Every weekday, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.
Question: Why wouldn’t the Orioles try to trade Mike Baumann for something instead of designating him for assignment? He has too good of an arm not to get picked up by someone. From: Tom Lanzafame
Answer: Tom, the question about the Orioles designating Baumann when Grayson Rodriguez was reinstated is the most popular of the weekend. Neil Dugan wants to know why the Orioles didn’t option Keegan Akin, who had an option left. @FirePix1057 wants to know why the Orioles didn’t designate Albert Suárez instead, and others including @RaubPhil want to know why Cionel Pérez wasn’t DFA’d instead of Baumann.
First of all, designating a player for assignment buys the Orioles a week. It gives them time to trade, waive or release a player. Obviously, they’re not going to release Baumann, who they would like to keep if he passed through waivers.
The guess here is that they’ll try to trade him, and he has more value on the trade market than Pérez because he’d probably appeal to more teams than Pérez, and as a result, they could get a better return. The Orioles have more control of where Baumann lands if they trade him.
While Pérez’s stats this season aren’t as strong as Baumann’s, he has a longer track record and because of his oblique injury, hasn’t pitched as much. His stats in the second half of both the 2022 and 2023 seasons were excellent, and that could be part of the Orioles’ thinking.
Akin and Yennier Cano both have an option remaining, but if they option Akin, they lose one of their most effective relievers for at least 15 days, and with the Orioles just beginning a stretch where they have just two scheduled offdays until July 1st, Akin is going to come in handy.
Suárez is the swingman of the bullpen, and he’s their long man as well as someone who could be used as an emergency starter.
It was a hard decision for the Orioles, who have a good problem: too many major league-quality players and not enough spots. .
Question: Who is the player from Maryland (besides Babe Ruth) who you wish had been an Oriole? I pick Mark Teixeira of Severna Park. From: Timothy Fowler
Answer: Timothy, that’s one that I hadn’t thought about. I think Teixeira would be an excellent choice, but I would choose Al Kaline. When he signed for a $4,000 bonus in 1953, the Detroit Tigers were forced to keep him on their major league roster for two full seasons. The St. Louis Browns hadn’t moved to Baltimore, so he didn’t have the opportunity to sign with the Orioles. His 3,007 hits and 399 home runs would have fit nicely with the Orioles.