Baltimore Orioles: Could Pedro Alvarez Return to Baltimore?
By Ben Palmer
The Baltimore Orioles haven’t done much in the way of signings this offseason, but could former designated hitter/third baseman Pedro Alvarez return to the team?
The MLB offseason has been relatively quiet for the Baltimore Orioles. Outside of signing catcher Welington Castillo and reportedly being interested in roughly a billion different players, the Orioles haven’t done much.
Most of the focus of Baltimore Orioles fans has been on whether the team would re-sign Matt Wieters or Mark Trumbo. With the signing of Castillo, Wieters is all but gone, but Trumbo remains a possibility.
The player that few Orioles fans are talking about, however, is Pedro Alvarez, and he may still be a very useful player to the team. Alvarez had pretty decent season in limited time for Baltimore last year, though his late signing and early struggles caused that to be a bit overlooked.
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Last year, Alvarez batted .249/.322/.504 with 22 HRs, 43 R, and 49 RBIs in just 376 plate appearances. His hard hit rate was an excellent 38.8%, the highest since 2013 when he hit 36 HRs with the Pittsburgh Pirates and his ISO was a powerful .255. He’d also likely be relatively inexpensive to sign, considering teams aren’t exactly chomping at the bit to get him.
So why haven’t the Orioles just gone out and signed Alvarez already? That would be because he’s not that good of a fielder, and they’re not quite sure where to put him.
Between Alvarez and Trey Mancini, the Orioles would have two designated hitters, leaving them with little flexibility. Alvarez obviously won’t play third with Manny Machado there, and he won’t play first with Chris Davis.
Alvarez has been attempting to transition to the outfield, but considering how much he’s struggled as a fielder everywhere else, it’s hard to imagine he’ll be able to succeed as an outfielder.
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However, if somehow Alvarez is able to make himself a decent outfielder, he could be useful to the team. He certainly has a good bat and has some incredible raw power, as he’s shown in the past, but he needs to prove himself capable in the field.