I wish I could take credit for this tweet, but I can’t. Minutes after the Orioles traded DH/INF Danny Valencia to the Kansas City Royals for outfielder David Lough, SiriusXM MLB Network Radio host Mike Ferrin tweeted:
Boy, turning 6 weeks of Danny Valencia into 6 years of David Lough is a nice trick.
This is a move that won’t make fans call this offseason a success, but the Orioles are better today than they were yesterday. They found a replacement for Nate McLouth who signed with the Washington Nationals. Lough should prove to be a better player than McLouth in the long run.
As good as McLouth was in the field, his arm strength left a lot to be desired. Lough not only plays great defense, but his arm allows him be the perfect corner outfielder. Lough can hit left-handed pitching as well, an area that McLouth has struggled throughout his career.
It shouldn’t be a secret what type of players Buck Showalter wants on the Orioles. Showalter wants players who are versatile if they aren’t playing every day. Valencia brought just one skill to the park every day; even though he excelled at a very high level in that area. Valencia’s ability to hit lefties will be hard to replace, but the versatility that is created by his departure helps the team.
Lough will be more than likely be used in a platoon role with a combination of Nolan Reimold, Steve Pearce, and recent acquisition Francisco Peguero. Listening to Dan Duquette, defensively, Peguero sounds exactly like Lough, but right handed. Lough makes solid contact, but doesn’t walk (where have we heard this before?) I think we just need to come to the realization that this team won’t have a lot of guys who draw walks. This move probably signals the end of acquiring another outfielder as a platoon is where they are heading.
So where do the O’s go now?
They need a DH. I can’t imagine they keep Henry Urrutia on the big league roster to DH. Barring injury, Urrutia is destined for Norfolk to continue to work on his defense and offensive game to one day man left or right field in Baltimore.
The name that keeps popping up is Kendrys Morales. In my mind he is the perfect fit, but he goes back to Showalter’s philosophy of not having one guy DH. I think they can afford to have one player that is one dimensional. Morales is a switch-hitter so there doesn’t need to be a platoon. He can give Chris Davis a rest occasionally at first base and would fit nicely in the 5th spot of the lineup. Signing Morales also means losing a first round pick, which only complicates this scenario. It also doesn’t help that the team will try and keep Rule 5 pick Michael Almanzar on the team all season. Duquette mentioned this as one of the reasons Valencia was expendable.
I think in the end, there will be a revolving door at DH with Davis, Matt Wieters, and Adam Jones in that spot when they need a day off from the field.
Ryan Flaherty will man second base with Jemile Weeks providing the utility spot. Duquette seems content with Chris Tillman, Bud Norris, Wei-Yin Chen, and Miguel Gonzalez in the starting rotation. In a perfect world, AJ Burnett lands in Baltimore on a one-year contract to help bridge the transition to Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman, but there may be a chance the battle for the 5th spot will be decided in spring training. I am on record now saying the bullpen will be better than last season. I think Duquette should be applauded for the trade of Jim Johnson. By moving Johnson, Duquette added four players to the organization for the price of Johnson (Weeks, Grant Balfour, Ryan Webb, and minor league catcher David Freitas) and upgraded at the position Johnson filled the last couple of seasons.
Aside from the possibility of adding another starter and hitter, the 2014 Orioles roster is almost finished and it isn’t even Christmas yet. I would take a bet that the fans aren’t too happy to hear that though.
