Trumbo an Oriole (For Clevenger Done Deal)

[MASNPalmer]

ESPN's Jerry Crasnick was told by several rival executives that they expect the Mariners to trade Mark Trumbo this offseason.

Slashed .262/.310/.449 22HR and 64RBI over 142 games last year while playing a little over half his games in Seattle, where power goes to die. Projected to make roughly $9MM last year in arbitration before becoming a Free Agent in 2016.

Can't play OF but would give the O's a legitimate DH and/or 1B to replace Davis. Personally, I would love to see the O's avoid the burdensome contract associated with Davis and go this route. Let's you field a competitive team, coup a draft pick, and continue to reload for the 2018 window when Manny and Schoop are in their primes and the team has immense payroll flexibility.

Trumbo is 3 months younger than Davis and would be playing half his games in OPACY during a contract year. This is how you would replace all those lost HRs.

Found this piece interesting in regards to batted balls and velocity:

Because Mark Trumbo usually hits the ball very hard, his batted ball outcomes will be greatly dependent on his batted ball mix. His line drive rate and his fly ball rate were the highest of his career this year and that certainly helped him post his highest wOBA since 2012. Whether or not these batted ball trends are an indication of a new approach or just fluctuations within his established norms is hard to say. With his elite batted ball velocity, more line drives and fly balls certainly can?t hurt. Still, even in the upper reaches of his velocity bands, Trumbo was underperforming against the league average while batting at home. That's almost certainly an effect of the oppressive environment in Seattle and not exactly a good sign for Trumbo's continued success

Mariners are already long Logan Morrison and want to clear some salary. Assuming it didn't cost a ton, this makes a lot of sense.

[El Gordo]

I wouldn't mind Trumbo as an option at 1B/DH if the CD money would be spent elsewhere, but that is a big if.

[DrungoHazewood]

As with everything it's all about the price. Trumbo has been worth about zero wins over the last two years combined, so he falls into that Jay Bruce, Gerardo Parra bucket praying for a time machine to 2013. He's 30, and will make almost $10M in arb. You take him on if the Mariners are asking for very little in return, or offering salary relief or both. If they're asking for any kind of real asset in return you move on quickly.

[Aristotelian]

Trumbo is OK but we really need lefty bats at this point.

[Spy Fox]

As with everything it's all about the price. Trumbo has been worth about zero wins over the last two years combined, so he falls into that Jay Bruce, Gerardo Parra bucket praying for a time machine to 2013. He's 30, and will make almost $10M in arb. You take him on if the Mariners are asking for very little in return, or offering salary relief or both. If they're asking for any kind of real asset in return you move on quickly.

I agree with your general point about not giving up too much for him, but I would put him in a tier slightly above Parra/Bruce. Trumbo was decent last year, so he's had four similarly decent years out of five with one pretty bad year (2014) in the middle.

[Number5]

MLBTR projects $9.1 million in ARB for Trumbo. If the Orioles don't sign Davis, and are looking to spend for meaningfule upgrades at OF and SP, I think 9 million for a year of Trumbo is probably too much. Heck, I think even Pearce will probably be hard to fit in the Orioles' salary budget, and he figures to be less than Trumbo.

[sportsfan8703]

What's he going to cost in terms of prospects? I'm not greedy with this offseason. But maybe this is, and that's sad. But give me Pearce in LF, Aoki in RF and Trumbo at 1B/Dh and I'll be happy. Unless Pearce gets a crazy deal.

[SticksandStones]

Per Heyman:

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon-heyman/25396648/orioles-are-a-new-entry-in-the-mark-trumbo-sweepstakes

[El Gordo]

Well LF/DH if we sign CD, and 1B if we don't, I guess.

[crawjo]

Definitely an option. Anybody know how bad his defense in the outfield is?

[fastball]

High Heat has mentioned that Seattle's Trumbo could be going

to the O's.

[murph]

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php/150895-Orioles-in-the-Mix-for-Trumbo

[sportsfan8703]

Backup plan if we don't resign Davis. With it being a buyers market I don't see why or how we could trade for him. We don't have many trade assets.

[clapdiddy]

So much for going after players with a high OBP...

[Ven6]

Definitely an option. Anybody know how bad his defense in the outfield is?

He's terrible in the OF, but apparently a solid (albeit underrated) glove at 1B:

While he is roundly considered a sub-par defender in the corner outfield, his ability to play there at least increases his versatility. And Trumbo has rated rather well as a first baseman over the years.

---MLBTradeRumors