Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Orioles Rumors

Orioles Acquire Rich Hill

By | at

10:36am: According to a press release from the Cubs, they’ve traded Hill to the Orioles for a player to be named later.  A sensible low-risk move for the Orioles, who can afford to let Hill take his lumps at the big league level.  The AL East may not be the ideal environment for him, but it’s worth a shot.

Roch Kubatko says Brian Burres was designated for assignment to make room for Hill.

10:16am: We learned yesterday from Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun that the Orioles are close to acquiring pitcher Rich Hill from the Cubs for a player to be named later.  The deal is not done, but it could be completed early this week.  Today Roch Kubatko of MASN adds that the player to be named later the Cubs receive would likely be a "low-level minor leaguer."  The Orioles could add Hill and still sign Braden Looper for additional rotation depth.

Orioles Close To Deal With Cubs For Hill

By | at

9:41pm: Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun has more on the Orioles trading for Cubs pitcher Rich Hill.

The deal would be for a player to be named later, Zrebiec writes, and it could be announced as early as Monday.

Hill will be reunited with pitching coach Rick Kranitz and bullpen coach Alan Dunn, who worked with him in the Cubs’ organization, Zrebiec notes.

Hill is out of options, so he’ll have to make the Orioles’ Opening Day roster or they could lose him. … Hill will be given an opportunity to win a spot in the rotation, which currently has three vacancies behind Jeremy Guthrie and Koji Uehara.

6:12pm: Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun believes the Baltimore Orioles will complete a trade for Cubs left-handed pitcher Rich Hill by Tuesday — if the Orioles will do the deal at all.

Schmuck writes that now other organizations are aware that Hill could be made available, additional teams — including the Royals and Mariners — could make an offer.

Orioles general manager Andy MacPhail might be waiting to see if he can sign free agent right-handed pitcher Braden Looper, Schmuck adds.

They might be willing to acquire both pitchers, but there is the small matter of moving players off the 40-man roster to make room, so maybe Andy is just going to take one or the other.

Hill, 29 in March, is 18-17 in 57 starts with a 4.37 ERA during a short four-season career. He spend much of 2008 in Triple-A.

Looper, 34, went 12-14 in 33 starts with a 4.16 ERA with the St. Louis Cardinals last season.

Perrotto’s Latest: Position Battles, Roberts, Pudge

By | at

John Perrotto’s Every Given Sunday column is up over at Baseball Prospectus. This week, he takes a look at some of the position battles teams will face entering Spring Training. And, as always, there’s some interesting items in his Rumors & Rumblings section. Let’s take a look:

  • Some of the more interesting position battles mentioned: 1B/DH/RF in Oakland (Daric Barton, Jack Cust, Jason Giambi, Aaron Cunningham, and Travis Buck all in the mix), Tampa’s closer if Troy Percival gets hurt or falters (Dan Wheeler, J.P. Howell, Grant Balfour), and the White Sox rotation behind John Danks, Mark Buerhle, and Gavin Floyd (Clayton Richard, Aaron Poreda, Bartolo Colon, Jeff Marquez).
  • Brian Roberts still wants a four-year deal before Spring Training starts up, or he’ll cut off negotiations. Does Roberts make more sense as a cornerstone in Baltimore or as a trade chip?
  • Perrotto feels Tom Glavine will inevitably re-sign with the Braves.
  • The White Sox have minor interest in signing Ivan Rodriguez as a backup for A.J. Pierzynski. I’m sure Pudge would prefer a starting gig, but at this point, it’s tough to be picky.
  • We’ve heard a lot about the Orioles having interest in Rich Hill lately, but Perrotto reminds us that the Mariners are interested in the 28-year-old lefty as well.

Looper A Fit For Baltimore?

By | at

3:35pm: Roch Kubatko chimes in on the Looper rumors: "[W]hile I still expect Braden Looper to sign elsewhere, the Orioles retain serious interest in him."

1:18pm: Peter Schmuck at the Baltimore Sun has a guess at the Orioles’ likely 25-man roster for Opening Day 2009. Most of the names are hard to argue, but one jumps out as an interesting pick. Schmuck thinks the Orioles stand a chance at signing free agent starting pitcher Braden Looper.

Says Schmuck, "I think the likelihood of Braden Looper signing here is maybe 40 percent, but that’s probably more likely than Rich Hill coming over and solving his command problems."

While recent reports have made a Rich Hill-to-Baltimore deal sound more likely than 40 percent, Schmuck is comparing a Looper signing to the combined probability of not only acquiring Hill, but also having him pitch effectively.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Mariners, Young, Shouse

By | at

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports compiles a number of rumors from around the majors:

  • The Mariners need to free up money, but to do so, they’d likely have to trade one of Adrian Beltre, Jarrod Washburn or Miguel Batista. All three will be free agents after the season, but moving one of them would be "extremely difficult."
  • The Mariners and Yankees considered a Hideki Matsui-Washburn swap, but Matsui’s contract ($13MM) pays him more than Washburn’s ($10.35MM) so they didn’t find a match.
  • The Twins are looking to move Delmon Young.
  • They showed interest in Washburn last year, but only some of Rosenthal’s sources believe he and Delmon Young could be the foundation for a larger deal.
  • Rosenthal has a source who says the Yankees are not currently pursuing Juan Cruz. Yesterday, we had a discussion about the rules regarding free agent quotas.
  • The Yanks like their bullpen, but they could try to add an arm if they trade Xavier Nady or Nick Swisher.
  • The Rays are making a strong run at Brian Shouse.
  • The Orioles would not likely have to give up much more than a low-level prospect to deal for Rich Hill.

O’s, Cubs Talking Deal For Rich Hill

By | at

FRIDAY: A small update from Roch Kubatko: nothing is imminent with the Orioles and Hill.  He says not to expect an announcement before next week, if the two teams are to hammer out a deal.

THURSDAY: Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun reports that the Orioles are looking to acquire Cubs lefty Rich Hill.  Hill is out of options, limiting his value.  Zrebiec notes that Hill could benefit from a reunion with Rick Kranitz, his former Triple A pitching coach. 

An industry source told Zrebiec that it’s a "strong possibility" that Hill will end up with the Orioles.  Apparently the Cubs would receive a player to be named later in return, the value of whom would hinge on Hill’s success in Baltimore.  The Mariners have also shown interest, but the O’s are believed to be in the lead at this point.  Hill, 28, walked 18 in 19.2 innings last year before his demotion to the minors.  He had a nice run for the Cubs in 2006-07.

Odds and Ends: Boras, Manny, Heilman

By | at

Links for Friday…

Odds and Ends: Kotsay, Redding

By | at

Links for Thursday…

Stark On Greinke, Manny, Dunn, Swisher

By | at

The latest from ESPN’s Jayson Stark…

  • The Cubs’ ownership situation is not close to the finish line, which is one reason the team won’t be acquiring Jake Peavy anytime soon.
  • One source of Stark’s suggested Zack Greinke nearly left his current agent John Courtright of SFX for Scott Boras, a whisper I’d heard as well.  But now Greinke is happy with his contract and agent.
  • Free agents such as Manny Ramirez and Ivan Rodriguez could reasonably wait until March to sign.  Not a bad thing for this website!
  • Adam Dunn would like Manny to sign earlier, as he’s waiting to see what the Dodgers (his preferred team) do.  The Nationals have been Dunn’s most aggressive suitor, the Orioles have mild interest, and the Braves have backed off.
  • Stark questions the idea of talks for Manny heating up lately, since the Mets, Yankees, and Angels are out and the Giants are only conditionally interested.
  • When Alex Rodriguez was a free agent last winter, Joe Torre advised the Dodgers against signing him.
  • The Phillies would like to move Geoff Jenkins for a right-handed hitting outfielder, but Jenkins is paid too much.  Jay Payton and Emil Brown are not on the Phillies’ radar; they still like Nomar Garciaparra.
  • The Yankees are apparently "softening to the idea of trading Nick Swisher," with the Braves the top suitor.

Orioles Looking At Braden Looper

By | at

According to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun, industry sources say that the Orioles continue to have talks with the representative of Braden Looper.

Orioles president Andy MacPhail isn’t naming Looper specifically, but has said that the team is taking a close look  at the free-agent pitching market.  The Orioles’ rotation still has holes following the acquisition of Koji Uehara, though they have good young talent on the way.

The 34 year-old Looper went 12-14 with a 4.16 ERA with the Cardinals last year.

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