Former Oriole, Angel Doug Decinces faces decades in prison following insider trading conviction - MLB

Back in 2011 former Orioles and Angels third baseman Doug DeCinces was charged with insider trading arising out of a tip he received regarding the buyout of a medical devices company by Abbott Labs. It was a civil charge at the time, filed by the SEC, which he settled for $2.5 million. The basics of the case: his neighbor was the CEO of a company that was about to be bought and he let DeCinces know about it ahead of time.

The following year he was charged criminally in the matter and was indicted on 42 counts of securities fraud and a count of money laundering. Each of the fraud counts carried a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. I’m not sure why it took so long for that to go to trial, but flash forward five years and now DeCinces has been convicted. The jury came back with that verdict on Friday, convicting him on 13 counts. A sentencing date has yet to be determined.

DeCinces played 15 years in the bigs, famously taking over as Brooks Robinson’s replacement at third base. He broke into the bigs in 1973 and started at the hot corner from 1976 through 1981. In 1982 he was traded to the California Angels. He played four games for the St. Louis Cardinals before hanging it up at the end of the 1987 season. Over the course of his career he won a Sliver Slugger award and made the All-Star team in 1983. He finished his career with a line of .259/.329/.445 with 237 homers and 879 RBI.

He’ll turn 67 in August. He’ll be spending his late 60s and probably a chunk of his 70s in a federal penitentiary.

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Houston Astros star Jose Altuve had surgery Wednesday on his broken right thumb, an injury that occurred in the World Baseball Classic and will significantly delay the second baseman’s 2023 debut.

The Astros announced that the 32-year-old Altuve had the procedure done in Houston and will stay there to begin his rehabilitation, with only one week left in spring training. The Astros will fly there on Sunday following their final Grapefruit League game in Florida, before playing a pair of exhibitions against their Triple-A team, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, in Texas.

Altuve was hit by a pitch on Saturday while playing for Venezuela in the WBC. He might not be ready to return to the lineup until at least late May. The eight-time All-Star and 2017 American League MVP batted .300 with 103 runs, 28 homers and 18 steals for the World Series champion Astros last season. Mauricio Dubón and David Hensley are the leading candidates to fill in for Altuve at second base.

Altuve isn’t the only Major League Baseball star who was hurt in WBC play, of course. Mets closer Edwin Díaz will miss the 2023 season because of a torn patellar tendon in his right knee as the freak result of an on-field celebration following a WBC win by the Puerto Rico national team.

BROWN DOWN

The Astros also scratched right-hander Hunter Brown from his scheduled start Wednesday against the Mets in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

Manager Dusty Baker told reporters that Brown, who is ranked by MLB as the organization’s top prospect and competing for the last spot in the rotation, has discomfort in his lower back.

NOT QUITE READY

The New York Mets sent catcher Francisco Álvarez to Triple-A Syracuse, quashing for now the possibility of putting the prized 21-year-old on the opening day roster.

Álvarez, who made his major league debut with the Mets near the end of last season, had just three hits in 28 at-bats in Grapefruit League exhibition games. Ranked by MLB as the third-best prospect in baseball, Álvarez batted .260 with 27 homers and 78 RBIs in a combined 112 minor league games in 2022 at Double-A and Triple-A.

The Mets have newcomer Omar Narváez, a 2021 All-Star with the Milwaukee Brewers, as their primary catcher with Tomás Nido likely to play mostly against left-handed pitchers.

Speaking of the Mets, Díaz turned 29 on Wednesday – a rather subdued milestone for the right-hander considering his situation. Diaz nonetheless posted in Spanish an upbeat message on his Twitter account, thanking God for another year of life and describing his health as good and his outlook as positive in this initial stage of the roughly eight-month rehabilitation process.