Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Orioles Rumors

Orioles Still Talking With Kendrys Morales

By | at

The Orioles have maintained dialogue with free agent first baseman/DH Kendrys Morales over the last several weeks, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. At present, a “fairly significant gap” still separates the two sides.

Notably, according to Heyman, the key issue is not years but dollars. Negotiations between Baltimore and Scott Boras (Morales’s agent) have focused on one-year scenarios. It is worth noting that Morales will only earn a prorated portion of whatever annual salary rate is agreed upon for 2014.

Heyman notes that the Mariners and Brewers continue to look like other possibilities. Seattle seemingly stepped back from Morales after its rough stretch, but Heyman wonders if they could get back involved if the club continues its recent revival. Of course, the closer we get to the June draft, the greater the possibility becomes that the Mariners will lose the supplemental pick they stand to gain should Morales find a new home before that time, which could increase the club’s motivation.

Performance has not been an issue for Milwaukee, of course, and Morales may well be just the kind of mid-season addition needed to cement the team’s status as a contender. As Heyman notes, the Brewers have recently landed fellow Boras clients Kyle Lohse and Francisco Rodriguez.

Orioles Outright Josh Stinson

By | at

The Orioles have outrighted reliever Josh Stinson to Triple-A, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). Stinson has already cleared waivers, says Kubatko. The move clears space for the activation of Troy Patton from the restricted list.

Stinson, 26, was off to a rough start to the 2014 campaign, as he carried a 7.15 ERA through 11 1/3 frames while carrying a WHIP just south of 2.000. He was more effective in limited action last year, when he posted a 3.18 ERA in 17 innings. Stinson was originally claimed by Baltimore off waivers right at the start of the 2013 season.

Orioles Re-Sign Steve Pearce

By | at

The Orioles have re-signed IF/OF Steve Pearce, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun tweets. The Orioles have announced that it’s a big-league deal. The O’s had previously designated Pearce for assignment. The Blue Jays claimed Pearce on release waivers, but he elected to become a free agent rather than accepting the claim.

Connolly explains the processes that led the Orioles to re-sign Pearce. The Orioles did not replace Chris Davis on their active roster after Davis went on the disabled list last weekend, which meant they were not restricted by a league rule that would have prevented them from adding Pearce to the active roster so soon after releasing him. With Davis out, having Pearce back allows the Orioles to have an extra first baseman.

Pearce, 31, hit .261/.362/.420 in 138 plate appearances for the Orioles last season, playing mostly DH and left field. He has also played for the Pirates, Astros and Yankees.

Orioles Release Steve Pearce

By | at

TUESDAY: The Orioles have announced that Pearce was claimed on release waivers (although it’s unclear which team claimed him), but that Pearce elected to become a free agent rather than accepting the claim. MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko tweets that the Orioles are interested in re-signing Pearce.

SUNDAY: The Orioles announced that they have released infielder/outfielder Steve Pearce. Baltimore designated the 31-year-old for assignment on Tuesday afternoon.

Pearce agreed with the O’s on a $850K deal to avoid arbitration this winter. The veteran made only seven plate appearances in the early portion of the 2014 season but he slashed .261/.362/.420 in 138 trips to the dish at the major league level in 2013.  Because the O’s have previously outrighted Pearce, he reserved the right to reject a minor league assignment.  However, it hasn’t come to that and the Orioles have instead cut him loose.

Over parts of eight big league seasons with the Pirates, Astros, Yankees, and Orioles, Pearce owns a career .237/.316/.376 slash line.  Across six Triple-A seasons, Pearce has slashed .287/.364/.497.

AL East Notes: Goins, Jays, Rays, Pearce, Bogaerts

By | at

The Blue Jays announced last night that they have optioned the struggling Ryan Goins to Triple-A, and Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reports that Chris Getz will get the call to take his place. However, as Getz isn’t on the 40-man roster, a corresponding move will have to be made prior to today’s game. Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star wonders if Moises Sierra will lose his spot on the 40-man.

More out of the AL East…

  • Rays manager Joe Maddon isn’t sweating his team’s rough start and is in good spirits despite losing Matt Moore, Alex Cobb and Jeremy Hellickson to injuries, writes MLB.com’s Phil Rogers. Maddon said his experience as a minor league manager prepared him by giving him the right attitude in these situations: “A lot of times, when you work in the Minor Leagues, manage in the Minor Leagues, there are times you don’t have the best team out there on a nightly basis, but you still believe you’re going to win somehow.”
  • The Baltimore Sun’s Dan Connolly expands on the technicality he reported yesterday that could allow the Orioles to re-sign Steve Pearce (whom they released on Sunday) and immediately add him to the 25-man roster. While clubs that re-sign a released player normally have to wait 30 days to add him to the active roster, that can be avoided if the “club has had less than the full complement of active players at all times from the date of the waiver request to the date [the] player is re-signed.”
  • The Red Sox aren’t concerned with the defensive struggles of Xander Bogaerts, writes Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com. Edes spoke with Sox assistant general manager Mike Hazen, who said the team anticipated that there would be “challenges,” and that they could look glaring when compared to the excellent play Boston received at shortstop last year from Stephen Drew. Edes also spoke to a Major League scout who shook his head at any who disparage Bogaerts based on his glove. That scout told Edes that any of his peers that scouted Boston’s system in 2013 said Bogaerts was the best player they saw in Minor League Baseball.

AL East Notes: Drew, Orioles, Pearce, Francisco

By | at

Though they’ve had some issues on the left side of their infield, the Red Sox have yet to waver from their commitment to using Xander Bogaerts and Will Middlebrooks as their primary shortstop and third baseman, writes WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford. Specifically, Bradford writes that the team has had zero discussions with Stephen Drew and agent Scott Boras since the season kicked off. Drew remains perhaps the most prominent free agent available and could be waiting until after the June draft when teams will no longer need to forfeit a draft pick to sign him. Here’s more on the AL East…

  • A roster shakeup is coming for the Orioles, writes Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun, who notes that both Manny Machado and Troy Patton will be joining the club soon as they return from knee surgery and a 25-game suspension for Adderall usage, respectively.
  • From that same piece, Connolly notes that Steve Pearce’s release waivers expire tomorrow, and it’s possible for the team to re-sign him and put him on the 25-man roster in place of the injured Chris Davis. Normally, a team that re-signs a released player must wait 30 days to place him back on the active roster, but Connolly spoke with one industry source who said there is a rules scenario that would allow Baltimore to work around that restriction.
  • Over the weekend, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet wondered if the Blue Jays’ need for an eight-man bullpen could make Juan Francisco a roster casualty when Adam Lind returns from the disabled list. With both Brandon Morrow and Dustin McGowan averaging fewer than five innings per start, the team is being forced to carry two long relievers — Esmil Rogers and Todd Redmond. Francisco has impressed in his brief eight-game sample thus far, but as a left-handed power bat with serious platoon issues, he could be seen as redundant when Lind is healthy.

Quick Hits: Drew, Orioles, Samardzija, Rockies

By | at

No one is crying for Stephen Drew and Kendrys Morales, who turned down $14.1MM and remain unemployed, but Joel Sherman of the New York Post thinks its unfortunate that they have been subjected to the qualifying offer system.  In Sherman’s view, players already have too little control over their careers.  On top of that, accepting a one-year, $14.1MM deal isn’t as much of a slam dunk as it seems.  If a player doesn’t like where he is playing, or get along with his manager, or finds that the home ballpark is problematic to his game, he should have the opportunity to scope out the open market and look elsewhere without being hindered by the tag.  Here’s more from around baseball..

  • Will the Orioles go out-of-house for a first baseman?  Manager Buck Showalter doesn’t seem to think such a move is imminent.  “There are other people, but nobody yet that we like better than the options we have in-house, yet,” said the skipper, according to Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com (on Twitter).
  • Brewers pitcher Matt Garza offered up some advice for former teammate Jeff Samardzija, who is expected to be shopped by the Cubs this summer. “All I can tell him is keep pitching; pitch your way out of it,” said Garza, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. “Keep your eyes focused, your eyes straight ahead and just pitch. There’s nothing else you can do.”
  • The Dexter Fowler trade is reaping early rewards for the Rockies, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post.  Many wondered how the Rockies would replace Fowler’s leadoff bat and outfield glove, but Jordan Lyles’ early pitching and Brandon Barnes’ high-energy have made Colorado look wise so far.  On top of that, the salary savings from moving Fowler to the Astros allowed the Rockies to sign Justin Morneau, who has also looked strong through the season’s opening month.
  • Months after he agreed to a four-year, $60MM deal, Curtis Granderson and the Mets finally started to find some magic together this week, writes Barry Federovitch of the Star-Ledger.

Injury Notes: Davis, Segura, Braun

By | at

Orioles slugger Chris Davis is headed to the disabled list with a strained oblique, Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun tweets. Davis had an MRI on Saturday. Davis was off to a relatively slow .250/.372/.382 start in 94 plate appearances this season. Third baseman Manny Machado (knee) has begun a rehab assignment at Class A+ Frederick and should soon make his 2014 season debut, which ought to dull Orioles’ fans pain somewhat. Here are a couple more quick notes on injuries.

  • Brewers shortstop Jean Segura required plastic surgery after Ryan Braun inadvertently struck Segura with his bat. But Segura was not concussed and did not have a fracture, Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel tweets.
  • Braun himself later left the Brewers’ game against the Cubs with an intercostal strain, Andrew Gruman of FOX Sports Wisconsin tweets. Braun is day-to-day, and as ugly a day as it was for him, it sounds like both he and Segura will be fine.

Rosenthal On White Sox, Johnson, Cruz

By | at

Here’s the latest from Ken Rosenthal, via a video at FOX Sports:

  • The White Sox might prefer not to trade John Danks, who they have signed to a reasonable contract through 2016. But Adam Dunn is set to become a free agent, and the team has plenty of potential replacements for Alexei Ramirez and Gordon Beckham, so Chicago could deal any of those players at the deadline.
  • Since Josh Johnson won’t start more than seven games this season, the Padres have a $4MM option on him for 2015. Given Johnson’s Tommy John surgery, though, it’s unclear whether the Padres will be able to get enough out of Johnson in 2015 to make the option worthwhile.
  • Nelson Cruz of the Orioles has done a good job rebuilding his value after taking a one-year offer significantly below the cost of the qualifying offer he rejected last winter, Rosenthal says. Cruz is off to a fast start, hitting .300/.391/.588 in his first 92 plate appearances with Baltimore.

Quick Hits: Hardy, D’Backs, Gregg, Hawkins, Payrolls

By | at

Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy told reporters today (including Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun) that he won’t comment any further on his contract situation because there haven’t been any new developments. “There’s nothing to discuss,” said Hardy before adding that there haven’t been any recent negotiations between the two sides. Encina writes that Hardy and the O’s haven’t had extension talks since Spring Training. A few more late night links from around the league…

  • Asked about the performance of rookie starter Mike Bolsinger following a strong start on Thursday, Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero launched into an unprompted defense of GM Kevin Towers, manager Kirk Gibson and the Arizona coaching staff, writes MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert. “The bottom line is, it’s our responsibility to go out there and take care of business,” said Montero. “I just wanted to say that, because the blame should be on us.” Montero said he would be “disappointed” if anything were to happen to Towers, Gibson or any of the coaches. 
  • Right-hander Kevin Gregg tells Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago-Sun Times that he’s in shape and waiting for the right opportunity to present itself. Gregg isn’t sure why he wasn’t able to land a guaranteed big league deal after a solid 2013 campaign with the Cubs but feels he can still get outs in the Majors and would welcome the opportunity to pitch in 2014. Gregg has been working out and pitching to college hitters at his home in Oregon to stay in shape as he waits for a deal. He spoke with a number of teams this offseason, writes Wittenmyer, but the Cubs weren’t one of them.
  • LaTroy Hawkins was surprised when the Rockies’ offer to him this offseason included an opportunity to close games, writes Tracy Ringolsby for MLB.com. Hawkins says, however, that it was made clear that he was merely keeping the seat warm for Rex Brothers. Hawkins explains to Ringolsby the wisdom he’s trying to impart on Brothers as the young left-hander prepares himself to be the long-term answer for Colorado in the ninth inning.
  • The Cardinals, Rays and Giants top a list of baseball’s smartest spenders over the past five that was devised by Ira Boudner, Evan Applegate and Ritchie S. King of Bloomberg Businessweek. The three have created a weighted system for all four major American sports based on the price paid per win compared to the league average and also created an interactive graphic for users to customize the list. In contrast, the White Sox, Mets and Cubs are the bottom three on the list.
Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top