Orioles Rumors

Quick Hits: Vazquez, Mets, Brewers, Rays, O’s

By Dan Mennella | May 15, 2011 at 10:14pm CDT

Here are some items of note for Sunday. On this day in 1941, 70 years ago, Joe DiMaggio began his Major League-record 56-game hitting streak, a mark that still stands today and has been largely unchallenged, as Jayson Stark of ESPN.com writes.

It doesn't sound like the Marlins are ready to give up on Javier Vazquez, writes Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post. The Fish are paying Vazquez $7MM this year, but he allowed six runs in four innings today to raise his season ERA to 7.55.
The New York Post's Brad Hamilton reminds us that on July 1, the Mets will begin paying Bobby Bonilla $1.2MM each year for the next 25 years. New York struck that deal in 1999 to avoid paying the $5.9MM remaining on his contract when they released him.
MLB.com's Adam McCalvy writes that despite the offensive woes of Carlos Gomez and Yuniesky Betancourt, the Brewers are sticking with them for the time being.
Operating on a tight budget has its advantages for teams like the Rays, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Without extra cash to commit to pricey free agents, clubs like Tampa are rarely encumbered by poorly producing, highly compensated veterans, Sherman explains.
Meanwhile, the Orioles would like to emulate the Rays' formula for success, writes Steve Melewski of MASNSports.com.
Should the Yankees come to part ways with Jorge Posada in the wake of Saturday's incident, they could use the DH spot to rest veterans like Alex Rodriguez, or they could pursue a new DH like Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.com (subcription needed). Beltran is off to a great start with the Mets this season and could draw interest on the trade market, although Matt Klaassen of FanGraphs recently speculated that Beltran wouldn't yield much more than salary relief for the Mets.
Pete Rose is still seeking a second chance to manage, and he thinks it's hypocritical that players and coaches who have used PEDs, abused alcohol and been involved in domestic-violence incidents remain in the game, according to an Associated Press report (via ESPN.com).

AL East Notes: Rupe, Bautista, Red Sox, Rays

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | May 12, 2011 at 3:20pm CDT

Ten years ago today, Marlins starter A.J. Burnett pitched a no-hitter against the Padres despite walking nine batters. Now a member of the Yankees' rotation, Burnett is off to a strong start after a disappointing 2010 season. Here's the latest on the Yankees' division rivals…

Josh Rupe cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. The Orioles designated the reliever for assignment on Tuesday.
John Tomase of the Boston Herald notes that the Red Sox inquired about Jose Bautista during the offseason, only to hear that the Blue Jays weren't interested in moving him. Talks never went anywhere, as the Blue Jays were in the process of trading Vernon Wells and extending Bautista (on a deal that’s looking shrewd in the early going).
John Lackey is in a major rut and he knows it, as Tomase writes. “Everything went wrong that could go wrong,” Lackey said of his start against the Blue Jays last night. “It’s pretty much the story of the whole damn year.”
Don Connolly of the Baltimore Sun looks back at the 2008 trade that sent Erik Bedard to Seattle for Adam Jones, Chris Tillman and others and concludes that it was one of the top five deals in Orioles history, but not quite as good as it seemed a year or two ago.
James Shields has re-emerged as a top pitcher and is pitching with a sense of purpose, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick, who spoke to the Rays right-hander about his 2011 success.
In today's Insider-only blog post, ESPN's Buster Olney notes that Rays ace David Price is relying heavily on his fastball. Price threw 103 fastballs out of 112 pitches yesterday, though he averaged a season-high 95.3 mph with the pitch and threw it to both sides of the plate.

Quick Hits: Indians, Mariners, Orioles

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | May 10, 2011 at 9:28pm CDT

Another round of links after a memorable duel between Cy Young candidates Roy Halladay and Josh Johnson in Miami…

Indians manager Manny Acta told Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com that he doesn’t hold anything against the people who predicted that the Indians would finish at the bottom of the AL Central standings (Twitter link). "The people who picked against us are the same people who picked us to win in 2008,” he said. “It's understandable."
In honor of Milton Bradley, Larry Stone of the Seattle Times looks at some noteworthy contracts the Mariners have had to swallow in the past.
The Orioles signed outfielder/first baseman Darryl Crosier to a minor league deal, according to Steve Gould of the Baltimore Sun. Director of player development Tripp Norton and scout Dean Albany watched Crosier play earlier in the month.

Orioles Designate Josh Rupe For Assignment

By Tim Dierkes | May 10, 2011 at 1:37pm CDT

The Orioles designated righty Josh Rupe for assignment to open a 25-man roster spot for shortstop J.J. Hardy, according to the team. Since Hardy was already on the 40-man, the team now has 39 players on that roster.

Rupe, 28, tossed 14 1/3 unimpressive relief innings for the Orioles this year. He signed a minor league deal with Baltimore in December and made the team out of Spring Training. He spent last year relieving for the Royals' Triple-A affiliate, posting a 2.92 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 4.0 BB/9, and 0.9 HR/9 in 52 1/3 innings.

A third-round pick of the White Sox in '02, Rupe was traded to the Rangers in July of '03 along with Frank Francisco and Anthony Webster for Carl Everett. He battled elbow problems in his Rangers career and was designated for assignment in April of '09.

Quick Hits: Barnes, Chavez, Kasten, Simon, Berkman

By Mike Axisa | May 7, 2011 at 10:15pm CDT

Congrats to Justin Verlander. The Tigers' ace threw a no-hitter against the Blue Jays this afternoon, the second of his career. He's now one of only 28 men to throw multiple no-hitters in the big leagues. Here are Saturday's links…

Red Sox GM Theo Epstein was personally scouting UConn RHP Matt Barnes tonight, reports Dom Amore of The Hartford Courant (on Twitter). Barnes is expected to go in the first round this year, in which the Red Sox have two picks.
Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports that the Rangers called up Craig Gentry to replace Nelson Cruz, who was placed on the disabled list (Twitter links). He notes that one possible reason why they didn't call up Endy Chavez is because they'd have to place him on waivers once Cruz was healthy.
In a guest post for Through The Fence Baseball, MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith took stock of the winter's biggest offseason deals.
Bill Madden of The New York Daily News wrote about the numerous big-money players that are struggling this year, including Derek Jeter and Hanley Ramirez.
Stan Kasten confirmed to Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post that he sold his ownership stake in the Nationals this March. Kasten stepped down as team president late last year, but it's unclear what he'll do next. He was mentioned as possibly trustee when MLB took over the Dodgers' financial operations.
Alfredo Simon was in the Orioles' clubhouse today, and will continue working his way back with a minor league appearance next week according to Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun. Connolly says the team will have to recall, waive, or release Simon by "roughy May 22" after he spent two months in a Dominican Republic prison and being placed on the restricted list.
Bernie Miklasz of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch spoke to Cardinals GM John Mozeliak about the resurgent Lance Berkman. "We did a lot of due diligence," said the GM. "We truly believed he could have a bounce-back year. When we looked at it, we knew he was working extremely hard on his conditioning, was getting the knee healthy, was getting himself in tremendous shape, and that he'd be a lot stronger. That was a big thing. We knew that he still had an eye for hitting, and he would work the count and take walks. The question was, how would he be physically. And once we knew how much he was putting into his training, it gave us confidence."

Draft Notes: Orioles, Pirates, Rendon, Cole

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | May 6, 2011 at 7:57am CDT

Baseball's amateur draft takes place in exactly one month. Here are the latest updates on a pair of teams with high first round picks…

Orioles amateur scouting director Joe Jordan told Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun that he has good sense of which players his club will be choosing from when it selects third overall in June. It’s too early to know precisely which players will be available so Jordan is still considering about ten prospects with Baltimore’s top pick.
Manny Machado, last year’s third overall pick, has a left knee injury and as Zrebiec points out, an extended absence would be quite a blow to the Orioles. It's unclear how much time the 18-year-old will miss. He has a .333/.450/.611 line in Class A.
The Pirates are focusing heavily on UCLA right-hander Gerrit Cole and Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon as they prepare to make the first overall pick, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. However, there’s internal concern about Rendon’s stature and health and there’s concern about Cole “simply because he is a pitcher,” so the Pirates haven’t ruled out other options.
Check out River Ave. Blues for a detailed draft order.

Orioles Notes: Tillman, Simon, Hardy

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | May 5, 2011 at 3:41pm CDT

Chris Tillman allowed eight runs to the Royals without completing four innings today. Here's the latest on the O's, who had won six of their past nine heading into today's game in Kansas City…

Alfredo Simon, now rehabbing while on the restricted list, will have to be promoted or released by May 22nd or so, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (on Twitter).
Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail told Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com that the O's are building Simon up as a starter and open to putting him back in the bullpen later.
The Orioles may have to remove someone from their active roster soon, as Robert Falkoff points out at MLB.com. J.J. Hardy is starting a rehab assignment tomorrow and it may not be long before the shortstop is ready to return, so MacPhail and the rest of the front office have a potential decision on the horizon.
Don't forget to stay up to date with MLBTR's Orioles-centric Facebook page and RSS and Twitter feeds.

Heyman On Pujols, Reyes, Feliz

By Tim Dierkes | May 4, 2011 at 1:30pm CDT

SI's Jon Heyman leads his latest column with a discussion of Albert Pujols' impending free agency. Three GMs Heyman spoke to speculate that Pujols will re-sign with the Cardinals after the season. One significant factor could be the lack of involvement from the Yankees and Red Sox, big spenders who already have long-term solutions at first base. A Yankees person told Heyman there was "no chance" of a pursuit, while a Red Sox person agreed that his club is unlikely to get involved. Cardinals GM John Mozeliak didn't have much to say on the topic, other than, "Nothing's changed." On to Heyman's other notes…

Mozeliak told Heyman the Cardinals "have a pretty good idea" of what they'll do when Adam Wainwright's two-year, $21MM club option comes up after the season. Heyman takes that to mean that the Cardinals will pick up the option, the expected course of action.
Heyman feels that the Cubs and Orioles could be possibilities for free agent Kevin Millwood, though I heard yesterday that it's doubtful the Cubs get involved.
One Giants person said, "There's nothing to it," regarding the recent Jose Reyes speculation. Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News explained today that "If any conversations have happened at all, it’s nothing more than tire kicking." That makes sense, since trading season begins about two months from now. For a look at who the Giants might have to give up to get Reyes at that point, click here.
Heyman finds the Rangers likely to move Neftali Feliz into the rotation next year, despite the righty's recent comments. Heyman feels that a strong free agent closer market is a factor.
The Tigers have decided this will be Joel Zumaya's last year in Detroit, according to Heyman. That was written prior to today's report that Zumaya will have exploratory elbow surgery.

Braves Acquire Jeff Fiorentino

By Tim Dierkes | May 4, 2011 at 9:59am CDT

The Braves acquired outfielder Jeff Fiorentino from the Orioles for cash, reports David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Fiorentino, 28, signed a minor league deal to return to the Orioles in January after spending a year in Japan. The Orioles drafted him in the third round in 2004, and he owns a .270/.341/.324 line in 173 plate appearances. Last year he hit .246/.356/.325 in 151 plate appearances for the Hiroshima Carp. He'll report to Double-A initially, reports O'Brien.

Rosenthal On Mariners, Bautista, Machado, Rays

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | May 2, 2011 at 3:43pm CDT

The depth of the Indians’ rotation is their biggest question, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Now that Carlos Carrasco and Mitch Talbot are on the disabled list, the Tribe’s other options are being tested. Here’s Rosenthal’s latest from around the league:

The Mariners have the resources to bring in additional veterans when they want to, according to Rosenthal.
Jose Bautista, one of the top players in the game right now, is impressing just about everyone, including his own skipper. “His game awareness is as good as you’re going to get,” manager John Farrell told Rosenthal. “His ability in that regard takes him to another level."
A scout told Rosenthal that Manny Machado “looks like a man playing with little boys.” The Orioles selected the 18-year-old shortstop prospect with the third overall pick in last year’s draft and he has a 1.090 OPS in Class A.
The Rays may need to upgrade over Casey Kotchman at first base, but a definitive improvement may be difficult to find. The Brewers are likely to keep Prince Fielder, as Rosenthal points out.

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