Well, the Orioles were busy on Monday. They announced that several players signed minor league deals with the organization, and some of them may be names you recognize.
Ok, so the Orioles didn’t sign marquee guys; in fact, most of these players are your proverbial low-risk, high reward guys.
From MASN Sports, Roch’s Blog: The Orioles finally reached agreement on a minor league contract with right-hander Armando Galarraga, who’s listed among nine pitchers invited to camp in a few weeks.
Pitcher Pat Neshek and catcher Ronny Paulino also signed minor league deals with the Orioles and will report to Ed Smith Stadium.
Other invites include left-handers Ryan Edell and Dennys Reyes, right-handers Willie Eyre, Steve Johnson, Jon Link, Miguel Socolovich and Oscar Villarreal, catchers John Hester and Brian Ward, infielder Steve Tolleson and outfielder Scott Beerer.
(snip)
Also, the Orioles announced that they signed left-hander Seong-Min Kim of South Korea to a minor league contract.
Kim, 17, has been pitching for the 18-and-under South Korean national team.
“We are glad to sign a player that our scouts feel is one of the top amateur left-handed pitchers in South Korea,” Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said in a statement. “Kim has an excellent curveball and very good control.”
Some of these guys are intriguing to me, specifically, Pat Neshek – who was an effective reliever before he got hurt with Minnesota (and has an interesting blog)– along with Armando Galarraga.
Of course, Galarraga is famous for his blown perfect game in June 2010; however, he was once a promising pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, going 13-9 with a 3.73 ERA. Sadly, since then, Galarraga has been very mediocre.
I’m not sure if Galarraga is a good fit for the Orioles, but if one of the young pitchers falter, he could sneak onto the roster.
Ronny Paulino is an interesting case as well. He too was another young rising star back in 2006, hitting .310 for the Pirates in his rookie season; however, Paulino has bounced around, but has been a serviceable player.
The Orioles signed another young player from Asia — Seong-Min Kim. I don’t know much about him, but if he works out for the organization – great. If not, oh well…
Finally, Buster Olney in his daily blog on ESPN.com had this about the Baltimore Orioles and their off-season so far:
Right on schedule, at the end of January, the Baltimore Orioles are poised to make roster moves. It really is incredible that year after year after year, they are left to pick over the carcass of the offseason after the other teams are done. Baltimore is talking to the St. Louis Cardinals about Kyle McClellan.
Ouch. A lot of fans share Olney’s sentiment, and there’s a lot of truth in it. At least from the outside looking in.
