Huff talks about the trade
Aubrey Huff had no idea that the Orioles were going to trade him today. The move caught him completely by surprise.
Huff was summoned into manager Dave Trembley's office and figured they were going to discuss getting through the rough times and going forward these next seven weeks. But once he saw president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail sitting on the couch, he knew something was up.
"It kind of hit me quick," Huff said.
"I've grown close to a lot of staff, and especially a lot of players on this team. It's definitely emotional. I've seen all these young guys come up and I've had a great time with all these young guys. To be able to see them finish out the year and grow....it's a little hard. But at the same time for me, it's really exciting to be able to go to a team that's in contention. For me, my whole career I've been in last place, so this is going to be a very exciting time for me."
Huff has been traded once before, from Tampa Bay to Houston, but he knew there was a 90 percent chance that it was going to happen. "Here, I didn't expect anything," he said. "I believe I cleared waivers, and there wasn't a whole lot of interest that I heard of. This one kind of hit me out of left field, but it's definitely an exciting time for me."
Tigers manager Jim Leyland told Huff that he'll play some first, third and the outfield, and also serve as the DH. He still has an outfielder's glove, though it's collecting more dust than fly balls.
"It's like riding a bike," he said. "If you can play the infield, you can play the outfield."
Huff and MacPhail discussed the possibility of the veteran re-signing as a free agent over the winter. Huff said he'd keep his options open if MacPhail does the same.
I don't think we'll see Huff back here after his production tailed off so dramatically - he noted how the month of July killed him - but nobody is shooting down the possibility.
"I want to thank Andy for the opportunity to come here and play all these years, and the whole staff," said Huff, who batted .253 with 13 homers and 72 RBIs in 110 games. "Dave's been great, all the players have been awesome, and I'm really going to miss it, despite what happened back in '07 with all the Baltimore talk. I really enjoyed my time here."
Huff was referring to his infamous appearance on Bubba The Love Sponge's radio show in Tampa. He glanced at me and smiled at the recollection. We seemed to bond during that time, which might speak volumes about me, too.
Asked if the group he's leaving behind can win one day, Huff said, "No doubt in my mind. This is probably some of the best young talent I've ever been around, and I've been around some young talent with my days in Tampa. I always said those guys were some of the best young players coming up with Carl Crawford, Baldelli and Kazmir, but if you ask me, these guys are more talented. It's a very exciting time here, and Baltimore should have a lot to look forward to."
Huff also commented on the notion that the Orioles lack leadership in the clubhouse.
"That leadership stuff is a little bit overrated as far as that rah, rah, rah stuff," he said. "I try to play by example on the field. I'm a little bit more vocal inside the clubhouse where you guys don't see, and a lot of our older players are. On the field, we go about our business. And I think that's the best way to lead, by example on the field."
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If Huff thought Baltimore was a horse**** town, wait till he gets a load of Detroit. Good thing we got a spare part back for him. Nice work Andy.
I am NOT opposed to re-signing him if it makes sense during the offseason, etc. I like the dude a ton and he does bring something to the table for us. Sure, he hit a rough patch but I can imagine contract stuff and trade talks take it out of anyone.
Good luck in Detroit (ugh) Huff. You'll be battling for the offseason thats for sure. Tear it up dude.
Roch,
Huff had some very classy remarks following the trade, and I am very impressed.
I saw you Saturday hanging around the left-field sections. I didn't want to interrupt you (and my pregnant wife wanted to go sit down), but if I did, I'd tell you simply: thanks for the blog.
It sucks that he was caught off guard, but I wish him luck. I saw him last night at the Bash, great guy.
Good Luck Aubrey I,ll miss you man,Go Tigers
I hope Huff has a passport, to enjoy the Windsor nightlife.
wait.. Why did they trade him?
Make no mistake, this was a BUDGET move.
The Tigers take over the salary, so it helps the Profit/Loss statement. This is the only reason Andrew did it.
Ole Pete is in the market for a new yacht!
This is quite up there with BJ being traded but it's definetely a close 2nd. He'll be missed and truth be told he has been underrated his entire career, maybe we'll get to see him play in October.
To BMS: Huff hit a "rough patch?" It's more than halfway through August and the guy is hitting .252. I think this counts as a lousy year. Good for McPhail for getting all he realistically could. I'd rather see them shake things up a bit then watch another 7 weeks of Huff striking out with the game on the line.
thank you andy !!!!!!!
this is wat the os have to do trade the vets n get solid prospects n return. Jacobson works anywhwere from 91to 95 with a slider potential middle or set up guy. plus you open up a spot for Michael Aubrey or Hughes at first. I like the both i would have to give the first shot to Aubrey cause he was the 11th overall pick a couple years ago and never got a fair shot. and Hughes strikeouts more then Adam Dunn lol
who you think gets the 1st shot roch????
thanks
Remember a couple months ago when McPhial said he wasn't doing any salary dumps? Hahaha..so much for that.
Huff was having a pretty bad season, and MacPhail did a good job to get any kind of prospect in return. I think it's funny that some people think this was a salary dump -- his contract was coming off the books at the end of this season anyway. Calm down.
I have been and I am still am a very big Andy M. supporter but this trade bothers me unless it is to bring up Snyder and see what he has. From your previous entries it doesn't look like he is getting called up any sooner than September. That being said why did we make this move because at first glance I am not overly impressed on the return and I thought Andy said we weren't going to be contending teams farm systems. Basically we weren't going to give guys away and it looks like we just gave Huff away because I would have rather had the two draft picks. Again I do trust Andy so maybe he was afraid Huff would take the offer in the off season and we would be stuck with him another year, I guess we won't know for sure but this is the first time I am scratching my head at one of Andy's moves. Hope he is right again and I am wrong but I do not like this trade at all. Best of luck in Detroit Huff and hope to see you playing in the playoffs.
His comments were very classy. Guess he'll be missed in the clubhouse but it was a good move since the O's are going nowhere w/ or w/o him in '09. The O's got a player for Huff. They wouldn't have gotten anything had they not offered arbitration to him. If they did offer it to him, to try to get the picks, he'd probably have accepted it. Then we'd be stuck with his contract.
That looks like a PITTSBURG move wow, is that all we can get for this guy is a single A ball player. These other organizations must just laugh at us.
Huff had no value. I know fans seldom see things objectively but you are talking about a guy with 13 HRs and playing 1B/DH! He failed 2 of the 3 yrs he was here.
One of the reporters out west said something along the lines, Huff couldn't hit in a hitters ballpark in Baltimore so I don't know why Detroit thinks he will hit in tough ballpark in Detroit.
Take a step back and realize Huff was not a productive 1B, look at the numbers and compare them to hitters on WINNING teams. You don't win with his numbers. Throw in his lack of baserunning and fielding and he wasn't a starter. You don't build a team around who you do/don't like you build it around performance and playing smart baseball.
I think the years of losing has taken all common sense out of the fans here. Do you really think any team would have signed Huff as a FA if they had to give up a 1st round pick?
if strasburg doesn't sign tonight? whats the chances that he will still be around when we pick next year? i know KC and Pitt have worse records than we do right now, but are they in a place where they could pony up as much money as the Nats have offered?
"Make no mistake, this was a BUDGET move.
The Tigers take over the salary, so it helps the Profit/Loss statement. This is the only reason Andrew did it.
Ole Pete is in the market for a new yacht!"
as opposed to what you blithering baffoon? What would be the point in keeping him? They wont get much for the guy. You lack of knowledge is incredible. You truly are an arrogant joke
Budget Move? Get real, how much salary do you save over 7 weeks? Brummie you're a Tool.
How is this a "BUDGET move"?
Huff makes $8 million this year, they've played 75% of the season, doesn't that leave $2 million that the Tigers need to pay? Does it not work like that?
That doesn't save a whole lot of money. How much money have the O's dished out in this years draft?
Roch, do you read most these posts and wonder if most of your readers understand basic MLB concepts also? There was 0% chance we were going to risk over $8mil offering Huff arbitration for someone who's stats have dropped so dramatically and is not in the future plans. Without Huff turning down arbitration the O's don't get any picks, its that simple. Everyone, do some research, understand how baseball works and then post. Oh yea, Brummie and Jack, you're both unqualified to make any kind of comments as you are both double talkers turning any move the O's make into an attack on AM.
When are we going to get comment ratings buttons on this blog?
Roch,
I hope you eventually try to explain this one to us. Yes....Huff is way off last year, but he has 72 RBI at the Major League level. Brett Jacobson isn't even a high level prospect. His stats for his last year of college at Vanderbilt (certainly NOT a baseball school) were a joke. If this guy ever sees an Orioles uniform (outside the gift shop) I'd be shocked.
I'm also not getting the first base picture. So.....they will probably bring up some recent acquisition and give him a shot instead of Snyder?? There comes a time when you have to stop dreaming about the success of a young player and actually give him a shot to see if he has what it takes. The Orioles have a long list of sure things that turned out to be NOTHINGS. I'll always place Hayden Penn at the top of that list.
Jim Carter
Brummie_Oriole said:
Make no mistake, this was a BUDGET move.
The Tigers take over the salary, so it helps the Profit/Loss statement. This is the only reason Andrew did it.
Ole Pete is in the market for a new yacht!
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Hmmm...of course, this had nothing to do with trying to get whatever value he could for six weeks worth of a bad defensive first baseman with a .725 OPS making $8 million...no way that could be it. If a team is willing to give up one of their top 10 prospects and take on the full salary of guy having a bad year, I don't see how anyone who doesn't have a blatant anti-MacPhail agenda could call it a bad move.
It does not look like the Tigers are loaded with talent but we did get their third best rated prospect according to minorleaguebaseball.com!
Brett Jacobson, RHP, Grade B-: Second-best of the power arms. Stuff not quite as good as Perry but better command.
Note to B_O and the countless MacPhail bashers. Huff is currently a -0.4 WAR player as of now. That in turn means he's costing the Orioles 1.6MM. He also has an 8MM salary for 2009. Prorating his salary, Huff has cost the Orioles roughly 7MM for his services this season.
For us to get a projected "above average middle reliever" in return for him, that alone is impressive.
http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=1213&position=3B/DH
My guess is that resigning Huff in the offseason would be a fall back plan. Other options will probably be explored first.
I love how everyone is bashing this trade. Just shows how many of you really don't know about the game. First of all, if this were just a salary dump, they could have gotten the same thing in return 2 weeks ago and saved even more money. How much salary do you think they're dumping on an 8 million dollar with 6 weeks to go in the regular season? Second, for all of you who wonder why they didn't keep Huff until the end of the season and offer him salary arbitration, let him walk as a free agent and get the draft picks, once again your clueless. Huff probally would accept the arbitration since free agents had a hard time getting big money last off season (that means no draft picks folks). The O's would probally have to give him at least 10 million and then the trolls are on here in December talking about how they should of taken what ever they could back in August. Third, Jacobson was the 10th highest ranked prospect in the Tigers system, but he was only drafted just last year in the 4th round. I think that being in the top 10 in a system that is loaded on pitchers (from what I understand) is a good sign. Before you bash something, you should take the time to do the research and get some facts, instead of bashing it to feed your egos.
yeah Huff had 72 rbis, he was a producer regardless of his stats. If you're not blind you'll notice the rough patch he went through leading up to the trade deadline. Afterwards, he was once again productive. Don't get me wrong, trading him was the right move I think, looks like we got some more pitching depth for it as well. I'll take that.
Being a "contending teams farm system" would, to me at least, mean you're giving up on younger guys you just don't think you can afford to pay. Getting rid of a veteran who's having a down year doesn't seem like it fits that mold to me. Nor does it seem like a big salary dump considering we'd only have to pay him for another month and a half. Not a big gain there. I hope he does well for the Tigers and gets to play some postseason baseball.
Mike, Common Sense, and other rational observers: thanks. The "we could have gotten more" argument is pretty weak, since Huff cleared waivers two weeks ago. Any team in baseball could have had him, given up no prospects, and simply assumed his contract. Let's say a team did claim him, and the Orioles wanted more than to just give him away and wound up pulling him off waivers. Either of those two scenarios are the equivalent of ZERO trade value. Given the recent market, no team would offer him arbitration because he'd take it and wind up costing them at least $8M for a DH whose 2009 season is more similar to his track record over the past five years than his monster 2008 season. No draft picks lost.
What I've read in Baseball America suggests Jacobson is a reliever and will remain one. Very good fastball, good control, not enough secondary pitches to start. That much was learned during his college days, and Detroit wisely stuck him the bullpen. His K/BB numbers and GB/FB ratios are very solid.
I think that MacPhail made another nice trade. It gives Huff a chance to play meaningful games and the Orioles get another young,talented player. I think that MacPhail has the team on the right course but he could forfeit it all if he fails to make the right decision concerning the manager. In my view an experienced manager that understands the x's and o's of the game and has high expectations is what the team needs.