Mark Trumbo And The Orioles Have Agreed To A 3-Year Deal Worth $37.5 Million
Last night Mark Trumbo and the Baltimore Orioles agreed to a 3 year deal worth $37.5 million (pending physical). There was some doubt that the 2016 home run leader would return to Baltimore at the beginning of the off-season, but with the market not heating up like he and his agent thought it would, it sounds like Trumbo had to settle for this deal after the rumors of him and his agent saying they wanted a deal worth $80 million at the Winter Meetings. The market for hitters just never really materialized, ask Mike Napoli, Chris Carter, Edwin Encarnacion, and Jose Bautista. But don’t worry, the O’s were there for Trumbo when no else wanted him.
I’m still not sure why some O’s fans didn’t want Trumbo back. Yes he is a terrible fielder, but you’re not paying Mark Trumbo for his defense. On offense he is one of the most feared hitters in the game, coupled with Adam Jones, Manny Machado, Chris Davis, and Jonathan Schoop, he forms the best home run hitting lineup in the world. He will help this team more than he will hurt them. I thought all along that the O’s would sign Trumbo before FanFest on the 28th, to get some excitement going from the fans. It’s not every year you can sign a guy who lead MLB in homers to a multi year deal worth under $40 million.
Trumbo doesn’t fit the mold of player the O’s were looking for, a guy who can get on base and play good defense, but I still believe the team is better with him, than without him. The addition of Seth Smith likely means that Trumbo will primarily DH while Smith is in the field against righties, or vice versa if they want. It allows you to get one more bat in the lineup that can hit righties. It doesn’t help them against lefties, but it still adds that home run threat to their lineup everyday. He will likely see some time in the right field, or at first to give Davis some time off, but I expect to see Trumbo at DH for a majority of the time. This does have some impact on Trey Mancini, who was expected to step in the DH role if Trumbo left. Mancini has hit at every level he has been at, including homering in three of the five games he played in last season. With Dan Duquette being a big Mancini fan, he could sneak onto the roster, have Trumbo play in right, and Mancini and the lefty hitting Smith platoon at DH. I wouldn’t have that.
This signing did sort of pop up from nowhere. Last we heard was that the O’s had pulled their offer and were likely going in another direction. It reminds me of the Chris Davis deal from last year, they both followed similar steps….
1. Team says they want player.
2. Player says he is open to returning.
3. Player demands more money than he should get.
4. Team says they can not pay that pulls the offer.
5. Player goes out to open market, sees there is nothing.
6. Player tells Orioles they will take a hometown discount.
7. Team offers $10 million more than original contract offer and is bidding against themselves.
8. Player accepts it.
9. Player makes 589 visits to #DongCity.
This now makes the offseason a doable one for the O’s. Maybe they can go out and add a leadoff hitter who can get on base, like a Michael Bourn. But baring that one more move, I think this will likely be the team that we will see when the team heads to Spring Training in a few weeks. Mark Trumbo back home to the Birds, lets gooooooooooooooo.