MLB Trade and Roster Rumors: Baltimore Orioles Met With Andrew Cashner
The Baltimore Orioles have been keeping an eye on some of the top pitchers on the free-agent market since the start of the offseason, and they have reportedly reached out to one of them as they continue to look for starters to fill their rotation.
According to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, the Orioles have met with Andrew Cashner recently to discuss the possibility of signing him this offseason.
Cashner has been linked to the Orioles for a couple of months now, but they don't seem to be in any hurry to secure his services. Of course, the club probably wants to wait and see how the starting pitching market develops before they make their move. So far, top-tier free agent pitchers like Yu Darvish and Jake Arrieta are still unsigned.
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Cashner is coming off a solid season with the Texas Rangers. He went 11–11 with a 3.40 earned run average (ERA) and a 1.32 walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) in 28 games last season, and he had 86 strikeouts in 166.2 innings pitched.
The 31-year-old pitcher has never been known as a strikeout pitcher throughout his career, though, and his 1.34 strikeout-to-walk ratio last season is the lowest of his career. However, The Baltimore Wire's Ben Palmer has pointed out that Cashner can still be quite effective despite his lack of strikeout power.
"What Cashner did do well, however, was induce weak contact. Last year, more than any other pitch, Cashner threw his sinker, a pitch that had more movement on it than it's ever had in his career. Cashner's sinker, last year, had about an inch more drop and almost three inches more horizontal movement than your average sinker," Palmer wrote in his column.
"While it didn't necessarily get strikeouts (just a 10.3% strikeout rate), it did induce weak contact, as opposing hitters had just a .313 wOBA against the pitch," he added.
