Baltimore Orioles Among Teams Interested In Catcher Kurt Suzuki

According to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, The Baltimore Orioles and the St. Louis Cardinals are among several teams that are interested in Minnesota Twins all-star catcher Kurt Suzuki.

After losing all-star catcher Matt Wieters for the season to an elbow injury which required Tommy John surgery, the Orioles were looking for a replacement at catcher. The team recently acquired Nick Hundley from the San Diego Padres. The seven-year veteran has hit two home runs and ten RBIs in 24 games with the O’s while owning a .213 batting average.

The Orioles have also used catchers such as Steve Clevenger and Caleb Joseph. Although they have shown some spurts, they haven’t really been productive at all. Joseph has hit to a .195 batting average with three home runs and 12 RBIs while Clevenger posted a more respectable average of .240, but has hit zero home runs. And his defense was suspect. As you can see, it has been quite a problem.

It was a really unfortunate time for Wieters to suffer his injury as he was off to a career-year start. He played 26 games this season while hitting to an average of .308 with five home runs and 18 RBIs. He has never hit for an average of over .262 in any year that he has played at least 100 games in his career. Acquiring Suzuki would be a huge boost for the Orioles, as he is hitting .308 on the year and was selected to the 2014 all-star game.

With that being said, I’m not sure that this move is required. Sure it would be nice to upgrade at a position that hasn’t seen much production so far this season, but there is no reason to force a trade that doesn’t have to occur in order for the team to make a deep run in the postseason. If the right offer is put forth, then go ahead; but don’t give up any valuable assets.