Orioles trade Jeremy Guthrie (updated)

In the past few seasons, no other Oriole pitcher has shown the class and leadership of Jeremy Guthrie. That moxie is now on it’s way to the Colorado Rockies, as the O’s traded Guthrie to Colorado for pitchers Jason Hammel and Matt Lindstrom. The Orioles had an arbitration hearing scheduled for later today with Guthrie, however that has obviously been canceled due to the fact that Guthrie is no longer an Oriole. Guthrie finished last season with a career-high 17 losses, however he led the team in quality starts with 16. Guthrie’s issues (as we all know) have had much to do with run support, hence the number of quality starts. Looking at who the O’s picked up in the trade:

• Jason Hammel – At 29, Hammel has played with both Tampa Bay and Colorado; so he’s somewhat familiar with the dynamic of the AL East. He has a career win percentage of .430, and an ERA of 4.99. He seems to be a slightly younger version of Guthrie, although his HR and BB numbers are ever-so-slightly lower.
• Matt Lindstrom – At 32, Lindstrom has played with the Marlins, Astros, and Rockies. He’s mainly been a reliever, and he has a career ERA of 3.81.

One has to wonder how much of this had to do with the Orioles not wanting to pay Guthrie and/or go to arbitration, however there had been trade rumors since last season. Hammel is a middle-of-the-rotation starter, and Lindstrom is an up-and-down reliever. This isn’t exactly a trade made in heaven for the O’s, however one would expect that Hammel will be in the starting rotation so how it pans out remains to be seen. As for Guthrie, he was a solid player and a great influence while on the Orioles. I’m very sorry to see him go, however I recognize that it was probably necessary. I most defnitely wish him well in Colorado. Birds Watcher will certainly have more on this moving forward, so stay tuned!

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Update (11 AM): The Rockies apparently act quickly when they aquire players; almost immediately after the trade was announced Guthrie signed a one-year contract with Colorado avoiding arbitration.