After already losing both Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis this offseason, the Baltimore Orioles are looking to improve their offense with some bats this winter. As a result, the team seems destined to trade some of their pitching depth. They’ve already chatted with both the Rockies and Angels about acquiring Drew Stubbs and Howie Kendrick, but neither deal ended up happening (at least yet).
Source: Rockies contacted #orioles to gauge their interest in OF Drew Stubbs. Looking for pitching in return
— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) December 7, 2014
And also via the Baltimore Sun…
Earlier this offseason, the Orioles and Los Angeles Angels discussed the framework of a deal that would have sent [Wei-Yin] Chen to the Angels for former All-Star second baseman Howie Kendrick.
Ultimately, the Orioles rejected the offer, and the Angels seemingly have cooled in using the 31-year-old Kendrick — a career .292 hitter in nine seasons who is also a free agent at the end of 2015 — as trade bait to upgrade their pitching depth, sources said.
Stubbs, Kendrick, and Chen are all free agents after 2015, as is Bud Norris, another Baltimore starter. The Orioles have six starters for five spots, including the talented Kevin Gausman and the highly-paid, very frustrating Ubaldo Jimenez, so trading a pitcher would make some sense – especially if the team is confident in highly-touted Dylan Bundy’s ability to fully recover in 2015 from a 2013 Tommy John surgery.
Trading Chen, Norris, or Jimenez for a possible upgrade on offense would be a huge boost for the club, especially if Baltimore can somehow coerce a team into taking the three years and $38.75 million remaining on Jimenez’s contract After all, the only locks to produce for the Orioles offense in 2015 are Adam Jones and J.J. Hardy, and there’s plenty of uncertainty surrounding Manny Machado (injury), Matt Wieters (injury), Chris Davis (massive decline plus season-ending PED suspension), and Steve Pearce (insane breakout at age 31).
