Baltimore Orioles: Evaluating potential remaining free-agent options

Mark Trumbo, DH/RF

By now, it should be pretty evident to Mark Trumbo that he is not going to do better than the initial four-year offer the Orioles dangled at the Winter Meetings. The A’s are rumored to have some interest, as are the Colorado Rockies. That’s about it as far as the Trumbo market goes. The only thing that remains to be seen is if the Orioles will put his offer back on the table.

My best guess is that the Orioles are still very interested in reuniting with Trumbo, and that feeling should be mutual. In his first season with Baltimore, Trumbo excelled, and was mostly consistent enough to warrant interest in a multi-year deal. His only truly awful month came in August when he batted .184 but still managed 10 home runs. If Chris Davis can return to form, that should make things much easier for Trumbo and the rest of the lineup.

Trumbo is definitely a boom-or-bust player, but the Orioles have made a living on homering and striking out the past six years. The rest of the lineup will continue to do those things either way, and any other DH the club signs to replace Trumbo will continue to perpetuate that approach. Trumbo is not perfect, but he works for the Orioles and their offense. The only catch is that the front office must find a more competent right fielder, pushing Trumbo to full-time DH, which is where he would have been last year had the Fowler deal not fallen apart.