The Baltimore Orioles, in the midst of a major teardown-and-rebuild of a team that lost 115 games last year, did not do very much at the winter meetings in Las Vegas, but truthfully, that was not a huge surprise.
Full Forbes coverage: what all 30 teams did at the MLB winter meetings.
The Orioles made some small deals that could help their infield and, if the various media reports are true, are close to naming Cubs bench coach Brandon Hyde as their next manager.
Orioles’ Winter Meetings Moves:
- Picked up infielder Rio Ruiz off waivers from the Atlanta Braves.
- Picked shortstop Richie Martin from the Oakland A’s in the Rule 5 draft on Thursday. That was the first selection in the entire draft.
- Acquired Rule 5 pick Drew Jackson (infielder) from the Phillies in exchange for international signing bonus slot money.
- Picked RHP Taylor Grover from the Reds in the Triple-A part of the Rule 5 draft.
Analysis: The Orioles did not do anything major involving baseball in Vegas. Baltimore still does not even officially have a manager as new GM Mike Elias is working to assemble his staff and put everything in place for the rebuild.
The pickups of Ruiz, Martin and Jackson will help the Orioles slowly begin to get players at the major league level while coming up with that minor league pipeline that Elias has spoken of.
Ruiz is a 24-year-old third baseman whom Elias knows: Houston took him in the fourth round of the 2012 draft. The Astros traded him to the Braves three years ago, and he’s gotten some chances at the major league level but has not hit well, posting a .189 average through 72 games over the last three seasons.
He’s mainly a third baseman with a good glove but can play the other corner spots (infield and outfield), and the Orioles could use him in different ways.
As for Martin, the soon-to-be 24-year-old has not played above Double-A. He is also a good fielder and hit .300 at Midland in Double-A last season, finishing with 25 steals in 118 games.
The Orioles could use him in a few roles if he can make the jump to the majors and stick there. Elias already said he sees Jonathan Villar as the daily shortstop, but if the team thinks Martin is good enough, the Orioles could move the veteran to second and put Martin at short. Jackson can play different infield spots, too, as he did in the Dodgers' system before the Phillies picked him in this draft and traded him to Baltimore.
With Rule 5 picks, teams pay $100,000 to select a player in the major league part of the draft. If the player does not remain on the new team’s 25-man roster for the entire season, he has to be offered back to the previous team for $50,000, according to MLB.com.
These players will be paid at the low end of the payroll structure, which is something the Orioles probably want at the moment.
As for Grover, he's thrown 100 miles per hour in independent baseball, so maybe he could help Baltimore down the line.
Off-Season Outlook: Things will start moving faster for Baltimore if it officially names Hyde as the manager in the next few days, as many expect. That will give the Orioles people in their top positions, and they can really start building both for 2019 and for the future.
Hyde has not had any managerial experience in the major leagues and was the bench coach with the Chicago Cubs last season. So if this move does indeed happen, more will come out about Hyde in the coming days.
The pickups of Ruiz, Martin and Jackson show the Orioles are trying to obtain players with strong defense and some versatility. The team should be better up the middle already, and first baseman Chris Davis is solid in the field. Jackson could help in the infield and outfield.
At the meetings, the Orioles sat down with Davis’ agent, Scott Boras. Both sides were focused on what to do to help Davis rebound from his poor 2018 season.
He batted .168, the worst-ever mark for a hitter who had enough at-bats to be eligible for the batting title, according to the Orioles’ website.
If Davis can get somewhere near the form he’s shown in the past, even just in terms of homers and RBIs, that would give the Orioles a huge lift. This is not going to be a team that waits for three-run homers any more, but the Orioles will certainly be able to use them and badly need better production from Davis.
The Orioles also have to make some decisions about the outfield. It looks less and less likely that the team is going to bring back veteran Adam Jones, so that hole needs to be filled. There are also pitching issues, especially with the starters, so will the Orioles use any of their good pitchers, like Dylan Bundy or Alex Cobb, to make deals? Only time will tell on this, and much of this should begin after the meetings — when the new skipper is in place.
