Stop me if you’ve heard this one—rebuilds aren’t pretty. This week, the Orioles shed three players who were regulars last season: at second, singles machine and lefty-killer Hanser Alberto, at third/DH, their 2020 home run leader Renato Núñez, and at shortstop, the sure-handed José Iglesias, who not only captained the infield but hit .373 with three home runs and 17 RBIs in 39 games.
Sure, the team did keep six of seven arbitration-eligible players (Trey Mancini, Anthony Santander, Pedro Severino, recent pickup Yolmer Sánchez, Shawn Armstrong, and Pat Valaika), and a reunion with Alberto isn’t necessarily out of the cards (though with FanGraphs ranking Alberto as the second-most valuable non-tendered player in MLB, he may just want to test out his market value).