JULY 20, 10:58am: Add the Braves to the list of teams interested in Britton, Crasnick reports.
9:28am: Baltimore’s “barreling ahead” with its Britton trade talks, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com tweets. Along with the teams mentioned below (the Astros, Cubs, Yankees, Phillies and Red Sox), the Giants are among the clubs in the mix for Britton, according to Crasnick.
JULY 17: If and when the reported trade sending Manny Machado to the Dodgers is formally announced by the teams, the O’s could be quick to turn around and move longtime closer Zach Britton in a separate deal, reports MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli (via Twitter). Interest in Britton has “picked up steam” recently, according to Ghiroli.
Britton missed about half of the 2017 season due to a pair of forearm injuries and was out until June 2018 due to a ruptured Achilles tendon that required offseason surgery. And while his first few appearances since coming off the disabled list raised questions about his trade value, he’s looked more impressive lately.
Britton’s past seven appearances have been scoreless, but beyond the bottom-line results, he’s made some encouraging gains in terms of sinker velocity. His ground-ball rate has been a superlative 68.8 percent in that time as well — a noted increase from his earlier outings in which his sinker wasn’t at its most effective levels. That’s not quite to up to Britton’s (quite literally) historic standards, but it remains elite all the same.
Control has still been somewhat of an issue, as he’s surrendered three walks in those seven innings and thrown a first-pitch strike to just 40 percent of the hitters he’s faced along the way. But there’s no denying that Britton has begun to round into form at a most opportune time for an Orioles organization that, at the very least, looks to be a lock to trade the left-hander and fellow impending free agents Machado and Brad Brach.
Britton is earning $12MM in 2018, which will present a roadblock for a number of clubs interested in acquiring his services. As could be the case with the eventual Machado deal, the Orioles might have to include some cash to facilitate the deal and to improve the return they receive for their prized lefty. Britton is still owed about $4.8MM of that $12MM sum through season’s end.
To this point, the Astros, Cubs, Yankees, Phillies and Red Sox have all been connected to Britton in fairly prominent fashion. Surely, as is the case every summer, though, the top relievers on the market will draw at least some level of inquiry from the majority of contenders. Unlike the Machado saga, in which some contending clubs had little need for another infielder on the left side of the diamond, there’s no contending team in baseball that won’t have some interest in bolstering its relief corps. Certainly, some teams will consider it to be a more pressing need than others, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise if as much as a third of the league is tied to Britton before he inevitably finds himself with a new team for the first time in his career.
Pax vobiscum
Go ahead Klentak, empty the farm.
Brixton
Britton shouldnt be that expensive
Pax vobiscum
Really Klentak’s tenure has been worse than poor. I expect him to be paralyzed by fear and do nothing at the deadline.
T_Rexx2
What has he done wrong? The team is in first place and is probably a year ahead of schedule. They’ll be good for years to come, this isn’t their last chance for a playoff push, it’ll be the first of hopefully quite a few
dirtydan
It’s funny when couch GM’s think they can run a team better than the people hired to do so. There’s a reason they’re the GM and you’re whining in comment sections
Pax vobiscum
How has he improved this team? Not by his drafts or free agent signings.
T_Rexx2
Look at the standings?
Coast1
Klentak has been on the job for three years and has pretty much done nothing.
Eighteen of the players on the 25 man roster were acquired by Ruben Amaro before Klentak arrived and that includes Trevor Plouffe and Enyel De Los Santos. Of the other 5, 4 were signed as free agents. He got them by offering way over market contracts. There was only one, Vince Velasquez, that was acquired in a trade. And that trade was two and a half years ago.
I can understand thinking Klentak won’t do anything at the deadline, since his strategy so far has been just to go with all of Amaro’s players.
Johhos
Umm.. You can’t take credit for Plouffe and De Los Santos, Ruben …Both were acquired well after Klentak was hired.
Cubguy13
Maybe cuz one applied and one didn’t? Just cuz someone is hired to do a job doesn’t mean they necessarily are the best person alive for it
Coast1
Hence why I pointed out that they were among the 7 acquired by Klentak. Neither has much of a role, so I don’t think Klentak has much to brag about.
Caseys.Partner
“Look at the standings?”
Look at the run differential
Pythagorean W-L: 49-46.
Caseys.Partner
“There’s a reason they’re the GM and you’re whining in comment sections”
Klentak was an intern for Andy MacPhail in Baltimore.
Caseys.Partner
“What has he done wrong? ”
Spent almost $70 million dollars on MLB players last year on one year deals and turned them into nothing.
Flushing $70 million down the toilet sounds good to you?
kimjongun2.0
Yankees need pitching not some stupid bullpen dude
kimjongun2.0
Starting pitching
jleve618
This isn’t Miami, we can flush 70 million down and use another 70 to wipe.
stillerfan
Or you can be like Amaro and overpay for free agents (Papelbon), give away the farm in trades, and still lose. I will take the patient methodical approach any day. The best general managers are. I still think there are one or Two sleeper trades in the wings for good players under team control ready to happen.
Coast1
If you’re looking for a sleeper Klentak is it. He hasn’t made a trade to upgrade the Major League team in 2 and a half years and is in no rush to make another one.
CubsRebsSaints
This is his first year in contention.
jbigz12
Signing a first baseman to a big deal so you can put your should be first baseman out of position in the outfield. Strong move. Preller and Klentak.
mookie19
Man you are such an idiot. Do you know what their record was last year? 49-46 Pythag record is an amazing success based on their horrible play for the past several years.
mookie19
A. They weren’t one year deals?
B. They haven’t been amazing, but Santana and Arrieta have combined for 2.4 WAR already. Not bad at all, definitely not flushing $70 mil away statistically, but you don’t seem one for statistical arguments or even accurate facts.
Caseys..Partner
“Do you know what their record was last year? 49-46 Pythag record is an amazing success based on their horrible play for the past several years.”
Did you know the Phillies were the youngest team in MLB?
Do you know what the Phillies record was in the second half of last season as opposed to the first half?
“Man you are such an idiot.”
mookie19
Did you know the Phillies are still the youngest team in baseball?
Did you know that they were still one game under .500 in the second half?
Did you also know cherry picking the second half and ignoring their dreadful first half doesn’t make a cogent argument?
“Man you are such an idiot” still looking pretty good.
jbigz12
Arrieta is a competent starter. Carlos Santana just doesn’t fit. Hoskins doesn’t belong left. That was money flushed down the tubes.
Houston We Have A Solution
You wont need to empty the farm for Britton.
Offer them Haseley- Kyle Young- and 2 more prospects somewhere.
Pax vobiscum
That was actually sarcasm. I apologize.
SportsBum
That’s even too much
Caseys.Partner
“Offer them Haseley- Kyle Young- and 2 more prospects somewhere.”
If he does and Middleton doesn’t fire him I’ll have to clean out the whole organization starting at the very top.
ThatBallwasBryzzoed
Britton is a rental. It will be.less than half what it cost for the Cubs to get Chapman. And less than that for the Indians to get Miller.
xabial
Zach Britton is amazingly Underrated.
This guy does not get appreciated enough because of that Achilles injury. Good pick up for any team.
Wicked Sinker
gorav114
He’s going to make a huge difference in a teams bullpen, might be the most underrated trade piece on the market. Getting healthier and better every time out and now he’s back to pitching back to back days and the sinker is sharper.
deweybelongsinthehall
The big if is his durability. If the medicals suggest he’ll get stronger as the months pass, he very well might be the difference between buying and sipping/spraying the champagne.
dwilson10
I wonder if this is the reason the O’s decided to trade Machado to the Dodgers even though the Phillies offered Medina? Do the O’s feel they can get Medina from the Phillies for Britton?
SportsBum
Lmao, yeah right. Medina for Britton. lol
I highly doubt the Phillies even make a serious offer for Britton now that they’ve been turned away for Machado.
dimitrios in la
Gosh the O’s are in a real nice position to stock their already underrated system. Good looking rotation heading into next year too, plus the number one pick. Things in Birdland could turn around in a hurry actually.
SportsBum
I don’t really care about their position but as long as they play in the same division as the Red Sox and Yankees, it will never be good for them without a lot of luck for them and misfortune for the Yanks/Red Sox.
dimitrios in la
They had the best record in the bigs for a stretch of five years and competed just fine in the division until recently. They will again.
SportsBum
Best record in the bigs for 5 years? When? The 70’s? They’ve been to the playoffs 3 times in the last 20 years. They’ve finished 4th or 5th in 15 of them 20 years in their division. You Orioles fans have low standards if that is competing just fine in the division.
I get it, you’re an Orioles fan and no fan wants to be told their team sucks or has no real chance, but reality is, they’re in a tough division with 2 of the biggest spenders. There’s not much hope for them.
J leathal86
Check your stats bro orioles had the best record in baseball from 12-17 don’t be mad bro
xabial
Orioles had the Best record from 12-17
How the mighty have fallen?
Chewbacca
that’s not even true. Dodgers had a much better record, to name one team.
SportsBum
No they didn’t. I don’t know what homer site told you that but it’s wrong. The Cardinals were better, the Dodgers were better, the Yankees were better from 12-17. There may even be more, but a quick look showed them 3 at least.
Why would I be mad,anyway? They went to the playoffs 3 times in that span and that’s it. They’ve been non existent for 2 decades besides that. You’re actually are trying to cherry pick a time frame to brag about them being okay. Lol
They won their division once, just once in 2 decades, and in that cherry picked timeframe that you lied and said that were the best in the league. They had 2 seasons with 90+ wins and 0 over 100
xabial
Correct. As a third person in this debate, You forgot to put blame on Peter G. Angelos owner
MitchellOffical
I think what he is referring to is 2012-2016. Orioles had the most wins of any AL team during that stretch.
SpongeIord
Rangers had a better record both years?
Billy Vidler
Yankees, and A’s had better record in 2012.
Orioles only had 85 wins in ’13
Orioles #2 record in the AL in 2014
Orioles .500 club in 2015
2016 4th best record in the AL
You probably don’t want to talk about 2017
So…..where are YOUR stats coming from???
jbigz12
We can pump the brakes on all that optimism. We have very few established big leaguers coming back to our 23 win team and our farm system isn’t better than average anyway you’d like to frame it.
mrnatewalter
From 2012-2016, the Orioles had more wins than any American League team.
deweybelongsinthehall
Not until ownership is ready to wipe the Davis contract off the books figuratively speaking and spend as if Davis is earning $20M less.
gmenfan
And look at all those rings … not on their fingers.
mstrchef13
“I highly doubt the Phillies even make a serious offer for Britton now that they’ve been turned away for Machado.”
If that’s the case, then they are a stupid organization. Britton is a player who can help them win games. By all rights they shouldn’t be in contention but they are and they should do what they can do to stay there.
SportsBum
Lol, no. Getting Machado wouldn’t have won them a World Series. It wouldn’t have even guaranteed playoffs. The Phillies are still young and need more than just Machado. No one expected them to be this good already. They’re ahead of schedule. Britton sure as hell isn’t enough. They would be dumb to trade anyone for just a rental of Britton. I can almost guarantee that the Phillies are done with Britton if Machado is really going to LA.
juanpaolo
Britton it’s also going to the Dodgers
Billy Vidler
Not likely….
BlueSkyLA
If the Dodgers were interested in Britton he’d have gone into the Machado deal. The fact that he wasn’t in that trade is about as clear a signal as we’re going to get that the Dodgers are looking elsewhere for bullpen upgrades.
Billy Vidler
Well said
Priggs89
Except that doesn’t make a whole bunch of sense from the Orioles perspective. They’re likely better off marketing their best pieces separately, just like every other team does 99.9% of the time.
BlueSkyLA
Except that doesn’t really explain why the Dodgers are not on the list of teams interested in Britton. If they were I have no doubt they could have worked out a trade with multiple headliners, as you might remember they did a couple of years ago with Oakland. To say that these “blockbuster” trades happen only 0.01% of the time is obviously not supported by the facts.
Houston We Have A Solution
Indians would be best suited grabbing britton from the orioles- yates from the padres- and offering mejia, nolan jones, and others in a barraclough/anderson trade to fill their OF issues too.
bravesandcrewfan
Don’t know if Mejia is getting Anderson simply because they have a similar profile (control/establishment-wise) yet Anderson is already proving himself at the mlb level. Maybe a stretch but he’s a potential NL rookie of the year candidate, especially if you disregard pitchers.
Houston We Have A Solution
Picking up mejia allows the marlins to really shop realmuto having found his successor.
I dont see the indians giving up mejia + just for barraclough.
They might do 1 for 1. Maybe. Very doubtful.
theland44145
Issue is even Cleveland isn’t sold Mejia can be a catcher long term.
sidewinder11
Agreed. I see Mejia as Carlos Santana 2.0
Houston We Have A Solution
I mean indians pick up barraclough and anderson
Marlins pick up mejia- nolan jones- Civale- Oviedo- and Cheng
Michael Chaney
I doubt the Marlins would be interested in moving Anderson, and I’m not sure if the Indians would be interested in trading Mejia, Jones, and a few others for him and Barraclough. I think it would be better for Miami to keep Anderson, and for the Indians to use their assets elsewhere.
AstrosWS20
Come on Luhnow! Go get him! Go Astros!
Billy Vidler
I hope he gets somebody….
internet1tough1guy
I read britton is #1 on theos want list.. so wouldnt be surprised to see him going to the cubs..
Bote and a prospect in the 5-10 range should get him
internet1tough1guy
Plus bote could be machado’s replacement. Super underrated player. Killing it in part time duty. Strikes out a tad too much but is hitting over .300.
yanks02026
Cashman will probably screw thus one up also.
driftcat28 2
Not sure what you think he screwed up previously? He’s done a hell of a job
atomicfront
Machado deal. Yankees will lose one game play-in game and will be done.
highlanders14
How did he screw up Machado? Why give up a top prospect for a guy who plays a position (s) that you’re already getting good production from. If the Yankees want him, they’ll wait until the winter and open their wallet to get him.
mgrap84
Cleveland should make a serious run for him. With Miller down, Britton can seriously help them. He isn’t going to cost much. I put him up there as good as Miller but they won’t have to give up a package for him like Chapman or Miller. Im an Oriole fan and got to watch just how good he is. Throws a 95-97 mph sinker which is just about untouchable.
sidewinder11
Britton would look good in the DBacks pen. A lefty complement to Bradley, Boxberger and Hirano is something the DBacks need. Chafin is pretty much a loogy at this point and Jorge De La Rosa could be displaced easily. DBacks need pitching but they may find it easier (and cheaper) to add someone like Britton as opposed to any of the starters on the market. I’m not convinced that any starter out there right now is a meaningful upgrade over what Arizona has in their rotation right now (other than guys like deGrom and Syndergaard, obviously)
Mino kawa
Yankees lefty reliever: Chasen Shreve.
Please, Cashman…do something.
TK95
Orioles can definitely get good value for Britton. Especially with how relievers are valued this time of year for a postseason run. Hopefully can get one or two good prospects out of the deal.
Billy Vidler
They really missed out on Colin Moran last year. Pittsburgh of glad they did too. The Astros farm system is loaded and I expect them to be a major player in these talks. Orioles should get a significant return for him.
mrnatewalter
He’s a rental who spent a lot of time out with injury. Even in his return, he’s been okay. I don’t think they’ll get anything “significant” for him.
jbigz12
I’m not that upset on missing on Colin Moran. The guy might be a league average 3B one day but he’s not even that right now. Jason Martin is the more upsetting piece to miss on.
Billy Vidler
A couple of very good serviceable arms that can start or relieve. That could have helped Baltimore. assuming the offer was similar..
Priggs89
Why does everyone talk about Britton like it’s still 2016?
Thomas Walker
I agree. Dude is a wild card at this point and seems like a classic case of a panic overpay right now. If he doesn’t cost much, sure. Left-hander that 2-3 years ago, had one of the most devastating pitches in baseball, but just too injury prone to know what you’re even getting
richmond20657
He hurt his Achilles not his arm. Big difference if he missed half the year with an arm injury. And while he hasn’t completely rounded into form if you have watched him pitch recently you would see why everyone wants him.
Billy Vidler
He’s left handed and has closer stuff. pretty easy to see why teams want him!
Priggs89
Not saying teams don’t want him. Just saying he’s not the clear cut best option and worth a haul like some people seem to think.
braves25
I dont see Britton bringing back a huge haul! I mean Hand had to be package with another reliever to get Mejia…So Britton should bring FAR less!
jbigz12
No one on Planet Earth thought britton would bring back anything close to Mejia. I’ll take one guy with high upside.
snotrocket
Giants already have 3 lefties in the pen who are doing well. Don’t spend what little resources you have try to improve an area that has been a strength. Rotation, 2nd base,3rd base, outfield could all stand to be upgraded.
wiggysf
If slater can play second and hanson can play third, the real upgrade could be a power-hitting lf-er.
pustule bosey
actually rotation help is the biggest need but you aren’t going to get that for cheap
Bobby Mongan
Ask almost any MLB player that has faced Britton and they’ll tell you…it’s not a happy experience and granted when he first came back..he wasn’t himself however..he is improving with every outing and it won’t be long till he’s 100% and then he will be as untouchable as before.
pinkerton
I don’t care if Britton hasn’t been himself lately. If it means getting him and never, ever seeing Hector Neris again, I’ll take it. Sure would like to see a dominant closer in the Phillies pen again.
Billy Vidler
You’re welcome to have Ken Giles back…..just sayin’
lowtalker1
Ill be worth less than what the padres got for Cleveland
Little Whirl
Yes & almost certainly so. So, what’s your point?
lowtalker1
My point? There are a ton of belligerent Os fans that think they can get something on par with what the padres got
pdubs2907
Why would the Giants be interested? Ohh that’s right, like the Mets they think they should never rebuild because they’re in a big market.
pustule bosey
well the bigger question is why be interested in any rental? keeping the farm, staying under the tax, filling glaring holes and looking to offseason acquisitions is what should happen. Right now a trade for a rental really won’t help unless it is able to offload salary like the span trade did. Either the giants will gain a head of steam and barrel ahead or they won’t but I don’t see much in the way of a pickup changing that – it would need to be a lot of pickups.
Jimcarlo Slaton
I think there are going to be several teams offering about the same value for Britton. Will just come down to whatever Baltimore has a slight preference for. No team is going to blow them away.
richmond20657
I love the comments here. He isn’t Britton 2016. Obviously you haven’t seen a recent outing. He ain’t far from it folks. 97 with devastating sink. There are few relievers who will make a difference the way he can.
Jimcarlo Slaton
He’s throwing well now, I’ve seen other people say that. But he’s still just coming off an injury and isn’t under contract after this year.
Orioles aren’t going to get a top prospect like the Padres did for Hand+.
rondon
It’s the rental part. Also, did you see what the Padres took for 2 of the top controllable relief arms in baseball? One top prospect. The Dodgers arguably only gave up one top prospect for Machado. I’m not saying he doesn’t have real value, but you’re over valuing Britton.
darkstar61
There is also a fairly real possibility that Mejia did not have anywhere near the trade values to other teams scouting departments as he did to the list makers.
John Sickels recently wrote this:
“The bigger question is defense. On paper Mejia has made good progress with the glove, playing errorless ball and throwing out 35% of runners this year in Triple-A. On the other hand scouting reports on his defense lately have been negative, with receiving and blocking skills reported as stagnant or even declining. The Indians themselves seemed down on his defense and he’s spent considerable time playing left field this year.
It will be interesting to see how the Padres assess his defense. Mejia is an elite prospect if he can catch but just a decent one if he turns out to be a mediocre left fielder. I have been optimistic about his long-term projection with the glove but the negative reviews this year do give me pause. If his glove turns out OK then the Padres did a good job buying low.”
If many/most teams similarly see it as unlikely Mejia stats behind the plate, as the Indians apparently do, then a big chunk of the possible trade partners for Mejia were only counting him as a “decent” prospect not an “elite” one.
9 years of Hand and Climber for a “decent” prospect is nothing
Blue_Painted_Dreams_LA
Sickels, well of course, nailed it on the head. But really if you trust your scouts it’s definitely worth the risk. You have time to wait to see if the glove develops. C’s tend to take a longer development road in at least one aspect or another. And tbh he’s sort of a safe prospect with a high floor/high upside. Although, it makes the Hosmer signing well you know. This is also another reason why prospect rankings although fun to look at as a baseline are somewhat meaningless.
darkstar61
Yes, if your scouts believe in him as a catcher, then you need to trust them – but getting just him for 9 years of control on two of the best RP available is a massive risk. He busts or gets injured and the Padres got nothing
I do disagree on the high floor though. He has a great “hit tool” but has had difficulty putting it into action. He’s ultimately showing himself as a free swinger that makes merely okay contact and hates taking a walk. But he’s short, pudgy and slow – not good qualities at all for a contact hitter as it means he won’t be legging out singles. In the last calander year (between AA, AAA and MLB) he has had only 1 month of an OBP above 300, which is absolutely frightening. Then he is expected to be only around average power.
If that bat profile is matched to poor defense in LF or put at 1B then you are possibly looking at replacement level. That is a very low floor
JaysForDays
The AL is a sad state of affairs. How can anyone take professional baseball seriously when 2/3 of the league is essentially tanking. While the Yankees and Red Sox are clearly good teams, their records sure seem inflated due to a lack of competition. Heck, the Indians could forfeit every other game and still handily win the brutal central! With all these sellers, and few buyers, it’s amazing the prices some of these teams, Jays incl, expect for expiring contracts. Shame on baseball for letting it get to the point where tanking is basically encouraged.
dynamite drop in monty
Cool. Don’t watch it.
JaysForDays
That’s your reply? I think baseball is seeing enough people not watching it as is…. the idea is to increase viewership, not decrease it further.
darkstar61
The AL currently happens to have 4 super teams and 2 surgers. That is so rare.
As far as the rest, many of them were expecting to be able to compete but the Wins of the Superteams/Surgers have to come at someone’s expense.
Davesg81
But the Orioles aren’t “tanking”. They’re doing what they should’ve done over a year ago. They never want to lose. If anything, they’ve procrastinated.
steelerbravenation
Britton & Givens to Braves for Fried & Kyle Fuller
AstrosWS20
Actually not a bad offer. Pretty fair in my opinion with Givens’ controllability. But I don’t see the Braves doing it because I think they’re going to hold onto all of their prominent prospects this year. I think they’ll stand pat or make a small move this year and crank it up a notch next year. Still, you don’t often see a legit offer in the comments. Hats off to you sir lol.
AstrosWS20
Britton for Cionel Perez and Jonathan Arauz. That sounds like a fair deal to me. Orioles get a legit young pitching prospect who is MLB ready and a decent shortstop prospect. What do you think Os fans?
Pops
Not a bad start…but add Adcock, Rojas, and Martin to the mix.
AstrosWS20
I’d add Adcock or Rojas to the deal, but not both. Corbin Martin is too much. I don’t see Luhnow including two top 10 prospects for a rental.
What do you think about Derek Fisher? Fisher for Britton straight-up came to mind, but I go back and forth in my mind whether that’s a legit possibility. I don’t think the Orioles have interest in it because they don’t need OF prospects, but maybe fair nonetheless.
Corbin Martin is a legit target, Cionel Perez and Jorge Alcala too. Not together, but I’d be shocked if the Orioles don’t get one of those pitchers in a Britton deal.
Billy Vidler
Considering they skipped AAA and brought Perez up to the majors from AA my guess is they have no desire to move Perez. That ‘s a valuable young arm.
Foreveryankees
Yankees need a strong lefty to go along with chappy!!
Billy Vidler
Yankees need at least one starter. Their BP is good enough.
bravesfan
I would like the braves to go after both Britton and brach. Assuming money isn’t an issue, 2-3 lower half top 30 prospects or former top 30 prospects and some cash should more than easily cover it. As a braves fan, that’s good. Even if u throw in 1 top guy I might be ok with it if both are in the deal