After finishing dead last in the American League East last season, the Baltimore Orioles appear to be eyeing a pair of former All-Star outfielders to help reinvigorate their lineup.
Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reported on Friday that the Orioles may have interest in trading for New York Yankees outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury but would want the Yankees to pay more than half of Ellsbury’s $22 million salary for next season. Heyman also adds that free agent outfielder Carlos Gonzalez is another potential option for Baltimore.
Ellsbury, 34, and Gonzalez, 32, are obviously past their respective primes. But the former could help the O’s with defense and speed (they had the fewest stolen bases in the MLB last season by a wide margin), and the latter could provide them with some extra power.
Baltimore has also been in reported pursuit of some big-name pitching talent in recent weeks, so we will see which side of the ball is the bigger priority for them this offseason.
