The Baltimore Orioles, like the rest of the American League East except for the division leading New York Yankees, have been consistent in their inconsistency. They, like four other division rivals, are at least .500, but just barely. As the MLB trade deadline approaches, the Orioles are looking for outfield help and some have suggested Justin Upton to be their target.
An outfield of Adam Jones and Justin Upton would be quite a formidable outfield on both sides of the ball. Upton brings both power and speed. He has 15 home runs and 17 steals so far this year and would fit rather nicely in the middle of the Orioles line-up. The problem is that Upton is a free agent at the end of the year, so he is, at best, a rental.
Jacob Kornhauser of Rant Sports doesn't believe Upton's even worth what it would take to get him. He wrote, "The reason the Orioles can't afford to do that is because they already have nine players becoming free agents this offseason. That means they can't trade team-controlled assets in order to land a player who will also be a free agent at the deadline." Those nine players include important pieces like Chris Davis, Steve Pearce and Matt Wieters, all due to get pay raises, and whether or not the Orioles can or will re-sign any of them is a big question mark.
Another column on Rant Sports, this one by Timothy Downs, suggested an addition by subtraction. Downs wrote, "Contention or no contention, Baltimore should do anything and everything it can in order to move Davis prior to the deadline. Regardless of his past transgressions, including a suspension for Adderall use, Davis is going to command an absolutely outrageous amount of money in free agency this offseason. Davis hits home runs, and home run hitters are hard to find in today's pitching-crazed MLB."
The problem is if anyone will take Davis. The usual landing for a player of his type is the New York Yankees but their roster is well represented in that regards with Mark Texeira and Alex Rodriguez and it is highly unlikely that the Orioles would trade him to a division rival they are chasing. Still Downs says in his article, "Davis will be thought of as easier to get than someone like Carlos Gomez of the Milwaukee Brewers, who's under contract in 2016.If the Orioles are offered even 75 percent of what they hope to get in a Davis trade, they should instantly pull the trigger."
© 2024 Classicalite All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
