The Baltimore Orioles believed Blaze Alexander was the missing piece to their position player group.
Alexander, a 26-year-old utility player who broke in with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the last two seasons, showed impressive versatility last season by transitioning to the outfield in the majors on a part-time basis. Baltimore may have taken notice of that, and they made it clear on Thursday that they wanted him around.
According to multiple reports, the Diamondbacks shipped Alexander to the Orioles on Thursday in exchange for right-handed pitcher Kade Strowd, minor-league righty Wellington Araceno, and minor-league infielder José Mejia. Steve Gilbert of MLB.com was first with the news of the trade.
Alexander put up a .706 OPS and was worth 1.7 bWAR across 74 games for the Diamondbacks last season. He made 54 appearances at third base, 14 at second base, four in left field, and three in center field.
Strowd, 28, posted an impressive 1.71 ERA in 25 outings out of the bullpen as a rookie last season. He didn’t have great walk and strikeout rates, and his FIP was a more reasonable 3.40, but he could still be a nice addition to the relief group in Arizona.
Aracena, 21, reached High-A last season and was ranked 26th on MLB Pipeline’s year-end Orioles top prospects list. Mejia, 20, reached High-A for two games at the end of the season and was unranked.
It was a lot of players for the Orioles to give up for a player still as unproven, relatively speaking, as Alexander still is. But versatility continues to be more important as teams manage a 26-man roster for the odyssey of a 162-game season, and even if he projects to be a bench player, Alexander could help the Orioles navigate some tight spots this year.
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