Baltimore Orioles: Winter Meetings 2016 (Day 4 Thread)

It’s Day 4 of the 2016 Winter Meetings! What will the Baltimore Orioles do during the Rule 5 Draft?

It is the fourth and final day of the 2016 Winter Meetings in National Harbor, Maryland. But Major League Baseball saved the best thing for last; the Rule 5 draft will occur this morning.

It’s almost a given the Orioles are going to draft a player in the Rule 5 Draft, but before we discuss that, let’s discuss what happened in the American League East yesterday.

On Day 2 of the Winter Meetings, the Boston Red Sox stole the show when they traded for White Sox starter Chris Sale. The same thing occurred on Day 3, from a different team. At midnight, the New York Yankees countered by signing closer Aroldis Chapman to a five-year, $86 Million deal. Chapman’s deal beats the Mark Melancon deal as the most expensive deal for a closer in baseball history.

Melancon recently beat Jonathan Papelbon for the most expensive deal; Papelbon had a four-year, $50 Million contract.

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It’s seems quite clear the American League East’s two top dogs are getting business done, but the Orioles have stood pat these last four days. The biggest news to come out on the Orioles side yesterday was the reality that they weren’t going to trade for outfielder Brett Gardner (as if it was even a debate on the New York Yankees side).

The Orioles currently have moved on from Matt Wieters and are still trying to sign Mark Trumbo. But will another team entice Trumbo into signing with them?

But enough of that! Let’s blog about the Rule 5 Draft:

9:09 a.m: The Baltimore Orioles (as expected) have made their pick in the Rule 5 Draft, taking OF Anuery Tavarez from the Red Sox. Baseball America thinks Tavarez could be an extra outfielder.

9:12 a.m: With their next pick, the Orioles have selected OF Anthony Santander from the Cleveland Indians:

9:26 a.m: We move onto the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft, where a player has to spend the entire year on the minor league roster. The Orioles had selected RHP Jeffrey Hernandez from the Cincinnati Reds.

9:36 a.m: With their final pick in the Rule 5 Draft, the Baltimore Orioles selected LHP Brian Moran from the Atlanta Braves.

9:37 a.m

Next: Winter Meetings 2016 (Day 3 Thread)

That means the 2016 Winter Meetings are over. Thank you to everyone who stuck around during the Winter Meetings. Now, let the rest of the offseason commence!