The Baltimore Orioles added depth to their infield. According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, they had acquired Steve Pearce from the Tampa Bay Rays for minor league catcher Jonah Heim in return. This happens to be Steve Pearce’s third run with the Baltimore Orioles. He was with the Orioles in 2012 before he was sent to the Houston Astros and then the New York Yankees and then his second stint was from 2013-2015.
Steve Pearce who is 33 years old had a successful run with the Orioles from 2013-2015 prior to signing with Tampa Bay on a 1-year free agent deal. He is still owed approximately $1.6 MM for the remainder of the season, plus incentives once he reaches 400 plate appearances. In 2016, he currently has 232 plate appearances as of this writing.
He is a right-handed hitter with an excellent .309/.388/.520 line in 232 plate appearances. He has also done a ton of damage against left-handed pitchers by crushing five homers and four doubles in 63 plate appearances.
In his less than one year with the Tampa Bay Rays, Steve Pearce has mostly played first base, second base, and was the DH. He also played parts of the outfield during the season. Baltimore Orioles executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette said in an interview on MLB Network Radio that the veteran’s versatility will allow the Orioles the opportunity to carry an extra pitcher.
Jonah Heim has struggled a lot at High-A this year, only hitting .216/.300/.344 in 329 appearances. Many of the minor league sites have him ranked 13th among Orioles prospects.
As my colleague Kenny Magner wrote about, the Rays made two additional deals today as the one he spoke about was Matt Moore to the San Francisco Giants. Here is the link ( Matt Moore to the Giants article ). The other move they made was sending Brandon Guyer to the Indians.