Notes on the Orioles: Burnes, Cease, and Hicks
Joey Ortiz and DL Hall, two young players ready for the major leagues with top-100 prospect pedigrees, were part of the deal for Milwaukee.
The Orioles also gave them their Competitive Balance Round draft pick, which is currently 34th overall in the 2024 draft order.
The O’s have a lot of minor-league depth, so giving up that much was a big deal. But Elias thought it was worth it.
The Orioles are giving through a lot of prospective talent as well as a few players who were going to help them in 2024, Elias said. “I mean, that is a risky move, but everything worked out for everyone.”
It wasn’t something we were going to force, but one of the things we wanted was an upgrade to the rotation, and I think the Cy Award winner and his body were able to meet that need. We got the best upgrade possible, and now we just need to go play games.
It looks like the White Sox weren’t willing to trade Dylan Cease, a pitcher that the Orioles are known to be interested in.
The Brewers, on the other hand, were swayed by the offer. Bob Nightengale of USA Today says that the O’s “offered the same package” to the White Sox, plus an unknown extra player.
The bigger offer likely was because Cease is arbitration-controlled through the 2025 season whilst Burnes is only controlled through 2024. However, it wasn’t enough to meet Chicago’s asking price for Cease’s services.
Again, these talks suggest that the White Sox are asking for a very high price for Cease, which isn’t a surprise since, along with Luis Robert, he is their most valuable trade asset.
It’s also easy to see why the Orioles eventually decided to sign Burnes instead of continuing talks with Chicago. Burnes has a higher ceiling as an increasingly consistent ace-level pitcher, even though he has one less year to develop than Cease.
We don’t know for sure what the Orioles offered for Cease, so some of what we’re talking about is just guesswork. However, it does show how difficult it has been for Elias to find the best “final touch” for the 2019 AL East champion team.
Most likely, every team that wants to trade with Baltimore has been asking about the top players in the farm system. While Elias technically has enough minor-league players to complete almost any deal, he won’t give up that depth over just any pitcher.
Last year, the AL East was turned on its head. The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have been competing for the division lead for most of the last 30 years.
The Baltimore Orioles as well as Tampa Bay Rays have been in last place, and the Toronto Blue Jays have been in the middle.
This is not your brother’s AL East. The power has been switched around. In an instant, one of the best companies in the league had a new owner and a new star player. The three months of peace were worth it.
The rebuilding in Baltimore is over, and the Rays won the most games in franchise history last year. The Yankees came close to having their first losing record since 1992, and the Red Sox finished last for the third time in four years.
The next day, the O’s made the biggest trade for a pitcher all winter: they got Burnes in exchange for two prospects and a draft pick. Before those two days, Baltimore’s offseason wasn’t very exciting; Kimbrel was the only big addition.
Several sources told ESPN that right-hander Jordan Hicks and the San Francisco Giants have agreed to a four-year, $44 million deal. Hicks will move from the bullpen to the starting rotation.
The 27-year-old Hicks has worked as a starter before. He did so almost exclusively in his two minor league seasons and also started eight games for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2022.
At 6 feet 2 inches and 220 pounds, he has the build of a starter. His velocity will drop with the move, but he will still be one of the hardest-throwing relievers in baseball.
Hicks can also get performance bonuses worth up to $2 million a year, according to a source. That’s not true anymore. The O’s or Rays are now the best teams.
At the 2023 trade deadline, Hicks was probably the most-wanted relief pitcher. He was traded from the Cardinals by the Toronto Blue Jays for two prospects. He saved 12 games and struck out 81 batters in 65⅔ innings for both teams. He only let four home runs hit during the season.
Statcast says that his four-seam fastball averaged 100.3 mph, which was second in the major leagues only to Jhoan Duran’s 101.8 mph, and his sinker averaged 101.1 mph, which was second only to Aroldis Chapman’s 101.2 mph.
As long as the physical goes well, the deal adds Hicks to a long list of starting options. In San Francisco’s rotation, only ace Logan Webb is a sure thing.
Hicks, right-hander Ross Stripling, left-handed prospect Kyle Harrison, and right-hander Keaton Winn are all competing for spots.
San Francisco traded for past Cy Young winner Robbie Ray. He will likely be back from Tommy John surgery after the All-Star break, but veteran Alex Cobb will likely miss the start of the season after having surgery on his hip.