Duquette brings more prospects into Orioles system in Britton deal - BaltimoreBaseball.com
Rich Dubroff

Duquette brings more prospects into Orioles system in Britton deal

BALTIMORE—Is eight enough? Eight is the number of prospects the Orioles have brought back in the last six days in trades for Manny Machado and Zach Britton.

After the Orioles received five prospects from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Machado last Wednesday, they followed it with a deal for three more from the New York Yankees for Zach Britton on Tuesday.

The top-ranked prospect in the deal is Dillon Tate, a 24-year-old right-hander who has a 5-0 record with a 3.38 ERA in 15 starts for Double-A Trenton.

Tate was the fourth overall pick in the 2015 draft by Texas, which packaged him to the Yankees in July 2016 for Carlos Beltran.

Two pitchers from New York’s Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre team, left-handed starter Josh Rogers and right-handed reliever Cody Carroll, are also included in the deal.

Tate reports to Double-A Bowie, Rogers and Carroll to Triple-A Norfolk.

“Dillon Tate is a top draft pick. I guess he’s probably the headliner, or the most publicized player that we’re picking up in this deal,” Orioles Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Dan Duquette said.

The 24-year-old Rogers is 6-8 with a 3.95 ERA in 19 starts. Carroll, who is 25, is 3-0 with a 2.38 ERA and nine saves.

Rogers was particularly attractive to the Orioles because they don’t have any left-handed starters or prospects nearly ready for the majors.

“I think that gives him a good opportunity to join our rotation on that basis,” Duquette said. “He’s really strong against left-handed hitters, and we don’t have a lot of candidates for left-handed starting pitching.”

Rogers and Carroll were taken in the 2015 draft — Rogers in the 11th round, Carroll in the 22nd.

“Cody Carroll is having an excellent year with the Yanks,” Duquette said. “He pitched in the Triple-A All-Star Game and has a really good strikeout record. Big strong kid with two really good pitches, a fastball with good velocity, and he’s got a good slider the lefties and the righties have trouble with.”

Combining Carroll, Rogers and Tate with the players received in the Machado deal, it seems that the Orioles have added some genuine prospects.

A scout who is familiar with the three players from the Yankees’ organization said that Tate, who now has been traded twice, is a pitcher who “projects as a No. 3 or 4 starter.” During games, Tate has been clocked at 97 mph, but “his fastball gets flat,” the scout said.

Tate is described as “very athletic” and was a closer in college before being converted to a starter for the major leagues. He has a fastball, slider and changeup.

Rogers, the scout said, is a “big, physical” pitcher, and he “pitches backwards.” He starts hitters with breaking stuff and uses a fastball to finish them off.

Carroll has a good fastball and can throw in the mid-90s, the scout said.

The prize of the Machado deal was 21-year-old outfielder Yusniel Diaz, who homered twice in the Futures game. Diaz, right-handed pitchers Dean Kremer and Zach Pop and infielder Rylan Bannon are playing for Bowie. Infielder Breyvic Valera is at Triple-A Norfolk.

The scout said both trades contain a centerpiece, Tate and Diaz, and depth. He was surprised the Orioles didn’t mine the Yankees’ surplus of minor league infielders.

Duquette is pleased with the packages.

“You always look to have one headliner when you make a trade, and Tate is the headliner in this trade,” Duquette said. “We were able to fulfill that in the Dodger trade with Diaz, and also add some other players to help us in the future as we rebuild the roster. But we were fortunate to identify a trading partner in the Yankees that could deliver to us a player that we felt comfortable with, a player that we could depend on in the future.”

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