The Orioles have announced that they will be inviting 23 non-roster players to spring training. Alberto Castillo and Brad Hennessey highlight the pitchers invited.Castillo posted a 3.81 earned run average in 28 games for Baltimore in 2008, while Hennessey appeared in 148 games over the last five seasons for San Francisco.
The Orioles invited seven catchers as well with veterans Robby Hammock and Chad Moeller among them. Together the two backstops have logged 642 games of service. Also signed among the catchers was Guillermo Quiroz, who appeared in 56 games for the Orioles last season.
Chris Gomez, a 16-year veteran, heads a list of seven non-roster infielders that will be in attendance. Gomez has accumulated 1,515 games of major league service while Jolbert Cabrera and Donnie Murphy were also among the invitees.
Rounding out the list are pitchers Scott Chiasson, Fredy Deza, Ryan Keefer, Andy Mitchell, Chris Tillman and Ross Wolf, catchers Adam Donachie, Jose Reyes(the catcher), Guillermo Rodriguez and Matt Wieters, infielders Craig Brazell, Blake Davis, Brandon Snyder and Justin Turner and outfielder Justin Christian.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Orioles sign Zaun
The next starting catcher for the orioles has been found even if he is only going to be it for a few weeks. The Orioles signed catcher Greg Zaun(who also happens to be Rick Dempseys nephew) to a one year contract. He will most likely fill the slot vacated by Ramon Hernandez when he was traded to Cincinnati. He is nothing more than a career back up catcher at this point and with Weiters waiting in the wings it will not be long till he is the back up.
The Orioles also will invite seven other catchers to spring training including veteran catchers Robby Hammock and Chad Moeller who together have logged 642 games of service and Guillermo Quiroz who appeared in 56 games for the Orioles last season.
Three Orioles have filled for arbitration and they are George Sherrill, Nick Markakis and Luke Scott. The Orioles have been rumored to be in long term contract negotiations with Markakis that would take him past his first year of free agency. George Sherrill and Luke Scott on the other hand are not as young as Markakis and are not being looked at for long term deals.
The Orioles also will invite seven other catchers to spring training including veteran catchers Robby Hammock and Chad Moeller who together have logged 642 games of service and Guillermo Quiroz who appeared in 56 games for the Orioles last season.
Three Orioles have filled for arbitration and they are George Sherrill, Nick Markakis and Luke Scott. The Orioles have been rumored to be in long term contract negotiations with Markakis that would take him past his first year of free agency. George Sherrill and Luke Scott on the other hand are not as young as Markakis and are not being looked at for long term deals.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
O's sign Gomez
The O's have signed utility player Chris Gomez who will add depth to our bench that could include Gomez, Ryan Freel, and Freddie Bynum. The O's now have a very solid bench with above average speed from Freel and Bynum coming of the bench. It is Gomez's second run with the team, the first was from 2005-07. He is a career .262 hitter so just look for him to add veteran leadership and be a utility infielder.
This signing further opens up the possiblity for Brian Roberts to be traded with us now having adequate backup depth in the infield. I think that it is time for us to part ways with B-Rob because i dont think that he will sign long term and it is time to trade him away for young pithcing that can make an immediate impact(ex. Gavin Flyod). It will be hard to see such a good player that does so much good things for the community go but we should let him go to a team that has an immediate chance at winning.
The O's also are on the verge of signing Greg Zaun to be the starting catcher till Matt Wieters is ready. This now adds catching deapth so that we will be sure that Weiters is ready when he comes up to the show.
This signing further opens up the possiblity for Brian Roberts to be traded with us now having adequate backup depth in the infield. I think that it is time for us to part ways with B-Rob because i dont think that he will sign long term and it is time to trade him away for young pithcing that can make an immediate impact(ex. Gavin Flyod). It will be hard to see such a good player that does so much good things for the community go but we should let him go to a team that has an immediate chance at winning.
The O's also are on the verge of signing Greg Zaun to be the starting catcher till Matt Wieters is ready. This now adds catching deapth so that we will be sure that Weiters is ready when he comes up to the show.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
O's sign Uehara
The Orioles have just signed 33 year old Japanese and former Yomiuri Giants pitcher Koji Uehara to a multi-year deal. It is still pending a physical though, so it wont be announced for a while. He is a very good player over in Japan and not to mention he had to wins in the World Baseball Classic. He was drafted with the first pick overall in the Japanese baseball draft and he is a career winner with him only having on season in which he had more losses than wins in his 9 year career. All of his nine seasons were with the Giants where he had only one season with a 4.00+ ERA.
I like this move because not only does it plant the O's flag in Japan with him being the first signing of a player from their he is very versatile. Most of his career was spent starting but the past two years he was a closer. He can ether start or close over here, but with the rotation the way it is he probably will be starter.
This probably will not affect the O's going after other pitchers like Kenshin Kawakami from Japan, who is the same age as Koji, and domestic born pitchers like Tim Redding and Braden Looper. In my opinion they need to get one more starting pitcher(at least) to make it a suitable rotation that might be able to force the prospects to fight there way up to the show even though I would not bet on that. I think that the O's will probably get Kawakami of the Chunichi Dragons and this signing will only make him feel more at home in Baltimore.
It's time for us to plant the Oriole flag firmly in Japan
You can view Koji's career stat at:
http://www.japaneseballplayers.com/en/player.php?id=uehara
and form your own opinions
I like this move because not only does it plant the O's flag in Japan with him being the first signing of a player from their he is very versatile. Most of his career was spent starting but the past two years he was a closer. He can ether start or close over here, but with the rotation the way it is he probably will be starter.
This probably will not affect the O's going after other pitchers like Kenshin Kawakami from Japan, who is the same age as Koji, and domestic born pitchers like Tim Redding and Braden Looper. In my opinion they need to get one more starting pitcher(at least) to make it a suitable rotation that might be able to force the prospects to fight there way up to the show even though I would not bet on that. I think that the O's will probably get Kawakami of the Chunichi Dragons and this signing will only make him feel more at home in Baltimore.
It's time for us to plant the Oriole flag firmly in Japan
You can view Koji's career stat at:
http://www.japaneseballplayers.com/en/player.php?id=uehara
and form your own opinions
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