MacPhail: Clean bill of health for Reynolds

A couple of readers have pointed out that Mark Reynolds was hurt late last year. Maybe that is one reason why he went just 4-for-60 with 28 strikeouts, no homers and a .278 OPS for Arizona last September. O's president Andy MacPhail said there are no injury concerns at all right now with Reynolds. "He had a thumb (issue) that he played through, but we completely vetted the medicals. He came through (his physical) according to our guys as clean as anybody they've ever seen in that regard," MacPhail said. MacPhail sees Reynolds as a hard-nosed player that can play through injuries. "I do think he has a certain intensity and enjoys playing and that's an important component these days," MacPhail said. MacPhail talked further about Reynolds' power and power potential. "I think it's to all fields and ours is a pretty right-handed-friendly park and I think he'll benefit from that as well. I think he would have led our club in runs, RBIs, home runs, walks. Those are the things that you are getting.The negatives are the off season with the batting average and the strikeouts, but the improving defense is something that is attractive to us." MacPhail said O's scouts rated Reynolds' defense at third as slightly above average. He also said the O's see Reynolds only as a third sacker and there is no chance Reynolds plays at first base. The O's remain in the market for offense and a first baseman. Meanwhile, after dealing two relievers, the O's pursuit of bullpen help continues -- and perhaps intensifies. "Each market is different.You have to take what the market gives you and there is a greater supply of that (bullpen help) out there, perhaps (more) than any other thing on the market right now. We've had multiple conversations with multiple targets," MacPhail said. "We've had a lot of conversations on the trade and free agent fronts. You don't know which ones will stall somewhere along the line, but we'll just have to see how the next couple of weeks come out." MacPhail indicated, barring something unforseen, that the O's would not be making any more moves or news today. MacPhail said Buck Showalter is going to put in a call to Josh Bell to talk about how this move impacts him.The O's say they still like Bell and he could still have a future sometime in Baltimore.MacPhail also said this move does not eliminate the O's from re-signing Ty Wigginton. MacPhail was asked if the O's are still in the market for a shortstop. "We have different things we are looking for. Shortstop is definitely one of them. We have different discussions going on with kind of a wide variety of candidates there as well," he said. MacPhail said a couple of times today the the O's are still working on their offense. That news should not surprise anyone. They didn't solve all their issues there today with this one acquisition. I asked MacPhail if the O's are considering the possibility of Bell playing somewhere other than third base. "Yeah, down the road. Who knows what could happen or how guys evolve. We're open," he said.