The Baltimore Orioles have reportedly come to terms with Mark Trumbo on a three-year contract, keeping the 2016 home run leader in town.
After nearly three months of uncertainty, Mark Trumbo will be returning to the Baltimore Orioles. Like Jose Bautista, another slugger who did more waiting on the free agent market than he may have liked, Trumbo ends up back in the arms of his most recent team.
According to the Baltimore Sun’s Eduardo A. Encina, Trumbo and the O’s have agreed on a three-year contract pending a physical. Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports adds that the deal is worth $37.5 million.
Confirming that #Orioles have 3-year agreement in place with Mark Trumbo, pending physical, according to industry source.
— Eduardo A. Encina (@EddieInTheYard) January 19, 2017
Trumbo, O's have agreement at 37.5M/3
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 19, 2017
Trumbo put together quite a bombastic season for Baltimore in 2016, leading the majors with 47 home runs while primarily playing right field and designated hitter. He collected 108 RBI, posted a .256/.316/.533 slash line and earned the second All-Star nod of his seven-year career.
Of course, Trumbo’s weaknesses are well-known. He strikes out a lot (25.0 percent rate in his career) and doesn’t walk much (6.7 percent), making him something of an all-or-nothing power hitter. However, that power is prodigious: Trumbo has belted 178 homers over the last six seasons. Many teams will overlook the shortcomings if the ball keeps leaving the park.
And the Orioles are certainly a club with an affinity for the long ball. They hit an MLB-most 253 home runs last season, 28 more than the next closest team (St. Louis). For better or worse, their success was strongly tied to their ability to go yard. Despite their league-high homer total, they finished a more modest 12th in runs scored with 744.
Re-signing Trumbo signals that the O’s are looking to continue mashing their way to victory. They will return nearly the same lineup that carried them to last year’s AL Wild Card Game, with the exception of Welington Castillo replacing Matt Wieters at catcher. If the starting rotation can improve, Baltimore should be in good shape to contend again in 2017.
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The team also has to be relatively pleased with the terms of Trumbo’s new contract. He’ll make an average of $12.5 million per year through his age-33 season. In a hitter-friendly environment like Camden Yards, the Orioles will feel confident that he can remain productive for the duration of the deal. The franchise wants to win while Manny Machado is still in the fold, and losing Trumbo without an adequate replacement would have put them further from that goal.