The Orioles with only about two weeks before Spring Traning are still looking for another starter, and have offered former Oakland pitcher Justin Duchscherer a contract.
It looks like other teams have interest in him as well, but the Baltimore Sun notes it’s down to two finalists – one which includes the Orioles and the other involves a team down Route 295.
Here’s more from the orioles.com Britt Ghiroli:
The O’s have made an offer to free agent Justin Duchscherer — believed to be Major League contract — according to a FoxSports.com tweet on Sunday. The report, which cited an unnamed source, also said that the Orioles lead the race for Duchscherer, who told MLB.com last week that there have been multiple teams who have shown interest.
In a text message Sunday afternoon, Duchscherer said he was unsure if he would throw again on Tuesday for the Orioles — or any other team — but added that a decision was likely this week.
“[I’m] very close with several teams,” Duchscherer said.
Per team policy, the Orioles have not commented on the report or on any ongoing player negotiations.
On Saturday, president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail was asked about Duchscherer, who is coming off hip surgery, and acknowledged that the team watched his bullpen session on Friday in Arizona.
If healthy, Duchscherer is definitely a worth-while gamble for the Orioles.
While he’s got a spotty injury record the past couple of seasons, Duchscherer could help to anchor a young rotation after Jeremy Guthrie and the upstart Brian Matusz. Once you look at the other names left off on the market, he isn’t such a bad option.
When Duchscherer was healthy, he was very good.
Simply put, Duchscherer is one of those, “low-risk, high-return” guys. If anything, he’ll provide competition for Tillman, Arrieta and Britton in camp.
I’m not sure if Duchscherer is guaranteed a starting spot if he signs with the Orioles or whatever, but his addition would definitely help out the squad. Well, according to Roch, he was offered a major league deal.
For the eighth year in a row, I’m planning to go to Spring Training. I’ve done Arizona once and it’s always a time of year I look forward to.
How many of you are planning to go?
