Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Orioles Rumors

Cafardo’s Latest: Lowell, Angels, Haren, Suzuki

By | at

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe has a few hot stove notes in his latest column, but before he gets to those, he discusses Ken Griffey Jr.'s career, noting that the Mariner "walked away very quietly, with little fanfare, just as he said he would." Here are the rest of the highlights from Cafardo's piece:

  • It doesn't appear any teams, besides maybe the Rangers, are too interested in Mike Lowell. Cafardo lists the Angels, Mariners and White Sox as potential matches, though a Sox official says Lowell "doesn’t fit for us right now."
  • The Angels, meanwhile, seem committed to giving Mike Napoli playing time at first base for now, diminishing any interest they'd have in Lowell.
  • The Diamondbacks have had internal discussions about trading Dan Haren, but one baseball executive expressed doubt that Arizona will pull the trigger. The exec pointed out that rebuilding from scratch isn't necessary in the NL West, since almost every team could be just a couple moves away from contending.
  • Kurt Suzuki will likely be the Red Sox' top trade target this winter.
  • A scout offers his opinion on the Orioles' young arms like Chris Tillman: "They’re kind of stuck and maybe have even taken a step backward. But sometimes that happens. Every kid has a hump they have to get over once they hit the big leagues." Last night, we discussed the possibility of the O's having a fire sale and turning their roster over to their youngsters for the remainder of the season.

Odds & Ends: Green, Gonzalez, Berkman, Stanton

By | at

Links for Saturday….

Remembering the 1995 Trade Deadline

By | at

It was a grand time for the game of baseball. Plenty of critics, in the wake of the 1994 strike, declared baseball dead. Such declarations now stand in the Hall of Wrong, right between those who said that Mark Twain was dead (the first time) and Graydon Carter's claiming the death of irony.

Things were all turned around on the buyers and sellers front, too. The biggest seller? The New York Mets. Big buyers ranged from Cincinnati to Seattle. Indeed, money can't buy everything. So without further ado, on to the precious trade memories…

  • For the low price of Frankie Rodriguez (not to be confused with K-Rod, of course) and a minor leaguer, the Red Sox acquired Rick Aguilera from the Twins on July 6. Aguilera was effective with the Red Sox, pitching to a 2.67 ERA and saving 20 games.
  • A day later, the Orioles responded, trading Kimera Bartee and Scott Klingenbeck to the Twins for Scott Erickson. The pitcher was no longer in ace form, but Erickson won nine games and pitched to a 3.89 ERA with Baltimore.
  • In the category of you win some, you lose some, the Phillies had a pair of roster moves that were noteworthy. On July 10th, the team released Norm Charlton. Mistake! Charlton went to Seattle, and managed a 1.51 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 47.2 dominant innings. However, on July 13th, the Phillies picked up Sid Fernandez, who had been released by the Orioles. El Sid had something left in the tank, to put it mildly, and he pitched to a 3.34 ERA in 11 starts, with 79 strikeouts in 64 2/3 innings. 
  • The most ambitious trade of this deadline came on July 21 in an eight-player deal. Cincinnati traded Dave McCarty, Ricky Pickett, John Roper, Deion Sanders and Scott Service to San Francisco in exchange for Dave Burba, Darren Lewis and Mark Portugal. The trade worked out quite well for Cincinnati, with both Burba and Portugal pitching to ERAs under 4.00 while in the starting rotation. Lewis played his customary terrific defense, though his .588 OPS didn't overwhelm. But getting two frontline starting pitchers for a meager haul is a pretty sweet deal in any year.
  • Finally, how did the Mets-as-sellers do? Well, Bobby Bonilla, during his best season at age-32, went to Baltimore on July 28 in exchange for Damon Buford and Alex Ochoa, two outfielders who were never able to crack a starting lineup consistently. Three days later, the Mets sent Bret Saberhagen to Colorado for Juan Acevedo and Arnold Gooch. Neither pitcher had much success; Gooch failed to reach the major leagues and Saberhagen pitched to just a 6.28 ERA in 1995, then missed all of 1996 due to injury. In other words: nobody in this trade managed to have nearly the career of a Dave Burba.

Discussion: The Orioles’ Next Move

By | at

When the Orioles fired manager Dave Trembley on Thursday, it represented the club's first major shake-up, and Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun hopes it won't be the last. Schmuck writes that, no matter who is managing the O's, changes need to be made to the team's roster. He advocates trading away many of the team's veterans and focusing on player development for the rest of the season.

In his blog post this morning, ESPN.com's Buster Olney quoted a talent evaluator who thought the Orioles might be better off hanging on to older players such as Kevin Millwood, Ty Wigginton, and Luke Scott, to help stabilize the clubhouse. And, as Schmuck notes, Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail doesn't seem ready to give up on the current roster quite yet:

"I'm still hopeful we can end up with a better record than we had last year,'' said MacPhail. "I still want to move that needle…. Obviously we've handicapped ourselves greatly, but I think getting our players healthy will help us in that regard."

Still, with no chance of contending this season in a stacked AL East, and prospects like Josh Bell and Jake Arrieta close to being ready, revamping the roster seems like the logical next step for the Orioles. Schmuck suggests that the ideal approach would be dealing the aforementioned veterans (plus Miguel Tejada), giving a few young players a shot in the majors, and aggressively diving into the free agent market this coming offseason. If you were running the Orioles, would you do things differently?

Olney’s Latest: Orioles, Diamondbacks, Delgado

By | at

In today's blog post at ESPN, Buster Olney says a question being asked by some is whether the Orioles' constant losing is infecting the team's great young core, most notably Nick Markakis, Adam Jones, and Matt Wieters. One evaluator said that even though players like Ty Wigginton, Kevin Millwood, and Luke Scott would have trade value at mid-season, the team might be better off holding onto them to help stabilize the young players.

I respectfully disagree, because those players are with the team now and it's obviously just not working. Some new blood might not be the worst thing in the world for Baltimore.  

Here are the rest of Olney's rumors…

  • Diamondbacks' manager A.J. Hinch pointed the finger directly at himself with regards to who to blame for the team's struggles. "This group hasn't responded that well to me," said Hinch. "I'm scratching and clawing, trying to find the right solution, but I'm not going to run from any accountability."
  • The Angels have checked into the condition of Carlos Delgado, who is making his way back from hip surgery and could return in six weeks, if all goes well. They're looking for a Kendry Morales replacement, of course.

Odds & Ends: Griffey, Texeira, Arguelles, Burrell

By | at

Friday night linkage..

Odds & Ends: Sizemore, Lewis, Red Sox, Haren

By | at

Some links for Friday before Roy Halladay tries to restore order for the slumping Phillies…

Stark On Orioles, Lee, Padres, Stanton, Angels

By | at

Major league executives told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark which starters they would most want to have for the next ten years. Zack Greinke and Tim Lincecum didn't make the cut, but Felix Hernandez, Josh Johnson, Ubaldo Jimenez, David Price, Brett Anderson and Jon Lester did. Here are Stark's latest rumors, as the trade market starts taking shape:

  • Two teams say that the Orioles would listen on Kevin Millwood right now.
  • A rival executive says the Orioles are "sniffing around for a shortstop." Stark hears rumors that they have interest in Twins prospect Trevor Plouffe. 
  • The Mariners won't seriously consider trading Cliff Lee before they're sure they can't salvage their season.
  • There's increasing pessimism that the Astros will be able to obtain salary relief and prospects for Roy Oswalt.
  • Teams are giving up on acquiring Adrian Gonzalez this summer, since the Padres continue to win.
  • Two officials believe Heath Bell could be traded even if the Padres stay in contention. Check out this post from earlier in the week for more on Bell's trade value.
  • Tom Gorzelanny could be on the market in a couple weeks when John Grabow comes off the DL.
  • Stark hears that the Marlins will call Mike Stanton up next week. The Marlins are being cautious, since they want to prevent Stanton from obtaining super two status and teams believe the cut-off will be later than ever this year.
  • Stark's sources don't expect the Angels to start searching for a bat to replace Kendry Morales for a few weeks. When they begin looking for offense, they're expected to look for someone who is about to hit free agency or a versatile player who can defend around the diamond. Kendry Morales is under team control through 2013, so Prince Fielder wouldn't be a fit for the Angels.

Orioles Fire Dave Trembley

By | at

The Orioles officially fired Dave Trembley last night, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). Juan Samuel will become the team's interim manager and Triple A manager Gary Allenson will replace Samuel as the club's third base coach. Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun explains the move and notes that the Orioles have asked Trembley to remain in the organization in some capacity.

Trembley says he understands the team's decision, even though it means the end of his tenure as O's manager.

"While I am disappointed at the outcome, I feel it was a privilege to wear the Orioles uniform each day and I thank all the fans for their tremendous support," Trembley said in a prepared statement released by the team.

The 15-39 Orioles have lost eight consecutive games. In parts of four seasons, the team was 187-283 under Trembley. Trembley has been on the hot seat for weeks and speculation that he would be fired kept building until last night. Trembley becomes the second manager fired this season; the Royals replaced Trey Hillman with Ned Yost last month and are 10-10 since.

Orioles May Fire Trembley Soon

By | at

10:48pm: The Orioles may already have fired Trembley, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (via Twitter). Olney's source says the change was "inevitable."

9:36pm: Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun passes on word from Connolly that "it's not normal for [MacPhail] to meet the club when it returns home from a road trip," but that's MacPhail did this evening.

1:35pm: The Orioles may fire manager Dave Trembley soon, though nothing is official. Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports that president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail will likely meet with Trembley before tomorrow night. A source familiar with MacPhail's thinking told Connolly that a meeting between MacPhail and Trembley could take place tomorrow morning or even tonight, when the Orioles return from Yankee Stadium.

Connolly hears that the O’s will hire from within the organization if they make a change, so Juan Samuel and Jeff Datz are options. Connolly expects the interim manager to be “a placeholder” to steer the team while MacPhail looks to hire someone permanently.

The Orioles are 15-39 under Trembley this year and they have lost eight consecutive games. In parts of four seasons, the team is 187-283 under Trembley. This afternoon the Orioles lost to the Yankees in New York, so it's not getting any easier for the 58-year-old Orioles skipper.

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