Evaluating the players O’s acquired at trade deadline
With the Orioles sending former top draft pick Kevin Gausman and veteran reliever Darren O’Day to the Atlanta Braves for four prospects and international signing bonus slots and star second baseman Jonathan Schoop to the Milwaukee Brewers for a three-player return before Tuesday’s nonwaiver trade deadline, they continued the process of stocking their farm system by selling off major league talent in their sudden rebuild.
The package of players is in line with what the Orioles have been doing in all the rest of their trades, including the ones for Manny Machado and Zach Britton over the past couple of weeks.
Here’s a breakdown of what the Orioles got for Gausman and O’Day — though the Braves sending a big chunk of international bonus money and taking on the rest of O’Day’s contract is a substantial part of the Tonight, 7:05 TV: MASN Radio: 105.7 FM
return — and the return for Schoop, whose last two weeks likely made this return as strong as it is.
From the Braves
Infielder Jean Carlos Encarnación: A member of the Braves’ 2016 international signing class, Encarnación instantly becomes one of the more interesting players in the entire Orioles system, in terms of his raw tools.
Making his full-season debut at age 20 in the South Atlantic League for Rome this summer, Encarnación hit .288/.314/.463 with 10 home runs and 23 doubles, a performance level in line with what he’s shown in rookie ball since signing.
Encarnación does it with a free-swinging approach, one that has resulted in 100 strikeouts in 97 Low-A games but has been rewarded with plenty of contact, too. He was considered to have plus raw power, and has tapped into it in games to mask some of his approach problems. Defensively, he’s played almost exclusively at third base this season, with one scout projecting him to fill a major league utility role with the possibility of being an everyday player. He has the range and arm to play third with some refinement, though.
He was ranked No. 24 in the Braves system by Baseball America in the offseason, and was up to No. 14 in the MLB Pipeline midseason update. Considering the projection and upside he brings at 20 years old, it’s safe to say he’ll be peerless in his new system. Catcher Brett Cumberland: The Braves took Cumberland, 23, in the supplemental second round (76th overall) out of CalBerkeley, where he was named the Pac 12 Player of the Year in 2016. He’s delivered on his bat-first catcher profile since. A .242 career minor league switch hitter, he’s still shown a solid approach and power from both sides of the plate as a professional.
In 82 games with High-A Florida, Cumberland hit .236/.367/.407 with 11 home runs and 15 doubles before a promotion to Double-A Mississippi. Much of Cumberland’s value will be determined by whether he stays behind the plate, where some evaluators question whether he could be anything more than a backup. He’s had a little moresuccess throwing out runners this Jean Carlos Encarnación was ranked the Braves’ No. 14 prospect in the MLB Pipeline midseason update. He hit .288/. 314/.463 in the Low-A South Atlantic League. year, bumping his caught-stealing rate from 22 percent over his first full pro season in 2017 to 41 percent this summer.
Cumberland snuck into the Braves’ MLB Pipeline Top 30 in the last spot of the midseason update, and will fill a void in the Orioles system when it comes to catching depth outside of the duo of Chance Sisco and Austin Wynns, each of whom has received major league time this year. Left-hander Bruce Zimmermann: A Loyola Blakefield product who pitched for two seasons at Towson before transferring to Mount Olive, where the Braves liked him enough to take him in the fifth round last season as a senior sign.
Despite the small-school pedigree, one scout sees plenty of upside in his arm. From a performance perspective, he certainly fits the Orioles’ profile of a local player who is performing well. The 6-foot-2 left-hander struck out 99 in 84 2/3 innings for Rome before he skipped the Florida State League and went to Mississippi, where he made six starts with 26 strikeouts to 19 walks in 28 2/3 innings.
Zimmermann, 23, has a low-90s fastball that gets a lot of ground balls, plus a mid-70s curveball and a mid-80s changeup. Lefthanders don’t see him well despite an easy, traditional delivery. Zimmermann has been challenged with a difficult assignment in his first full professional season, but considering the relative polish he brings, it makes sense. He’ll join a group of pitchability left-handers that includes Keegan Akin, Zac Lowther, Alex Wells and new addition Josh Rogers in the Orioles’ system as they look to ensure they don’t have an all-righty rotation going forward. Right-hander Evan Phillips: A 23-year-old reliever who made his major league debut earlier in July for the Braves, Phillips posted a high strikeout rate all through the minors but has battled control until this year at Triple-A Gwinnett.
This year, he’s improved that command profile tremendously, walking 14 with a 1.03 WHIP in 40 2/3 innings in the International League. In the big leagues, he’s used a fastball that averages 93 mph, plus a high-80s slider and changeup.
His breakout this year in the minors at a relatively young age for the level portends possible good things, but Phillips was clearly a sell-high candidate for the Braves despite his 8.53 major league ERA, one that was inflated by three home runs in 6 1/3 innings. He’ll be able to break in with the Orioles under much easier circumstances than he faced in the Braves bullpen, when that time comes.
From the Brewers
Infielder Jonathan Villar: Aversatile piece with plenty of major league experience, Villar adds stability the Orioles will need at the major league level with Schoop and Manny Machado gone. They simply don’t have much quality depth or versatility in the high minors in terms of infielders, and Villar, who has plenty of experience at second base and shortstop, plus third base and outfield, will be the utility player manager Buck Showalter has long craved.
When given the chance to play full-time, he’s delivered in a big way. He played in 156 games in 2016, homering 19 times with 38 doubles and 62 steals while batting .285. He’s been a bit marginalized on an emerging Brewers team of late, and while he was out with a thumb injury, Milwaukee traded for Schoop and Mike Moustakas to take more opportunities away from him.
Villar, 27, provides some major league quality to a team that’s now lacking it at several positions, and has two seasons of club control remaining after this season. Right-hander Luis Ortiz: With Ortiz in the fold, the Orioles now have a pair of top picks from the Texas Rangers in their organization, after this month’s trade for Dillon Tate in the Zach Britton trade. Ortiz was the 30th overall pick for Texas in 2014, thanks to a mid-90s fastball that filled up the strike zone and the potential for a legitimate four-pitch starter’s mix.
He’s already changed organizations once as part of the Jonathan Lucroy trade in 2016, but muchofthepromise that madehimatop pick still remains. He appeared in the 2018 MLB All-Star Futures Game and threw just one pitch — a 95 mph fastball — but also features a biting, swing-and-miss slider and a developing changeup. He’s in his third season in Double-Adespite being just 22, but had a 3.71 ERA in 68 innings with 65 strikeouts to 18 walks and a 1.19 WHIP. He keeps the ball in the ballpark and limits most of the contact he does allow to the ground.
One scout said he has “all the stuff to be an impactful pitcher in the show.”
The only thing keeping him from what could be a mid-rotation future at this point would be physical. Listed at 6 feet 3 and 230 pounds, Ortiz has battled his weight and conditioning throughout his career, and dealt with several injuries along the way. If he stays healthy, Ortiz will be able to simply pitch and build innings and continue his development.
But as a 2014 high school draft pick, the clock will start ticking on him soon — Ortiz will need to be added to the 40-man roster and protected from the Rule 5 draft this offseason.
He was rated No. 4 in the Brewers’ system in the Baseball America midseason Top 10, and No. 7 in the MLB Pipeline rankings. Infielder Jean Carmona: An athletic infielder signed by the Brewers out of the Dominican Republic for $725,000, Carmona was the 16th-ranked international prospect in the 2016 signing class byBaseball America. MLB Pipeline had Carmona, 18, ranked No. 14 in the Brewers’ system.
After batting .266/.367/.406 over two rookie levels last year at age17, Carmona was at Short-A Helena batting .239 with four home runs and eight doubles in 39 games.
A projectable 6-foot-1 switch-hitter, the Orioles have plenty to dream on in Carmona, who has the abilities to stay in the middle of the infield at shortstop or second base going forward. He’s showing some power early in his career, but his tall, lean frame suggests there’s plenty more in there.