Ramon Hernandez (photo, left) was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for utilityman Ryan Freel and two minor leaguers on Tuesday. This clears the way for the O’s to bring catching prospect Matt Wieters to the majors. “Given where our franchise is, we also understood that our future was probably with Matt,” Andy MacPhail said, adding that Freel provides depth and a quality right-handed bat. The rebuilding Orioles also receive infield prospects Justin Turner and Brandon Waring. As part of the deal, Baltimore will give Cincinnati cash to offset part of Hernandez’s contract. He is owed $8.5 million next year. Freel said he had already spoken with MacPhail, but they didn’t go into specifics about what Freel’s role would be next season. MacPhail said Freel would play some in center field.

Yes… Wieters is the future. I don’t know much about the two prospects but Ryan Freel? Really? Aren’t the O’s already a team full of utilitymen?

Keith Law of ESPN says “Given the number of teams looking for catching help, it’s a bit surprising that Baltimore couldn’t get a package including at least one solid prospect. Turner is probably an extra guy in the majors, although with a little luck he could turn into an everyday second baseman. He is a well-below-average runner who makes a lot of contact but doesn’t have power or hit many line drives. He can’t be a utility player because he can’t play short. Waring is an organizational outfielder with atrocious plate discipline; he struck out in more than one-third of his 2008 at-bats despite being old (23) for the Midwest League. ”

Blah. Again.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 10th, 2008 at 8:37 AM by Editor and is filed under Hot Stove. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.