The 2014 winter meetings have come and gone, and for the Baltimore Orioles, no transactions occurred that could have improved the team aside from a few Rule 5 draft selections.
The Orioles acquired right-handed pitcher Jason Garcia from the Houston Astros in exchange for cash considerations and also claimed right-handed pitcher Logan Verrett from the New York Mets.
In subtraction, though, the Orioles lost lefty Scott Barnes to the Texas Rangers after he was claimed off waivers.
Rule 5 selections have worked out for Baltimore in the past in the forms of utility infielder Ryan Flaherty and relief pitcher T.J. McFarland, but high expectations shouldn’t be placed on this pair of incoming hurlers.
The Orioles should instead be looking at other areas to fill some glaring needs.
Per Eduardo A. Encina of The Baltimore Sun, Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said he is looking for bullpen help and needs a left-hander to replace shutdown reliever Andrew Miller. The Orioles will go after value, however, looking to sign pitchers who are coming off bad seasons but have a prior track record of success.
Encina also notes that the Orioles would ideally like to add one hitter from each side of the plate to plug in holes in the outfield and at designated hitter.
Baltimore may be content now not making a move to sign a free-agent corner outfielder, considering one of the biggest names on the market, Melky Cabrera, signed with the Chicago White Sox, which left the free-agent pool for corner outfielders very depleted.
The Orioles may just stick with where their offense is right now considering Steve Pearce can play a corner outfield position, alleviating the need to play both Alejandro De Aza and David Lough.
First baseman Chris Davis would then take over designated hitter duties, while fellow first baseman Christian Walker would get the opportunity to develop with full-time action.
John Sickels of MinorLeagueBall.com projects Walker to be a .270 to .280 batting average hitter, with 20-homer power and a reasonable on-base percentage. Sickels suggests that he may turn into a player with the caliber of Lucas Duda or Matt Adams.
The Orioles’ prime focus in improving the club before Opening Day would be to acquire an affordable lefty reliever, whether it be by trade or free-agent signing.
The Orioles may opt to move Brian Matusz in a trade considering he is coming off an underwhelming year and made $2.4 million in 2014. Potential trade partners may view Matusz as a starter and thus would place a higher value on him than the Orioles have.
Money freed up in any potential trade involving Matusz would help the Orioles afford a quality lefty reliever if they opt not to go bargain bin shopping.
Either way, it’ll be interesting to see how Duquette and company choose to attack the rest of the offseason considering no notable moves were made at the winter meetings.
We’ve seen late moves from him work out in the past, so the panic button can be tucked away…at least for now.
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