The Orioles are shopping right-handed reliever Kevin Gregg and corner infielder Mark Reynolds, Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com tweets. Both players are under contract for 2012 with club options for 2013.
Gregg, 33, posted a 4.37 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 6.0 BB/9 in 59 2/3 innings of work last year, his first season in Baltimore. He'll earn $5.8MM in 2012 and his contract includes a $6MM club option for 2013. I'd be surprised if a team took on more than $2MM of his salary in a trade.
Reynolds, 28, hit 37 homers and posted a .221/.323/.483 line last year, while playing first and third base. He led the league in strikeouts for the fourth consecutive season, striking out in approximately one third of his 620 plate appearances. He'll earn $7.5MM in 2012 and his contract includes a $11MM club option for 2013 ($500K buyout).
If Reynolds gets dealt, I wonder how much salary the O’s would eat up. The power is there, but the K’s low OBP are there too. And there is no way whatever club gets him, or even if he stays with the O’s, that the club option for him will be picked up.
I will be livid if the O’s trade him and get less back than David Hernandez.
We gave up a potential shutdown closer with a ton of team control. Not to mention Reynolds played better last year than he had when we traded for him.
And Jeff goes livid in 5, 4, 3, 2…
A career obp of .331 isn’t too low when you consider the 35+ jacks Reynolds hits every year. His approach (and defense) may not work for bottom-feeders like the O’s but there is definitely some value in Reynolds’ offensive game. He’s 28 and two years removed from a 44hr-24sb season. I’d take him over Carlos Pena or Adam Dunn any day.
I was more so referring to last year’s OBP of .323, not career.
Based on contracts, I’d certainly without hesitation take him over Dunn, but I would take Pena before Reynolds.
His OBP is low, but his walk rate is fantastic. If he could only make more contact, he would be an incredible hitter. But then he wouldn’t be Mark Reynolds. Plus his glovework is still a disaster.
So Betemit can start at 3B? Or Davis back to 3B and Nick Johnson can start at 1B? Is there more to this that I’m not seeing (since I’m not a huge Orioles follower)?
If Reynolds gets moved, I would guess that Betemit and Rule 5 pick Ryan Flaherty would split time at third.
Davis is the O’s first baseman until he proves otherwise and if Nick Johnson is healthy enough to play this year, there’s no reason to wreck that by throwing him in the field.
Reynolds to the Rockies!!!!!
That sounds reasonable. Throw in Gregg too. What the Rockies would do is send Esmil Rogers, Chris Nelson and EYJ and expect the O’s to pick up almost the entire salary of both Gregg and Reynolds.
If were all gonna shop around our garbage, i’ve got a 2001 red cavalier with 350 000 miles and a rattle in the engine.
would you take Zito for it?
Nah, my car can still perform
I can’t believe someone referred to performance when discussing a cavalier
When comparing to Zito, my nephew’s tricycle can out perform
12% BB% and .262 .ISO seem legit to me, if only he could fake it at some position. I would trade a living body and take 98% of his money to Seattle if Montero could catch so Reynolds could DH
You are going to need to give up value to get him not a living body
Unfortunately, Smoak and Figgins are clogging up the corners. But the M’s would get more run production out of Reynolds than those two combined.
We’ll take Smoak for him haha
agreed lol
The heavy duty hitting would be great but now you’d have two positions with less than solid fielding situations…I wonder how the Seattle pitching staff would feel about a poor defensive catcher and a poor defensive 3rd basemen?
Unless they can get a starter for Reynolds, I’d rather hold onto him. He might have bad defense but he still led all 3B in homers last year.
That was before Lawrie played an entire season
Really? I’d be very surprised if Lawrie is even within 5 or 10 of Reynolds in HR.
Mark Reynolds didn’t lead the league in strike outs last year. That would be Drew Stubbs with 205.
When they say that they usually are referring to AL or NL. Stubbs is in the NL, Reynolds is in the AL. Now if they said “lead the majors” it would have been different.
Except the language here is different because of how it was stated as “He led the league in strikeouts for the fourth consecutive season”. “The” implies something specific and individual, which doesn’t make sense considering Reynolds did it in two different leagues. How it wasn’t specified either that it was done in two leagues leads me to believe that this was a mistake by BNS (which I won’t dwell on, it happens). Whatever. Semantics schemantics.
If you take a quick glance at Reynolds BR page it’s easy to see how the mistake could happen.
And I acknowledged that. I was just pointing it out.
“The” league being the better one, the AL.
Won’t argue your point, its valid. I just know when I hear someone say “the league” they usually refer to whichever league they were in at the time.
That might not matter or might be blurred more when teams play a number of interleague games next season due to the Astros move…
Except Drew Stubbs plays in the NL, that other league…
Yes, but he has been at the top of the major’s list for the last 3-4 seasons now.
This is purely speculation, but I suspect the Orioles are hoping the Phillies bite on Reynolds. With the uncertainty regarding Ryan Howard and the need for a power bat, I’m sure the O’s would love to move that salary.
-wtk
I am curious as to how Danny Knobler of CBS Sports obtained this information.
Kevin Gregg has hardly been used this spring so I am not really surprised that he’s on the block. However, Mark Reynolds is on the same boat as Gregg why?
He’s done everything that has been asked of him. I know he strikes out a lot, but he’s a likeable and quite frankly I like him. So I am wondered what got the ball rolling on this?
Yeah I’d be ok trading Gregg for Hafner with money thrown in to even it out.
But Keep Reynolds and try not batting him 7th or 8th. He might drive in 100+ with 40+HR.
For years they were bitching the didn’t have a 30+ HR hitter for the middle of the line up. They get a guy like Reynolds and worry about 2 of the least important numbers B.Ave and K’s. I’ll take a K over a GIDP any day.
Easy, the same reason why the Orioles do everything. Money.
Mark is due $7.5 million this year and then has an option for $11 million in 2013 or a $500,000 buyout. Either way he’s not with the Orioles in 2013, at least not for his option price.
They traded their most dependable and probably their best pitcher for a guy who has a 5.00 ERA in the NL West and yet another failed closer in Hammel and Lindstrom. Why? Because he wanted some money in arbitration. He took less to go to Colorado because they actually look like they have a chance of winning, unlike the Orioles.
Careful Lefty. It is dangerous to become attached to favorites like this. They cannot count on him when the team improves, his glove is poor, OBP poor/well below what one would want from the hot corner. His RBI (if one looks at those) look respectable, then you deduct his 37HR from the 86 total and find only 49.. The guy just isn’t productive and those 196K just stick out like a sore..Thumb.. it hurts in a really rotten way and him making 7m.
Sure, he’s worth more than Blanton, vernon Wells, Zito, Soriano contracts. Maybe a few others,but trade value? I just don’t see it.
reynolds to the A’s for barton
i think his salary is too high… i say let sogard play, the kid has proven himself as far as i’m concerned.
5mil? That isnt to much with his potential. They would be fools to trade him because they cant find power hitter to play in Baltimore for that type of money, the defense was bad, but it was worse than his average, so there room to get better. Ks can be coached to get less. .250/.350/.500 with 35hr 90 RBI 20 SB 20 Es from a 3B is hard to find
Barton is coming back from surgery and doing better. reynolds is a salary dump. More like Micheal taylor to the O’s for Reynolds and 6 million.
barton is on the dl, he can’t be traded
Trading Gregg would be to good of a dream so I’m not holding my breath
Now if we could get an ok return Reynolds that would be something to think about. Nick Johnson has looked good thus far so he can take first. And its time for Chris Davis to sink or swim so give him his 500abs and third base and see what happens.
Unfortunately, Nick Johnson is made of glass. My guess is he’ll be out for the year before the calendar hits May.
Must…resist…urge…to…make…joke…about…glass..Johnson
Agree that shopping Gregg is a good idea. However, Reynolds is an exciting player to watch for me as an O’s fan b/c as bad as this team has been, at least Reynolds can bang a few loud ones out against cocky teams like the Yankees & Red Sox. Shop Chris Davis or Wilson Betemit instead of Mark plz. Just doesn’t make sense getting rid of one of our very few Run producers.
He’s also one of the few guys who might bring back a useful player or two for the rebuilding effort. He’s almost certainly gone after this year, so if they can trade him now, all the better.
Sounds like another Angelos mandated salary dump re: trading Reynolds. Would someone please find a grassy knoll to hide behind outside of Camden Yards and take this guy out???
He is the only legit power guy on this team which helps Jones and Markakis see better pitches. It’s his 2nd year in the AL, I’m willing to bet he has 40 HRs and 190 K’s this year.
Lineup protection doesn’t exist…
Really? Ask Jason Bay, Ichiro, Evan Longoria, Hunter Pence (OPS Jumped 125 points from Hou to Phi), Beltre (Nothing in Sea to All Star in Bos and Tex)
yea, what we should do is ask 5 people
lol ichiro?? serious dude?
Great, another Angelos mandated salary dump. Reynolds is in his 2nd year in the AL, I’m willing to bet he is good for 40 HRs and 90+ RBIs this year. What do they have to lose by playing him, Josh Bell sure isn’t ready.
Blanton for Reynolds…sounds good to me.
Reynolds isn’t worth a lot, but Blanton? he isn’t even worth much as a NL SP. Why would the O’s want to import him to the AL East when The Duke traded away a FAR better guy in Guthrie and replaced him with basically a batting practice pitcher for the rest of the league?
this from the team that will have tommy hunter start for them this year
Reynolds could fit well in Philly for Joe Blanton. They make almost the same amount of money (8.5 Million to 7.5 Million) and the Orioles need starting pitching. Phillies could play Reynolds at third base and move Polanco to second due to Utley being injured. Phillies desperately need some power because of Howard and Utley being out for the foreseeable future.
This is a reasonable suggestion. I could see the Phillies going for it. It would help both clubs.
Really don’t want Blanton for him. What good does that do us?
Prospects or nothing I say.
you are not getting prospects that are going to matter…. salary dump
Oh gosh that comment almost makes sense.. i hope it doesn’t happen.
Blanton cant stay healthy, he doesnt have a lot of value
This trade suggestion only sounds good to Phillies fans. Not going to happen.
Nice, a pitcher who can’t throw strikes and a hitter with a low contact rate. GREAT combo.
i heard they would also throw in the owner, no extra charge.
Juan Uribe is looking very attractive as an Orioles 3B option (to us Dodger fans, anyway).
Ks are not the issue with Reynolds. Walks bring his OBP up and his power makes him valuable on offense.
His defense last year was brutal and almost negated what he brought to the table offensively. That’s not good when you’re trying to develop young pitchers.
Reynolds has a career wOBA of .351 and performed at .348 last year (despite a miserable start … somewhat excusable given the league change). He’s a good offensive player, despite the Ks and poor contact. His fWAR drops markedly because the Orioles are intent on using him in the field … as a full-time DH, the guy is probably a ~2.5-win player or better, and probably worth $8 million per year. No, someone needs to convince HIM of that.
Im thinking Reynolds might be traded to Texas. Texas could use a power hitting first baseman, and The O’s would love to have Uehara back.
Uehara goes back to where he is comfortable playing, and Reynolds could smack 40+ in Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.
Actually… that kind of makes some sense…
How? Give up a 35+ HR guy for a relief pitcher? And an old one at that?
There is zero chance the Orioles are going to trade Reynolds for a relief pitcher who will be 37 by opening day
my first thought
Reynolds to the A’s and reincarnate Jack Cust 2.0. They can definitely use him with Sizemore done for. Then again, Timmons looked pretty good this spring.
Trading Kevin Gregg works for me, but trading Mark Reynolds does not. Sorry, but it just doesn’t make sense. He hit 37 homers adjusting to a new league. The man can could hit 40 this year. Where are they going to find another 35+ homer guy? In the minors? No. On the free agent market? No. On the trade market? Who do they have to trade? It’s bad enough that they did nothing to upgrade the power numbers from last year and acquire a big clean-up hitter. Without several big power bats in the line-up, they’ll never survive in the AL East. Johnson? He can’t stay healthy and I doubt he can hit 35+ homers.
The bottom line is, Reynolds has proven that he can hit in the AL East. They don’t need to shop him until Delmonico or Esposito are knocking on the door.
Tigers could use Reynolds. We need another 1b/3b.
you mean another DH… that would make like 4
And he’s gone at the end of the season. They aren’t going anywhere in 2012 (or 2013 for that matter), so if he can bring back something that would be valuable in the next three + years, they have to consider it.
Because JJ Hardy was going to be gone this year…until he signed a 3 year extension. If the Orioles keep trading away everyone who can help the team today for prospects that may help tomorrow, it’ll be another 13 years before we have a winning club.
The difference is that JJ Hardy isn’t a defensive black hole. Besides, JJ is going to be playing 3B soon when Machado is ready.
I’m not a fan of Reynolds, but if they extend him to play 1B, fine. But he’s already a terrible 3B, and he’s not getting any younger.
Dear , that is their plan. Perpetual rebuilding for perpetual profit . Kind of like perpetual war for perpetual peace only without the shooting.
Basically the franchise is like a dog chasing it’s own tail. An exercise in futility , but a profitable one.
The curse of Angelos continues ……………
If all you’re going for is profit, you don’t overpay mediocre relievers like Gregg in the first place. It isn’t Angelos being cheap that’s been holding the O’s back. It has been poor management.
Also, you don’t donate large amounts of money to the city if all you want is profit.
The Cheapskate Angelos routine is hackier than my grandma’s Catskills standup act at family reunions.
Hahaha! I am sure you all miss me at the School :p
Could care less about Gregg. I’m curious why the O’s would want to count on Nick Johnson and his medical records. And I’m still irritated about the bag of non prospects that we got for Guthrie.
Doesn’t make sense to me to trade Reynolds right now either. Why didn’t they pursue it in this previous off season when more teams were shopping for a 1b/3b/DH home run hitter. The market is much thinner now as the free agent crop settled and budget limits were met. To me, this further shows the lack of a plan in how to build the team.
How do you know they haven’t been trying to trade him since the day the season ended? Because somebody tweeted that he’s on the block? I seriously doubt he was ever considered untouchable, and the O’s are out kicking tire now that injuries and reality are setting in with Opening Day two weeks away. Odds are no trade happens, but this is exactly the way a rebuilding team should be operating. Float players who won’t likely be around when they become competitive and see if anyone will make an offer you can’t refuse.
I think you misunderstood my intent. I’m all for them trading Reynolds for prospects or impact players. You’re right he’s not someone to build the futur of the team around. My point was that the timing of “supposedly” putting him on the market doesn’t make sense. More teams would have been possibly interested than there are now.
I’d love to see him go to Seattle for Smoak, to the Blue Jays for Snider, the Pirates for Alvarez, to Philadelphia for D. Brown, to Oakland for Carter (though I doubt the O’s could pull off any of those trades). I don’t think Reynolds brings a Grade A prospect, but maybe a former top prospect whose lost a little bit of shine.
I don’t see how the trade would make any sense unless we are putting Antonelli at third.
Flaherty?
I don’t think Flaherty has the bat for third. Then again I don’t think Antonelli does either.
Looks a lot better for the Phillies than the Orioles.
Im very surprised that every comment on here about Reynolds is positive. I though that everyone thought he was terrible because of the Ks, but most people just think his glove is the problem. I wonder if he could play OF?
I would imagine that it it akin to watching a drunken moose trying to chase fly balls.
He’s a good player and comes off as a good guy. He plays hard and works hard to get better. His batting average and defense could use work though.
Ask Fangraphs. Don’t ask a few particular cases.
Agree.
He can hit 100 home runs and they still don’t compete. Get rid of him for sonebody who might actually be apart of the next winning team. (Well, that player might be 7 years old. Any kind of prospect of age would help.)
Chone Figgans for Reynolds?
A 3b that can’t hit or field for one that can only hit home runs no thanks.
Only if he changes the pronunciation of his name to
Choooooooooon, hun.
sogard isn’t a 3rd baseman, we don’t really have any viable 3rd base options right now. josh donaldson is the closest thing to a legit 3rd baseman we have right now but he’s going to strike out almost a third of his plate appearances. i realllllly want them to trade for matt carpenter or even conor gillaspie. those guys would be pretty useful for the a’s
i would take that trade in a second!
As a starting point obviously. That’s why I said kind of.
timmons is a great story but he’s a career minor leaguer and should/probably will stay that way.
i think josh donaldson to the o’s for mark reynolds makes a lot of sense, the o’s (if i remember right) were looking for a backup catcher (which donaldson is, having been a catcher for most of his professional career) and he can back up at 3rd as well, maybe the a’s could throw in taylor or c. hunter as well
yeah man, i’m sick of aiming for durable bums.
not saying blanton is a total bum, but look what millwood brought us when we brought him to the yard because of his 200-inning potential.
no more filler. we need prospects.
I pretty much agree. Of course you trade anyone if you can up-grade but you can’t just give away 35/40 HRs regardless of his other short-comings. Luke is already gone and Betemit nor Johnson are much of an answer.
Reynolds could smack 40 in Baltimore or most anywhere else
exactly!
Is this someone the Pirates should look into? Alvarez was bad last year, but he’s still young and we have Casey Mcgehee also.
agree fully
I will be very angry if the Orioles trade Reynolds. Do not trade Reynolds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you know how hard it is to find someone with this much power. I hope this rumor is wrong.
Please Lord let Angelos sell team (to Ripken?) 14 years since playoffs, 29 since World Series. Angelos worries about his bottom line and does not care about a trophy. SELL PETEY, PLEASE…
Straight up trade- Mark Reynolds to Pittsburgh for Pedro Alvarez, Jose Tabata and a mid grade prospect
I would love to see the Giants go after him. He would be a bench player/platoon player at 1B with Brandon Belt. The biggest thing that he would provide would be right handed power off of the bench. He would also free up 1B for Brandon Belt.
I think Aubrey Huff for Mark Reynolds. Similar salaries, Huff is better defensively, better average, and still some pop. Far fewer strike outs and better OBP for the Orioles.
The Giants would do this deal just to give Belt a chance to develop in the majors. Currently, he is stuck because Huff is the starter. He is ML ready right now and should be the starter, but because he is being blocked he might not even see the Opening Day roster.
Agreed, the O’s spend money, they just suck at it.
It’s like the 2003-2007 Blue Jays!
To bad the Orioles payroll still has been higher then the Nats. Their problem is that management sucks, not being cheap.
I’ll take Micth Moreland :p
What exactly do the O’s think they can get for Gregg…?