03 December 2012

Orioles Winter Meeting Notes and Rumors: Day 1

So as we get into the evening hours of the first day of the Winter Meetings, the Orioles name has been tossed around in various rumors and news. Tidbits from the first day:

In an interview with MLBNetwork Duquette says that the club cut ties with Reynolds because they calculated his arbitration numbers around 12-14m and that salary number didn't work with the team's financial situation.

Duquette laughs when asked about Josh Hamilton, says that he is a great player who just about won a whole series against the O's early in the year by himself, and says that the team is definitely on the hunt for a middle of the order bat, but if Josh is that guy he wasn't sure. He says that he doesn't know if Josh works with the financial situation of the O's right now.

With Dan Connolly reporting that he has talked to sources indicating the O's have the pieces to pull off a trade for a pretty significant  power hitter now, but need to decide whether to pull the trigger or not, fans have been speculating all day. Kansas City has been rumored to be shopping some of their young hitters to get back some pitching, so people have been trying to link the O's to players such as Billy Butler. Kevin Towers has been said to be looking for a young, long term SS or top of the rotation SP for Justin Upton and Jim Duquette on XM Radio mentioned that he reportedly has two offers already, and ATL is not one of them, with TEX deep in the hunt, the second team is a mystery and some have speculated if it could be Baltimore.

Adam LaRoche has been close on a deal with WAS, with sides haggling over a third year as the reported sticking point. With their acquisition of D. Span, the Nats gained leverage in the negotiations, but teams such as BOS and TEX have been rumored to be in on LaRoche. With the meetings first big signing today, Napoli to BOS for 3/$39 it removed one the suitors, and Baltimore began coming up in speculation. With the team trying to upgrade defense, OBP and 1B production overall this winter, LaRoche would be an upgrade over last season, but the question is would the Orioles be willing to give the 3rd year that WAS has not?

Other players that have been speculated to be targets of varying interest to Baltimore are Willingham from MIN, Soriano from Chicago (which would require money from the Cubs), Morneau from MIN, and Trumbo from ANA, however it's not known if or how available these players are.

The Hot Stove is burning, so check back here and we will try to cover moves, news and rumors especially pertaining to the O's as they develop.

5 comments:

Philip Taggart said...

Angel Pagan has signed with the Giants. Napoli left the Rangers.
Come ON, Dan, better get cracking, or Both the Orioles and my Rangers will be trolling down with the Yanks and Red Sox

So, is there any chance that Reynolds comes back?

Any interest in Ichiro?

Jeremy Strain said...

Lots of pressure on TEX to resign Hamilton now, losing two middle of the order bats will hurt. MIL, and SEA are in it too, at least those are the reports so far.

I think Reynolds is like plan D at this point, they seem to be really in talks with a couple teams as far as a trade goes for a 1B/DH. No names yet, but not a lot out there available, so they get linked to everyone.

I don't think so, haven't heard them mention him and everything I've heard is that Ichiro seems locked in on going back to the Yankees.

It's been really quiet news wise tonight, so I would guess that there are a lot of late night meetings and dinners going on right now. I'd expect much more action tomorrow.

Matt P said...

According to the Kansas City Star, the Orioles tried to make a deal for Butler using Tillman, Matusz, Britton and Arrieta and the Royals weren't impressed with any of them. If this is accurate, the Royals are out. I don't think the Angels are willing to trade Trumbo nor the Twins willing to trade Willingham.

If so, Soriano may be the one guy remaining. If you can't get him, do you try and make a deal for Smoak?

Jeremy Strain said...

I've heard that KC is looking for an established veteran SP, so while I think they had some talks with BAL I think they wanted Hammel more than one of the younger kids we are shopping. Don't think there is a fit there.

I don't really see ANA trading Trumbo either, but I know teams are asking about him because of the position crunch they have going on out there.

I do think the Twins deal Willingham, that is a lot of money to pay him on a team that won't compete, and he's been mentioned a lot as being talked about between clubs, so usually when a guys name pops up that much in the media there is something to it.

Soriano is a possibility if the Cubs are willing to throw a lot of money in, he's got 2 years left on his deal.

I worry that Smoak isn't going to pan out, especially since SEA is also shopping for bats and looking for a 1B, something tells me they don't think he will either.

I think if the O's are trading a young, controllable SP they are looking for more than a one year solution, but that's just a guess. Should hear more today, I expect them to really be busy shopping around.

Matt P said...

The thing about Hammel is whether the Os can sign him long-term. If he has another good year then I'm not sure he signs for 3 and 36. He may be looking for four or five years in that case. If he has a bad year then not trading him for Butler is a mistake.

I worry about Smoak also but I'm sure other teams worry about Arrieta, Matusz and Britton. I think if Smoak can get somewhere else though that he'll figure it out. I'm not saying he'll be a .300/.360/.600 guy but I could see .250/.330/.500 in his future.

If he wasn't a risk... well Hosmer has already failed for one full year and he's still untouchable. Just imagine what Smoak would go for if he had been decent so far...

I suspect that they're going to strike out on all their Plan A options and have to look for Plan B or C. Should be interesting to see what that is.