Report: Orioles “Certainly Would” Trade Andrew Cashner
Orioles general manager Mike Elias suggested in late June it would be difficult for the starter-starved club to part with either Dylan Bundy or Andrew Cashner prior to the July 31 trade deadline. However, at least in Cashner’s case, Baltimore “certainly would” part with the right-hander, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Elias has been “checking the Cashner market for quite a while,” Kubatko adds.
The Orioles obviously haven’t found a taker for Cashner yet, though he has upped his value with a resurgent year. After Cashner’s disastrous 2018, his first season as an Oriole, it would have been difficult to envision him emerging as a trade chip this summer. But the 32-year-old has come out of the gates this season with a 3.83 ERA/4.26 FIP, 6.17 K/9 against 2.71 BB/9, and a 49.2 percent groundball rate in 96 1/3 innings. Cashner turned in his fifth consecutive quality start Saturday, throwing seven innings of one-run ball in Toronto.
Cashner’s success in 2019 has come thanks in part to an ability to stymie opposite-handed hitters, whom he has limited to a paltry .229 weighted on-base average. At the same time, Cashner has held enemy lineups to a .273 wOBA the first time through the order, a .311 mark the second time and a .312 figure the third time. Cashner’s better output has come with an increase in velocity. He averaged 92.4 mph on his fastball a year ago, but the number has revisited its 93.5 mph mean from 2017 – a season in which he defied uninspiring peripherals to post a 3.40 ERA with the Rangers. He landed a two-year, $16MM deal from the O’s the next winter as a result.
Cashner’s on track to reach free agency again during the upcoming offseason, and he is owed approximately $3.7MM of his current $8MM salary in the meantime. Considering Cashner is not a major difference-maker at this stage of his career, Baltimore might have to eat some of his remaining money to augment his trade value in the next few weeks. If Cashner keeps pitching well until then, though, he may indeed end the season with a playoff contender.
Orioles Claim Aaron Brooks, Designate Josh Lucas
The Orioles have claimed righty Aaron Brooks off waivers from Oakland and designated right-hander Josh Lucas for assignment, the team reports.
Brooks, 29, appeared in 15 games for the A’s this season, starting six. He was mostly rocked over that span, pitching to a 5.01 ERA/5.67 FIP with a chilling 12 homers allowed in just 50 1/3 IP. The former Royal, Cub, and Brewer farmhand’s had major difficulty keeping the ball in the yard throughout his nine-year big-league career, so he wouldn’t figure to be a choice fit for Baltimore’s cozy Camden Yards dimensions.
Lucas, 28 and coincidentally a member of the A’s last season, was hit hard in nine appearances for Baltimore this season. The righty’s average fastball checked in at just 90.1 MPH for the club this year, well below the 93.5 MLB reliever average.
It’s the latest in a near-constant reshuffling of the Oriole pitching staff this season, yet again a sore spot for the club on its second consecutive #1 pick trajectory. Only John Means and Andrew Cashner have offered any solace in the rotation, with 23 bullpen members combining to post a league-high 1.89 HR/9.
Orioles’ Josh Rogers Undergoes Tommy John Surgery
Orioles left-hander Josh Rogers underwent his second Tommy John surgery today, manager Brandon Hyde announced to reporters (Twitter links via Joe Trezza of MLB.com). He’ll miss the remainder of the 2019 season and, in all likelihood, the bulk of the 2020 campaign as well. Rogers also underwent Tommy John surgery in high school back in 2013.
Rogers, 24, came to the Orioles as part of the trade that sent Zack Britton to the division-rival Yankees prior to last year’s non-waiver trade deadline. At the time, he looked like a near-MLB-ready arm that could occupy a spot at the back of the rotation or in the bullpen. Last year saw Rogers pitch to a combined 3.54 ERA in 139 2/3 innings between the Triple-A affiliates for the two organizations. Given his proximity to the Majors, he was viewed as a candidate to log a fair share of innings for the Orioles in the first full season of their rebuild.
However, Rogers has struggled immensely both in the Majors and in Triple-A this season, logging an ERA north of 8.00 in a combined 69 1/3 innings. It’s certainly possible that issues in his elbow contributed to his poor results in 2019, though. While he’s not considered a premium prospect, Rogers ranked 28th among Baltimore farmhands heading into the season, according to Baseball America, who tabbed him as a potential fifth starter. For an Orioles club that is desperately thin on arms behind John Means, Andrew Cashner and Dylan Bundy, that would’ve been a most welcome outcome. Rogers is the second pitching prospect acquired in last summer’s fire sale to undergo Tommy John surgery this year, joining fellow righty Zach Pop, whom the Orioles acquired as part of their return for Manny Machado.
Instead, the Orioles have looked to a pair of minor trades to try to help stop the bleeding in the final two spots of the rotation. Baltimore acquired right-hander Tom Eshelman from the Phillies in exchange for international bonus money last month and acquired righty Asher Wojciechowski from the Indians in exchange for cash on Monday this week. Eshelman made his big league debut Monday, and the well-traveled Wojciechowski followed him in the rotation last night. There will likely be plenty of fluctuation in the composition of the team’s rotation between now and season’s end, but Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets that the out-of-options Wojciechowski will remain in the starting five for now.
The Orioles Are Officially In The Game In Latin America
Every team in baseball — except the all-but-banned Braves — splashed money around yesterday with the official onset of the 2019-20 international amateur market. That statement is unremarkable in general, but it’s significant for an Orioles franchise that has largely watched from the sidelines in recent years in Latin America.
The rest of the industry has dropped over $150MM annually on youthful, unproven, uber-talented ballplayers from North America’s neighbors to the south. Meanwhile, the Baltimore organization has typically traded away its allotted international spending capacity to its rivals in exchange for generally less interesting but more advanced prospects.
It has been known for some time that the new Baltimore regime, led by GM Mike Elias, would be reentering the Latin American market. But it’s notable nevertheless to see the club finally do so with gusto, particularly since its initial efforts in the prior signing period didn’t shake out quite as hoped.
Baltimore didn’t chase after the biggest names of this year’s class, many of whom had long since agreed to big bonuses with other clubs that possess much-more-established scouting and developmental networks. The three players highlighted in the club’s press release — outfielder Luis Gonzalez, lefty Luis Ortiz, and shortstop Leonel Sanchez — were note cited as elite prospects by Baseball America (scouting links), MLB.com, or Fangraphs. Gonzalez and Ortiz each received sub-$500K bonuses, per MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez, on Twitter.
Instead, the O’s went for volume, inking 27 new players yesterday alone — most from the Dominican Republic, but also including eight Venezuelans and one apiece from Aruba, the Bahamas, and Colombia. As Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper points out on Twitter, that haul handily exceeded the team’s total international signings in each of the past five years.
In their announcement, the O’s made clear this is just the tip of the iceberg. In a prepared statement, Elias said:
“This July 2 is a big day for our franchise. These young players from all parts of Latin America will bolster our burgeoning farm system and jumpstart the continual flow of talent we are building. Today is only the beginning of our efforts, as we will continue to sign more players throughout the 2019-20 signing period. Our International Scouting staff has already begun laying the groundwork for future classes.”
That international scouting staff is led by Koby Perez, who is now introducing his first class just six months after taking the helm. He chatted recently with Dan Connolly of The Athletic (subscription link), explaining that he’s overseeing a “smaller staff” than he has been involved with in other clubs. While Perez didn’t have much time to lay groundwork, he notes that he and Elias already had quite a lot of knowledge about this year’s class. The group “just got right to work with trying to make the best decisions” this year, jumping on uncommitted players they had their eyes on along with “some late bloomers.”
While the Orioles didn’t secure any “big fish,” Perez says that approach could be available in the future. The club anticipates signing more than ten players to $100K+ bonuses — as note above, a reflection of the reality of the timing of the O’s entry onto the market. Perez says the organization has also held some of its spending availability in reserve, with something in the realm of thirty to forty percent of the $6,481,200 initial bonus pool still left to utilize on “some players that may or may not come out later, and also for the late bloomers.” There’s plenty more insight available in the interview, which is essential reading for O’s fans and close followers of the international market.
Plenty of work remains for the Baltimore organization. Getting into the Latin American amateur market hardly ensures success; making efficient use of it will require further investment in facilities and human resources. But even as they work to develop a sound, long-term decisionmaking process, the Orioles have already opened a valuable new talent pipeline.
Orioles Select Asher Wojciechowski, Designate Matt Wotherspoon
The Orioles announced today that they have selected the contract of just-acquired hurler Asher Wojciechowski. He’ll take the roster spot of fellow right-hander Matt Wotherspoon, who was designated for assignment.
In other roster machinations, the Baltimore organization reinstated righty reliever Josh Lucas from the 10-day injured list. To create space, the team optioned Tom Eshelman, who took a spot start for the club yesterday.
The O’s had selected Wotherspoon to the roster in late June, but he was tagged for eight earned in just 4 2/3 innings over two appearances. He’s through 34 1/3 innings of 4.93 ERA ball at Triple-A, where he carries 10.8 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9.
Orioles Acquire Asher Wojciechowski
The Orioles have acquired right-hander Asher Wojciechowski from the Indians in exchange for cash, per announcements from both teams. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Norfolk for the time being, although the O’s are listing a TBD for tomorrow night’s game, which would align with Wojciechowski’s schedule. He last started for Cleveland’s Triple-A club on June 26. MLB.com’s Joqe Trezza tweets that Dylan Bundy had been slated to pitch tomorrow night, and no reason has been given as to his apparent scratch from that start.
Wojciechowski, 30, has pitched to a 3.61 ERA with 8.7 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 in 84 2/3 innings of Triple-A ball so far in 2019. Like many other pitchers in Triple-A this season, he’s been exceptionally home-run prone after the league switched the baseball. Wojciechowski has averaged two long balls per nine innings pitched, prompting fielding-independent metrics like FIP (5.80) and xFIP (5.50) to paint an uglier picture. It should be noted that homers have been a longstanding issue for Wojciechowski, but he’s never struggled with them to this extent in the minors.
Wojciechowski isn’t a stranger to the big leagues, having pitched 78 2/3 innings in the Majors between the Astros in 2015 and the Reds in 2017. Like recently acquired Tom Eshelman, who’ll start tonight for the O’s, Wojciechowski is something of a familiar face for Baltimore GM Mike Elias, whose time in the Houston front office overlapped with Wojciechowski’s four years in the Astros organization. The 6’4″ righty has yet to find much big league success (6.44 ERA), but he’s averaged better than a strikeout per inning in the Majors. In 635 career innings of Triple-A ball, Wojciechowski has a 4.27 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9.
Orioles Select Tom Eshelman
The Orioles announced Monday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Tom Eshelman from Triple-A Norfolk. Lefty Josh Rogers, who is sidelined with a UCL injury, was transferred to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster. The Orioles have listed Eshelman as their probable starter tonight.
Baltimore acquired the 25-year-old Eshelman from the Phillies back on June 10 in exchange for international bonus allocations that the Phils used to sign Australian pitching prospect Josh Gessner. In 20 innings since being acquired by Baltimore, Eshelman has a 4.05 ERA with 11 strikeouts and six walks. Eshelman was originally drafted by the Astros when Mike Elias, now the Orioles’ general manager, was the scouting director in Houston. In all, the righty has pitched to a 4.46 ERA with 7.2 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9 in 74 2/3 minor league innings this season.
The Orioles have gotten disastrous results out of the final two spots in their rotation this season, with each of Dan Straily, Davis Hess and Alex Cobb throwing poorly in their time with the club. All-Star John Means and righties Andrew Cashner and Dylan Bundy have ranged from surprisingly excellent (Means) to generally serviceable (Bundy), but there are questions beyond that trio. Given the uncertain state of the rotation, Eshelman would seem to have a chance to carve out a long-term spot for himself if he can impress his new organization.
Orioles Option Tanner Scott
Following today’s game, the Orioles have optioned left-handed pitcher Tanner Scott to Triple-A, reports Roch Kubatko of MASN on Twitter. Presumably, the move opens a roster spot for the club to add a starter for tomorrow night’s game, though specifics are not yet known.
Scott, just 24 years old, has functioned in a bullpen role for the Orioles this season. In his young career, the southpaw has displayed flashy strikeout stuff, notching 96 K’s in just 66 1/3 innings of work, good for a 13.0 average per nine innings. That’s the carrying tool for a youngster who profiles as a pure relief arm with potential to grow into a high-leverage role for the O’s, though he’s yet to actualize that potential: despite the high strikeout numbers, Scott has managed just a 5.56 ERA in his career, which has spanned parts of three seasons.
Though the corresponding move has not been officially announced, Kubatko additionally suggests (via Twitter) that Tom Eshelman could be the one to get the call for tomorrow night’s series opener against the Rays. Notably, though, Eshelman is not on the Orioles’ 40-man roster, meaning that an additional move would be required to clear a spot for him on the 40-man.
Minor MLB Transactions: 6/28/19
Friday’s minor moves from around baseball…
- The Reds have released right-hander Nick Travieso, per Doug Gray of RedsMinorLeagues.com. This ends a long Reds tenure for Travieso, who had been a member of the organization since it selected him 14th overall in the 2012 draft. As Gray explains, though, the 25-year-old Travieso’s velocity hasn’t returned to previous levels since shoulder issues kept him out of action from the end of the 2016 campaign until earlier this season. Travieso threw just three innings in rookie ball this year before the Reds said goodbye to him.
- Orioles lefty Sean Gilmartin has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk, the team announced. The Orioles designated Gilmartin for assignment Tuesday after he gave up five earned runs in 2 1/3 innings during his lone major league start of 2019. The 29-year-old has been far better this season in Norfolk, where he has pitched to a 2.48 ERA/2.83 FIP with 9.91 K/9, 2.72 BB/9 and a 47.9 percent groundball rate in 36 1/3 innings and 17 appearances (two starts).
Orioles’ Josh Rogers Getting Second Opinion On UCL Injury
The Orioles received some grim news regarding left-hander Josh Rogers, as an MRI revealed structural damage in his left ulnar collateral ligament, Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun writes. Rogers will seek a second opinion from Dr. Keith Meister, but Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com writes that Rogers is expected to require Tommy John surgery. Rogers explained that he felt “something different” in his elbow when exiting a recent start and acknowledged that the “level of concern for everybody is pretty high.”
If Rogers does ultimately go under the knife, it’ll be his second Tommy John surgery. He also underwent the procedure during his senior year of high school before recovering to enjoy a solid two seasons at Louisville. The Yankees selected Rogers in the 11th round of the 2015 draft and traded him to Baltimore last year in the Zack Britton swap.
Rogers would be the second upper-level arm acquired by the Orioles last summer to require Tommy John surgery this season. Right-hander Zach Pop, acquired from the Dodgers in the Manny Machado deal, underwent Tommy John surgery last month after pitching just 10 2/3 frames of Double-A ball this season.
The 24-year-old Rogers hasn’t pitched well in the Majors or in Triple-A this season, although it’s certainly possible that the state of his elbow impacted his results. He’s pitched to an ERA north of 8.00 in 55 Triple-A frames and in 14 1/3 MLB innings as well. That’s a vast departure from last season, when he tossed a combined 139 2/3 innings of 3.54 ERA ball between the Triple-A affiliates of the Yankees and the Orioles. While he’s not considered a premium prospect, Rogers ranked 28th among Baltimore farmhands heading into the season, according to Baseball America, who tabbed him as a potential fifth starter.
Even a serviceable fifth starter would be a welcome sight for the O’s, who haven’t received competitive outings from the final two spots of their rotation all season. David Hess is third on the team in games started but carries a 7.36 ERA. The trio of Gabriel Ynoa, the out-for-the-season Alex Cobb and the recently outrighted Dan Straily have combined for 17 starts but yielded 68 runs in 73 1/3 innings. Rogers was expected to be a rotation option in Baltimore this season but would be a non-factor until the second half of the 2020 campaign, at the earliest, if he requires surgery.