Philly Front Office

The Baltimore Orioles selected high school catcher Jayson Werth in the 1st round of the 1997 MLB Draft, #22 overall. He would never play a game for the Orioles in the major leagues. Instead, they traded the #48 ranked prospect by Baseball America to the Toronto Blue Jays for a guy named John Bale. Let’s review how that worked out.

Werth it for the Baltimore Orioles?

The 2000 Baltimore Orioles finished 74-88, good enough for 4th in the AL East. Obviously, the team was only a young reliever away from contending. Fed up with Werth’s strong prospect ranking as a good hitting catcher (a dime a dozen), they traded him to Toronto for Baltimore’s new savior Bale. Bale was drafted in the 5th round by the Blue Jays in 1996 and spent the next 3 seasons moving between the bullpen and starting to intermediate success. He made his major league debut in 2000, compiling a robust 14.73 ERA in 2 appearances. That was all Baltimore needed to see. On December 11th, 2000 the trade was made.

John Bale

For the 2001 Orioles, John Bale made 14 relief appearances to a decent 3.04 record. The Orioles went 63-98. That kind of success is the kind of thing that will run you out of Baltimore apparently. Things went off the rails for Bale after that. He bounced around minor league affiliates for the Mets and Reds before going to Japan to rehab his career. It worked. He made it back to the big leagues with the KC Royals before breaking his hand punching a hotel door. Teams don’t like that. He ended up back in Japan. Bale signed one last major league contract with the Detroit Tigers on December 1, 2010, but was released at the end of Spring Training. I wonder what Jayson Werth was doing around that time?

Werth it for the Toronto Blue Jays?

After being sent to the Blue Jays, things didn’t really go well for Werth. He was demoted and eventually transitioned to the outfield because the Blue Jays had too much minor league catching depth and Werth couldn’t stop getting hurt. He made his debut for the Blue Jays in September of 2002 and spent the whole next season bouncing between AAA and the Majors. He never could hold down the job though and was traded to the Dodgers for Jason Fraser at the end of Spring Training in 2004.

Jason Fraser

Fraser made his Major league debut following the trade and was an average reliever for Toronto for several years. He eventually bounced around the league later in his career and even became a dominant reliever by the end. Unfortunately, his body gave out and he simply could not stay healthy. He retired in 2015 with a 9.5 WAR and 3.49 career ERA.

Werth it for the Los Angeles Dodgers?

Things did not go well for Werth upon arriving in Chavez Ravine. Over his 3 seasons in Dodger blue, he had several injuries including: strained oblique, fractured wrist, knee bursitis, and a torn ligament in his wrist. He needed surgery for all of it. The Dodgers suggested his injuries were psychosomatic. He missed the entire 2006 season and was released.

Definitely Werth it for the Phillies

Behind the scenes during Werth’s career was Pat Gillick. He was the GM of the Baltimore Orioles from 1996-1998 and was the man responsible for originally drafting Werth. He also regularly stayed in contact with the Toronto Blue Jays who he had guided to back-to-back World Series titles in the 90s (1993, sigh). By 2007, he was running the Phillies.

On December 20, 2006, the Phillies signed Jayson Werth to a 1/$850k contract. Despite more wrist trouble, Werth became an integral part of the 2007 division winning team by at first filling in all over the outfield and then locking down right field. He hit .298 with an .863 OPS while racking up 3 WAR in only 98 games. At 28 years old, Werth’s career had finally gotten started.

From there, Werth became a stalwart, all-star level performer on the best Phillies teams. For his Phillies career he hit .285 with an .885 OPS and 15.7 WAR in 4 seasons. He received MVP votes twice, was an all-star once, and led the league in doubles in 2010. We all hoped he would stick around for the 2011 season and the Roy Halladay era.

The National Bank

Remember when I asked what Werth was up to when Bale signed his Tigers minor league contract? Well, he was busy negotiating his 7/$126m deal with the Nationals. On December 4th, 2010, Washington made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. It was not a fun breakup. He may have even cursed the Phillies on the way out, but he is back in our good graces. For Washington he managed 2 great seasons out of the 7 but was gone by the time they won their 2019 World Series.

All Werth It

In the end, Werth made $141m from baseball and less than 1% of that was from the Orioles. He finished his career with 29 WAR, a World Series title, and a good friend in Bryce Harper who he encouraged to sign with the Phillies¹. He took his considerable baseball earnings and became an organic farmer and stable owner in Illinois. One of his horses even won the Belmont Stakes in 2024. The Orioles were 98-64 the year they drafted worth. It would take them 15 years to have another winning season.

1. Though he was not involved in the process, Werth told Harper that there is no city that wins better. They “win the best and lose the worst” and I can’t argue with that ↩︎