The Orioles acquired minor league outfielder Jose Berroa from the Pirates for catcher Taylor Davis, reported Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com among others.
Davis, 31, picked up 20 games of big league experience with the Cubs from 2017-19. He signed a minor league deal with the Orioles in January 2020, and played in 12 games for the Norfolk Tides this year. Davis may not have made much of a big league impact yet, but he did garner fame for “shooting icy stares at the Iowa Cubs’ cameras,” as SI’s Dan Gartland put it in 2017. Davis will now make the trip to the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate. The Indianapolis Indians open a six-game set against the Memphis Redbirds tonight.
Berroa, 19, did not fall within FanGraphs’ top 51 Pirates prospects back in February. He played 56 games in the Dominican Summer League in 2019 and will be assigned to the Orioles’ Florida Complex team in Sarasota. He was a July 2 signing out of the Dominican Republic back in 2018.
The stare down guy! Pretty cool, he seems like a great dude with a great personality. I’m sure he’ll eventually get a shot in the bigs with the Pirates so that’s nice
He came up with the Cubs a couple of years ago.
Yeah I know. I mean another shot since many guys don’t get that second chance
Wow! The first story in hours that is not injury-related.
Why would they trade away a 19 year old for someone over 30 especially when they are rebuilding?
My thoughts exactly. This is a no brainer for the Orioles. This guy was probably 5th at best on our org depth chart.
Especially when they already have three catchers with previous MLB experience already in AAA that they won’t call up to replace Perez as a backup even though he’s batting around .100 and hasn’t caught anyone trying to steal all year. Makes no sense from the Pirates perspective.
I guess it depends— Bethancourt isn’t catching and Susac is hurt. So it’s just Hudson and (an overmatched) Jason Delay. If Hudson is about to get a call, it makes even more sense, but if not, just having an experienced game caller like Davis can be an upgrade.
As for the cost, a 19-yo in the DSL is like… a lottery ticket. This whole trade is a nothing burger.
That’s an interesting move. I know Berroa isn’t some sort of high ranking prospect, but really odd to trade a 19-Y.O OF for a 31-Y.O catcher who has never been a notable minor leaguer.
Does that mean , not now but at trade deadline they expect stallings gone and wanted someone to fill in possibly through the yr
No,Stallings is going nowhere as they could not get enough for BC to entertain the thought.He is too important to the young pitching staff.
Why?The 19 year old probably has no value,and the Pirates’ catching situation is dreadful after Stallings.
Agreed that the long-term catching in the system is terrible except for the Low A ball team, but there’s no reason to believe Taylor Davis is going to do much if any more than Susac, Hudson or Bethancourt in AAA. Betancourt is actually hitting fairly well since the Pirates picked him up but last time I checked he hadn’t caught a single inning. Not losing any sleep over losing Jose Berroa but its a headscratcher to just stockpile fringe major league caliber catchers if they’re not willing to DFA Perez.
Jimmy-Quite frankly,he does not seem to be any better than what they have in AAA.But those guys may be AAA players,and maybe BC figures that this guy is a AAAA player.You and I are aware that this has been a serious position weakness since Cervelli basically retired and they only had Diaz to take his place.
Next the ChiSox trade for Frazier after any Marte deal falls through.
Davis probably a serviceable second catcher and back up first baseman. He calls a decent game and has a bat. Don’t know about throwing out runners though. Never got a chance with Joe Maddon wanting Contreras playing every game. Solid bench man that can step in. His cousin was a great catcher.
Chris Davis’ brother.
Hits the same.
upgrades people, upgrades!
That’s the piece that was missing! Pirates now predicted to win the NL Central
Strange but I’ll take it. Davis was our 5th or 6th string catcher, behind Sevy, Wynns, Sisco, Cumberland, and maybe Adley. I’ll gladly roll the dice on a 19 year old.