The Orioles have announced their one-year deal with Pedro Alvarez is official. The news of the signing was first broken back on March 7th for a reported $5.75 million plus incentives. It's been considered a done deal since then, but given what the Orioles went through with Dexter Fowler, it's good to have it all nice and official.
The press release from the Orioles refers to Pedro Alvarez as an infielder, but he will obviously be the designated hitter for the Orioles, pushing Mark Trumbo to the field. Alvarez's pluses and minuses have been well documented both here at Camden Chat and elsewhere, but he's officially an Oriole now so it's time to start irrationally hoping that Alvarez will be better than ever before. One thing I'm fairly certain of is that he'll get himself at least one Eutaw Street plaque this season.
To make room on the roster, the Orioles have released RHP Andrew Triggs. Triggs was acquired from the Royals for cash about a year ago. He spent the 2015 season with the double-A Bowie Baysox, making 43 appearances with them and putting up very good numbers, albeit as a 26 year old. He had just been added to the 40-man roster this off season.
Steve Melewski did a player profile on Triggs in December where he predicts that Triggs has the greatest chance of making an impact on the 2016 of the trio of Triggs, Parker Bridwell, and Chris Lee who were all added to the 40-man roster. That prediction seems to have gone up in smoke. It's possible that Triggs will re-sign with the Orioles on a minor league deal, but being off the 40-man roster make it tough to imagine he'll be on the team this season.
At any rate, welcome to Birdland, Pedro Alvarez! And godspeed, Andrew Triggs.