Since the Chris Davis signing, most of the talk about improving the team has centered around the rotation. While I certainly agree they need to add at least one more starter (not Gallardo), I am also not sure the rotation is our biggest need. Last week, I wrote about Vance Worley and how he can be a viable 5th starter. This week, the Orioles made a minor trade and obtained Despaigne. Now, is this optimal? No, its not. In an ideal world, you get a Latos or Alex Wood and have Worley and Gonzalez fight it out for the 5th spot and put the other in the pen to be your 6th starter/long man option. However, the current situation is better than the corner OF situation IMO.
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The Orioles signed Hyun-Soo Kim earlier in the offseason and while I like the signing and do feel he represents some upside, we really have no idea what he is going to give us. He is probably more likely to flame out than he is to become a viable starting OF option. We also have Nolan Reimold, who was given a guaranteed million-dollar deal to stay here. Now, that has a chance to look like a steal. Reimold is a guy with excellent plate discipline and good power. He also runs the bases well. He could be a big time sleeper with a chance at having an 800+ OPS season. That being said, there is no way you should enter any season counting on Reimold. His injury issues are well documented. He hasn’t been able to stay healthy and show you that he can be relied on for 450+ at bats.
The Orioles also added Joey Rickard in the rule 5. BSL O’s analyst, Zach Spedden, wrote about him and talked about his potential of making the roster. He has some upside and he could bring the Os some much needed OBP but still, we are talking about a soon to be 25 y/o who showed little power in the minors. He isn’t someone you want to rely on even if he could be a decent piece coming off the bench.
Jimmy Paredes has shown some things with the bat but not consistently and he can’t catch a cold, much less a baseball. Dariel Alvarez and Henry Urrutia also shouldn’t even be considered options if you are actually trying to contend.
So, where does the team go? One alternative is to put Davis in RF and sign Pedro Alvarez to DH, thus moving Trumbo, who is a poor OFer as well, to first, where he projects to have his most value.
They could also sign one of existing OF options, led by Dexter Fowler.Fowler is coming off his best season. He was worth over 3 wins last year. But, there are a few issues with him. First of all, he costs us our draft pick. Secondly, he will be costly in terms of dollars. And lastly, he has been a CFer his whole career and, according to UZR, he hasn’t been a good one. Can he play a CO spot? Does he have the arm to play in RF? He is also about to turn 30, so you have to start worrying about decline in his skills as well.
The team could go out and trade for Andre Ethier. You would figure the Dodgers would love to get rid of his contract. He is due to receive 38 million over the next 2 seasons (including the buyout for 2018) and is essentially a platoon player. His OPS vs. lefties doesn’t get too far into the 600s, at least over the last several years. But, he is excellent vs. righties and, like Fowler, brings good plate discipline and a good OBP to the team. If the Dodgers eat a lot of his deal and you don’t to trade much to get him, he makes a lot of sense.
There has been talk that Jay Bruce could be available. The Reds are as far away from contention as almost any team in baseball and getting the salary down and adding as many prospects as they can is a smart idea. Bruce has a reasonable contract and even though he hasn’t been great the last few years, he does represent upside and could be a good target if you can get him cheap enough.
The rest of the list of FA OFers still unsigned is highlighted by guys like Austin Jackson, Matt Joyce, Marlon Byrd and Alex Rios, to name a few. No one there is really that inspiring but you can make a case for signing 1 or 2 of these guys, especially if you can get any of them on non guaranteed contracts.
At this point, the Orioles need to better in the OF. DJ Stewart, their first round pick from last year, was a disaster in his initial months as a pro. Who knows how good he will or won’t be yet but if an advanced college bat can’t show a lot of progression this year, he may be done as any kind of viable long-term option. The OF was ignored too much earlier in the offseason and now, it’s been overlooked more than it should IMO. If the Orioles want to sell this fan base on the team trying to be legit contenders, you cannot go into the season with the OF situation as it currently is.
Rob has interviewed guests from outlets such as ESPN, Sports Illustrated, NBC Sports, CBS Sports, FOX Sports, Baseball Prospectus, Athlon, Sporting News, MLB Network, Brooks Baseball, Baseball Info Solutions, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Sports on Earth, Grantland, NFL Network, FanGraphs, Football Outsiders, ProFootballFocus, etc. etc. The Baltimore native lives in Perry Hall with his Wife Lindsay, and two young sons. He has appeared as a guest on 105.7 The Fan, Q1370, and WNST 1570. Co-Host of The Warehouse: https://anchor.fm/the-warehouse Co-Host of Sports Tonight: https://anchor.fm/sports-tonight