The Orioles set off on their rebuilding course last July when former general manager Dan Duquette traded anyone with value in a series of trades that netted the O’s a total of 15 players. The 2019 season will go a long way towards figuring out whether Duquette’s last moves were shrewd or if the same front office deficiencies in scouting and player evaluation that led the O’s to their 47-115 record last year also meant that they just acquired a bunch of bums.
In a move whose symbolic importance far outstrips its actual importance, the O’s began 2019 by casting off the first of those 15 players from the organization.