Baltimore Orioles: Orioles looked at Nick Hundley prior to Welington Castillo signing

Earlier this offseason, the Baltimore Orioles signed Welington Castillo to be their starting catcher. But before they decided on Castillo, they were interested in another catcher on the free agent market.

With the signing of Welington Castillo, the Baltimore Orioles have closed the book on a possible reunion with ex-Orioles catcher Matt Wieters.

But before Castillo was even available on the free agent market, the Orioles had other options for the backstop. In fact, the team was considering another former Oriole to be their starting catcher for the 2017 season; Nick Hundley.

According to Hundley, who appeared on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM, the Orioles were taking a hard look at him before Castillo was designated for assignment by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Hundley said his camp spoke with the Orioles quite a bit, and now that the Orioles are out of the picture, Hundley hopes to get another catching job elsewhere.

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Hundley believes he is still an everyday starting catcher, but the Orioles weren’t exactly sure.

Hundley played 50 games with the Baltimore Orioles in 2014, where he it .233/.273/.352 with five homers and 19 RBI. He also had a 74 OPS+ (which is well below league average), a 0.4 oWAR and a -0.0 dWAR. Hundley was limited to 83 games in 2016 while with the Colorado Rockies, and played 103 games the year prior.

Hundley could have been a decent acquisition if the Orioles planned on platooning him with Caleb Joseph behind the plate. But the Orioles were looking for a player who could replicate Matt Wieter’s numbers at the fraction of the cost. That’s what made Castillo the logical choice once he entered the free agent market.

Next: It’s 2017 And The Birds Still Have the Same Needs

Of course there’s still a team that would want Hundley now that the catching market is scarce. As for the Orioles, they already have their starting catcher and they didn’t have to overspend to get him.