Baltimore Orioles make Ubaldo Jimenez available
By Aaron Somers
Following a disappointing first season of a four year deal, the Baltimore Orioles have made Ubaldo Jimenez available in trades. MLB.com’s Tracy Ringolsby reports that the club has already had some discussions with other teams about the right-hander.
Jimenez didn’t sign a new deal until after Spring Training had started, landing with Baltimore in late February. Having declined a qualifying offer from the Cleveland Indians following the 2013 season, Jimenez was one of five players (along with Ervin Santana, Nelson Cruz, Stephen Drew, and Kendrys Morales) who found themselves adversely affected by the attached loss of a draft pick for any team that signed them. The fact that he received a four year, $50 million deal from the Orioles surprised a number of people.
Making just 25 appearances (22 starts) this past season – thanks to spending a month on the DL with an ankle injury and eventually getting pulled from the rotation in early August – Jimenez posted a 4.81 ERA and 1.516 WHIP over 125.1 IP. He failed to appear in any games during the ALDS and was left off the ALCS roster altogether.
Over his three seasons prior to reaching free agency, Jimenez pitched to a 4.45 ERA and 1.446 WHIP in 547.2 IP (roughly 180.0 IP/season) – all for a grand total of 2.8 bWAR.
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Baltimore flourished this past season despite Jimenez’s struggles, winning the AL East before sweeping the Detroit Tigers in the ALDS. The team also proved that they have a number of internal options to fill out the starting rotation behind Chris Tillman and Wei-Yin Chen, especially with the emergence of Kevin Gausman and the hopeful return of Dylan Bundy.
Jimenez may have proved to be an expendable piece on this Baltimore roster, but he could provide some value as a back end starter for a team in need. Ringolsby didn’t speculate on any potential destinations or what the Orioles may seek in return. Jimenez is owed $38.7 million over the next three seasons, so a swap of bad contracts could also be a possibility.