Zach Britton and the Orioles haven’t been discussing an extension, though the ace closer tells MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli (Twitter link) and other reporters that there is mutual interest between the two sides on working out a new deal.  Britton and the O’s avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $11.4MM contract for 2017, and Britton has one more arb year left before entering free agency.
  • There also haven’t been any extension talks between Manny Machado and the O’s, the star third baseman told reporters, including Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun.  Machado reiterated that he hopes to remain with the Orioles and he understands if the club is focusing on other priorities right now rather than open talks.  Needless to say, negotiating a Machado extension will be a major task given the huge amount of years and dollars (ten years and $300MM is a ballpark figure) it would take to prevent Machado from hitting free agency at age 26 following the 2018 season.
  • The Orioles have made a contract offer to right-hander Vance Worley, executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette told reporters (including the Baltimore Sun’s Jon Meoli).  Worley was projected to earn $3.3MM in arbitration this winter and was non-tendered by the O’s last month.  The righty posted a 3.53 ERA, 5.8 K/9 and 48.1% grounder rate over 86 2/3 innings for Baltimore last season and has value as a long reliever and spot starter, even if the Orioles weren’t keen on meeting his projected price tag.
  • Duquette also stated (to Eduardo A. Encina and other media) that the Orioles are planning to go to hearings to decide their three unsettled arbitration cases with Kevin Gausman, Brad Brach and Caleb Joseph.  Brach and Joseph discussed their takes on the hearing process with MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko, with Brach also talking about his name being mentioned in offseason trade rumors.

Should Orioles Reconsider Matt Wieters?

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  • While it seems as if the door is all but shut on a return of Matt Wieters to the Orioles, Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com wonders whether Baltimore ought to reconsider. If the price has fallen as far as it seems, Connolly reasons, Wieters would combine with Welington Castillo to form a strong backstop duo. Both could also spend some time at DH, perhaps along with a variety of other players that could rotate through that slot.

Braves Claim Adam Walker

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The Braves have claimed outfielder Adam Walker off waivers from the Orioles, Baltimore announced. He’ll take the roster spot just vacated by catcher Tuffy Gosewisch, filling Atlanta’s 40-man.

Walker has moved around quite a bit already this winter. He started with the Twins, stopped off with the Brewers, and then landed in Baltimore before being designated for assignment.

[Related: Updated Atlanta Braves Depth Chart]

A free-swinging slugger, Walker belts plenty of long balls and also whiffs at an equally impressive rate. Over the past two years, he has been retired by strikeout in over one-third of his plate appearances. The 25-year-old ended with a .243/.305/.479 slash and 27 homers at Triple-A in 2016 and has launched a total of 58 homers in 265 games across the past two seasons.

The Braves’ outfield looks mostly full, with Matt Kemp, Ender Inciarte and Nick Markakis currently set to line up as starters. The Braves are lacking in options beyond that starting trio following the recent trade of Mallex Smith, so Walker could conceivably get a look in a reserve role. However, he’s limited to the outfield corners, and the Braves would likely prefer their fourth outfielder to be someone capable of stepping into center field.

Orioles Sign Alex Castellanos To Minors Deal

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  • The Orioles announced a list of non-roster invitations today, and while they’ve mostly been previously reported and noted here on MLBTR, their minor league pact with infielder/outfielder Alex Castellanos was a new announcement. Castellanos, 30, saw brief bits of action with the Dodgers in 2012-13 but hasn’t appeared in the Major since. While he’s struggled to a .171/.186/.390 batting line in his 43 big league PAs, Castellanos owns a career .292/.373/.517 line in parts of five Triple-A seasons. He has more than 2700 pro innings in right field plus another 1661 innings as a third baseman. He’s also logged 900+ innings at second base, 500+ innings in center and left as well as 155 innings at first base.
  • Joining the Braves on a minors pact is outfielder Xavier Avery. The 27-year-old played with the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate in 2016, slashing .248/.332/.363 over 347 plate appearances. He briefly cracked the majors back in 2012 with Baltimore, but hasn’t made his way back since.
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