Good morning Birdland,
It feels like the trade deadline is getting serious now. Two rather significant moves went down over night as the Mariners added outfielder Randy Arozarena from the Rays, and the Diamondbacks acquired reliever A.J. Puk from the Marlins.
Puk seemed like a possible fit for the Orioles’ bullpen. The lefty is under team control through 2026 and although his top-line stats do not overwhelm this season, he has a really good track record and we all just saw him do some impressive things this past series. Instead, he heads to Arizona. But the trade can still be informative for the Orioles.
Puk cost the Diamondbacks two prospects: corner infielder Deyvison De Los Santos and outfielder Andrew Pintar. FanGraphs recently placed them 12th and 22nd, respectively, within the Diamondbacks’ organizational prospect rankings.
De Los Santos was already a Rule 5 pick once and would be eligible again this winter. It doesn’t seem like the Diamondbacks are heartbroken to lose him, regardless of his impressive minor league power numbers this season. Pintar—the lower-ranked of the two—raked in High-A this season, but has gotten off to a slow start in Double-A. Bottomline: they are both fine prospects, but not organization changers.
This is evidence that the cost to upgrade your bullpen with solid middle relief pieces will not be prohibitive at this deadline. You would have to imagine that the Orioles and Marlins discussed Puk simply because of the fit. Mike Elias and his lieutenants may have not seen the value, and that is fine. But there should be plenty of opportunities elsewhere to get some relief help without worrying about the cost.
Links
Orioles Have Reportedly Shown Interest In Jameson Taillon | MLB Trade Rumors
This would make sense. Taillon is under contract through 2026. It would be nice to have that sort of security on a veteran arm that currently has a 2.96 ERA over 100.1 innings. But he is due $18 million over each of the next two seasons, and prior to this season had been about a league average arm dating back to 2018. Which pitcher are you getting?
Checking back on yesterday’s tense win, trade talks and more | Roch Kubatko
Not much news here, just Roch reacting to various trade rumors out there. He does not foresee the Orioles trading Jackson Holliday, and he thinks Coby Mayo and Samuel Basallo are essentially untouchable as well. That does limit the sorts of big moves they can make.
Orioles Release Jonathan Heasley | MLB Trade Rumors
Heasley had been DFA’d earlier in the week, so this tracks. The righty struggled in four games with the big league club this season. Onto the next potential bullpen solution.
The childhood photo of Layton at Camden Yards has centerfield and the warehouse in the background. The rooftop bar is in place and a sign for Dempsey’s is prominent on Eutaw Street. Those feel like things that changed yesterday—I know Dempsey’s is already gone. I have reached the point in my life where it feels like literal children play for the team, and I’m not sure how to feel.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
This day in O’s history
1970 - Boog Powell takes over the American League lead with 86 RBIs. That comes after he drives in six runs as part of an Orioles’ 11-1 win over the Twins. The only run scored against O’s starter Dave McNally is a solo homer by opposing pitcher Jim Perry.
1980 - O’s ace Steve Stone wins his 14th straight decision, a 4-1 victory over the Brewers.
2024-07-26T11:08:01Z dg43tfdfdgfd