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 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
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 | G | GS | IP | HR | BB | SO | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
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 | G | GS | IP | HR | BB | SO | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
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:
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.