Late Innings

Update: Per Roch, the two prospects are “Brandon Waring, a 22-year-old third baseman, and Justin Turner, a 24-year-old second baseman.”

This was mentioned yesterday, and is all but certain to now happen. The Reds are to acquire Orioles backstop Ramon Hernandez and 1MM in cash for Ryan Freel and two “mid-level prospects.” Originally I wasn’t too happy about Baltimore chipping in the extra money (due to the clear talent difference between Hernandez and Freel), but again, he gets to more prospects. These will most-likely be announced after the deal is ratified by the Office of the Commissioner (since there’s cash being moved in this transaction.)

As an O’s fan, I like this move. Freel is a fourth outfielder and will be paid 4MM in 2009, but one thing good about him is the fact that he gets on base. He also plays exceptional defense. Once again Andy MacPhail is able to maximize his return on another trade. Hernandez is due 8MM in 2009, and has a 8.5MM club option in 2010, with a 1MM buyout.

With this stated, the Orioles need a catcher to bridge the gap to super-prospect Matt Wieters is ready. I’m pretty sure that he’ll open the season in Triple-A Norfolk next year, and have his call up around May 31st. There’s not any reason as to do this, other than to push back his service time by a year. He’ll be a Super Two most likely (that is have a fourth year of arbitration), however he’ll be under team control for another year. This is what the Brewers did with Ryan Braun, and the Reds did with Jay Bruce. On an aside, the Orioles are all but certain to be moving on from Jon Garland, who is demanding 13MM a year. Good luck with that Jon.

Ramon hit .257/.308/.406 last year with 15 HR (Baltimore Sun photo by Gene Sweeney Jr. / April 3, 2006.)