Wednesday was supposed to reveal whether the Orioles were shaking up second base for 2021.
Instead, when the dust settled, the Orioles’ anticipated starting middle infield for next season had been blown up completely.
Not only was incumbent second baseman Hanser Alberto non-tendered a contract at the deadline, making him a free agent, but shortly before that announcement was made, starting shortstop José Iglesias was dealt away to the Los Angeles Angels for two right-handed pitchers with a combined three pro games between them: 19-year-old Venezuelan Jean Pinto, who threw 12 innings in the Dominican Summer League in 2019; and 23-year-old Garrett Stallings, a Virginia native and 2019 fifth-round pick from the University of Tennessee who has yet to make his pro debut.
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The Orioles also finalized roster moves regarding their seven arbitration-eligible players, agreeing to 2021 contracts with catcher Pedro Severino, reliever Shawn Armstrong, infielder Yolmer Sánchez and infielder Pat Valaika, tendering contracts to outfielder Anthony Santander and outfielder/first baseman Trey Mancini and not tendering one to Alberto. Infielder Renato Núñez, who had been arbitration-eligible, was released last week.
So, in essence, the Orioles have dumped three legitimate contributors from their 2020 lineup, while re-signing their starting catcher, a utility infielder, a reliever, and another infielder plucked off the waiver wire this offseason.
It doesn’t really add up when you peer through the prism of current baseball talent. But that’s not what this is about. Again.
This is about the continual rebuilding of a bad, big-league team with limited organizational depth and a broken international pipeline. This is what has happened and is going to keep happening with this organization for a while – whether it was the 2018 trade-deadline purging, or last winter’s jettisoning of Jonathan Villar and Dylan Bundy, or this summer’s trades of Mychal Givens, Miguel Castro, Richard Bleier and Tommy Milone.
“This is not fun to subtract from your major-league team, but that’s what you do when you’re below .500 and rebuilding,” Orioles general manager Mike Elias said in a Zoom call with reporters Wednesday night. “And we still are.”
Don’t be mistaken, though: This is also about economics and, really, an Orioles’ payroll that is likely going to consist of a few veteran Haves and an anonymous roll call of HaveNots in 2021.
Money is the primary reason for not tendering a contract to Alberto, who turned 28 in October, had two seasons of team control remaining and was looking at a 2021 salary of roughly $2-4 million depending on arbitration algorithms. And the Orioles didn’t think the finances matched the production.
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Alberto struggled offensively last September and wasn’t as good defensively as he showed in 2019, but he was the energetic leader of the clubhouse, the Orioles’ Roberto Clemente Award recipient, a potential batting champion and a fan favorite.
In other words, he was a great guy to have around during a rebuild, when young players need examples to follow and fans latch on to likable individuals until stars emerge.
The price tag, though, didn’t fit for the ballclub, whether that’s because the current arbitration philosophy is skewing away from rewarding these types of mid-level players or because the Orioles simply aren’t paying for solid contributions while the club piles up losses.
Elias made a point to praise Alberto as a player and person and said that there continues to be mutual interest from both sides for an agreement for 2021. So, although Alberto is now a free agent and can negotiate with anyone, Elias is still hopeful the second baseman returns – at a discounted rate.
And maybe he will. As Elias correctly pointed out, there have been a lot of good players cut loose this winter, and so there should be bargains for teams to find on the open market.
The Orioles need to land one to play shortstop now that Iglesias is gone.
It’s the most important position on the field, especially behind an inexperienced pitching staff, and the current options on the 40-man roster are severely limited: Ramón Urías, Richie Martin, Valaika and Sánchez, a former Gold Glove second baseman who has barely played shortstop in his career and likely will stay primarily at second with some time at third base in 2021.
Elias said he’ll be looking for potential Iglesias replacements this winter, but, again, a lot of that is going to come down to money. He’s probably not going to find a better player than Iglesias for less than the $3.5 million the 30-year-old veteran was scheduled to make in 2021.
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If the Alberto decision – and the Núñez one, too – is about finances and fit, the Iglesias one is more about the rebuilding effort.
Elias said he scouted Stallings, the Angels’ 21st-ranked prospect by MLB.com, in 2019 when he was one of the best pitchers in the incomparable SEC. Orioles scouts added more looks at Stallings during the Angels’ instructional league this fall and saw additional improvement, making him a guy they coveted.
“We could not pass up two quality pitching prospects and particularly a guy in Garrett Stallings that I think fits in with our top 20, top 30 prospects and is a legitimate starting pitching prospect, which is hard to get your hands on,” Elias said.
Pinto is an absolute wild card, but given the organization’s lack of international talent, he’s the type of prospect Elias wants to keep collecting.
“When we do trades like this, we kind of try to get a young international player tossed in every time we can because we know we’re in arrears of it with that age group and getting those guys that all these other teams have been signing for the last three or four years,” Elias said. “We haven’t been at that level, and that’s going to continue to sting here for a few years. So, we’re doing all that to catch up to lay this foundation down.”
And, therefore, there are sacrifices to be made, like dealing away Iglesias, a player who was nearly the 2020 Most Valuable Oriole.
Conceptually, I get it. In a rebuild, you swap players with value who aren’t around for the long haul for lottery tickets who could be something important when it is time to compete.
In that sense, trading away Iglesias makes more sense than non-tendering Alberto — because one is about money, while the other is about building for the future. Those concepts are often intertwined, however. Especially after such an unprecedented 2020 MLB season.
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And when that season is capped by the small-market Tampa Bay Rays reaching the World Series, well, it makes it even more logical for the Orioles’ roster to churn this way.
“The baseline that we have, while it’s improving and improving rapidly, there’s still room to go. We’re setting a really high bar for where we want the foundational structure to be for our farm system,” Elias said. “You see and admire the work of a team in our own division, the Rays, that are able to self-sustain because they do such a great job in scouting and player development.”
The hope, of course, is eventually that cycle – acquiring good players until they are relatively expensive and then getting rid of them for cheaper alternatives with upside – slows and the Orioles can add to their payroll to reach the next level. That’s still the plan, Elias said.
“There will come a time when we flip the switch to maximizing wins in the next given season,” Elias said. “But it’s our judgment that we’re not there yet.”
Where they are is not a comfortable place. It’s a losing locale that jettisoned two more talented and popular players within an hour or so Wednesday to save money, better the farm system or both.
As I’ve written several times before, this is what a rebuild looks like.
And, oftentimes, it ain’t pretty.
(Photo of Hanser Alberto: Mike Stobe / Getty Images)