The Orioles signed lefty reliever Will Ohman, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The 32-year-old tallied only 22.6 pro innings last year for the Dodgers due to a shoulder injury, and they declined his $2.2MM option after the season. Ohman didn't sign with the Dodgers until March 30th, so he didn't have much of a Spring Training.
Ohman can be very tough on lefties – he held them to a .200/.257/.314 line in 114 plate appearances in 2008. The Blue Jays and Royals also showed interest in Ohman this winter, reported Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
I think Jeff Zrebiec beat him to it.
baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bal-orioles0209,0,…
good signing for the Orioles if he’s healthy. He was awesome for the Braves in ’08.
It still amuses me how he didn’t accept the Braves 2 year offer back in the 08-09 offseason.
that was back when he thought he was worth 15 mil a year and ended up not even signing a major league deal
Haha, still laughing at him.
Baltimore is becoming a halfway house for ex-Cub farmhands.
Ohman, Pie. Who else came from the Cubs on the Os roster?
Just thinking of all the guys who have passed through since McPhail took charge and not necessarily on the current roster. Of the top of my head, besides Pie and Ohman, there’s Luis Montanez on the current roster. And in the past few years ex-cub farmhands include Rich Hill, Rocky Cherry, Scott Moore, Corey Patterson, Jon Leicester, Freddy Bynum..not to mention big leaguers like Cesar Itzuris, Joey Gathright, Sammy Sosa, and Paul Bako. Now that I think about it, you can make a lineup:
C- Bako
1b- Montanez (a stretch, I know)
2b- Bynum
ss- Itzuris
3b- Moore
LF- Pie
CF- Gathright
RF-Patterson
DH- Sosa
SP -Hill
Righties out of the Pen: Leicester, Cherry
Lefty: Ohman
I agree that a lot have passed through. But, that’s because the GM is the former GM of the other, and, even before MacPhail came along, there was a lot of trades and trade talk between the clubs. For instance it goes the other way too. Fontenot is an Os farmhand. So is Werth (Wait, sorry wrong team). We were good matches for a little bit of time. Not so much at the moment maybe.
The only lock to be an Oriole in ’10 is Pie. Ohman is competing for a LHP longman slot which he doesn’t have the inside track for so he may be depth at AAA. I like Montanez and I think a lot of Os fans are pulling for him. Also I don’t think anyone really thinks of Itzturis as a Cub more than a Dodger if anything. Similar deal for Gathright, who came up as a Ray, but who was a trade target long before he ever made his debut.
Sorry if I’m sounding argumentative. I’m not. My definition of farmhand is just stricter than yours I guess. I don’t mean just any player who ever wore a team’s uniform. I usually mean “farmhand” to mean players who were basically drafted or signed as teenagers and then developed into ballplayers, or at least done so since before age 23 or so.
Hey basemonkey…you’re right, it really isn’t that big a deal. I was just making an observation. And I agree that it mostly has to do with McPhail having a lot of information on those guys. It’s natural to turn to your comfort zone with all other things being equal. The Cubs did the same thing when they got Dallas Green from the Phills some 25 years ago. It seemed like every other pick-up was an ex-Phillie!
By the way, I’d like to have Felix Pie back.
i like this signing especially if he can return to his old form.
LOOGY
Ohman’s a cool guy. Baltimore will probably enjoy him if he stays healthy
He played well for the Braves, but when he was a Cub, I’d say his name every time he came into the game. Oh man, he’s gonna blow it again.
I like Will Ohman if he is healthy. Just more veteran leadership for the O’s.