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Dan Conolly was the first to announce today on Twitter that the Orioles have agreed to what is believed to be a major-league deal with outfielder Tyler Colvin.
Orioles have agreed to terms with OF Tyler Colvin pending results of a physical, accdg to a source. Colvin, 28, played last 2 yrs w Col
— Dan Connolly (@danconnollysun) January 15, 2014
If that name sounds familiar to you in a far off kind of way, it's because Colvin was one of the names bandied about back in 2008 when it was rumored that Brian Roberts was going to be traded. On Feb 25, 2008, MLB Trade Rumors said:
SI.com's Jon Heyman says a Roberts to Chicago trade still has a little life, and the Orioles are scouting Cubs' players. Meanwhile Jason Churchill wrote a few days ago that the O's may require Felix Pie or Tyler Colvin instead of the Cubs' apparent offer of Ronny Cedeno, Sean Gallagher, and Kevin Hart. Churchill says the O's are also high on Eric Patterson.
The Orioles finally got their man!
Since the trade that never happened in 2008, Colvin has had several up and down years in the major leagues. He had solid years at the plate in 2010 and 2012 for the Cubs and Rockies, respectively, but was optioned down to the minors after struggling at the big-league level in 2011 and 2013.
In 2010, Colvin's rookie season, he suffered a freak and terrifying accident when he was impaled in the chest by a broken bat while running home from third base. He was ultimately OK but he was hospitalized and had to have measures taken to make sure his lung didn't collapse. Honestly, that's the last time I paid attention to him.
His best year to date was in 2012, when he hit .290/.327/.531. He did play for the Rockies that year and his home/road splits were pretty drastic:
| Split | G | GS | PA | 2B | HR | BB | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 69 | 47 | 226 | 14 | 11 | 12 | .338 | .380 | .652 | 1.032 |
| Away | 67 | 52 | 226 | 13 | 7 | 9 | .244 | .274 | .413 | .687 |
This is another low-risk move for Dan Duquette and the Orioles, who now have more outfielders invited to spring training than I can count on one hand.
