Some Orioles Updates

The Orioles have made a few moves over the past few weeks...


- Not the O’s biggest move, but they agreed to a 1-year-deal, worth $1.5MM with OF Endy Chavez. Also, Chavez (pictured above) can earn up to $500K in bonuses. He will be used either in a platoon with LF Nolan Reimold or will backup CF Adam Jones.

- On December 14th, the O’s signed Japanese starting pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada. Wada agreed to a two-year-deal, worth $8.15MM with club option for 2014, where he would earn $5MM.

- On December 12th, the O’s non-tendered OF/DH Luke Scott, RHP Willie Eyre, and LHP Jo-Jo Reyes. Eyre was designated for assignment a week earlier. However, none of these non-tenders were surprising.

- On December 8th, The Orioles traded minor leaguers to the Los Angeles Dodgers for LHP Dana Eveland. . He is going to be able to compete for a rotation spot with the O’s.

Some Rumors…

- OF Coco Crisp is reportedly close to signing with a team, but it has not yet been revealed who the team is. The Orioles have been talking to him the past few days and are interested in signing him. We should find out who Crisp signs with in the next few days.

- A few weeks ago, FOX Sports Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi reported that the Braves and the Orioles had a discussion about Braves SP Jair Jurrjens and IF/OF Martin Prado. However, the Braves would never be expected to trade both of them in same deal. It is also reported that GM Dan Duquette asked for two of the Braves top pitching prospects as well.

- After agreeing to terms with SP Tsuyoshi Wada, it was reported that the O’s are interested in another Japanese SP Wei-Yin Chen. Chen is only 26-years-old and will also cost more than Wada. Dan Duquette has been very active in the international market and is also apparently interested in starter Hishashi Iwakuma.

- Besides the international starters, the O’s seem to be interested in SP Joe Saunders. Saunders was non-tendered by the Diamondbacks this off-season and is reportedly seeking a multi-year deal.

- When it comes to current Orioles Jim Johnson and Brad Bergesen, Dan Duquette said that Buck Showalter will decide in the spring if they will be a part of the rotation or the bullpen. However, MASN writer Roch Kubatko believes he could end up being the O’s closer in 2012.

- The O’s appear to be monitoring the market for Prince Fielder, but they should not be considered a favorite to land him. It is also reported that the Orioles will not go over 8-years for Fielder.


More updates will come as the off-season comes to a close...

Getting to know Tsuyoshi

When GM Dan Duquette first talked about being the Orioles new GM he talked about a few of his goals. One of those goals was to improve the O’s internationally. So far it looks like Duquette is sticking to his word.

On Friday, the Orioles introduced Japanese pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada. Wada (pictured above) has a two-year-deal with the Orioles, including a club option for 2014. He will make $8.15MM and his option for 2014 is for $5MM.

Wada, is 30-years-old and has played in the Nippon Professional Baseball League since 2003. He began playing Nippon Professional Baseball when he was 22 and went 14-5, with a 3.38 earned-run average and finished with 195 strikeouts.

Since his first season, Wada has posted 77 wins and 51 losses. He has never struck out more batters than when he did his first season, however he has increased his command and has never had more than 61 walks, which he also had in his first season.

He is left-handed and has a very, very unorthodox delivery. Also, Wada is about 5’10” and 170 Ibs.

So what’s in his repertoire?

Wada has a four-seam fastball that usually sits at 85-88 mph, his four-seamer tops out at about 91 mph. Like I said early, Wada has an unorthodox delivery, which is very deceiving to hitters and it compensates for his below-average fastball velocity.

He also throws 2 other pitches; which are a change-up and a slider. His slider is average to above-average.

A few scouts have compared Wada to current Oakland A’s LHP Dallas Braden. Braden throws in the mid-to-upper 80’s and is also left-handed.

How will he fair in Major League Baseball?

It should be an interesting year for the Orioles pitching staff. Wada will probably slot in towards the back end of the rotation.

I can see him having an ERA above 4.00, most likely sitting from 4.50 to 4.75. Winning 6-8 games isn’t an unrealistic expectation for Tsuyoshi, especially since he plays in arguably the toughest division in baseball.

I am excited to see what Tsuyoshi Wada can bring to the Orioles. Hopefully he can bring stability to a rotation that certainly lacks it. It should be noted however, that the O’s could utilize Wada similarly to Koji Uehara. Uehara originally fit into the rotation, but fell back to the bullpen where he became much more effective. The O’s may use this path with Wada as well, since they’ve seen success with it in the past.

Should the O's go after Cespedes?

So far throughout Free Agency the same names have been mentioned: Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, Jose Reyes, C.J. Wilson, and… Yoenis Cespedes.

Yoenis Cespedes (pictured above) is a 26-year-old Cuban outfielder who defected from Cuba to the Dominican Republic this summer. Cespedes’ plan was to finally become a Major League baseball player.

The first thing Cespedes did was send out a promotion video to all 30 MLB teams, a very interesting video to say the least. Here is a link for those of you who haven’t seen it: Cespedes' Showcase (Warning this video contains explicit language).

When it comes to stats, Cespedes has put out some very impressive numbers in his playing career. Since debuting in the Cuban National Series in the 2003-04 season, Cespedes has hit over .300 almost every single year except for 2007-08 season. He also hit 175 home runs in 9 seasons, showing that he clearly has power. Besides hitting, Cespedes has above-average speed, but isn’t known for his stealing ability. In the field Cespedes is an average defender and reports say he has an above average arm.

So far plenty of teams have been interested in the Cuban outfielder. Teams have ranged from the Yankees and Redsox, to teams like the Pirates and the Indians. The Orioles have also expressed interest in Cespedes.

However, the price for Cespedes continues to climb. Reports say it could take $50-60 million to sign him. But should the O’s spend that much money on a player who hasn’t constantly faced major-league competition?

No, the Orioles should not spend that much money on Yoenis Cespedes.

Signing Cespedes would be like signing a player like Mike Cameron. Yes, Cameron was an average to above-average player in his prime, but would he be worth $60 million or more?!?

There is another international prospect that the Orioles should go after though.

19-year-old Cuban outfielder Jorge Soler is not drawing nearly the same amount of attention, but he may be well worth the wait.

Unlike Cespedes, Soler is not major-league ready. Scouts say it will take him 2 or 3 years in the minors, but Soler could turn out to be a better major-league player than Cespedes. Soler is known to have great bat speed and could become a hitter that hits 40 home runs in the major-leagues. Soler will also come a lot cheaper. Soler is expected to get a deal similar to Rangers centerfielder Leonys Martin, who signed a 5-year major-league contract worth $15.5 million.

Soler may not be major-league ready, but he has a ton of raw potential and having a 6’3” frame, he has a ton of potential as a power hitter.

Signing someone like Jorge Soler will be cheaper than spending money on Yoenis Cespedes and Dan Duquette will stick to his word by focusing on more international signing and development of prospects.

Around The MLB: Offseason Notes

- What do Jose Reyes, Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols, Carlos Beltran, Mark Buerhle, and C.J. Wilson all have in common? These free agents have been targeted by the (soon to be) Miami Marlins this offseason. The Marlins are looking to sign big name free agents as they open their new stadium in 2012.

- Only one somewhat significant trade has occurred so far this offseason. The Giants sent LHP Jonathan Sanchez and minor league pitcher Ryan Verdugo to the Royals for OF Melky Cabrera. I like this trade for the Royals, especially if Sanchez can stay healthy and learn to control his pitches. For the Giants the trade is somewhat questionable, but shows how far Sanchez’s value fell after a down 2010. Cabrera had a career year last year, and San Francisco GM Brian Sabean is hoping he can replicate that performance.

- The Phillies were thought to have an agreement in place with RHP Ryan Madson, however the deal is still not done and the Phillies may be checking out RHP Jonathan Papelbon. Madson’s supposed deal was for 4 years and 44 million. A deal like that would set the market for closers,meaning Papelbon, Heath Bell, and former Mets’ closer Francisco Rodriguez could cash in.

- As for the Orioles, GM/ Executive VP of Baseball Operations Dan Duquette said the Orioles aren’t likely to go after free agents such as Prince Fielder or C.J. Wilson. Duquette believes that it is best to build the club from within. However, the O’s will not be dormant during free agency. Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun believes the Orioles have a strong liking to former Minnesota Twin Michael Cuddyer. Cuddyer is very versatile and is an above-average hitter. Also, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports believes that the Orioles may go after free agents Jorge Posada and Ivan Rodriguez to back up Matt Wieters.

Dan Duquette It Is

Say hello to your new GM (President of Baseball Operations???) Baltimore.  Granted, it's not official yet and we've been here before just a few days ago.  However, this seems like a done deal so let's take a good look at who and what we're getting in Mr. Duquette.

To start off, I should mention that I didn't even consider Duquette a possibility for the job for my last post, as he has been out of professional baseball as a GM or equivalent since 2002.  However, the Angles interviewed him before settling on Jerry DiPoto for the job.  Duquette was the last GM for the Boston Red Sox, and was let go after 2002 when new ownership wanted to go in a new direction.

So Who Is He?
Duquette got into the game in 1980 as a scouting assistant for the Brewers.  Obviously it's hard to tell exactly what players Duquette scouted, but it should be mentioned that Milwaukee had success in drafting and developing several top-notch prospects such as Gary Sheffield and BJ Surhoff.

In 1987 Duquette moved to the Montreal Expos front office as the Director of Player Development.  It took only 4 years for him to move up to GM, being named the replacement to current Tigers' President of Baseball Operations Dave  Dombrowski.

However just a few years later Duquette would leave Montreal to become the General Manager of the Red Sox, and was instrumental in their turn around and development into the team that would 'break the curse'.  He was not given the opportunity to see it through as new ownership relieved him in favor of Theo Epstein.

During his time in Boston, the Red Sox acquired Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez, Derek Lowe and Johnny Damon.  This group represented part of the core of the 'new Red Sox' as I like to call them that emerged after the turn of the century.

Over his time as a team executive, Duquette was named 'Executive of the Year twice (albeit by different groups), once with the Expos and once with the Sox.

Since 2002 Duquette helped found the Israel Baseball League and also founded the Dan Duquette Sports Academy for youths.  These endeavors merit posts in themselves, but aren't as relevant to the O's future as his tenure in Boston and Montreal.

Should I Be Excited?
I think so.  Duquette is known for two things around baseball it seems.  1. Trading for Pedro Martinez twice and 2. being an incredibly smart front office guy.  He has a background in player development from his time with the Expos and is said to be well connected in both Asia and Latin America.  This seems to be a perfect fit as those three areas are places where the Orioles could stand to substantially grow.  Ultimately, Duquette never shied away from spending money (which the O's do seem to have to spend) but has done so with a pretty good record in terms of ROI.

I know some fans are upset that he's been out of the game so long, but I'm not sure that criticism is warranted.  For Duquette, there was no need to rush back to baseball as he's been incredibly successful with his other projects.  Also Duquette is said to be very analytical, something that transcends time and changes in the game.  I'm not worried that he's going to be rusty or unsure of how to work in baseball today and neither should you.

At the end of the day, Duquette is a solid hire by the Orioles.  We could have done much much worse, and I think that he'll do a fine job helping to return this franchise to glory.  Obviously, it's difficult to predict the future, and nobody knows the circumstances that will unfold in the next few years.  However, I think this is a solid hire, and there is reason for optimism in Baltimore.