There were those among us who were waiting for the Baltimore Orioles’ Andy MacPhail to make a move via free agency literally from the moment the World Series was over and the Giants crowned champions. On Sunday we saw the Orioles’ MASN partner, the Washington Nationals, surprising everyone by signing Jason Werth. In my case, when people would ask me when I thought the O’s would make a move, I generally said to wait for the winter meetings; that’s when a lot of signings and trades occur. So when the news came that the Orioles had acquired Mark Reynolds (3B) from the Arizona Diamondbacks, it didn’t come as a surprise to me.
MacPhail had apparently been talking with Arizona for a few weeks on this deal, which sent relievers David Hernandez and Kam Mikolio to Arizona. (In an ironic twist of fate, the Diamondbacks immediately signed former Oriole Melvin Mora to play third base; good moxie for Arizona!) While the Orioles are certainly miffed at having to give up a pitcher like Hernandez, Andy MacPhail also knows that in order to get quality sometimes you have to give it up as well. Reynolds is only 27 years old, which also bodes well for the Orioles. Furthermore he’s from the region (Virginia Beach, VA), so he’ll now have the opportunity to play more frequently in front of family and friends. In a business like baseball where you move around so frequently, that means a lot.
Statistically speaking, Reynolds is a huge upgrade at third base. But is he really? In 2010 he only hit .198, which he admitted was “embarrassing.” However he did put out 32 homers last year, and is generally thought of as being a 35 HR per year guy. One of his vices is that he strikes out a lot; however any slugger is going to have that problem for the most part. I suppose it’s similar to an NFL quarterback in that if you’re a true gunner (such as Brett Favre), you’re going to throw interceptions. I suppose that I can live with strikeouts from time to time if the Orioles’ home run production is going to go up. Defensively, Reynolds is also a guy that’ll be willing to go into the stands after balls if he has to do so, and he has decent range.
Speaking only for myself, I think that this is exactly the kind of trade that the Orioles needed to make. First off he’s fairly young, so depending upon whether or not he wants to re-sign with the O’s when the time comes he might be a mainstay at the hot corner for a long time in Baltimore. While the above-mentioned strikeouts are a bit of a concern, anytime you acquire a player that leaves his former team wondering how they’d replace his power, you probably got the better end of the deal. However the corner infield positions have been in flux for awhile now. Sure the O’s signed Miguel Tejada to play third last year, however that was a position to which he was converted to play. First base was almost like a game of musical chairs for most of the season. Not only do the Orioles now have an everyday third baseman now, but the Orioles now have the liberty sign a player like Paul Konerko or even Carlos Pena to be the everyday first baseman.
The consensus appeared to be that Josh Bell wasn’t ready to be the everyday third baseman, so I suppose that now the Orioles need to decide if they’re going to be able to keep Reynolds long term (his contract will be up after the 2012 season), or if this is only a move to buy time for Bell. If not, then you might see Bell being involved in another trade somewhere down the line. So as was the plan originally, Bell will get more at-bats in Norfolk in 2011. Granted Reynolds did hit .198 last year, I think this is a major upgrade at the hot corner. If the Orioles can now address shortstop and first base, they’ll be in business. The best part about this in my opinion is that the market for a free agent first baseman is much better than a third baseman. So all of the free agent first basemen who are still out there are still in play for the Orioles, while they found another manner in which to get a third baseman. Such is the way of the world for the Orioles…O, ‘dem O’s hon!!!
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