Baltimore Orioles Trade: Danny Valencia for David Lough
Sep 2, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals right fielder David Lough (7) dives for a fly ball in right field in the fourth inning of the game against the Seattle Mariners at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
The Baltimore Orioles have been searching for a left-handed hitting left fielder, and though I’d like to tell you they found an extra 150 million dollars previously unknown and secured Shin-Soo Choo, I can’t. But I can report that the Birds have traded Danny Valencia to the Kansas City Royals for outfielder David Lough.
Lough throws and bats from the left side. In his second season in 2013, he hit .286 in a total of 96 games for the Royals.
Lough was the 11th-round draft pick of the Royals in 2007. Over the course of seven seasons in the minor leagues, he hit .297, and this past year he finished 8th in the voting for AL rookie of the year.
The Akron, Ohio native has played all three outfield positions, though about 70% of the time it has been in right field. He is considered a plus defender with good range and a good arm.
This acquisition gives the Orioles a somewhat similar player to the departed Nate McLouth … someone who could split time with Nolan Reimold, if not become an everyday player himself.
In Lough, the Orioles are getting a player who is 16 months younger than Valencia, and who will not be arbitration eligible for an extra year (2016), or free agent eligible for another two years (2020).
Danny Valencia was considered the backup for Manny Machado at third base in the event that Machado is not ready to play at the beginning of the season. However, the Orioles acquired Michael Almanzar from Boston in the Rule 5 Draft, and they may well have Ryan Flaherty who could play some third base (and don’t forget that Chris Davis has done so in the past as well).
Danny Valencia has been a well-liked player for the Orioles and their fans, batting .304 and hitting some clutch home runs (total of 8) in his limited time of 52 games with the Orioles in 2013. During my time of previously writing for the Orioles blog on this network, I often joked that though Valencia had a critical homer again, I must have been watching only for the 70% of time when he made an out! But statistics don’t lie, and Valencia is a nice player; yet this new fellow does seem to be a better fit for the Orioles’ current needs The only fear I would have in this is if he became any sort of block for Henry Urrutia getting to the club.
Here are charts of the stats for the two players.
David Lough Statistics:
Year |
Age
Tm
G
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
SB
CS
BB
SO
BA
OBP
SLG
2012
26
KCR
20
59
9
14
2
1
0
2
1
0
4
9
.237
.292
.305
2013
27
KCR
96
315
35
90
17
4
5
33
5
2
10
52
.286
.311
.413
Total
116
374
44
104
19
5
5
35
6
2
14
61
.278
.308
.396
Danny Valencia Statistics:
Year |
Age
Tm
G
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
SB
CS
BB
SO
BA
OBP
SLG
2010
25
MIN
85
299
30
93
18
1
7
40
2
0
20
46
.311
.351
.448
2011
26
MIN
154
564
63
139
28
2
15
72
2
6
40
102
.246
.294
.383
2012
27
MIN
34
126
13
25
6
1
2
17
0
1
3
32
.198
.212
.310
2012
27
BOS
10
28
1
4
0
0
1
4
0
0
0
6
.143
.138
.250
2013
28
BAL
52
161
20
49
14
1
8
23
0
2
8
33
.304
.335
.553
Total
335
1178
127
310
66
5
33
156
4
9
71
219
.263
.302
.714
Something I did not know until seeing it on the chart, but Valencia was 3rd in the voting for rookie of the year in 2010.
Twitter: @OSayOrioles // @BaltimoreWireFS