The Orioles are in agreement with first baseman/outfielder Franchy Cordero, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. It will be a one-year split contract that will pay Cordero $1.35MM in the majors and $450K in the minors. The O’s announced it as a minor league deal, meaning Cordero will have to earn his way onto the 40-man roster.
Cordero, 28, has spent parts of the past six seasons in the majors, splitting his time between the Padres, Royals and Red Sox. He has long tantalized teams with his elite tools, including his speed and huge exit velocities. However, his propensity for strikeouts has limited his overall effectiveness. In 227 big league games thus far in his career, Cordero has hit 21 home runs but also struck out in 34.8% of his plate appearances. His overall batting line is currently .221/.290/.386 for a wRC+ of 83.
In 2022, he was with the Red Sox, being frequently optioned to the minors throughout the year. In 84 games with Boston, he hit .219/.300/.397, but he mashed in 31 Triple-A games to the tune of .325/.397/.590. The O’s will surely be hoping Cordero can find some way of bringing those huge results up to the majors at some point this season. The club has been reportedly looking for left-handed hitters who can pair with the right-handed-hitting Ryan Mountcastle at first base. To that end, they claimed Lewin Diaz off waivers from the Pirates today and have now added Cordero into the mix. He can also play a bit of outfield but hasn’t graded out especially well there.
The O’s have shown a willingness to get creative in trying to retain depth. They recently signed similar split deals with catcher Anthony Bemboom and outfielder Jake Cave and then placed both players on waivers. Bemboom cleared and could have rejected his outright assignment but decided to accept, presumably because the minor league portion of his split deal was attractive enough that he didn’t want to leave it on the table. Players with previous career outrights can reject outright assignments but they need to have five years of MLB service time to both reject and retain their salaries. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out in the case of Cave, as he was claimed by the Phillies today. If Cordero does earn his way back onto the roster, he would also have to be exposed to waivers if they want to send him back down since he’s out of options.
What the duck is this about
Cheap filler. He’s not good, but, he’s a warm body you can stuff on a roster without giving much of anything up.
I guess so. The whole “he’s not good” thing makes me think he didn’t need a split contract to have him signed. I wouldn’t mind it as a minor league signing but if he’s gotta be on the 40 man roster then he is just taking up space.
It’s a minor league signing.
Perhaps the potential payday that the split contract provides was enough to entice Cordero to sign now. I don’t see why they want him as I don’t think there’s much there, but it is what it is.
Franchy’s last play in a Red Sox uniform was badly misplaying a fly ball and crashing into a wall, he was carted off the field. What a way to go out!
It’s an incentive for him to stop sucking as soon as possible.
Not much difference between “split contract” and “Milb contract.
I only wish I could understand the contract..1.35 mil in the show and 450K in the minors? Anyone know what that means?
Guaranteed $450k, bumps to $1.35m if he’s on the 25 man roster.
Seems obvious?
A’s Fan I am just a layman. If you are a pro at understanding contract lingo then kudos to you my friend.
Uh oh Trumbo, I’m sure he’ll somehow be offended by that and block you too!
You got it right.
He’ll get $450k guaranteed and $1.35 million if he plays all year in the bigs.
Most likely, he’ll get prorated amounts of each as he bounces up and down from AAA the MLB.
So if he spends the first month in AAA, he’ll get paid his weekly portion of the $450k. But maybe he spends the next month at the big league level, same thing.
It is a nice way for a fringe player to lock in a decent guarantee. It is also a nice way for the team to ensure that for about a million bucks, they have depth.
I love baseball. Even a Frenchy Cordero signing is analyzed.
@TrumboJumbo I mean, you wrote it out, he gets one of those salaries if he plays in MLB, and the other if he plays in MILB. Those are his “rates” the high MILB one I guess is unusual but it allows him to not care if he gets sent down.
Haha I swear I didn’t understand it. But now I do. I’ll smarten up A’s Fan I promise hah.
It’s also prorated, so if he’s only in the majors for 1 day, he would make $450k plus whatever the prorated $1.5M salary is.
I’m not greedy, I’ll take the minor league salary !
A nice back-up candidate.
Now they need to teach him how to play 1B.
And perhaps this opens up the possibility of an OF to be traded for a starting pitcher.
The Orioles are the Astros 2.0. Both develop non-productive players that other teams couldn’t bring along properly….great coaching staffs. (Don’t hit on everyone….but the ones they do are HR’s.)
He’s absolutely awful. You might get a good week out of him but that’s about all
Who have they done that with besides Lopez and Mateo?
jdgoat;
Do you follow the Orioles?
Start with their entire pitching staff. Anthony Santander was a Rule 5 guy from Cleveland that no one thought would be a starter in MLB (he led the Orioles in RBI last season). Yes, most of their position players were drafted by them but now they’re taking flyers on position players as they did on pitchers.
The Orioles along with the Astros, Dodgers, Guardians, and Braves have the best major and minor league coaching staffs in MLB….and that matters…..a lot.
Cionel Perez seems to be the only other example. Maybe theyve traded more away in the past couple seasons.
Felix Bautista, Jorge Mateo, Urias, Tyler Wells, Bryan Baker, Spencer Watkins, Cionel Perez, Austin Voth, Joey Krehbel. The Orioles, somehow, have become a Jem specialist.
Glad to see Perez succeeding. I didn’t feel like the Astros gave him as many opportunities as he should have had.
jdgoat;
They had one of the best bullpens in MLB last year. ALL those pitchers were rejects they picked up. When Lopez was traded to the Twins he fell apart – was replaced as the closer. Felix Bautista took over the O’s closing role and pitched better than Lopez had.
All their starting pitchers were brought along. The O’s signed Austin Voth when the National released him early in the season. With the Nationals he thrashed around for 4-1/2 seasons. The Orioles staff showed him a few thing s on video and suggested some adjustments with both his pitches and sequencing. He made the adjustments. After a few appearances finished with the lowest ERA (with the O’s) he’d ever had – 3.04 in 83 innings.
The Orioles and Guardians are easily the 2 best young and contending teams in MLB. Just because many people (especially in this chatroom) don’t know anything about their players and the way they work with the coaching staff and are used by the manager doesn’t mean they stink.
Come post at me a year and two years from now about both of those teams. They do things different ways, but they employ the same overall philosophies – particularly that of being patient with their young players and working with them….not all pan out, but enough do to make a contender. Astros have been doing the same things for 10 years now.
I’m not sure why nobody would know the Orioles and Guardians have really good young players.
It’s posted in every minor league ranking system.
All those were largely brought up by the Orioles. I must have just misunderstood the original point
I can name three posters off the top of my head whose mantras are, “Everything about the Orioles sucks, has always sucked and will forever suck.” It’s childish, sure. And shows ignorance of the franchise. But they have hardons for the Orioles for whatever reason.
Crazy comment there JD.
You should’ve seen enough orioles baseball being a jays fan to realize what was going on. a large part of the O’s 2022 team was remade castoffs.
Their pitching staff was developed in the minors, it has practically zero castoffs signed and turned into gold. Not even close to the same thing. Let’s slow the roll on comparing them to Houston when they haven’t done anything of note in over half a decade.
Watkins is horrific, Voth is fools gold, Wells is below average (maybe a number 5 innings eater), Krehbiel is nothing special– just a replaceable 4 ERA bullpen arm. Bautista and Perez are really the only ones who seem to be legit based on the basic stats, but even the advanced data doesn’t love either. Perez has horrible statcast dara and Bautista has to tone down the walks or he won’t be able to replicate the success he just had.
Bradish was acquired in trade. His change in pitch selection over last season bodes well for 2023.
Kremer was acquired via trade and may be a serviceable starter He was good in 2022.
Bryan Baker was claimed off waivers and improved tremendously over the season as his pitch selection was tweaked.
If you think Bautista is not one of the most dominant relievers in MLB, you don’t watch Orioles games. He is the real deal. 3.2 BB/9 is not very high. 0.929 WHIP is awesome! So is 12.1 k/9. On top of a fastball that hits 103 mph, he has one of the best splitters in the game.
Dillon Tate, acquired via trade, has tons of movement on his pitches and is a valuable bullpen piece. O.991 WHIP in 2022.
But, yeah, you are right: Krehbiel, picked up on waivers, is expendable. And Perez, also a waiver claim, will likely come back down to earth.
Final thought, to say the Orioles “pitching staff was developed in the minors” is not only incorrect, it shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the roster.
@Bstrowman
I legitimately can not find anybody but the three I mentioned who were remade castoffs… and now that I look at it I don’t even know if Mateo is even remade. He’s just a high floor player due to good defense and base running.
But just for that example, Voth had a 4.00 FIP. I’m actually glad to see that they have had legitimate success developing their own talent considering they have struggled at that for quite some time. I just don’t think they’re quite at the same level as the Astros, and they definitely haven’t displayed that yet. The reason their future is so bright at present is because of their tank, not because they pulled Lopez and Perez off the scarp heap.
I meant their good pitchers were developed in the minors. Note that I didn’t say “drafted and developed,” just developed. Kremer, who is good was developed in their minors system. Bautista, who is good was developed in their minors system. Tate, who is good was developed in their minors system (recall he was fizzling out prior to that in TEX and NY). Guys like Voth and Watkins are both bad and weren’t developed in their system, which is my point. The ones worth their salt spent time in Baltimore’s minor league system before being promoted.
And I’m not saying Bautista is bad, he’s a very good pitcher but he’s 32nd percentile in BB rate and 29th percentile in barrels, which is an iffy combo because it can lead to more XBH with runners on. He has to figure that out or he likely won’t replicate this season’s success. He’s a top 25 reliever still in my mind, but his ERA was not an accurately reflection of his performance and he is definitely an example of a pitcher whose peripherals paint a clearer picture (albeit, still a very good one). He’s probably a 3 ERA talent right now. Obviously I would want him on my team but he’s definitely not Hendriks, Clase, Diaz, Williams, Munoz, Phillips, Romano, Helsley, Minter, or even still Hader who deserves the benefit of the doubt. I do love his leverage splits though.
Bean: “We’ll teach you how to play First. It’s easy, isn’t Wash?”
Ron Washington: “It’s incredibly hard”
Bean: “Hey, anything worth being good at always is”
Baltimore’s savior
You generally like these type of guys on hand in case of a long term injury, but the signing analysis will be so bad, especially if he stinks at AAA.
Yeah, too that “if he”…, AAA Norfolk ballpark doesn’t do hitters any good, unfortunately. I do like the signing, though.
Not a bad move. He is good depth. He can hit the ball a mile…when he hits it.
Irony. Those first few words in A’sFan comment will never be said about him….
Raffle Ticket To See Which Fan Makes The Team
This strikes me as a “pre-trade” move. Maybe someone like Santander or Mountcastle is being discussed in trade talks that are starting to progress? At worst, this deal can probably be moved over to another team for cash considerations if it doesn’t look like he’ll be needed in the bigs.
I agree Waymann. Based on the Diaz (sp?) move today and now this one, looks like Mountcastle may be leaving the nest? At least I hope so. MLB level proven talent and young (pre arb, yes?).
Why move him? Os get a decent SP in return (and most likely much younger then FA SP options). Mountcastle and his RH swing no longer have to deal with Mt. Waltimore (new LF wall dimension). It seemed to be in his head in 22. He gets fresh change of scenery.
If the Os don’t sign a SW hitting Bell type to play 1st, guys like Diaz and Franchy are part of a weaker plan B strategy?
Once Jake Cave was off the board, the Orioles knew they had to pounce!!
His name sounds sorta like a Mississippian saying “Frenchy.”
But I digress.
I wish Franchy made it. His swing reminds me of Daryl Strawberry.
Cordero’s only tools are elite raw power and semi-decent speed. But that raw power doesn’t mean much if you can’t make contact.
O’s are picking up some LH hitting First Base options today
Not exactly a Bundy Splash, but Frenchy had his moments
Franchy has skills all teams can dream about but he just can’t translate them into the game. If you watch his batting practice, he has some of the best raw power in all of baseball. He just mashes BP. He can go on small tears in MLB as well where he carries them team for 2-3 games, then he reverts back to his old, disappointing self. He’s a likable guy so I’d love to see him finally reach his potential but I have a feeling that what you see is what you’ll get out of Franchy for the rest of his career. A big game here or there followed by long stretches of mediocrity at best. Not a bad gamble by Baltimore but he’s probably bench depth as well. Maybe he can turn into an effective pinch hitter and spot starter but that is probably his ceiling right now. He should really go to Japan or Korea; he could become a star over there.
Good luck, O’s fans. He was supposed to be the best part of our (BoSox) trade for Benintendi. That didn’t pan out so well. Maybe he’ll do better at Camden Yards if he makes it that far..
Still should sign Bell to split 1B/DH
I would like to congratulate the Sox for finally letting go of Franchy. Now, there are a few others I’d like to turn their attention to . . .
If the Orioles can figure out how to calm this guy’s jumpy Big League bat so he can translate that .353 and .377 OBP he had during his years in AA and AAA respectively into similar MLB OBP, then they have captured something worthwhile. He is still young, though that prospect tag has fallen off his clothing.
I’m surprised by this. He will probably crush with the Orioles. Reminds me of the Wily Mo Pena days.