Seeking to boost their outfield depth for the final playoff push in September, the Baltimore Orioles have acquired Michael Bourn in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for outfielder Jason Heinrich, the Diamondbacks announced.
Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball first reported that the Orioles and Diamondbacks agreed in principle to the deal.
“We are happy to address our outfield defense with a defender who can help us in a number of positions, and also someone [manager] Buck [Showalter] can insert in a game and give us a good chance for a stolen base,” Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette said, per MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli.
The Orioles’ biggest need all season has been starting pitching, but due to a lack of strong options available before the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline, they have chosen to add bats instead.
Baltimore acquired Steve Pearce from the Tampa Bay Rays earlier this month. Bourn joins him after playing 89 games for the Diamondbacks.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today noted that the Diamondbacks were concerned about finding spots for players when rosters expand on Thursday. With A.J. Pollock recently returning from the disabled list, Bourn no longer had an opportunity to be an everyday player in Arizona, so trading him was a smart move.
“With rosters set to expand [Thursday], Bourn will give the O’s a late-inning option to bring some speed off the bench and perhaps to upgrade the outfield defense over Mark Trumbo or Hyun Soo Kim, neither of whom grades out anywhere close to average with the glove,” MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams wrote.
The 33-year-old Bourn is having a modest bounce-back season in 2016. He’s hitting .261/.307/.362 with three home runs and 13 stolen bases in 329 at-bats, which is a marked improvement over the .238/.310/.282 slash line he put up with the Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves last year.
Baltimore lacks any kind of running threat on the basepaths, ranking last in all of Major League Baseball with 15 stolen bases. Bourn at least gives it some credibility in that category as the regular season’s final month approaches.
The Orioles were possibly looking for another center fielder with Adam Jones battling a left hamstring injury that has kept him out of the lineup since Aug. 26.
Bourn does not shift the needle in Baltimore’s favor in terms of the American League East and wild-card races, but he’s a veteran who has been on multiple playoff teams in the past. He gives Showalter more versatility and a speed element this team desperately needs.
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