Should the Orioles take another chance on Nolan Reimold next year?

For a brief time in the 2014 season, outfielder Nolan Reimold was an ex-Oriole. The player the club drafted in the second round in 2005 out of Bowling Green played in 22 games for Toronto and seven for Arizona.

But when the 2015 season began, he was an Oriole again. Signed by the O's to a minor league deal in February, Reimold had a healthy 2015 season. He showed he is now fully recovered from a corrective procedure in 2013 to fuse two vertebrae in his neck.

Reimold got about 400 plate appearances between Triple-A Norfolk and Baltimore, his most since the 2011 season. He played well late in the year for the Orioles, perhaps showing the club that has taken a few chances on him over the years that it should take another one in 2016.

A healthy Reimold brings a combination of power and on-base ability to the Orioles. He runs well and can be a solid defender. MLBTradeRumors.com projected he would earn $900,000 through arbitration, which seems a very reasonable price from the team's perspective. There is upside here and a decent chance that a healthy Reimold would be clearly worth that amount.

Nolan Reimold white high five dugout.jpgIn 195 O's plate appearances, he hit .247/.344/.394 with a .738 OPS. In 18 games in September, Reimold hit .254 with three homers, 10 RBIs, a .362 OBP and .803 OPS. He hit his first career leadoff home run on Oct. 3 against the Yankees and hit his first career grand slam Sept. 11 against Kansas City. He made starts at all three outfield positions.

Reimold's days as and up-and-coming prospect are long since over. He turned 32 earlier this month. But he is a 32-year-old player with only about two full major league seasons worth of at-bats since he has missed so much time. But in his 1,175 career big league at-bats, he has hit 52 doubles with 50 homers. He is a career .250/.327/.432 hitter with a career .759 OPS.

I am certainly not selling Reimold as the answer to a corner outfield position, but I do think he's worth taking another look at in spring. For a small dollar amount, the O's need to see if Reimold can help next year in a reserve role and possibly play his way into more regular at-bats. He is out of options, so he can't be sent to the minors anymore without being passed through waivers.

Over the years, the Orioles have worked hard to help Reimold get healthy. They've been loyal to him and he to them. He said many times last year that he wanted to sign with the Orioles over other offers he got to sign a minor league deal. He returned to the club and showed he could stay on the field last year.

Should the O's take yet another look at Reimold in the 2016 season?




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