Dan Connolly

Add another to the depth chart, Orioles trade for Bourn

By Dan Connolly

Posted on August 31, 2016

Who knows if Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette is done making moves Wednesday night?

But a couple hours before the midnight deadline to acquire players that will be eligible to play in the postseason, Duquette made a third acquisition in one day.

He traded minor league outfielder Jason Heinrich, a fifth-round pick in 2015 who was playing at Short-A Aberdeen, to the Arizona Diamondbacks for 33-year-old speedster Michael Bourn.

The Orioles needed a fourth outfielder who can run, play every outfield position and steal a base on occasion.

Bourn fits that description. A two-time All Star and two-time Gold Glover, the left-handed hitting Bourn has hit .266 with a .329 on-base percentage in parts of 11 seasons with five teams. He has 339 career stolen bases and led the league in steals three times.

This year with the Diamondbacks, he was hitting .261 with a .307 on-base percentage with three homers, six triples and 13 stolen bases.

To make room for Bourn on the roster, the Orioles have moved Joey Rickard (thumb) to the 60-day disabled list. It’s basically a procedural move for Rickard, who is expected to have a follow-up examination for his thumb injury Friday.

Even if he is cleared then, it will take him a couple weeks to get back his timing back at the plate. Since his disabled list stint is backdated to July 21, he’ll be able to come off the 60-day DL around Sept. 19 – roughly when he would have been activated, if healthy, anyway.

With Rickard shelved, the Orioles have no true backup center behind Adam Jones, who hasn’t played since Friday with a hamstring injury. The best options in the minors were veteran outfielders Julio Borbon and Chris Dickerson, both of whom would have to be added to the 40-man roster.

So acquiring Bourn makes sense, though it is a little strange since earlier in the day the Orioles claimed veteran center fielder Drew Stubbs off waivers from Texas.

And that move was a little odd because, to create a roster spot for Stubbs, they had to designate Kyle Lobstein for assignment. Lobstein was acquired even earlier in the day in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates for minor leaguer Zach Phillips.

It was a frenzied day for Duquette, who always attempts to add players even after the non-waiver trade deadline ends (Aug. 1).

In his flurry of moves Wednesday, he only gave up Phillips, who had pitched all season at Triple-A Norfolk, and the 20-year-old Heinrich, who hit .231 with three home runs in 44 games with Aberdeen.