New Hall of Famers Baines, Smith share O’s connection
O’s claim infielder Ruiz off waivers from Braves; pitcher Meisinger lost to Cardinals
LAS VEGAS — Newly minted Hall of Famers Harold Baines and Lee Smith both expect to be enshrined wearing Chicago caps — Baines with the White Sox and Smith with the Cubs — but recalled their time in Baltimore with the Orioles fondly when they were unveiled Monday at the Winter Meetings as the first two members of the 2019 class.
“It was an honor,” said Baines, an Easton native whose three stints with the Orioles spanned seven of his 22 major league seasons. “I’m from the area. I was fortunate enough to play there for seven years, and I loved every minute of it. Some people never saw me play if I didn’t play [for] the Orioles, from the town I came from. I’m very thankful for that.”
Baines and Smith were selected Sunday by the Today’s Game Era committee, which examined 10 former players, managers and executives for enshrinement due to their contributions to the game from 1988 to the present. The 1994 Orioles teammates shared the stage for a news conference Monday that included laughs, including when Baines said the thing he remembered most from that year were his standout closer’s naps in the clubhouse, and tears, when Baines said he wished his father, Linwood, were alive to see him enshrined. Linwood Baines died in 2014.
In addition to the eggshell-white Hall of Fame jersey and navy cap they wore at the announcement, the two players share an affinity for the time they spent in Baltimore, whether it was several stints, as Baines had, or the one year that Smith had.
“It’s a special moment,” Baines said. “I think any player that can play in his hometown enjoys it. I was there for seven years and enjoyed every minute of it.”
“I really enjoyed playing there,” said Smith, who had 33 of his 478 career saves in his All-Star season with the Orioles. “It was like one of those things where every day, you would come out of the house and someone wanted to see if they could get tickets to the game. That’s a good feeling as a player. Every day, someone was trying to get in. You’d have sellouts for the rest of the season, and someone was still trying to get to the ballpark. It let you know what product that organization was putting on the field that year.”
Though the Hall of Fame has the ultimate say in which cap logo — if any — a player is enshrined with on his plaque, Smith said his preference was the Cubs, with whom he spent the first eight years of his career.
Baines said he hadn’t discussed that yet with the Hall of Fame, but that his 14 years with the White Sox trump even the hometown Orioles connection.
“When a team has a statue of you, you’ve got to give them the honor of going into the Hall of Fame with your hat,” Baines said. “It’s pretty easy.”
Ruiz claimed off waivers; Meisinger lost: The Orioles claimed infielder Rio Ruiz off waivers from the Atlanta Braves on Monday, the team announced, continuing the recent trend of new executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias bringing in players he’s familiar with to fill in the fringes of the roster.
Ruiz signed for an above-slot $1.85 million with the Houston Astros as a fourth-round pick in 2012, when Elias was a special assistant to general manager Jeff Luhnow andwasabout to take over the team’s amateur scouting department. Houston dealt him to the Atlanta Braves as part of a five-player deal that brought catcher Evan Gattis and reliever James Hoyt to Houston in January 2015, and Ruiz made his major league debut for Atlanta on Sept. 18, 2016.
Ruiz is a career .189 major league hitter in 195 plate appearances over three seasons, playing mostly third base. All four of his home runs came in 2017. He spent most of 2018 with Atlanta’s Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett, batting .269/.322/.390 with 25 doubles and nine home runs while starting 49 games at third base, 33 games at first base, 19 games in left field, and11 in right field.
The 24-year-old Ruiz adds a left-handed bat to an Orioles infield mix. Ruiz has one minor league option remaining, and is the second straight acquisition the Orioles have made with connections to Elias’ past stops after right-hander Josh Lucas was signed to a minor league contract last week. Lucas was a 2010 draftee of the St. Louis Cardinals when Elias and assistant general manager Sig Mejdal held sway in their draft room.
In a corresponding roster move, the Cardinals claimed right-hander Ryan Meisinger, a Calvert County native who made his debut with the major league team on June 29, off waivers. An 11th-round pick in 2015, Meisinger made 18 appearances for the Orioles (including one bullpen game start) and had a 6.43 ERA with a 1.333 WHIP in 23 innings.
By waiving Meisinger, the Orioles ensure they still have two open 40-man roster spots for Thursday’s Rule 5 draft. The Orioles have the first pick by virtue of their 115-loss season in 2018.
Elias: Anderson ‘very valuable to me’: Elias said that vice president Brady Anderson, the highest-ranking baseball operations executive he inherited who is still with the club, is among the many carryover employees he’s worked well with since his hiring last month.
“There’s a lot of good people here,” Elias said. “They’re doing good work. They’re helping out across a lot of areas. I view him as no different. He has a lot of institutional knowledge, not only as a front office executive but also dating back to when he was player. That is very valuable to me.”
Anderson was one of three executives, including director of player development Brian Graham and director of amateur scouting Gary Rajsich, who were among the team’s leadership group after executive vice president Dan Duquette and manager Buck Showalter were dismissed Oct. 3. Graham was interim general manager until Elias ultimately let him and Rajsich go last month.
Still, there have been some public questions about Anderson’s role in the management structure after he had a variety of responsibilities in the previous administration.
The way Elias laid out some of the day-to-day operations before he fills out his staff, with director of baseball operations Tripp Norton liaising with free agents and other teams and director of Pacific Rim operations and baseball development Mike Snyder taking onamoresignificant role in pro scouting, didn’t include Anderson when he first discussed it.
But considering Anderson’s experience in everything from contract negotiations and data to fitness and player development, Elias and Anderson will have plenty of avenues to find a way for him to best help the organization.
“We’ll keep working and figure out the best way to deploy that and provide value to me and to us, but I’m working very well with a lot of these guys here,” Elias said. “He’s one of them.”
Lunch with Givens, Mancini as part of auction: Orioles fans can bid this week on a pregame lunch with Trey Mancini and Mychal Givens as part of the annual Winter Meetings Charity Auction, with proceeds benefiting the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and the Jackie Robinson Foundation.
Mancini and Givens, two of the brightest returning stars on the rebuilding Orioles team, are offering a lunch at a Baltimore-area restaurant along with a parking pass, access to the manager’s news conference, two batting practice field passes, and two tickets for the day’s game as part of their auction package.
Additionally, Orioles fans can bid on the chance to be a member of the grounds crew for a home night game at Camden Yards, with one fan age 16 or older eligible to participate, with the package including a parking pass for that night’s game, a grounds crew polo, and four tickets for the night’s game.
To bid on the items, go to mlb.com/ wintermeetingsauction. Winning bids will be selected by10 p.m. on Thursday.
Around the horn: Elias said the Orioles were monitoring the free-agent market, but he doesn’t expect them to be a “fast mover” where that’s concerned. While noting that depth could be added in the middle infield and at catcher, Elias said the Orioles will “look for improvements everywhere.” ... Elias said Jonathan Villar is the Orioles’ “primary shortstop right now.” ... The Orioles’ two open 40-man roster spots mean the club is keeping the option open of making two selections in Thursday’s Rule 5 draft, Elias said.