Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Sergio Romo

Marlins Notes: Granderson, Romo, Neidert

By | at

Veteran outfielder Curtis Granderson, in camp with the Marlins on a minor league contract, is expected to break camp with the team, per SiriusXM’s Craig Mish (Twitter link). Granderson has a March 15 opt-out clause in his contract, Mish reports, adding that the Marlins “will add him” to the roster by that point. Granderson, who turns 38 the day after that opt-out provision, split the 2018 season between the Blue Jays and the Brewers and posted a combined .242/.351/.431 batting line with 13 home runs, 22 doubles and a pair of triples in 403 plate appearances. He’ll join some combination of Lewis Brinson, Magneuris Sierra, Austin Dean and Peter O’Brien in the outfield now that Brian Anderson is slated to return to third base. Fellow non-roster options for the Marlins include the likes of Isaac Galloway, Harold Ramirez and Gabriel Guerrero. Prospects Monte Harrison and Victor Victor Mesa, meanwhile, are ticketed for further development in the minors.

Here’s more on the Fish…

  • Miami has yet to determine how veteran righty Sergio Romo will be utilized this season, writes Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. Romo is open to pitching in any role, and the Marlins aren’t closed off to the idea of using an “opener” in front of some of their younger rotation pieces, including Caleb Smith, Pablo Lopez and Trevor Richards, McPherson notes. Romo could also figure into high-leverage spots late in games, although McPherson notes that manager Don Mattingly has suggested the team may not utilize a traditional closer in 2019. The Rays bounced Romo between opening games, closing games and pitching in a setup role last season, and it seems the 36-year-old is in for more of the same this coming year.
  • Right-hander Nick Neidert is likely to open the 2019 season in Triple-A New Orleans, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro writes, but the 22-year-old stands out as a candidate for an early promotion to the Majors this season. Neidert, acquired from the Mariners in the Dee Gordon swap, has yet to even pitch in Triple-A but notched a 3.24 ERA with 9.1 K/9, 1.8 BB/9 and a 45.9 percent ground-ball rate in 152 2/3 innings at the Double-A level last season. Though he doesn’t boast a power fastball, Neidert’s four-pitch mix, strong changeup and excellent control (career 1.7 BB/9 in the minors) help to make up for his lack of velocity. “Nick’s a guy who basically can hit all four quadrants, and he’s got different weapons for different guys,” said Mattingly of Neidert. At present, the Marlins have Jose Urena, Dan Straily, Wei-Yin Chen, Sandy Alcantara, Richards, Smith and Lopez as rotation options to open the season, though Smith is working his way back from surgery to repair a Grade 3 lat tear. Chen, meanwhile, has been clobbered thus far in camp after pitching to a 4.79 ERA in 133 1/3 innings last season. Given the level of uncertainty in the Miami rotation, Neidert (and others) could have ample opportunity to get a look in the Majors with a strong showing early in the year.

Marlins Sign Sergio Romo

By | at

Feb. 15: The Marlins have formally announced the signing. To make room on the 40-man roster, young right-hander Julian Fernandez, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, was placed on the 60-day injured list.

Feb. 12: The Marlins are in agreement on a one-year contract with veteran reliever Sergio Romo, pending a physical, reports Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com (via Twitter). Romo will be guaranteed $2.5MM and can earn additional money on top of that via incentives. Talks between Miami and the veteran righty were reported by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Jon Heyman of MLB Network earlier this afternoon. Romo is represented by Meister Sports.

Sergio Romo | Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Set to turn 36 early next month, Romo will give the Marlins a veteran anchor to pair with younger less-experienced arms such as Drew Steckenrider, Adam Conley and Tayron Guerrero late in games. While he helped the Rays to pioneer the “opener” strategy last season, Romo’s best work with Tampa Bay came in his more familiar role as a reliever and closer. When pitching out of the ’pen for the Rays, Romo turned in a solid 3.88 ERA with 9.8 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 34.3 percent ground-ball rate.

Home runs were somewhat of an issue for Romo, an extreme fly-ball pitcher, as he served them up at an average of 1.47 per nine innings pitched. However, he also maintained a 13 percent swinging-strike rate and generated a swing on a third of the out-of-zone pitches he threw to opponents — both strong marks that create some optimism about his ability to continue missing bats. A move to the National League — specifically to the cavernous Marlins Park — should help to curtail some of the troubles he had with the long ball last year.

While the Marlins could yet leave the ninth inning open for competition between Romo, Steckenrider and Guerrero in camp, it’s fair to call the veteran Romo the favorite to close games in Miami. He tallied 25 saves for Tampa Bay a year ago and has compiled 109 saves across an 11-year Major League career.

If he can once again thrive in a ninth-inning capacity for the Marlins, his tenure with the organization could prove to be a short one. While Romo’s market was oddly tepid in free agency — the Twins and Rangers were reportedly willing to offer him a minor league deal, while the Blue Jays were interested at the MLB level — the demand for affordable bullpen help is always at its greatest leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline. Given that the Marlins are the clear cellar dwellers in a stacked NL East division, Miami seems likely to make Romo available to other clubs in need of relievers this summer.

Marlins Eyeing Veteran Relievers

By | at

The Marlins are on the hunt for a veteran addition to their largely inexperienced bullpen, writes Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. Miami president of baseball operations Michael Hill tells Frisaro plainly that his club is “exploring” the addition of an experienced reliever to help work with younger arms like Drew Steckenrider, Adam Conley and Tayron Guerrero at the back of the Marlins’ bullpen.

The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal tweets that Sergio Romo is among the names the Marlins are considering, which makes for the fourth team tied to Romo in the past two days. (Toronto, Minnesota and Texas were all tied to Romo recently, though the latter two are said to prefer a minor league deal for the veteran righty.) MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that Romo is a “strong possibility” for Miami, noting that while the team has talked to other names, Romo appears to be the team’s focus at present.

Frisaro, meanwhile, lists right-handers Nick Vincent and Adam Warren as possibilities for the Fish, noting that new Marlins pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. is quite familiar with Vincent from the pair’s time together with the Mariners.

There’s a fair bit of uncertainty surrounding the complexion of Miami’s relief corps at present, with few locks to make the big league roster beyond the aforementioned trio of Steckenrider, Conley and Guerrero. Steckenrider was the team’s best reliever in 2018, and while Guerrero had his share of struggles, he boasts a triple-digit fastball and, more importantly, is out of minor league options (as is Conley).

Righty Austin Brice, recently claimed off waivers, is another out-of-options arm who could quite likely factor into the fold. Hill spoke with Frisaro at length about how Brice would give the team a ground-ball-oriented reliever it lacked last season following the trade of Brad Ziegler. However, while Hill termed Brice a “severe sinkerball pitcher,” it’s worth noting that Brice’s 51.2 percent ground-ball rate, while above the league average, is still a ways from elite territory.

In hearing Hill talk about his desire to have a reliever who can get crucial grounders when needed, it’s worth noting that none of Romo, Vincent or Warren is much of a ground-ball pitcher. Warren was earlier in his career but saw his grounder rate dip below 40 percent last season, while Romo and Vincent have been fly-ball arms throughout their careers. That’s not to say that the Marlins couldn’t add one of that bunch, of course; however, if that’s a goal for the Miami front office, then perhaps the addition of someone such as Romo won’t be the last new arm brought into the mix. There are a few other free-agent relievers still on the market, and Spring Training will present further opportunities for the Marlins to add arms of that nature as they become available via waivers or as veteran relievers opt out of minor league deals with other organizations throughout March.

AL Notes: Yanks, Machado, Didi, Romo, Cole

By | at

The Yankees still aren’t pushing the market for Manny Machado, and probably never will, but also shouldn’t be counted out. That’s the word from Andy Martino of SNY.tv, who reports that the New York org is still keeping tabs on Machado in hopes that a golden opportunity will emerge. The Yanks aren’t interested in utilizing him at short, but would instead plan to put Machado at third while pushing Miguel Andujar across the diamond in the even of a signing. Of course, Martino cautions that it still seems unlikely that anything will come together.

  • It’s interesting that the Yankees evidently wouldn’t see Machado as a factor at shortstop. That lends greater credence to the idea that the team really is committed not only to allowing Troy Tulowitzki to take the job there to open the season, but also to paying a big arbitration salary to Didi Gregorius in hopes that he’ll return in relatively short order (and in good form) from Tommy John surgery. As Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports, Gregorius has now begun his throwing program. There’s still a long road ahead, but he seems to be on track to make his anticipated summer return.
  • In addition to the Blue Jays, the Twins and Rangers are looking into signing veteran righty Sergio Romo, per Jon Morosi of MLB.com (via Twitter). The Minnesota and Texas organizations, though, only seem to be considering minor-league offers. (Toronto’s offer level isn’t clear.) It’s a bit surprising to hear of such limited interest in the 35-year-old, who still gets plenty of swings and misses and comes with ample late-inning (and opening) experience.
  • The Astros battled Gerrit Cole in front of an arbitration panel today, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter). Obviously, that indicates that the sides were unable to agree to a last-minute deal. The outcome is expected later this week. As MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker shows, there’s just over $2MM at stake, as Cole is seeking $13.5MM and the club prefers to pay $11.425MM.

AL East Notes: Steinbrenner, Jays, Romo, Rays, Orioles

By | at

After the Yankees worked to get under the luxury tax limit last offseason, many New York fans expected a classic Bronx Bombers spending spree this winter, particularly with Bryce Harper and Manny Machado in the free agent market.  While that type of splurge hasn’t happened, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner rejected criticism that his team hasn’t been willing to spend.  “I mean, we’re well above $200 million [in payroll] — we’re at $220 [million] right now — and we’re well above where we were last year,” Steinbrenner told ESPN News Services and other outlets.  (Roster Resource projects the Yankees’ at a little under $203MM in dollars, though at just over $217MM in terms of luxury tax value.)

“I think we’ve definitely got a better club Opening Day than we did opening day last year, particularly in pitching, which is my biggest area of concern,” Steinbrenner said.  In regards to the argument that the Yankees’ enormous revenues should necessitate a league-high payroll, Steinbrenner also pointed to the team’s high costs, as well as future money that is being earmarked to retain members of its young core.  That said, Steinbrenner also didn’t rule out the possibility of more notable additions: “I’m never done until I’m done, and that’s usually not until Opening Day.  Proposals come to me every day with these guys, between the analytics guys and the pro scouting guys, and I’m going to consider every single one of them.”

Here’s more from around the AL East…

  • The Blue Jays have shown interest in veteran reliever Sergio Romo, Fancred Sports’ Jon Heyman tweeted earlier this week.  Romo is close to signing a new contract, as per Heyman’s earlier reports, though the mystery team may not necessarily be Toronto, as multiple clubs have been engaged in pursuit of the right-hander.  Romo, who turns 36 next month, posted a 4.14 ERA, 3.75 K/BB rate, and 10.0 K/9 over 67 1/3 innings for Tampa Bay last season, which included 25 saves and five “starts” as the Rays’ opener.  It isn’t out of the question that the Jays could also look to deploy Romo as an opener, given the number of young arms in Toronto’s starting mix as well as the veterans (Aaron Sanchez, Marcus Stroman, Clayton Richard, Matt Shoemaker) who carry some injury-related question marks.  It’s probably more likely, however, that the Jays see Romo as an experienced bullpen addition, in the same vein as their signings of Seunghwan Oh, J.P. Howell, and Joe Smith in the last two offseasons.  By that same ilk, Romo could also become a trade chip for Toronto by midseason.
  • The Rays are on the verge of a new TV contract that should be finalized sometime during the 2019 season, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.  The team’s last deal with Fox Sports Sun expired at the end of last season, and the two sides have agreed to “basically…a placeholder deal” for the coming year while the new contract is completed.  Some notable obstacles remain, however, such as the exact length of the deal, as well as bigger-picture issues as the sale of Fox Sports Sun and other regional Fox cable networks, plus how the threat of the Rays leaving the Tampa/St. Petersburg area could impact the contract.  “There still things in flux,” Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg said, though “It’s going to happen. There’s a structure of a deal.”  Exact figures of the new contract aren’t likely to be revealed, though Sternberg estimates the Rays will rank around 20th of the 30 teams in terms of TV revenue — the previous contract paid the Rays around $30MM per season, ranking them near the bottom of the league.  Previous reports indicated that the Rays would earn $82MM per year on the next contract, though Sternberg says the actual total is “well, well, well under” that figure, and some of the expected increase has already gone into player payroll.  “Much of the reason we’ve spent all that we have is because we knew we had some more revenue (coming) off of TV. Unfortunately [the contract is] going to fall reasonably short of what we anticipated four years ago,” Sternberg said.
  • Under GM Mike Elias, the revamped Orioles’ front office has taken a big step towards modern statistical analysis, though some seeds towards this direction were planted last summer before Elias was hired.  As Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun notes, several young pitchers acquired by the O’s last summer were obtained from teams (such as the Dodgers, Braves, and Yankees) that have already embraced analytics, leaving the prospects already well-versed in modern data and eager to learn more.  “I’m big into the new analytics and stuff like that, so I like to see the data that I produce, I guess, with how my pitches play off each other,” said right-hander Dean Kremer, one of the youngsters Baltimore acquired from Los Angeles in the Manny Machado trade in July.

Free Agent Rumors: Romo, Hellickson, Gio

By | at

Veteran reliever Sergio Romo is zeroing in on an agreement with a yet-unreported club, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network. The 35-year-old was said a couple of weeks back to be drawing heightened interest, and it seems he’ll soon make a decision on his next club. Heyman notes that Romo is looking at a one-year deal, which quite likely indicates that he’ll be inking a Major League pact when all is said and done. That much could’ve been largely expected early in free agency, though with Spring Training looming, there do figure to be some surprising minor league deals agreed upon.

Romo helped to pioneer the “opener” role with the Rays last season, making five starts in that still-developing role. He had three successful outings and one ugly showing as an opener but turned in a 3.88 ERA with a 68-to-16 K/BB ratio in 62 2/3 innings as a more conventional reliever. Romo nailed down 25 saves for Tampa Bay and turned in a 13 percent swinging-strike ratio and a 33.1 percent chase rate. He’s never been a hard-thrower but never struggled to miss bats, making him a nice veteran addition on what should be a rather affordable deal.

A few more notes on some free agents who have had a fairly quiet offseason…

  • Jeremy Hellickson and the Nationals are in talks about a potential reunion, tweets Craig Mish of SiriusXM. Hellickson, 32 in April, made 19 starts for Washington last season and was generally effective. In 91 1/3 innings, he averaged 6.4 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 with a career-best 45.9 percent grounder rate en route to a 3.45 ERA. Metrics like FIP (4.22), xFIP (4.27) and SIERA (4.33) all felt Hellickson benefited from a bit of good fortune but was still a useful big league arm. The Nats have one of the strongest rotations in MLB, with Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin and Anibal Sanchez comprising the top four. Joe Ross is projected as the No. 5 and will have competition from former first-rounder Erick Fedde, but both righties still have a minor league option. A big league deal for Hellickson would likely put him into the rotation.
  • The Giants and Athletics are among the teams with some level of interest in free-agent left-hander Gio Gonzalez, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. New Giants president of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi has waited out the market to find palatable one-year contracts with Derek Holland and Drew Pomeranz already, so perhaps there’s a hope that the same can be accomplished with regard to the 33-year-old Gonzalez. San Francisco currently projects to have Madison Bumgarner, Dereck Rodriguez, Holland and Pomeranz in the rotation, with the fifth spot likely going to either Jeff Samardzija or Andrew Suarez, depending on Samardzija’s health after an injury-ruined 2018 season. Ty Blach, Chris Stratton and Tyler Beede are among the other rotation candidates on the 40-man roster. Meanwhile, there’s a clearer path to rotation innings in Gonzalez’s old Oakland stomping grounds. It’s not the first time the A’s have been connected to Gonzalez this winter, but the interest is nonetheless notable, as the last link between the two sides came well before the Athletics’ signing of Marco Estrada.

Ryan Madson, Shawn Kelley, Sergio Romo Generating Interest

By | at

Jan. 24: In addition to Madson and Brach (who, as Passan suggested was likely, found a home earlier today when he agreed to a deal with the Cubs), it seems that both Shawn Kelley and Sergio Romo are likely to find a landing spot in the near future.

MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets that Kelley is choosing among three teams and could make a decision on his 2019 home “soon.” Fancred’s Jon Heyman, too, tweets that Kelley is being “heavily pursued,” as are both Madson and Romo.

Kelley, who’ll turn 35 in April, posted a 2.94 ERA with 9.2 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, 1.29 HR/9 and a 30.2 percent grounder rate in 49 innings between the A’s and the Nats in ’18 — his third sub-3.00 ERA in the past four seasons.

Romo, meanwhile, helped to pioneer the “opener” role with the Rays last season, making five starts in that still-developing role. The 35-year-old (36 in March) had three very successful outings and one quite ugly showing (three earned runs in a third of an inning) as an opener but turned in a 3.88 ERA with a 68-to-16 K/BB ratio in 62 2/3 innings as a more conventional reliever. Romo nailed down 25 saves for Tampa Bay and turned in a 13 percent swinging-strike ratio and a 33.1 percent chase rate.

Read more

Red Sox, Reds Among Teams Interested In Shawn Kelley

By | at

12:20pm: Kelley is drawing interest from roughly 10 teams, including the Reds, per Jon Heyman of Fancred.

11:32am: The Red Sox and free-agent reliever Shawn Kelley “have been in contact,” Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports. Meanwhile, Boston is unlikely to sign either Sergio Romo or Adam Warren in free agency, Cotillo hears.

With Joe Kelly having signed with the Dodgers and Craig Kimbrel currently a free agent, acquiring bullpen help is likely the Red Sox’s top priority at the moment. But president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has suggested the reigning world champions aren’t going to splurge on a reliever, which means their union with Kimbrel could be over. Kelley would represent both a far more affordable but less exciting option, on the other hand, and could give the club a solid late-game arm for a low cost.

While Kelley has experienced some down seasons during his career, the journeyman has typically performed well in recent years. In 2018, which he split between the Nationals and Athletics, Kelley overcame tumbling velocity to post a 2.94 ERA/3.71 FIP and register 9.18 K/9 against 2.02 BB/9 across 49 innings. He did log an unappealing groundball rate (30.2 percent), however, which has been the case throughout his career. Kelley also saw his Nats tenure end unceremoniously when the team designated him for assignment Aug. 1, a day after he allowed a home run and slammed his glove to the ground during a 25-4 loss to the Mets. Upon designating Kelley, general manager Mike Rizzo noted, “If you’re not in, you’re in the way.”

Even though his Washington stint concluded in embarrassing fashion, Kelley was unfazed in Oakland, where he put up tremendous results in a 16 2/3-inning span. The Red Sox will hope for more of that from Kelley if they sign him, though they’re no doubt mindful it would be risky to count on the right-hander. After all, Kelley’s a soon-to-be 35-year-old with a pair of Tommy John surgeries under his belt, and he’s only two seasons removed from recording a hideous 7.27 ERA in 26 frames.

AL East Notes: Bundy, Cobb, Soria, Morton, Rays

By | at

Some rumblings from around the AL East…

  • The Orioles have received some calls about Dylan Bundy and Alex Cobb, the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo reports.  We’ve heard already about some level of trade interest in Cobb, and while this is the first time this winter that Bundy’s name has surfaced in trade rumors, it stands to reason that teams are checking in on every veteran name on Baltimore’s roster as the O’s are entering into a lengthy rebuild.  Bundy would be the most obviously valuable target, as he still has three years of control remaining and has tossed 341 1/3 innings over the last two seasons, after struggling with injuries in the early stages of his career.  Bundy posted a 5.45 ERA last season due in large part to problems (2.1 HR/9) keeping the ball in the park, as his overall peripheral numbers were more solid.  Cobb pitched well in the second half of 2018 after enduring a rough first few months as an Oriole, though one would think the O’s might have to eat some money to accommodate a Cobb trade.  The veteran righty is still owed $43MM over the next three seasons.
  • Before Joakim Soria signed with the Athletics, the Red Sox had interest in the veteran reliever, NBC Sports Boston’s Evan Drellich reports.  Talks between the two sides “never got anywhere concrete,” Drellich writes, and Soria ended up going to Oakland on a two-year, $15MM deal.  Boston has been linked to several relievers this offseason as the team looks to replace Joe Kelly and (potentially) Craig Kimbrel at the back of the bullpen, though president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has thus far held off on making any major additions.  It wouldn’t have been the first time that Dombrowski had acquired Soria; the Tigers traded for Soria in July 2014, back when Dombrowski was Detroit’s general manager.
  • There was a lot of mutual interest between Charlie Morton and the Rays, the right-hander told reporters (including MLB.com’s Richard Justice) after his two-year deal with Tampa Bay was officially announced.  Beyond what the Rays offered on the field and contract-wise, they had the added bonus of proximity to Morton’s offseason home in Bradenton, Florida.  “The thought of being able to play close to home and with such a talented group, a young group, an exciting group, seemed something too good to be true,” Morton said.  “I guess I was looking for a really good situation overall more than a dollar amount, more than a year amount. The quality of the character in the clubhouse, those things are really important to me.”
  • The Rays’ use of the “opener” was one of the major baseball stories of 2018, and MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince details how the strategy not only aided in Tampa’s on-field success, but also how many other teams around the game are considering (or have already deployed) openers of their own.  Of course, the Rays’ own pitchers first had to get used to the idea, and that required the participation of the initial opener, longtime reliever Sergio Romo.  “What if I knew that I wasn’t going to be the only one asked to do this?” Romo said. “What if I understood that part of the reason they asked me first was to maybe get the younger guys to say, ’Hey look, he bought into it. He’s supposed to be the veteran on our team, and he had no problem doing that.’ Yeah, I did see that and understand it. In a sense, I knew I wouldn’t be the only one.”  It would be interesting to see if Romo’s experience as an opener becomes a selling point for the reliever in free agency, as teams planning to use an opener in 2019 could look to Romo to begin games in addition to serving in a more traditional late-game relief role.

AL East Rumors: Rays, Blue Jays, Orioles

By | at

On the heels of a surprisingly strong season, Rays general manager Erik Neander tells Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that the team’s “arrow [is] pointing up” as it looks to the future. Neander plainly suggests that the expectation for the club moving forward with this core will be consistent playoff berths, beginning next season. Tampa Bay, stunningly, has just over $9MM on the books in guaranteed contracts next season, though both Matt Duffy and Tommy Pham will be in line for arbitration raises. Both C.J. Cron and Jesus Sucre will also be arbitration-eligible, but Topkin suggests that Cron, Sucre, Carlos Gomez and Sergio Romo may all have played their last game with the organization. Cron is owed a raise on this year’s $2.3MM salary, while Sucre will see a raise on his own $925K salary. Both Gomez and Romo are free agents.

More from the division…

  • The Blue Jays will have plenty of roster decisions on their hands this offseason, as Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com explores thoroughly. Chisholm reports that “early indications” are that the Blue Jays are seeking a “fresh face” rather than a veteran manager to replace John Gibbons, mentioning former Jays infielder John McDonald, Double-A skipper John Schneider and Cardinals Triple-A skipper Stubby Clapp as possible candidates. Chisholm also calls it “likely” that the Jays will add a veteran starter to the rotation this winter, looks at the future of both Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez with the organization and previews a likely roster crunch in advance of the Rule 5 Draft.
  • There’s still no official word on the status of longtime Orioles manager Buck Showlter, but it’s been reported for weeks that he’s unlikely to return. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com writes that official word on Showalter could come as soon as today, and expectations of his departure have not changed. Kubatko also chatted with Adam Jones following what is quite likely his final game as an Oriole (barring a return late in his career). Jones acknowledged the strangeness he felt in hearing the word “rebuild” in Baltimore, as the only time he’d previously heard it was when he was breaking onto the scene with fellow upstarts Nick Markakis and Chris Tillman. Not that it’s been in doubt, but Jones certainly didn’t speak like someone who anticipated a return to Baltimore. “It’s been a great run here, great tenure here, so hopefully go somewhere and see what the next chapter in my career has for me,” said Jones, who received quite the tribute in his final game at Camden Yards yesterday. Showalter allowed Jones to take the field — center field, at that — alone in the first inning of the game before being removed in the top of the ninth to a roaring ovation from O’s fans (video link via MLB.com).

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

hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top