Orioles Third Basemen – 2022 Review and Beyond

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Present:

The 2022 season featured solid though inconsistent play from Ramon Urias, a few below average weeks from Kelvin Gutierrez and Tyler Kevin, and most importantly in the final month of the season, the debut of future superstar Gunnar Henderson.

Name	Age	G	PA	HR	SB	BB%	K%	ISO	BABIP	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA	wRC+	BsR	Off	Def	WAR
Henderson	21	34	132	4	1	12.10%	25.80%	0.181	0.333	0.259	0.348	0.44	0.343	125	-0.2	3.6	-0.3	0.8
Urias	28	118	445	16	1	6.70%	22.00%	0.166	0.287	0.248	0.305	0.414	0.313	104	0	2.1	8.5	2.6
Gutierrez	27	12	33	0	1	12.10%	24.20%	0.036	0.2	0.143	0.25	0.179	0.208	30	0	-2.6	-1.5	-0.3
Nevin	25	58	184	2	0	10.90%	25.00%	0.064	0.259	0.197	0.299	0.261	0.261	67	-1.2	-8	-3.6	-0.6

Urias took hold of the reins for most of the year at the hot corner, other than missing time due to a number of injuries throughout the year. Despite his missed time, Urias put up solid offensive numbers, and stellar defense, qualifying as a finalist for the Gold Glove award at Third, and putting up 2.6 WAR for the season. With his positional flexibility, Urias could a solid contributor to this team in a super utility role on a playoff contending team. Nevin and Gutierrez combined for a forgettable 200 plate appearances, combining for a nearly a -1 WAR. The big news this season was the debut of #1 overall prospect Gunnar Henderson. In 34 games, Gunnar played the hot corner for 24 games, while making 7 appearances at SS. His contributions this season were clear: Great Defense, with Huge offensive potential. Gunnar put up a 0.8 WAR in only 34 games, and even a +1 OAA in his limited time. As a rookie. Still maintaining his rookie eligibility for next year.

Future:

There are are only two names in the upper minors that are worth discussing (and one is already here!):

Name	LVL	Age	PA	BB%	K%	BB/K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	ISO	Spd	BABIP	wSB	wRC	wRAA	wOBA	wRC+
Henderson	AAA	21	295	12.90%	26.40%	0.49	0.288	0.39	0.504	0.894	0.216	8.2	0.374	0.9	53	14.5	0.393	138
Westburg	AAA	23	413	10.70%	21.80%	0.49	0.273	0.361	0.508	0.869	0.235	5.7	0.318	-0.4	70	15.6	0.379	129

Westburg was previously discussed in our Second Base review, but to reiterate, Westburg was second in the minors in HRs, with 39 doubles to go along with his 25+ home runs. He shows average defense at short, with the ability to provide potential plus defense at third or second. Henderson, as discussed, is a future star. He was the #1 ranked prospect in the minors after a breakthrough season, and the future is nowhere but up, with the hope that Gunnar continues to build on his late season call up, with perennial MVP-caliber seasons over the next decade, along with gold glove caliber defense.

Outside options and Free Agents:

Free agent third basemen this offseason include (with ages):

Ehire Adrianza (33)

Hanser Alberto (30)

Nolan Arenado (32) – can opt out of remaining five years, $144MM

Charlie Culberson (34)

Brandon Drury (30)

Matt Duffy (32)

Maikel Franco (30)

Phil Gosselin (34)

Josh Harrison (35) – $5.625MM club option with $1.5MM buyout

Evan Longoria (37) – $13MM club option with a $5MM buyout

Jace Peterson (33)

Donovan Solano (35)

Justin Turner (38) – $16MM club option with a $2MM buyout

Jonathan Villar (32)

As with the second base review, the team clearly has the position locked up for at least the next six years, with no one in this crop of free agents of any particular interest.

What to do?

Between Gunnar, Urias, and Westburg, the team has this position, and its backups, locked down. Gunnar should get nearly all of the starts here, with Urias and/or Westburg backing up when Gunnar needs a night off, or potentially plays SS if the team decides to go in that direction (where Gunnar could potentially provide above average to plus defense there as well).