Baltimore Orioles: Jim Palmer has a plan for the Hot Stove season

The Baltimore Orioles are currently the most interesting baseball team in the MLB.

It’s all due to the impending Hot Stove decision that the Baltimore Orioles front office could soon make regarding Manny Machado.

Teams, bloggers, journalists, and fans have been getting in on ideas for Dan Duquette and Peter Angelos. Even retired Hall of Famers are sharing their ideas.

Take a look at the latest Tweet from Jim Palmer:

Even Palmer recognizes that Machado could net starting pitching. Then, with the money saved by trading Machado, the team could invest in a good free agent to take his spot. Palmer suggests that the Orioles invest in Mike Moustakas.

Palmer’s idea isn’t half bad.

The stats on Moose

Moustakas is a 29-year-old third baseman who has spent his entire career with the Kansas City Royals. Moose was drafted by the team in 2007 and made his MLB debut in 2011 when he was only 22 years old. During his time with the Royals, he earned two invitations to the All-Star Game and he helped the team earn their World Series ring in 2015.

Moustakas stands 6’0 and weighs in at 215 pounds. His career slash is .251/.305/.425. While this isn’t too close to Machado’s career slash of .279/.329/.476, it is important to remember that Kauffman Stadium is not the same as Camden Yards. It is slightly more difficult to hit home runs in Kansas City. Still, Moustakas hits an average of 23 home runs per year. Machado hits 29 home runs on average.

When it comes to WAR, Machado is a significantly better player. His career WAR in six seasons is 27.9. Moustakas’s WAR in seven seasons is 11.4. The odds are good that no one will sign Moustakas until Machado is traded away or the Orioles say they are maintaining the status quo. Moose made $8.7 million in 2017 and he turned down a qualifying offer with the Royals so he could test the market.

What about pitchers?

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Unfortunately, Palmer does not make any suggestions about potential pitchers. There are several teams with pitching that the Orioles could target. (Here’s one about the Cubs.)

The Cardinals are one team that could be in on Machado. They have several young pitchers, but if the Orioles want a pair with MLB time, Jack Flaherty was called up in September. He started five games and finished with a 6.33 ERA. He is 22 years old and as a Cardinals prospect, he has promise. In fact, in Triple-A, he had an ERA of 2.74. When the kid settles in, he can pitch.

Luke Weaver is another potential Cardinals pitcher that the O’s could target. He has better MLB numbers that Flaherty has. He’s 24 and right-handed. In two seasons, he’s made 18 starts and has an ERA of 4.56, with a significantly better 2017 than 2016.

Next: Could the D-Backs be in on Machado?

Time will tell what the Orioles will do with Machado. And, that time could come sooner rather than later.