Negotiations between the Baltimore Orioles and free agent Mark Trumbo may have come to an abrupt end as the O’s have decided to pull the offer to their former slugger, according to reporter Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports. The deal the O’s had on the table was reportedly for four years and worth $52 million dollars, far short of the $80 million that Trumbo is believed to be seeking.
Trumbo, who turns 31 next month, led the league with 47 home runs last season while batting .256/.316/.533 and posting a 120 OPS+ and collecting 108 RBIs in 159 games for the Orioles. He played 95 of those games in right field, but his poor defense relegated him to the DH spot for more than a third of his playing time.
The Orioles reportedly had the best offer on the table to Trumbo and were very aggressive in trying to bring him back after a solid offensive campaign with the team. Kubatko mentions that last year, the O’s and first baseman Chris Davis had a similar breakdown in negotiations, but the two sides ultimately came to an agreement.
So at least for the time being, Trumbo remains a part of a large group of power-hitting first basemen and outfielders that are still unsigned almost two months into the offseason. Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista, Pedro Alvarez, Mike Napoli, Adam Lind, Brandon Moss, Mark Reynolds and Chris Carter are among some of the big bats still available in the free agent market.
The breakdown in negotiations with the Orioles might open the door for the Colorado Rockies who are reportedly very interested in trying to land Trumbo to play first base and allow them to move the recently signed Ian Desmond to the outfield. The Rockies signed Desmond to a five year, $70 million dollar contract last week and forfeited their first round pick (No. 11 overall) in next year’s draft in the process.
If the Rockies are able to land Trumbo, they would then certainly deal one or two of their current outfielders which include David Dahl, Charlie Blackmon, Carlos Gonzalez and Gerardo Parra. It’s believed that Blackmon or Gonzalez will be flipped for some help in the rotation despite ownership’s assurances to both players recently that they are not being actively shopped. Certainly, the addition of Trumbo would change that.
Both CarGo and Blackmon are coming off very solid offensive campaigns with the latter looking like a nice option for the Mets who lack a true everyday center fielder. What makes Blackmon all the more impressive is his .939/.926 home/road splits in OPS.
Blackmon, 29, batted .324 last season with 35 doubles, five triples, 29 home runs, 111 runs scored and 17 stolen bases while batting leadoff for the Rockies. He still has two years of team control.
