The Orioles made another trade before Saturday’s deadline, this time trading reliever Wil Ohman to the Florida Marlins for starting pitcher, Rick VandenHurk.
From the Baltimore Sun: VandenHurk, 25, has pitched in two games for the Marlins this season, allowing three hits and one earned run in 1 1/3 innings. He has pitched for Florida since 2007, compiling an 8-9 record and a 5.96 ERA.
The Orioles plan to move VandenHurk into the starting rotation at Triple-A Norfolk. VandenHurk worked with Orioles pitching coach Rick Kranitz during the 2007 MLB season with the Marlins.
Josh Bell has been recalled from the Tides, and Troy Patton could be brought up to Baltimore to take Ohman’s spot Sunday. Patton would give the club another left-hander in the bullpen.
Ohman appeared in 51 games for the Orioles this season, allowing 30 hits and 11 earned runs in 30 innings. He struck out 29 batters and had an ERA of 3.30.
I figure it’s safe to assume that VandenHurk will be another young arm in the Baltimore system and at this rate, they might need all they can get. He’s got some major league experience, and more importantly, the pitcher is someone who the Orioles will have control of for a good while.
Andy MacPhail spoke to the Sun’s Dan Connolly about the move in a blog post on their website:
MacPhail said the Orioles had been interested in VandenHurk for a while and had been rebuffed by the Marlins. But they called back moments before Saturday’s 4 p.m. deadline.
“We had asked for him and they had said, ‘No,’” MacPhail said. “Five minutes before the deadline. We had sort of put him out of our head.”
VandenHurk will be sent to Triple-A Norfolk to start in the Tides’ rotation. He will be out of options next season, so must make the Orioles’ 25-man roster heading out of spring.
“We see him as a long guy or a potential starter,” MacPhail said. “We’ll put him in the mix and he’ll give us another option for a starter in the rest of the 2010 season.”
The Orioles made just one minor deal, but MacPhail said overall it was a very busy day.
“We had more conversations than I had expected about a greater variety of subjects than I had expected going into the morning,” he said. “How close we came (to other deals) I don’t know. Whether we’ll do something later as the result of the talks we have had, that’s possible as well.”
In the end, the Orioles weren’t major players at all in the trade market, but traded some expendable parts for some arms to place in their organization. Some might be disappointed that Andy MacPhail didn’t do more in terms of moves – like trading a hot Luke Scott or All-Star Ty Wigginton – but, maybe the team wanted to hold onto to them for one reason or another.
Or perhaps, there was not much of a market for them.
Then again, the Orioles might have been too late in trading some guys, maybe demanded way too much, and some teams might have just moved on. Considering the flurry of deals towards today’s deadline, I’m a tad surprised as well that Baltimore didn’t do more at the trade deadline.
