There has been a great deal of movement over the past week, so we are treated by another edition of Arrivals and Departures.  If you want a quick primer on options, you will find it here.  If you have any further questions, feel free to email me at [email protected].

Transactions since 4/28/2013:

April 28th – C Chris Snyder was acquired from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in exchange for RHP Rob Delaney.  Snyder was assigned to Bowie in what was merely a paper move to allow the team to juggle some players before activating him on the Major League squad.

April 30th – C Chris Snyder’s contract was selected from Bowie and designated C Luis Exposito for assignment.  RHP Zach Clark was recalled from Norfolk with LHP Zach Britton optioned to Norfolk.

May 4th – RHP Freddy Garcia’s contract was selected from Norfolk.  In exchange, RHP Zach Clark was designated for assignment.

As for the aftermath, Luis Exposito passed through without any team claiming him and was sent to Norfolk.  What this means is that every single team in baseball valued their players on their 40 man more than Exposito than to acquire him and then send him to their AAA club.  Anyway, if the Orioles recall him in the future, his option still works for this year.  Zach Clark is still able to be claimed.  He is currently on his first option and looks like someone a team would take a chance on.

Chris Snyder, C

32 yo, B:R / T:R

Year Age Tm PA 2B 3B HR SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+
2004 23 ARI 110 6 0 5 0 0 13 25 .240 .327 .458 97
2005 24 ARI 373 14 0 6 0 1 40 87 .202 .297 .301 56
2006 25 ARI 213 9 0 6 0 0 22 39 .277 .349 .424 94
2007 26 ARI 380 20 0 13 0 1 40 67 .252 .342 .433 94
2008 27 ARI 404 22 1 16 0 0 56 101 .237 .348 .452 103
2009 28 ARI 202 7 0 6 0 0 32 47 .200 .333 .352 78
2010 29 TOT 376 9 0 15 0 0 52 94 .207 .320 .376 86
2011 30 PIT 119 3 0 3 0 1 17 23 .271 .376 .396 118
2012 31 HOU 258 8 0 7 0 0 33 70 .176 .295 .308 65
2013 32 BAL 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .200 .000 -39
10 Yrs 2440 98 1 77 0 3 306 554 .225 .328 .384 85
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/5/2013.

Chris Snyder has operated long under the guise of being an offensive catcher.  He does have a little pop, but that was more present his first few years in the league.  Since 2009 though, he has had issues with power, contact, or both.  This, combined with slightly below average skills behind the plate and you wind up with a veteran playing in AAA without a MLB contract.  You can say that Snyder is no worse than Teagarden, which is largely true.  Both are essentially replacement level players.  Exposito caused concerns because his offensive calling card simply has not shown up and his defense is worse than Teagarden’s or Snyder’s.  For the Orioles to only have to give up a fringe MiL relief pitcher, it was a good move.  You should expect Snyder to be DFA’d upon Teagarden’s return.

Zach Clark, RHP

29 yo, B:R / T:R

Year Age Tm Lev W L ERA G GS IP HR BB SO H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9
2006 22 2 Teams Rk-A- 6 5 2.88 16 15 75.0 1 22 63 9.1 0.1 2.6 7.6
2007 23 3 Teams A-A–A+ 5 5 3.14 18 14 91.2 5 19 58 8.8 0.5 1.9 5.7
2008 24 4 Teams AA-A+-AAA-A 8 8 3.86 32 19 121.1 13 28 55 8.8 1.0 2.1 4.1
2009 25 4 Teams AA-Rk-A+-AAA 2 1 3.35 23 4 48.1 2 13 35 8.9 0.4 2.4 6.5
2010 26 4 Teams A+-AA-AAA-A 3 9 4.29 30 15 115.1 9 28 74 10.1 0.7 2.2 5.8
2011 27 Bowie AA 10 9 5.00 24 23 138.2 11 42 81 10.4 0.7 2.7 5.3
2012 28 2 Teams AA-AAA 15 7 2.79 28 26 167.2 9 54 98 8.1 0.5 2.9 5.3
8 Seasons 50 46 3.71 176 121 783.2 51 213 484 9.2 0.6 2.4 5.6
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/5/2013.

Releasing Zach Clark may have confused some people due to him only having used one option and him being placed on the 40 man roster last fall in place of others to have him so quickly exposed to being picked up by the rest of the league.  Well, Clark is working on his 8th professional year.  Last year’s breakout at Bowie and Norfolk gave him the value that his previous season in Bowie did not.  In other words, he could have become a minor league free agent after 2011 if he chose to do so, but chose to stay.  After 2012, he could have elected for free agency and likely found a few suitors for a AAA position and a long shot attempt at a starting rotation which was something the Orioles would have a difficult time offering.

What I think happened was that the Orioles still wanted him in the mix and put him on the 40 man roster to prevent him from leaving.  That had a need for a pitcher early in the season, recalled him, and then had more important pitchers to move around.  As a 29 year old who has not exactly had an impressive minor league career, his potential departure from the organizational should not be too much of a concern.  Clark certainly is a better pitcher now than he was 8 years ago, but that pitcher is a fringe major league reliever.  If you look at his peripherals from last year, his MiL SIERA was right in line with leagues averages and what he had done the previous season.  League average minor league pitching is something this team has in spades.  Clark may well find a home in time at the MLB level, but it is a situation where he needs to be excellent with his command and control.  There simply is not a lot of margin for error with his package.

Freddy Garcia, RHP

36 yo, B:R / T:R

Year Age Tm W L ERA G GS IP HR BB SO ERA+ H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9
1999 22 SEA 17 8 4.07 33 33 201.1 18 90 170 122 9.2 0.8 4.0 7.6
2000 23 SEA 9 5 3.91 21 20 124.1 16 64 79 117 8.1 1.2 4.6 5.7
2001 24 SEA 18 6 3.05 34 34 238.2 16 69 163 135 7.5 0.6 2.6 6.1
2002 25 SEA 16 10 4.39 34 34 223.2 30 63 181 97 9.1 1.2 2.5 7.3
2003 26 SEA 12 14 4.51 33 33 201.1 31 71 144 95 8.8 1.4 3.2 6.4
2004 27 TOT 13 11 3.81 31 31 210.0 22 64 184 121 8.2 0.9 2.7 7.9
2005 28 CHW 14 8 3.87 33 33 228.0 26 60 146 116 8.9 1.0 2.4 5.8
2006 29 CHW 17 9 4.53 33 33 216.1 32 48 135 105 9.5 1.3 2.0 5.6
2007 30 PHI 1 5 5.90 11 11 58.0 12 19 50 78 11.5 1.9 2.9 7.8
2008 31 DET 1 1 4.20 3 3 15.0 3 6 12 108 6.6 1.8 3.6 7.2
2009 32 CHW 3 4 4.34 9 9 56.0 4 12 37 109 9.0 0.6 1.9 5.9
2010 33 CHW 12 6 4.64 28 28 157.0 23 45 89 92 9.8 1.3 2.6 5.1
2011 34 NYY 12 8 3.62 26 25 146.2 16 45 96 119 9.3 1.0 2.8 5.9
2012 35 NYY 7 6 5.20 30 17 107.1 18 35 89 80 9.4 1.5 2.9 7.5
2013 36 BAL 0 0 2.70 1 1 6.2 1 1 2 163 4.1 1.4 1.4 2.7
15 Yrs 152 101 4.14 360 345 2190.1 268 692 1577 108 8.9 1.1 2.8 6.5
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/5/2013.

Freddy Garcia does not need a lot of description.  His career is pretty well known.  After a pretty shaky year last year (which was more or less a product of bad luck or decrepit Yankees defense), he signed a minor league deal with the Orioles.  The contract had a walk clause of May 1st, but he extended it with the promise of a start with the big league club.  Last night, he flirted with a no hitter before being taken out due to fatigue.  He will likely be in Baltimore for at least another couple starts and should provide something in the neighborhood of league average production.  If he does that, then he could be classified as a No. 4 or 5 starter for a first division team.

For those who remember the beginning of Freddy’s career, he threw a heavy fastball and a plus breaking ball.  Over the years, he has seen his fastball drop from the low 90s to the mid-upper 80s.  He has also becoming more reliant on his slider and split fastball.  Whereas he used to throw his fastball 50% of the time, last year threw it 32% of the time.  He is the epitome of a crafty veteran pitcher.  The Orioles hopes it works.

The updated 40 man roster on 5/5/2013:

Orioles 40 man 05052013

Jon Shepherd
Jon Shepherd

Jon Shepherd founded the Baltimore Orioles blog Camden Depot in 2007. In addition to Baltimore Orioles analysis, the blog also focuses on qualitative and quantitative approaches to assessing baseball in general as well as providing mainstream reviews and commentary on substances alleged to performance enhancing. Dr. Shepherd’s writing has been featured on ESPN, and his blog has been part of the ESPN Sweetspot Network since May 2011. He has made radio and podcast appearances for Orioles’ centered programs.

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