Grading each of Duquette’s 14 summer trades as EVP of the Orioles — dating back to June 2012

It’s non-waiver trade deadline day in Major League Baseball. By 4 this afternoon, we can finally separate truth from rumor — in the baseball world, anyway. We’ll know if Zach Britton and Brad Brach, among others, are sticking around Charm City a little longer. All eyes around here, of course, are on Dan Duquette, the Orioles’ executive vice president of baseball operations. Any trades he makes will be dissected and scrutinized by fans and media alike.

Recently, I looked at some of Duquette’s notable “sell” deals at his previous GM gigs in Montreal and Boston. Now, let’s turn the focus squarely to his Orioles’ career — specifically, his history of deals near the July 31 and Aug. 31 trade deadlines, from acquiring Jim Thome in June 2012 to Jeremy Hellickson on Friday night.

I’ve graded every “buyer” trade Duquette has made in June, July and August since joining the Orioles. Which of Duquette’s trades provided the Orioles a shot in the arm? And which ones shot them in the foot?

June 30, 2012: C Gabriel Lino and RHP Kyle Simon to Philadelphia Phillies for DH Jim Thome

Grade: B

Thome, who will likely be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018 when he’s first eligible, finished his storied career with the Orioles. While his offensive production in Baltimore wasn’t anything special — a .257 average, .744 OPS, three homers and 10 RBIs in 28 games — he provided veteran leadership for a surprising Orioles squad that snapped a 14-year postseason drought.

Neither Lino nor Simon, who were both in Single-A at the time of the trade, panned out for the Phillies. Lino is now in the St. Louis Cardinals organization and was promoted to Triple-A last week, while Simon is pitching in independent ball.

Aug. 26, 2012: RHP Matt Lindstrom to Arizona Diamondbacks for LHP Joe Saunders

Grade: A

Acquired to stabilize the rotation down the stretch, Saunders was more than worth the small cost of Lindstrom, a veteran reliever with no place in the stacked Orioles’ bullpen. Saunders soon cemented his place in Orioles lore. He was tabbed as the Orioles’ starter for the first-ever AL Wild Card Game, drawing the assignment against Texas Rangers ace Yu Darvish in Arlington — where Saunders was 0-6 with a 9.38 ERA in his career.

The rest is history. In one of the most memorable games in recent club lore, Saunders outdueled Darvish with 5 2/3 strong innings, pitching the Orioles into the ALDS. He then repeated the effort with another solid start against the New York Yankees that helped the Orioles stave off elimination in Game 4. Saunders certainly paid off as a trade-deadline acquisition.

July 2, 2013: RHP Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop and two international signing bonus slots to Chicago Cubs for RHP Scott Feldman and C Steve Clevenger

Grade: F

Well, you knew this was coming. The Arrieta trade is probably the most frequently rehashed and second-guessed decision in Duquette’s Orioles tenure, so I won’t spend too much time harping on it here. Yes, the trade was defensible at the time — Arrieta was in the minors at the time and had used up all his chances with the Orioles, and the struggling Strop was out of options. And yes, there’s reason to believe that Arrieta never would have succeeded in Baltimore, considering his dwindling confidence and the differences of opinion between him and the coaching staff.

But trades are ultimately judged by their results, and the results of this one couldn’t have turned out worse for the Orioles. Arrieta blossomed as a Cy Young winner and World Series champion with the Cubs — and Strop has been a valuable member of their bullpen as well — while Feldman didn’t help the Orioles make the playoffs and left as a free agent after 2013. Duquette indirectly salvaged some value by swapping Clevenger for Mark Trumbo prior to the 2016 season, but it doesn’t ease the pain of trading away a future ace.

July 23, 2013: 3B Nick Delmonico to Milwaukee Brewers for RHP Francisco Rodriguez

Grade: D

Duquette hoped that Rodriguez, a longtime closer, would bolster the Orioles’ bullpen in a setup role. But Rodriguez’s Baltimore career turned sour almost immediately when he coughed up four home runs in his first four appearances. After that, he served mostly in mop-up duty, ultimately posting a 4.50 ERA in 23 games. Orioles manager Buck Showalter had little faith in Rodriguez, he never seemed to fit in, and returned to Milwaukee as a free agent after the season.

The prospect the Orioles traded, Delmonico, has had a troubled career of his own. With the Milwaukee organization, he received a 50-game suspension for amphetamine use in 2014, and the Brewers released him in Feb. 2015 because they couldn’t get in contact with him. Delmonico is now trying to salvage his career in the Chicago White Sox system. He’s currently batting .264 with a .784 OPS, 12 homers and 44 RBIs in 94 games for Triple-A Charlotte.

July 31, 2013: OF L.J. Hoes, LHP Josh Hader and competitive balance round A pick to Houston Astros for RHP Bud Norris

Grade: C

This is a tough trade to evaluate. On one hand, Norris was a vital part of the division-winning Orioles’ strong 2014 rotation, going 15-8 with a 3.65 ERA in 28 starts and beating the Detroit Tigers’ David Price in the clinching game of the ALDS. His contributions that season shouldn’t be forgotten.

On the other hand, Norris’ Baltimore career before and after 2014 was a bust. He stumbled to a 4.80 ERA in 11 games for the Orioles in 2013 and imploded in 2015, going 2-9 with a 7.06 ERA in 18 games and getting released in August.

The prospect cost in the Norris trade is still to be determined. Hoes didn’t pan out, but Hader (an Old Mill grad and native of Millersville) developed into a top pitching prospect for the Astros and then for the Brewers, who acquired him in 2015. He made his big league debut this season and has a 1.08 ERA in 12 relief appearances. Meanwhile, the 2014 draft pick the Orioles traded was No. 37 overall, which the Astros used to select outfielder Derek Fisher, now one of their best prospects who was recently recalled to the majors.

Ultimately, I’ll rate this trade a C. But if Hader and Fisher develop into solid (or better) players in the coming years, this deal will look increasingly worse for Duquette.

Aug. 30, 2013: OF Xavier Avery to Seattle Mariners for OF Michael Morse

Grade: D

This trade was a dud from the get-go. The Orioles acquired Morse to provide some power off the bench for a potential September postseason chase, but injuries torpedoed his tenure with the club. In 29 at-bats, Morse had just three hits — all singles — and no RBIs, and later revealed that he had a left wrist injury that required surgery.

The only reason this deal doesn’t get a failing grade is because the Orioles didn’t give up anything of value in Avery, who hasn’t played in the majors since 2012.

July 31, 2014: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez to Boston Red Sox for LHP Andrew Miller

Grade: B

Some might think a B is an overly generous grade for a trade that cost the Orioles a promising lefty pitching prospect in Rodriguez. And I understand that argument. Rodriguez has had a solid if unspectacular career in Boston so far, going 17-16 with a 4.17 ERA in 54 games (53 starts). He would certainly help the Orioles’ failing rotation right now, so it stings that he’s under control of a division rival through 2021.

Still, Duquette was willing to pay that price to help the division-leading Orioles make a run for the World Series. The club didn’t quite make it there, but Miller did everything humanly possible to get them close. He put up an otherworldly performance both in the regular season (a 1.35 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 20 innings) and in the playoffs (five scoreless appearances spanning 7 1/3 innings). Had he been traded to the Tigers — who were reportedly the runners-up in the trade talks with Boston — the Orioles may well have lost the ALDS instead of sweeping it.

In a go-for-broke season, Miller gave the Orioles everything they hoped for and more, even at a high cost. It was one of Duquette’s best deadline deals.

Aug. 30, 2014: RHPs Mark Blackmar and Miguel Chalas to White Sox for OF Alejandro De Aza

Grade: B

Although not on Miller’s level, De Aza too provided a jolt for the 2014 Orioles down the stretch. He took over the starting left field job for the final month and was a spark plug atop the lineup, batting .293 with an .877 OPS in 20 regular season games, followed by a .333/.867 performance in the postseason.

The two young pitchers the Orioles dealt for him don’t look like big league material. Chalas has been roughed up for a 10.13 ERA in seven games at Double-A Birmingham this season, while Blackmar is now in the Washington Nationals’ organization, where he has a 6.89 ERA in eight games for Double-A Harrisburg.

This trade would earn an A if not for the fact that De Aza fell apart for the Orioles in 2015, when he sputtered to a .214 average and .636 OPS and was dealt away in June.

Aug. 30, 2014: IFs Ivan De Jesus and Jemile Weeks to Red Sox for IFs Kelly Johnson and Michael Almanzar

Grade: C

“C” stands for “completely forgettable,” which this trade certainly was. None of the four players involved in this deal played any significant role for their new teams. Johnson was the biggest name of the bunch, but he batted just .231 with a .744 OPS in 19 games with the Orioles and went 0-for-2 in the playoffs. Still, the trade allowed him to complete the AL East cycle — he played for all five teams in the division in a span of three years.

July 31, 2015: RHP Zach Davies to Brewers for OF Gerardo Parra

Grade: F

It may not have been as high-profile a blunder as the Arrieta trade, but this deal was a failure all the same. Desperate to fix the Orioles’ season-long black hole in right field, Duquette acquired Parra, who was in the midst of a career year with a .328 average and .886 OPS for Milwaukee. Parra’s high BABIP numbers indicated that he was bound to fall back to earth, and in Baltimore, he crash-landed. Parra hit just .237 with a .625 OPS in 55 games for the Orioles and also struggled in the field. Instead of solving the Orioles’ right field woes, Parra compounded them.

In the swap, the Orioles gave up a pitching prospect in Davies, who has since gone 26-13 with a 4.12 ERA in 55 starts for the Brewers. Granted, the spindly Davies might not have had the same success if he were pitching in the AL East rather than the NL Central, but he almost certainly would’ve improved the Orioles’ current rotation. He wasn’t worth trading for a player who made the club worse.

July 31, 2016: LHP Ariel Miranda to Seattle Mariners for LHP Wade Miley

Grade: Incomplete, but leaning toward F

The Miley-Miranda swap is another deal that’s been discussed often here at BaltimoreBaseball.com, but the numbers are ugly every time you look at them. The 28-year-old Miranda is 12-6 with a 4.16 ERA in 32 career games with the Mariners, who are paying him $541,000 and have him under team control through 2022. The 30-year-old Miley is 6-14 with a 5.85 ERA in 32 career starts for the Orioles, who are paying him nearly $9 million, and he’ll be a free agent if the club declines his $12 million option for 2018.

Like the Arrieta trade, this deal made sense at the time it was made. Miranda was a fringe prospect, while Miley had a history as a league-average starter in the majors. But again, what matters most is the results. And in this case, the Orioles appear to have traded a decent lefty starter for a less effective, much more expensive, slightly older version. Unless Miley is able to salvage his season in the remaining months of 2017, this trade will end up among Duquette’s lowlights.

Aug. 1, 2016: C Jonah Heim to Tampa Bay Rays for 1B Steve Pearce

Grade: D

The Orioles’ reacquisition of Pearce last August — after letting him leave in free agency seven months earlier — was one of the stranger chapters in the Duquette era. It’s understandable that they wanted him back; Pearce was a fan favorite in Baltimore and was having a great season for the Rays (.309 average, .908 OPS, 10 homers and 29 RBIs in 60 games).

The odd part is that the Orioles acquired Pearce knowing he had injury problems that had prevented the Rays from playing him in the outfield all year — yet the O’s started him in right field in his third game back with the club. Sure enough, Pearce strained his flexor mass while making a throw from the outfield, then re-aggravated the injury later that year in another outfield start, requiring season-ending surgery. The Orioles’ handling of Pearce, and their acquisition of him knowing he was damaged goods, certainly raises some eyebrows.

Known for his advanced defense, Heim, 22, is hitting .239 with nine homers in the Low-A Midwest League.

Aug. 31, 2016: OF Jason Heinrich to Diamondbacks for OF Michael Bourn

Grade: A

This one was minor, but successful. The veteran Bourn improved the Orioles’ defense and speed down the stretch in 2016, providing a solid glove in right field that allowed the club to move Mark Trumbo to full-time DH. Bourn also swung the bat better than expected, collecting a .283 average, .793 OPS, two homers and eight RBIs. All for the piddling cost of Heinrich, a non-prospect who played just one minor league game in the Arizona organization and then was released. (Heinrich re-signed with the Orioles this year but was released June 21.)

July 28, 2017: OF Hyun Soo Kim, LHP Garrett Cleavinger and international bonus slot money to Phillies for RHP Jeremy Hellickson

Grade: I — Incomplete (obviously)

In a trade hot off the coals, Duquette on Friday acquired veteran righty Hellickson, who was 6-5 with a 4.73 ERA in 20 starts for the Phillies this season. Obviously, it’s too early to give any kind of grade, but the deal is a head-scratcher on the surface. The trade was announced just after an Orioles loss that dropped them to 48-54 and 6 1/2 games back of the Kansas City Royals for the second wild card spot — with five other teams between them. Considering the Orioles’ fading chances of making the postseason — they are 50-54 today — it’s difficult to understand their interest in Hellickson, a pending free agent who is a marginal rotation upgrade.

While this trade likely won’t help the Orioles, it likely won’t come back to haunt them, either. They gave up the struggling Cleavinger, who had a 6.38 ERA at Double-A Bowie, and international bonus slot money, which the Orioles inexplicably refuse to spend anyway. And to help offset salaries, they threw in Kim, who lost his starting job this season and has hit .232 with a .593 OPS in a bench role. It’s sad to see the Orioles’ career of Kim, who overcame an awful spring training and fan backlash in 2016 to post a .382 OBP that year, come to such an anticlimactic end.