Baltimore Orioles Interested In Outfielder Ian Desmond

The Baltimore Orioles have expressed interest in 31-year-old free agent Ian Desmond, who would be an excellent addition to the team.

The Baltimore Orioles are interested in free agent Ian Desmond as a potential corner outfielder, according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network on Twitter.

Naturally this is early on in the MLB offseason, but the Orioles interest in Desmond is relatively significant at this point, and he would fit into the team’s roster fairly easily.

Certainly the Orioles enjoyed Mark Trumbo‘s 47 home runs season, but they did not enjoy his poor defense in right field. Trumbo was in the bottom ten of the league for outfielders in total defensive runs saved.

While Desmond is fairly new to playing the outfield, he played it fairly well during his one year with the Texas Rangers and would certainly be a defensive upgrade over Trumbo. He could also theoretically play left field, replacing Hyun-Soo Kim on days in which the team is facing a left-handed pitcher.

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During Desmond’s time with the Washington Nationals, he built a reputation as one of the best-hitting shortstops in baseball, having three straight 20/20 seasons from 2012-2014.

However, a disappointing 2015 season, in which he slashed .233/.290/.384 with 19 HRs, 62 RBIs, and 13 SBs, resulted in the 31-year-old signing a relatively low one-year, $8M deal with the Rangers, who elected to move him into the outfield.

He rebuilt that reputation in 2016 with one of the best seasons of his career, batting .285/.335/.446 with 22 HRs, 86 RBIs, and 21 SBs, which made for his fourth 20/20 season in five years.

Likely Desmond will reject whatever qualifying offer the Rangers send his way in an effort to sign a large, multi-year deal. MLB Trade Rumors predicts Desmond signing a four-year, $60M deal.

If the Rangers offer Desmond a qualifying offer, the Orioles would have to sacrifice their no. 23 overall pick in next year’s draft, however that hasn’t been a problem for Baltimore in years past, as they’ve given up draft picks to sign Ubaldo Jimenez, Nelson Cruz, and Yovani Gallardo.

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If the Orioles are willing to spend the money, Ian Desmond would be a fantastic addition to their roster, giving them a great balance of speed (something they desperately need) and power, as well as solid defense.