This, that and the other

The trade that brought Eloy Jiménez to the Orioles was celebrated in some Chicago circles. Always injured, not hitting, clogging a roster spot and some payroll space. And the cost for the Orioles was Triple-A left-handed reliever Trey McGough, who never cracked a prospect top 30 list.

“We hope we can get Eloy on a heater,” executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias said that night on the MASN broadcast.

Since he left the Windy City, you could warm your hands over Jiménez, who slashed .240/.297/.345 in 65 games with the White Sox and began last night 16-for-52 (.308) in 17 games with the Orioles. He had their first hit with a leadoff single in the fifth inning.

What gives?

“I think everybody just kind of elevates when they’re around good players,” said Orioles offensive strategy coach Cody Asche. “That’s not to say that Chicago doesn’t have good players, but I think we’ve got really good players. We’ve got a lot of good guys with impeccable work ethics, preparation, so I think he’s just been able to kind of follow the lead of guys like Ced (Mullins), Gunn (Gunnar Henderson), Tony (Santander).

“Tony’s been a huge help for him, taking him under his wing it really seems like since he’s been here. It’s been fun to watch Tony kind of like really blossom into a leadership role in that sense.”

Santander is only two years older than Jiménez at age 29, but he’s eager to share advice and the wisdom gained from his eight seasons in the majors and the road traveled to get here – bumps and all.

“It’s a different environment,” Santander said. “He’s coming from a tough team, like, they’re always losing, and he was involved with a lot of injuries in the past. So when he got here, I just grabbed him the first day in Cleveland and, I know that he knew already but, ‘You’re coming to a winning team, this is what it takes to be able to be on the field and compete every single day. I think the key for you is going to be to stay healthy.’ So I needed him to work with me because I’ve had a lot of injuries in the past. Thank God the last three years I’ve been able to stay healthy.

“I would say, ‘Hey, you have a really good bat and we’re gonna need you at some point because you’ve done it before and you know you can hit for power. I just feel like your body, it needs to be in a good position to be able to go out there and compete.’ So he’s doing a really good job of doing that, having a good routine, make sure he’s prepared his body, and I’m so happy for him. He has done really good for us.”

Santander has spoken up in the past with the newcomers joining the team. He doesn’t force his opinions on anyone but is available for consultation. The more receptive that the player is, the more that Santander will share.

“I would say I talk to my teammates a lot, especially the younger guys,” he said. “I know they’re young and there’s a lot of energy, but this is a tough game and you need to prepare your body so you don’t wait to get hurt. I talk to the guys individually. Gunn, Colton (Cowser), that he needed to get stronger, Grayson (Rodriguez), that he needed to lift weights. Their bodies need to be strong to be able to stay healthy for a full season.”

Going from Rule 5 pick out of Class A to wise veteran and team leader prior to his 30^th birthday is amusing and also an honor for Santander.

“I like it,” he said, laughing. “I share my little grains of sand, like my experience, and try to help my teammates.”

The Orioles are working with Jiménez to get more lift on the ball. He was robbed of one potential home run since the trade but is more likely to slap a line drive in any direction.

Jiménez hit five home runs with the White Sox earlier this summer, a long way from the 31 during his rookie season in 2019. He won a Silver Slugger Award in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.

“I think any change mid-season is tough,” Asche said, “but to Eloy’s credit, since the first day he got here it’s just like, ‘Hey, what have you guys got for me? I want to be good.’ So he’s come in every day ready to prepare and ready to listen to what we’ve got. It’s a rare attribute for players that are past the first couple years of their career to really be so open and receptive to coaching. Especially when you come from a place where you might be jaded by coaching just from the circumstances that you’re in. It’s real easy to do. So credit to him for the awesome attitude.

“He’s been just really, really good for the clubhouse in terms of the energy he brings every day. He’s happy, he’s energetic, he’s in the games. He’s really, really pulling for his teammates to succeed and guys are feeding off that. It’s a time of the year where someone’s got to bring the energy every day. We’re in the thick of it. So, to add another guy to the clubhouse that, that’s just what he’s done, it’s been really nice.”

* Here’s a roster theory floated to me recently that is intriguing, which isn’t to be confused with factual.  But I’d tend to agree with it.

Coby Mayo’s first stay in the majors was influenced by none other than Jiménez.

Jiménez’s production earned him the bulk of the starts at designated hitter against left-handed pitching. And that, in turn, limited Mayo to playing third base, where he’s working to improve defensively.

The lineup options for Mayo were slim, he went 1-for-17, and he was sent down to Triple-A Norfolk to play regularly and regain his stroke and any confidence lost.

Jiménez has quite a reach. He also makes it trickier for manager Brandon Hyde to put both catchers in the lineup against a southpaw.

James McCann usually is behind the plate with Adley Rutschman serving as designated hitter. Rutschman caught Saturday with the Astros starting Framber Valdez, and Jiménez had a big opposite-field single in the sixth inning before Jackson Holliday’s pinch-hit, three-run double.

Houston started lefty Yusei Kikuchi last night and McCann again was on the bench.

* The latest inductees to the Orioles Hall of Fame were outstanding choices in outfielder Nick Markakis, pinch-hitter extraordinaire and long-time hitting coach and instructor Terry Crowley, and long-time scout Dick Bowie, who passed away in 1981.

These occasions always get me thinking about the Cooperstown Hall of Fame and upcoming eligibles. Markakis will appear in the 2026 ballot. The only question is whether he stays on it beyond his first year. I don’t think he’s got another speech to prepare, but he had a terrific career and should have made more than one All-Star team.

Adam Jones, who attended Saturday’s ceremony and is more visible around the ballpark than at anytime since he left the organization, is eligible next year. He’s in the same category as Markakis, but also is without question one of the most important players in franchise history based on his work on and off the field and his role in making the Orioles winners again.

Got to tip the proverbial cap to former executive Andy MacPhail, who had lots of offers to sift through while shopping ace left-hander Erik Bedard prior to the 2008 season. The Mets, for example, dangled Carlos Gomez, Phil Humber and Aaron Heilman, and I remember thinking, “Hmmm, not bad.” That’s why I’m not a general manager. Jon Heyman reported that it “barely drew a response from Baltimore.”

After getting to know Jones, it amuses me even more that he broke the news of his own trade while playing winter ball for Lara Cardenales in Venezuela, where he told a reporter that he’d be flying to Baltimore the next day for a physical. Neither team would comment, and rumors surfaced later that the deal was falling apart over concerns about a medical condition with Jones. That became its own story, but we know how it played out.

Jones was named the Mariners’ Minor League Player of the Year for a second time. Right-hander Chris Tillman, also part of the package, was their Pitcher of the Year. Two huge gets right there. George Sherrill became a future All-Star closer. And it didn’t matter what happened with pitchers Kam Mickolio and Tony Butler, the latter wrecked by injuries and never rising above Class A. Jones, Tillman and Sherrill made it lopsided in the Orioles’ favor.

Bedard pitched for five major league teams after leaving the Orioles and retired in June 2015 after three starts with Class A Rancho Cucamonga.

* The Marlins claimed former Orioles reliever Mike Baumann on waivers yesterday from the Angels. Someone else gets a turn.

Baumann would rather avoid the distinction, but he can join former Orioles pitcher Oliver Drake as the only players to be with five different teams in a single season.

Baumann has gone from the Orioles to the Mariners to the Giants to the Angels and now the Marlins, posting a combined 4.91 ERA and 1.500 WHIP in 45 games. Drake, who pitched at the Naval Academy, embarked on his amazing journey in 2018 with the Brewers, Cleveland, Angels, Blue Jays and Twins.

Drake spent the entire 2019 season with the Rays and posted a 3.21 ERA and 0.982 WHIP in 50 appearances, with 70 strikeouts in 56 innings. He appeared in 11 games with Tampa Bay the following season, allowing seven earned runs in 11 innings, and was done.