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Orioles Sign Koji Uehara

7:02pm: The two year deal is for $10MM with incentives. Says Connolly:

"His contract could be worth as much as $16 million over two years if the eight-time Japanese all-star meets certain performance bonuses and escalating clauses such as starts made and innings pitched. There is also a games-finished clause included for Uehara, who was an all-star closer in 2007 for the Yomiuri Giants, but the Orioles view him almost exclusively as a starter."

6:24pm: The contract is a two year deal. It is hinging on "specific contractual language" and a physical later this week, reports MLB.com.

2:00pm: According to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun, the Orioles signed pitcher Koji Uehara to a multiyear deal (pending some contract language and a physical).  Uehara, 34, is the team's first Japanese player.  The O's will use Uehara as a starter and continue to pursue Braden Looper, Tim Redding, and Kenshin Kawakami.

ESPN's Keith Law ranked Uehara 22nd on his free agent list.  His bottom line:

In an ideal environment -- National League, non-hitters' park -- he could be a midrotation innings-eater because he'll allow so few baserunners. In the American League, he'd be more of a fourth starter, but would have to have some luck keeping the ball in the park to keep his ERA under 4.00.


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Comments

god dammit, why did we get the reject Japanese pitcher. Maybe (hopefully) it will help in getting Kawakami. Id still prefer Redding, Looper, and even Byrd more though...


at least its a pitcher. beggars cant be choosers

very good move by macphail imo... hopefully this leads to a kawakami signing as well

Watch out for the O's Now!!!!

Obviously we need to see the terms, but I doubt this deal will hurt.

Any team that has a projected rotation of Guthrie, Olson, Liz, Waters and Hendrickson can use all the pitching help they can get.

smart deal. no the os are open to the japanese market

Finally the Orioles sign a solid starter, and find rotation depth. BTW first?

nope, damn.

why can a Schmuck reveal this?

thank goodness. we actually have a 1-2-3 punch with Guthrie, this dude, and Hendrickson.

Now its time to for the braves to sign kawakami.

Apparently the Orioles sudden Japanese fetish still ain't over.

trmahoney,

guthrie, uehera and hendrickson is definately not a 1-2-3 punch. hendrickson might not even make the rotation!!! he might only be the long man in the bullpen!!! keith law said uehera would be a good 4th starter in the AL. unfortunately, with the orioles rotation in shambles, he will be the number 2, but probably pitch like a number 4.

that being said, i do like the signing just because the orioles need a stop gap solution until the young guns get up to the bigs. i just think that is a horrid excuse for a 1-2-3 punch.

lftyg33, I think he was kidding.

Tim,

East Windup Chronicle has some projections from Chone Smith for Uehara, not sure if you might want to add them to Law's projection.

http://eastwindupchronicle.com/chone-projects-the-2009-japanese-pitcher-free-agent-class/

ifty.... sarcasm buddy...

Nice little signing for the O's. I'd love to see them pile up a few more of these low-risk 2-3 year deals. Don't forget, these sorts of guys make great trade bait at deadline time.

Good signing. He's getting my Gavin Floyd prediction from last year. I think he'll surprise a lot of people.

Great move on both fronts.

Low risk signing of a pitcher, AND opening up the O's to the Japanese market. Win-win situation for Baltimore.

Good signing for them. Now the Braves can sign Kawakami.

trmahoney01,
hendrickson, and unproven japanese pitcher, and a guy who never threw 200inn is not consider a 1-2-3 punch

Great signing, I think he'll end up being the best out of all of the imports this year if he can stick in the rotation. If not, he'll be a pretty solid mid relief guy.

What the heck is Keith Law thinking? IF this guy had an ERA under 4.00 in the AL East he'd be an automatic ACE! 4th starters usually come in north of 4.50!

marlinsman- I. Was. Kidding.

as an O's fan I am happy about this signing, this guy was pretty good in the NPB. I mean he is better then the AA guys that usually compromise our rotation. And finally having an asian import should make for a small amount of excitement in the yard.

Guthrie/Hendrickson/Uehara vs.:

Sabathia/Burnett/Wang
Beckett/Dice-K/Lester
Kazmir/Shields/Garza
Halladay/Litsch/Purcey

Well at least they have the fourth best top-3 in the East.

Though my happiness stems from owning Uehara in an Ultra fantasy league in Chicago...it's been a three year ride to an A.L. destination...and an extra year tacked on by the NPB for him to be a true free agent. His team (Giants) has done everything to keep his value down and keep him from free agency. The Japanese leagues are famous for wasting good arms through abuse and I'm not so sure he's given his all the last two or three years. I think he's ready to go, and ready to prove everyone wrong. He doesn't walk people and has that beautiful Greg Maddux drift of a fastball that tails into the lefthanders strike zone along with a bottom dropping out off speed pitch to go with whatever fastball he's still managed to endure with through the abuse he's been under from his previous team because he was willing to admit at a young age that his dream was to pitch in the United States.

...baseball's not fair...it's a tough division...at least the team's on the right track (Wieters, Matusz...and the Bedard trade) and you've got a frickin' beautiful park. Now you have the NPB's version of Greg Maddux. Enjoy. Jeez.

Yee-hah, lookout NY and Sox, the O's are freaking poised to thwart the four game sweep now!

the Ny Yankees aka the 3rd best team in the AL east aka the team that was the same place the O's were last postseason.
Their couches.....

Why the hell are you talking about the Yankees? Do you think you look cool predicting the Yankees to finish 3rd in a thread about the O's signing Uehara?

nrmax, I was actually making the same point. Everyone is already to start handing the Yanks the 2009 WS rings when they were far from the best last season. I am also tired of every AL east rumor becoming all about the Yankees....

I sometimes wonder what the thinking is behind why some fans like to lick teams that are down. A lot of times it comes from fans of teams who are contending. What's the purpose kicking in, say, KC fans' egos to remind them that their team has been losing. Or Pirates? Or Reds? Or Orioles? I think those teams' fans know more about the intimate details of why they've been losing better than a outside critic would who only notices the final W-L record and not much more.

I remember the Yankees teams of the 80s, the Boston teams before the current run, the Braves when they were down for seemingly for ever, etc, etc..Every franchise has had their down periods. To stick it to those teams' fans only speaks of a short-term baseball knowledge.

"..kick.." not "..lick.."

;)

The O's rotation can't help but get better. If just one of the newbies comes through, the O's can improve on last year's record; not that that would be a great accomplishment. Let's try to be positive. At least Angelos is staying somewhat on the sidelines and Flanagan is no longer making his temporary patch decisions (that may not be fair).

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