Baltimore Orioles: Ranking The Likely Trade Candidates

Andrew Cashner won’t bring back a major haul, but the Baltimore Orioles will very likely move the veteran RHP.

Take wins for what you will, but after seven starts in 2019, Andrew Cashner, the Opening Day starter for the Baltimore Orioles, has already matched his 2018 win total with four. He’s currently sitting at 4-1 with a 4.71 ERA and 1.46 WHIP in 36.1 innings of work.

Hitters are barrelling Cashner with ease and hitting him extremely hard. Both the 91.6 mph average exit velocity on batted balls and 50.4% hard-hit rate against him rank in the bottom 8% of the league. However, the 10-year veteran has shown many positives through his first handful of starts.

Cashner’s strikeouts are up (17.7%), his groundball percentage is way up (54%), and he’s relying less heavily on his fastball, which has been hit harder than ever before. Cashner is using his changeup more often, nearly 23% of the time, compared to just 13% last season. The changeup has produced a 32% whiff rate and held hitters to a .171 average and a .206 wOBA.

Will a team come calling for Andrew Cashner? As long as he continues to improve, which he has done so far this season, a contender will surely be in touch with Mike Elias about acquiring the veteran right-hander.

He has a $10 million team option for next season and turns 33 this September. His 2016 season with the Texas Rangers was his one standout season, going 11-11 with a 3.40 ERA. Cashner was worth 4.6 bWAR that season. In his 10 major league seasons, he’s posted a bWAR over 1.0 just two other times, back in 2013 and 2014 with the San Diego Padres.

If another organization comes calling, the return for Cashner won’t be much, hence why he comes in at number five on this list. He could help bring in one or two teenage lottery ticket type prospects, names you won’t find on a team’s Top 30 list, but have caught the eye of Elias and his scouting department.