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Dan Duquette On Orioles’ Offseason Plans

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The Orioles’ 2017 season came to an end on Sunday, as they finished dead last in the AL East with a 75-87 record. But although they finished 12 games below .500 with a -98 run differential this season, the O’s have a lot of talent still in place, and will gain some financial flexibility as a few big contracts come off the books. Before game 162, Baltimore GM Dan Duquette revealed some of the organization’s offseason plans, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com writes.

Duquette said that the Orioles will shed a significant amount of payroll. He candidly told Kubatko: “We do have a number of players that have played their last game with the Orioles. I don’t know exactly who those players are, but there are a lot of contracts that are coming off.”

That’s no exaggeration; Jeremy Hellickson, Ubaldo Jimenez, Seth Smith, Chris Tillman, Ryan Flaherty and Craig Gentry were paid a combined $39.3MM this year, and are all set to become free agents. Welington Castillo made $6MM and is unlikely to exercise his player option. J.J. Hardy made $14MM in 2017, but his 268 plate appearances in 2017 fell well short of the 600 required for his $14MM 2018 option to vest. The Orioles are likely to pay him a $2MM buyout. Wade Miley, meanwhile, made about $9.4MM, and is likely to have his $12MM option declined in favor of a $500K buyout. If all of these players sign elsewhere, the Orioles would clear about $66.2MM in payroll space.

[Related: Baltimore Orioles payroll outlook]

The Orioles plan to reallocate some of that payroll towards their pitching staff, although Duquette admits that the market for pitching is a “thin market, and that’s an expensive market.” Duquette likes what he saw from Gabriel Ynoa, and believes Miguel Castro could be a starter as well (one would assume that Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman will also keep their jobs). Duquette’s focus this offseason will be on acquiring a left-handed starter. Based on a quick look at the free agent market, the top available options include Jason Vargas, Jaime Garcia, Miley, Francisco Liriano and CC Sabathia.

Duquette compares his “shopping list” for the offseason to a similar list he had in 2011, when the Orioles signed Miguel Gonzalez and Wei-Yin Chen. Chris Tillman also emerged as a viable option that year, so it seems as though the Orioles will hope that one of Ynoa or Castro can follow that pattern as the Orioles try to improve their rotation after allowing 841 runs in 2017, good for second-most in the AL.

If there had been any doubt, Duquette ends the interview by making it clear that the Orioles intend to try and win in 2018 even within a tough AL East. They will certainly face tough challenges against offenses like the Yankees and Red Sox, so it would take an enormous improvement to the rotation for the Orioles to make a run at the playoffs.

Coaching/Managerial Notes: Hot Seats, Royals, Scioscia, Snitker

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Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic runs down the big league managers that could be on the hot seat (subscription required and strongly recommended). Rosenthal lists Braves skipper Brian Snitker as an immediate candidate and notes that Red Sox skipper John Farrell, too, could be on the hot seat if the Sox are bounced in the ALDS for a second straight season. Farrell was inherited rather than hired by president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. While Orioles owner Peter Angelos isn’t likely to dismiss Buck Showalter, the tension between him and GM Dan Duquette continues to loom large in the organization. Rosenthal also covers several other managers on shaky ground that could find themselves in jeopardy with poor team showings in 2018.

A bit from MLB’s dugouts around the league…

  • The Royals and pitching coach Dave Eiland reached a mutual agreement to part ways, reports FanRag’s Jon Heyman. The 51-year-old Eiland spent six seasons as the pitching coach for manager Ned Yost in Kansas City, helping the team to consecutive World Series appearances in 2014-15 and, of course, a World Series victory in the latter of those two seasons. He also spent 2008-10 as the Yankees pitching coach, so Eiland’s considerable experience should get him some type of opportunity with another organization, even if the Royals’ pitching staff as a whole underperformed in a disappointing 2017 campaign. Rustin Dodd and Pete Grahoff of the Kansas City Star, meanwhile, report that bench coach Don Wakamatsu, bullpen coach Doug Henry and assistant hitting coach Brian Buchanan are also expected to be dismissed. Kansas City has since announced that Eiland and Wakamatsu will not have their contracts renewed.
  • Angels manager Mike Scioscia will be back with the team in 2018 — the final season of his 10-year contract as skipper of the Halos, tweets Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. Scioscia hopes to manage the Angels beyond the 2018 season, Fletcher notes, but he’s content heading into the final season of his contract without signing an extension. The 58-year-old Scioscia is Major League Baseball’s longest tenured manager, as he’s been skipper of the Angels since the 2000 campaign. The Halos were in contention for the American League’s second Wild Card spot up until the final week of the season despite a slew of injuries that decimated their pitching staff for much of the year.
  • Braves president of baseball operations plans to meet with manager Brian Snitker to discuss his future “as early as today,” tweets MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. The Braves will have a decision on the coaching staff at some point midweek, per Bowman. Notably, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets that Hart said today’s sudden resignation of GM John Coppolella in the wake of an MLB investigation isn’t likely to impact the decision one way or another (Twitter links). O’Brien guesses that the option on Snitker will be exercised, though it seems that a formal decision has not yet been made.

Duquette: Orioles Looking To Add Pitching, “Premature” To Consider Selling At Deadline

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Even with the Orioles in a tailspin over the last six weeks, executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette said it was “a little premature” to consider whether or not his team will be sellers at the trade deadline, Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun writes.  If anything, the O’s are still considering making an upgrade to their struggling rotation.

“Our pitching hasn’t been up to standards,” Duquette said. “We’re going to keep our eye out and try to get our pitching back to a competitive level, and see if we can make some additions to the team and see where we are in terms of contending for a playoff spot.”

The Orioles held the top spot in the AL East for much of the early part of the season, and had a 22-10 record after a victory on May 9.  Since that date, however, Baltimore has just a 13-28 mark.  Some notable injuries (Zach Britton, Chris Davis, Darren O’Day) have been a factor, and top hitters like Manny Machado, Adam Jones and Mark Trumbo have been below-average contributors at the plate.

The Orioles’ biggest weakness, however, has been a lack of reliable starting pitching.  Baltimore starters have combined for the second-worst fWAR (1.6) and ERA (5.79) in all of baseball, ahead of only the Reds in both categories.  Orioles starters aren’t missing bats (6.69 K/9, third-lowest of any rotation in the league) while also posting a league-high 4.13 BB/9.

The O’s have acquired the likes of Wade Miley, Scott Feldman and Bud Norris in deadline trades under Duquette’s time running the front office, and the summer trade market is flush with pitching options for teams looking for rotation help.  On the other hand, as Meoli notes, the Orioles’ farm system is thin on major trade chips for opposing teams.

Of course, there won’t be any buying at the deadline if the Orioles don’t turn things around in fairly quick fashion.  Welington Castillo will only return in 2018 if he exercises a player option, so the Orioles could consider moving him as a rental for other teams.  For bigger-picture moves, Meoli points out that Machado, Jones, Britton and Brad Brach are all free agents after 2018.  While dealing Machado or Jones would portend at a larger rebuild, it’s possible Baltimore could explore trading one of the relievers for prospects and then keeping the other as the closer for next season (when the team would presumably be looking for a quick return to contention).

One bright side for the Orioles is a crowded American League table, so Baltimore entered today’s action six games behind the Red Sox in the AL East and just 3.5 games out of the second wild card spot.  The question would be how much the O’s want to invest in midseason trades when a best-case scenario might be the one-game playoff, though for Duquette, the wild card is still an attractive target.

“If we get a little bit more time, maybe the second wild card gives a lot of teams hope,” Duquette said.  “And once you get into that playoff situation, a lot of teams have advanced from that wild-card spot and done well in the playoffs. There’s more baseball to play, and our aim is to try to get back to playing the kind of baseball that fans are used to from the Baltimore Orioles.”

Rosenthal’s Latest: Pirates, Orioles, Twins, Mariners

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At 27-35, the Pirates on track to miss the playoffs for the second straight year. But the club’s recent woes aren’t threatening the job security of either GM Neal Huntington or manager Clint Hurdle, says FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, who reports that the two are good bets to sign contract extensions before the season ends. Huntington has been at the helm since 2007, Hurdle dating back to 2011, and the team has gone to the playoffs three times during their six-plus-year partnership. The Pirates are now headed for their fourth sub-.500 season under the Huntington-Hurdle tandem, though, and look as if they’ll sell at the deadline, as MLBTR’s Charlie Wilmoth wrote earlier Saturday.

More from Rosenthal:

  • The Orioles have experienced a fair amount of success since 2012, when they hired GM Dan Duquette to team with manager Buck Showalter. Despite that, Duquette and Showalter have an “unsteady” relationship, according to Rosenthal. Therefore, with their contracts set to expire after next season, one or both might end up on the outs in the near future. Showalter, who will be 62 after next season, could take over Duquette’s current job, per Rosenthal.
  • If the 32-26 Twins remain in contention around the deadline, not only will they have a hard time parting with trade candidates such as Ervin Santana and Brian Dozier, but they could end up as buyers, suggests Rosenthal. In that situation, the Twins would likely target cheap starting help to aid a rotation that’s missing Phil Hughes and Hector Santiago, both of whom are on the disabled list. Hughes and Santiago have struggled even when healthy this year for Minnesota, whose rotation entered Saturday a solid 12th in the majors in ERA but a troubling 26th in FIP.
  • The Mariners will have to address long-term needs in their rotation either at the deadline or during the offseason, notes Rosenthal. Hisashi Iwakuma, Yovani Gallardo and Drew Smyly are only under control for another two years at the most (the first two have club options for 2018), leaving Seattle with James Paxton, Felix Hernandez and Ariel Miranda as its only current prominent starters under contract through 2019.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Blue Jays, Donaldson, Braun, Orioles

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FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal shares some news from around baseball in his latest notes column…

  • Josh Donaldson is expected to spend 2-4 weeks on the DL recovering from a calf injury.  Though the Blue Jays are in dire need of Donaldson’s bat, I would suspect the team would err on the side of caution and keep Donaldson out of action until he has completely healed, given that the third baseman has been bothered by this injury dating back to Spring Training.
  • With the Blue Jays off to a 2-10 start, Rosenthal figures the team will likely be dealing veterans at the July trade deadline but “a major deconstruction would be a tough sell” to fans.  A complete rebuild would erase most or all of the gains made in ticket sales and TV ratings during the last two years, when the Jays twice reached the postseason.  Rosenthal believes the Jays could use “a strategic re-set” and still aim to contend in 2018.  If Toronto does sell at the deadline, they could limit themselves to trading players who will be free agents after 2017 (such as Marco Estrada, Jose Bautista or Francisco Liriano).  The tougher calls, of course, would be on deciding to trade Donaldson or J.A. Happ, who are under contract through the 2018 season.
  • Ryan Braun will gain 10-and-5 rights on May 14, according to Rosenthal, not on May 24 as previous reports have suggested.  No matter the date that the Brewers slugger can gain full no-trade control, however, Rosenthal echoes earlier reports that suggest little will change with Braun’s trade status once he becomes a 10-and-5 player.
  • The Orioles’ lack of international spending is “an ownership decision,” Rosenthal hears from Baltimore executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette.  Ben Badler pulled no punches in criticizing the Orioles’ meager spending on international amateur free agents in a piece for Baseball America earlier this week, and Rosenthal adds that the O’s have also spent the least of any team on amateur draft signings over the last three years.  While Duquette notes that several homegrown prospects are currently on Baltimore’s MLB roster, Rosenthal points out that with so many big names (i.e. Manny Machado, Adam Jones, Zach Britton) slated for free agency after 2018, the O’s are lacking in young depth to fill what could be several significant roster holes.
  • Two sources tell Rosenthal that Duquette wasn’t happy with how the Orioles’ medical staff handled Chris Tillman’s shoulder injury.  Duquette didn’t specifically comment on this report to Rosenthal, only saying that “We probably could have done a better job getting him back….I’m not sure we rushed him.  I’m just disappointed he didn’t start the season with us.  We had plenty of time to work with him.  The shoulder was bothering him at the end of last year.”  Tillman and the O’s are targeting a return date of early May for the right-hander to make his season debut.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Yankees, Rockies, L. Robert, Orioles, Mariners

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Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez left Saturday’s game in Baltimore with a right biceps strain, per a team announcement. There’s no timetable for his return, tweets FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, but it’s worth noting that Angels righty Garrett Richards landed on the 10-day disabled list Friday with a right biceps strain. It’s possible Sanchez’s injury will be more severe, of course, which would be a terrible development for the Yankees. The 24-year-old deservedly entered the season with significant hype surrounding him after hitting an astounding .299/.376/.657 with 20 home runs in 229 plate appearances as a rookie in 2016.

More from Rosenthal:

  • When it comes to potentially acquiring starting pitching help this summer, the Rockies could be a team to watch, says Rosenthal (video link). Colorado might have enough young talent to swing a deal for White Sox left-hander Jose Quintana or Athletics right-hander Sonny Gray, posits Rosenthal, who notes that Baseball America regards its farm as the 10th-best system in the majors (ESPN’s Keith Law ranks it an even better ninth).
  • The White Sox, Astros, Padres, Reds and Cardinals are the teams with the most interest in highly touted outfield prospect Luis Robert, reports Rosenthal. If he’s cleared to sign by June 15, the 19-year-old will go down as the last Cuban amateur to sign for big money – should the new collective bargaining agreement rules remain in place for a while, that is. Ben Badler of Baseball America has reported on multiple occasions that the White Sox are the favorites to land Robert. Unlike the ChiSox, all of the Astros, Padres, Cardinals and Reds have already exceeded their 2016-17 international bonus pools.
  • With Manny Machado, Zach Britton and Adam Jones slated to become free agents after next year, the Orioles might look far different on the field by the 2019 season. Changes could be coming off the field, too, as both GM Dan Duquette and manager Buck Showalter will also see their contracts expire when the 2018 campaign concludes, per Rosenthal. Showalter isn’t looking to leave Baltimore, according to Rosenthal, though he’ll turn 61 next month, leading to questions as to whether he’ll transition to a front office job sometime soon.
  • The Mariners’ competitive window might only stay open through next season, observes Rosenthal, who points out that Nelson Cruz, Jean Segura, Drew Smyly, Hisashi Iwakuma and Leonys Martin are scheduled to hit free agency after the 2018 campaign. General manager Jerry Dipoto made it clear over the winter that the Mariners are in “win-now” mode, which makes sense considering those soon-to-be free agents, not to mention that integral players such as Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager and Felix Hernandez are either in their 30s or will be soon. The Mariners don’t have a deep farm system, either, as both Baseball America and Law place it in the majors’ bottom 10.

Dan Duquette On Trumbo, Hammel, Bautista

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Orioles executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette joined Jim Bowden and Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM to discuss his team’s offseason plans.  Here’s a partial audio link to the interview, as well as other details from Jim Duquette’s Twitter account (links here).  Highlights included…

  • Duquette hinted that the Orioles could be moving on from Mark Trumbo, saying “we like some of the other options, some of the shorter-term options on the market that look to be a little bit more cost-effective for the club.”  Since Trumbo rejected a qualifying offer, the O’s will receive a first round draft pick if Trumbo signs elsewhere, which is no small consideration for the Orioles given how the qualifying offer system has been altered for future seasons.  “The value of that draft pick has been enhanced with the negotiations of the new basic agreement,” Duquette said.  “In other words, that’s about the last time you can acquire that level of pick for a compensation free agent.”
  • The Orioles still are looking for outfield help as well as pitching depth in the form of “another veteran pitcher.”  Duquette didn’t rule out a reunion with Jason Hammel, noting that the O’s liked Hammel and how he performed for Baltimore in the 2012-13 seasons.  The Rangers, Yankees, Mariners and Marlins have all been linked to Hammel at different points this offseason.
  • Earlier this winter, Duquette commented that Jose Bautista wasn’t an Orioles target due to the long-time Blue Jays slugger’s unpopularity amongst Baltimore fans.  Duquette clarified those comments today and while he feels his words “kind of got blown out of proportion,” he didn’t walk them back.  “I was trying to make it clear to [Bautista’s] agent that I didn’t want the Orioles in that conversation because I didn’t want the fans being upset that we were out there trying to bring Jose Bautista here after we’d competed against him…for the last 6-7 years,” Duquette said.  In my view, this is an unusual public stance for an executive to take, especially since Bautista (as a veteran slugger who could be available at something of a discount price) fits the model of past late-winter Duquette signings.

Dan Duquette On Trumbo, Machado, Britton

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The Orioles have “made a couple offers to” free agent slugger Mark Trumbo, Orioles executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette told reporters (including Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun and MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko), though despite ongoing talks, an agreement has yet to be reached.  “We’ve had several conversations with Mark Trumbo, but we haven’t been able to cinch a deal with him….We’ve had a dialogue going with them for several weeks,” Duquette said.

Though there was mutual interest in a continued relationship between the two sides prior to the end of the season, there hasn’t been much news about Trumbo and Orioles until now.  Duquette said during the GM Meetings that the club was looking to prioritize defense and add a left-handed hitting outfielder, neither of which describe what Trumbo brings to the table. Duquette cited outfield defense again today, though Trumbo could also fill Baltimore’s hole at designated hitter.  As I noted in my free agent profile of Trumbo, his value could greatly improve if a team uses him in a first base/DH role rather than as a corner outfielder.

Right field is the specific need for the O’s, as Duquette said Hyun Soo Kim and Joey Rickard could handle left field in a platoon and the team hasn’t put much thought into moving Chris Davis from first base into right.  As for other internal options, Duquette also cited youngster Trey Mancini as having the hitting potential to possibly handle regular DH duty.

Trumbo has received some interest from the Rockies this winter, though Colorado would have to give up a hefty draft pick price (the 11th overall selection in next year’s draft) to sign Trumbo, who rejected the Orioles’ qualifying offer.  That same QO status is a consideration for the O’s as well as they explore re-signing Trumbo, Duquette noted, as is the changing nature of the qualifying offer system in future years under the new collective bargaining agreement.

Aside from Trumbo, Duquette also discussed such topics as the team’s needs in right field, catcher (either as a starter or platoon partner with Caleb Joseph) and the potential use of the upcoming Rule 5 draft to procure more young talent.

Duquette also denied a rumor about an extension between Manny Machado and the Orioles, saying that the two sides hadn’t had any talks.  Most teams wait until after the bulk of the offseason work is complete before entering into extension negotiations, so we might not hear about anything with Machado until Spring Training at the earliest.  The superstar third baseman is projected by MLBTR to earn $11.2MM in arbitration next season, and the O’s control Machado through the 2018 campaign.  With Machado hitting the open market at age 26, the sky is the limit for the size of a potential extension — Baltimore would likely require something north of a $250MM guarantee.

In a radio appearance with Jim Duquette and Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link), the executive VP also commented on the attention being drawn by closer Zach Britton.  “There’s a lot of interest in Zach Britton. Personally, I like Zach Britton on our club, but there are teams interested,” Duquette said.  Britton is also due for a hefty arbitration payday ($11.4MM) in the wake of his excellent 2016 season, and there has been speculation that the O’s could sell high on Britton now given the large demand for relief pitching this offseason.  One would think it would take a pretty significant offer to pry Britton out of Baltimore, as Duquette has said both here and in prior interviews that he wants to keep the closer.

East Notes: Duquette, Rickard, Montero, Osuna

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Both the Nationals and Orioles have rejected the idea that Washington is currently pursuing Baltimore executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette to take over as the club’s president. The clubs were responding to a report suggesting such interest from Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (on Twitter). Mike Rizzo currently serves the Nationals as the general manager and president of baseball operations, though it’s possible that the organization could add a business-oriented president as well, and Duquette had reportedly been considered for such a broad role with the Blue Jays last year. It’s also worth noting that Rizzo has a two-year option that’s up for decision on June 15. This is hardly the first time there’s been intrigue surrounding Duquette, or Rizzo for that matter, though such a move would remain surprising — not least of which because the two clubs are engaged in a protracted dispute over television rights fees. It’s all hypothetical for now, anyway. “We are not in discussions with Dan Duquette, nor are we in the market for a team president,” a Nats spokesperson tells Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (Twitter link). An Orioles source says that the club hasn’t received any request to contact Duquette, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com adds (Twitter links). Meanwhile, Duquette himself issued his own statement, saying: “I don’t know anything about this, nor has anyone contacted me.”

Here’s more from the game’s eastern divisions:

  • Duquette told Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com the backstory on the Orioles’ decision to take Joey Rickard from the Rays in this winter’s Rule 5 draft. You’ll want to read the full account at that link, but here’s a brief rundown: Baltimore’s analytics department put Rickard on the organization’s radar after his strong 2015, and the O’s got an up-front look when the 24-year-old played for Felipe Alou Jr. — the director of the team’s Dominican academy — in the Dominican Winter League. The stars aligned when Rickard was available when Baltimore’s Rule 5 slot came up, and the club’s uncertain corner outfield mix made him a good fit. Obviously, he’s rewarded the team thus far with an excellent start to the year; he’s among several players who have had outstanding debuts, as we covered in a poll earlier today.
  • The Mets are set to recall righty Rafael Montero to provide some innings, as ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin reports (Twitter link). Once one of the team’s more promising young pitchers, the 25-year-old has struggled with shoulder issues recently and wasn’t penciled in at the major league level to start the year. He’s needed there now, though, because of Jacob deGrom’s lat issue and Steven Matz’s rough, 1 2/3-inning outing yesterday. Those two situations have led to some early questions, with an anonymous scout telling Kevin Kernan of the New York Post that Matz seemed in need of further Triple-A seasoning after his first start. Barring some undisclosed health issues or continued struggles, that seems rather premature, though it’s fair to note that Matz did scuffle a bit this spring — allowing 13 walks (though racking up 21 strikeouts) in his 23 2/3 innings in camp.
  • Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna is not only continuing to show the same exciting stuff that led to his breakout last year, but is increasingly working a changeup into his arsenal, as John Lott writes for Vice Sports. He’s certainly got enough with his fastball and slider to succeed in the late innings, but adding another plausible offering — if not a swing-and-miss option in and of itself — could certainly improve his near and long-term outlook. Of course, that might also increase the organization’s interest in shifting Osuna back into a starting role down the line.

Hyun Soo Kim To Make Orioles Roster

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After some late-spring drama, Korean outfielder Hyun Soo Kim will be on the Orioles Opening Day roster, reports Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com. Baltimore signed Kim to a two-year, $7MM contract over the offseason. The deal included a provision that allowed Kim to refuse an assignment to the minors.

After hitting just .178/.224/.178 in 45 spring plate appearances, the Orioles reportedly believed it was best for Kim’s development to start the year in the minors. Kim’s Korea-based agency announced earlier last week that he would not accept an assignment to the minor. Per executive VP Dan Duquette, “we asked for his consent because we thought that was the best way to prepare him. He needed more time in the transition and, so, he didn’t see it that way.”

The team actually has need of a left-handed hitting backup outfielder so Kim can still fill a valuable role. It’s important to remember that a bad March does not necessarily portend an equally rough season – especially for an overseas player who may be experiencing culture shock. Kim is coming off a strong season in the KBO – .326/.438/.541 with 28 home runs and 38 more walks than strikeouts.

For his part, Kim is grateful for the opportunity, writes Rich Dubroff of CSN Mid-Atlantic. Speakings through a translator, he said “I’m very happy to be on the roster and I will try my best to make it up to the coaching staff and organization.”

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