The Orioles officially announced that they signed Kevin Gregg to a two-year deal. The contract will pay Gregg $10MM and includes an option, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (all Twitter links). The vesting option would bring the total value of the deal to the $16-20MM range, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). Beverly Hills Sports Council represents the right-hander.
Gregg saved 37 games for the Blue Jays in 2010. The 32-year-old posted 8.8 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 along with a 3.51 ERA. Koji Uehara, another candidate to close for Buck Showalter, posted a miniscule 1.0 BB/9 to go along with 11.3 K/9 in 2010.
Jim Johnson, Mike Gonzalez and another former Blue Jay, Jeremy Accardo, will also likely contribute out of the Orioles' 'pen in 2011. Alfredo Simon is currently involved in an investigation into a fatal shooting in the Dominican Republic, so it's not clear whether he'll be able to pitch.
The Blue Jays will obtain a draft pick for losing Gregg, but the Orioles do not have to surrender one. Toronto amateur scouting director Andrew Tinnish now has seven of the top 72 picks in the 2011 draft.
The Orioles could still use a left-handed reliever and a starter who can eat innings at the back of the team's rotation.
lol
I like what the Orioles have done this offseason – they have a solid lineup and tons of young pitching talent with a decent bullpen. While I still expect them to be 5th, an 83-87 win 3rd place season isn’t that far off.
Will Gregg or Gonzalez close, Orioles fans? I don’t know much about Gonzalez but I hope for your sake he’s a better option than Gregg.
There’s some joke here about him being murder in the pen.
Dislike.
Good for you.
Thanks.
Good for you.
he’s not bad as a reliever. He’s just bad as a closer
Agreed Frank, because Kevin Gregg doesn’t have “closer stuff”! We all saw evidence of this as he imploded in the closer role with both Florida in ’08 and Chicago in “09. He’ll be an ok reliever when there’s nothing at stake
Gregg definitely has closer stuff. It is just not clear whether he has closer control or the mental endurance to be sharp day after day.
There are at least 50 guys in the bigs that fit that description.
I personally don’t believe in the mental aspect for players. Players are either good or they aren’t. Manny Ramirez is said to be a headcase, yet he’s had a HoF career because of his talent.
Gregg walks too many batters, and only has one great pitch – his fastball.
Gregg definitely has closer stuff. It is just not clear whether he has closer control or the mental endurance to be sharp day after day.
The Orioles picked a weird time to go “all in” considering the Red Sox are overloaded in 2011 and the Yankees still look strong. Even the Rays won’t be horrible. The O’s would be luck to finish 3rd.
How are they going all in? Signing Lee to keep first base warm, trading for Reynolds who will be here for a while, and trading for Hardy because SS was empty doesn’t sound like all in type moves.
The O’s are going “all in”?
They’ve traded relief prospects to fill gaping holes at short and third, signed a stop-gap first baseman and one relief pitcher.
If that’s their way of going “all in”, ugh…
The Os are hardly “all-in”. Theyve signed a lot of guys but it’s all basically cheap short term contracts. There isn’t anyone beyond 2 years contracts, or very expensive either.
It’s not like there’s going to be a better time in the near future. I don’t see the Sox and Yanks falling off into mediocrity any time soon.
“All in” would be offering huge deals to Lee, Crawford and Beltre. I’d call this “toes in.”
“All in” would be offering huge deals to Lee, Crawford and Beltre. I’d call this “toes in.”
Move Luke Scott to Left, sign Vlad as the DH and WORLD F’ng SERIES MAN!
i think as long as brian roberts stays healthy and the young rotation steps up, this team can be be the rays of 08. i know reynolds strikes out a lot but his power bat along with lee, markakis, jones and weiters is gonna be deadly
guess instead of 15-3 the jays will go the full 18-0 for the O’s next year
Right… Because the Orioles haven’t improved at all and the Jays got sooooo much better when they traded Marcum and didn’t do anything else.
They have improved because Bautista will improve and hit 70 HRs in 2011.
Bautista hit 70 HR? His career average is less than 1/4 that…Jays would be happy if he hits 30HR this year
John stefan meet sarcasm…. sarcasm this is John Stefan
it was just a joke at Gregg’s expense. stop being so defensive all the time
it was just a joke at Gregg’s expense. stop being so defensive all the time
is this sarcasm?
no its a colorful picture of a mountain
i thought so
no its a colorful picture of a mountain
Stop underestimating the Orioles. While Gregg is not a great signing, it’s minimal risk. It’s only for 2 years at a reasonable cost.
Orioles may surprise a few people next season.
The jays had him for 2 years 8 mill…. wonder if he could of got better value then a comp pick if he were to be traded with both those options picked up…
Problem with that, Jays take a risk because what if he has a bad year? Then no pick and you wouldn’t receive much. Besides, having a pick in one of the strongest draft class might be more value than some prospect with minimal upside.
they could of shopped him before the options kicked in ship him to a team for him at 1/4 which is a huge discount, or if they want him at 2/10
Just sign the rest of the available BP free agents and get it over with.
The Os have really added a lot of solid complimentary parts this offseason. They always had the strong young core, but didn’t quite have the veteran pieces to help their development along. The real proof of this offseason’s work will be seen in the performance of Matusz, other young guns, Markakis, Wieters, Jones.
This team can not and will not be the Rays of 08 unless three things happen: Adam Jones and Matt Wieters must suddenly become superstars, and Matsuz must become a legitimate ace. The possibility of all three of these things happening this year are remote, although the Orioles are putting themselves in good position for the future.
I remember a lot of people saying similar things about Jimenez, Tulo, and CarGo last year. Not saying that it WILL happen, but to suggest it just CAN’T happen is also not accurate.
How much farther does Jones have to go to be a star? He has a pretty decent foundation to work with already. Matusz showed a spectacular second half, final two months that was among the best in baseball. Wieters came to the bigs with more acclaim and track record than CarGo did (as good as it was). If we take his current progress into account, he’s following somewhere ahead of most quality catchers, and shy of Mauer level at the same age. People forget that it took Mauer 5 yrs to really get on track to how we think of him today.
I understand the move but I’m not exactly worried if I’m the opposing team when Kevin Gregg takes the mound in a one run game.
To be honest, outside of Mariano Rivera, there aren’t many bullpen pitchers in the AL East period I’d be exactly worried about coming in during a one-run game.
Bard is a great bullpen arm
He was a great bullpen arm last year, no doubt. But he hasn’t been around long enough to make me tremble if I’m an opposing hitter. He needs a little more track record before that.
you mean not worried right?
I suppose it was confusing the way I twisted the play on chuck’s “not exactly worried”. I just meant, in the AL East there are FEW bullpen pitchers the opposing team doesn’t feel they have much of a chance against when it’s only a one-run game.
Bard and Rivera. Everybody else, a meltdown is a very realistic possibility.
He probably won’t be doing that much. He’s effectively a middle reliever, and probably about third on the closer depth chart. If Koji gets injured, the Orioles will probably just use Gonzalez and Gregg to combine to rape left handed and right handed hitters.
jones and weiters will have a better season hitting before or after lee. since the o’s have added a lot of thunder in their lineup, markakis, jones and weiters will see better pitches. lee is no manny but kemp and ethier were mashers hitting in front of him.
Yes he is and he had a wonderful season last year. But personally, I’d need to see him put together a little bit more of a track record before I’m putting him in Rivera’s category. I’m not ready to give it to Bard after a year plus.
I’m a pretty big jays fan and ill tell Baltimore fans this:
Kevin Gregg is NOT a closer, last year about 20/32 saves gave me a heart attack before he closed it out
I have to give the guy credit though, when he’s rested his stuff his nasty.
On a totally different note the the Jays have 7 draft picks in the top 72 picks, YAY!
They also have Brett Lowrie, Kyle Drabek, Anthony Gose, Deck Mcguire, Adeiny Hechavarria, Zach Stewart, J.P. Arencebia, Travis D’Arnaud, and Gustavo Pierre
It’s safe to say the future is bright
You missed one of their most highly-regarded prospects: Carlos Perez. Things are exciting in TO.
You missed one of their most highly-regarded prospects: Carlos Perez. Things are exciting in TO.
I’m a pretty big jays fan and ill tell Baltimore fans this:
Kevin Gregg is NOT a closer, last year about 20/32 saves gave me a heart attack before he closed it out
I have to give the guy credit though, when he’s rested his stuff his nasty.
On a totally different note the the Jays have 7 draft picks in the top 72 picks, YAY!
They also have Brett Lowrie, Kyle Drabek, Anthony Gose, Deck Mcguire, Adeiny Hechavarria, Zach Stewart, J.P. Arencebia, Travis D’Arnaud, and Gustavo Pierre
It’s safe to say the future is bright
The jays had him for 2 years 8 mill…. wonder if he could of got better value then a comp pick if he were to be traded with both those options picked up…
It’s been a solid off-season for the O’s; particularly when you consider the difficulty McPhail must run into when attempting to sign the bigger names out there. With no cache’ (like say, the Rays…now that is) and playing in what is easily the most difficult division in baseball, against the richest teams in the game…it’s surely no easy task to convince the Carl Crawfords or even the Victor Martinez’s of the world to join up with the Birds. What McPhail was able to do via trades, then, was pretty impressive. I don’t agree that we’re looking at a Rays-like jump into contention, but it’s a step in the right direction made without sacrificing the future. None of the players/prospects dealt in the Reynolds/Hardy deals were particularly significant building blocks (though I liked David Hernandez a bit) and the contracts signed or picked up were short-term and/or relatively modest (by baseball standards, that is). It will be interesting to see how the young guys develop this coming season- what, with a full year with Buck at the helm and a surrounding cast of veteran professionals. Markakis, Jones, Pie, Wieters, Matusz, Arrieta, Bergeson, Tillman… It will be a fascinating and critical year for all. I think by season’s end, we’ll have a real idea what we’ve got in these kids (OK, Markakis has been around and producing for a while, but I still think the presences of Reynolds, Hardy, and Lee could influence his numbers in ways we’ve yet to see from him)- for better or worse. I think .500 would be a real achievement and would demonstrate positive progression for this franchise under McPhail and Showwalter, respectively. Anything more would be gravy. Even so, I think the likelihood of their finishing last in the East is, once again, quite high. For this reason, while I’ll be watching the O’s, I probably won’t be watching the standings.
Agree. The O’s won’t be the ‘easy’ series for the big boys anymore. This is really good as far as the competition in the AL east this year.The O’s will take a few more games from all the division members and make the race a whole lot closer this year. As a baseball fan, I’m happy for them and their fans.
Do you have a enter bar on your keyboard?
cmon, the O’s are not saying this moves makes them a world series contender, they are making the club better. A new proven manager, a young nucleus with potential, a couple of veteran types playing for a contract, and a solid bullpen. With a solid major league pitcher this team really could at least play above .500 baseball which could be a catapult for next year. Angelos will spend money once he is convinced the O’s have a shot at winning. The O’s have done a very formidable job this offseason and I think a couple of moves will still be made.
Please don’t sign Soriano though as he will cost to much and not be the difference between making or not making the playoffs. Would like to see Millwood signed again for maybe a 1/5 mil deal to be the number 3 or 4 in the rotation. Go O’s.
I think Kevin Millwood would rather retire than suffer through the AL East again.
I can easily see him with the Mets, Oakland or Kansas City.
felt bad for millwood, he was posting decent numbers at the beginning of the season but i think the losing got to him. after the all star break his numbers came back a bit too, still a worthwhile pitcher in my books
cmon, the O’s are not saying this moves makes them a world series contender, they are making the club better. A new proven manager, a young nucleus with potential, a couple of veteran types playing for a contract, and a solid bullpen. With a solid major league pitcher this team really could at least play above .500 baseball which could be a catapult for next year. Angelos will spend money once he is convinced the O’s have a shot at winning. The O’s have done a very formidable job this offseason and I think a couple of moves will still be made.
Please don’t sign Soriano though as he will cost to much and not be the difference between making or not making the playoffs. Would like to see Millwood signed again for maybe a 1/5 mil deal to be the number 3 or 4 in the rotation. Go O’s.
Gregg is an interesting sign. At $5M, does that give him first dibs on the CP spot? Would like to know more info. Uehara did well in the CP role last year. Gonzalez has been an effective CP in the past. That gives them three potential CP candidates. I’m wondering if this was a move not only for depth, but possibly with the thought of using one of the three as trade-bait at the 2011 deadline.
Orioles are relying on players the quality of Matusz, Wieters, etc. So we all know where they will end up in the standings with that level of talent.
The Orioles gave an average player Markakis 15 million per free agent season. Next, Gonzalez got hurt and they got nothing out of him.
The Orioles are reactionary. They think a great bullpen will turn their fortunes around like San Diego. A few years ago they did the youth movement modeled after Tampa Bay. They only problem is the Orioles don’t have any talent. Gregg is a good arm to have in settup/closing.
What are you talking about?
This isn’t about modeling the team after the 2010 Padres. It’s about re-filling the bullpen after trading four relievers for a left side of the infield.
And the O’s aren’t trying to copy the Rays. They O’s been on the “youth movement” plan since 1998. It’s just that they’ve had some of the most incompetent GM’s in baseball history (Thrift, Flanagan, Duquette) running the show. Not that Andy MacPhail is much better…
PS – Adding Derrek Lee and Mark Reynolds to the middle of the lineup will most likely bring out vintage 2008 Nick Markakis (think .300/.400/.480).
Buck had a .596% in 57 games last year, I think your under rating this team with the upgrades they obtained.
Orioles are relying on players the quality of Matusz, Wieters, etc. So we all know where they will end up in the standings with that level of talent.
The Orioles gave an average player Markakis 15 million per free agent season. Next, Gonzalez got hurt and they got nothing out of him.
The Orioles are reactionary. They think a great bullpen will turn their fortunes around like San Diego. A few years ago they did the youth movement modeled after Tampa Bay. They only problem is the Orioles don’t have any talent. Gregg is a good arm to have in settup/closing.
The Os now have a bullpen that includes 5 relievers with double-digit closing experience. Nice support for the young rotation. Maybe we’ll see less of a overworked bad pen give up inherited runners to score, and hurt the young arms develop?
P.S. Snider called and wants his username back.
P.S. Snider called and wants his username back.
Really? Cause I’m pretty sure what you said is that this team has no hope. That’s different from “not competitive right now.”
If there is one thing I learned from this thread it is that there are several close minded baseball fans. I don’t see how anyone can say the orioles are not improved or the future is not bright. Just because their prospects didn’t break with stellar careers out of the gate doesn’t mean they can’t develop into above-average or great major leaguers. Orioles fans know they have their work ahead of them with this division and they have taken great steps towards addressing this. The players they signed this offseason fill positional needs. No one is claiming that they signed the best players at their respective position, but at the same time no one can claim that the players they did sign are not great upgrades… they are! Yes being a blue jays fan can mean having a bias, which in turn will alter your view on other teams in your own division. Based on your statements this appears to be the case. I don’t like how straw man argument everything and try to dismiss other peoples valid points. With names like Wieters, Jones, Arrieta, Britton, Tillman, Bergesen, Bell, Reimold, Pie, and Machado. it is asinine to say their future is not bright. Will all their prospects pan out? no, that is why they are prospects. Don’t fool yourself, the Orioles may not have the deepest of pockets, but they have the ability to hand out larger contracts than you may think. What is the purpose of throwing out a huge contract to a player if your team is not ready to contend? As a Blue Jays fan you should know this the most… BJ Ryan, Vernon Wells (great in 2010), Burnett? Those contracts didn’t get you very far. Look for the Orioles to sign legitimate stars when they have the ability to contend, but not Yankee dollars. The future is bright and be open minded… I don’t see anyone saying the Orioles are a lock to be the next best team.
glad the jays got rid of gregg before he had the chance to wear out his welcome even more.
O’s fans can only hope for the same
I think the O’s are the most improved team in the East, and I think people are discounting the Buck factor. Look what this guy did last year when he took over. With the additions at 1b, SS, 3b and relief I think they will surprise people this year.
I wonder who will wear out their welcome first, Gregg or Showalter? I think the Orioles have made some mediocre moves, in a powerhouse division.
O’s have definitely made themselves better this off-season, there’s no doubting that, but lets be honest here they didn’t add enough to compete this year in the AL East (not with Boston or the Yanks, that’s for sure) and they didn’t do anything to brighten their future. Lee is 35 years old and is a stop gap coming off a mediocre season, Reynolds was a nice pick up but he still has to prove he can hit over .230, but it will nice for the O’s to add that kind of pop to a powerless lineup of last year. Hardy is a nice defensive upgrade, but lets remember that his career OBP is .320. They almost look like the Jays on offense (a lot of HR’s and only a few guys that take walks), but to me Toronto has much better pitching going into next year. Anyways, this isn’t a comparison between the two clubs. Matusz and Weiters are two guys I look to break out next year, and if they do that will go a long way in making this O’s team immediately better, a long with in the future. To be quite honest, I don’t really like the rest of their pitching prospects (yes I know theyre young, but it’s just my opinion), so they will need to add at least one, probably two more starters over the next few years for them to even think about contending with the big dogs in the division.
As for the Gregg signing…I don’t like the signing, as I don’t think he’s worth 5mil over two years, but the O’s obviously felt they needed another power arm down in the pen, perhaps he will be their set up man, where he could be more effective.
O’s have definitely made themselves better this off-season, there’s no doubting that, but lets be honest here they didn’t add enough to compete this year in the AL East (not with Boston or the Yanks, that’s for sure) and they didn’t do anything to brighten their future. Lee is 35 years old and is a stop gap coming off a mediocre season, Reynolds was a nice pick up but he still has to prove he can hit over .230, but it will nice for the O’s to add that kind of pop to a powerless lineup of last year. Hardy is a nice defensive upgrade, but lets remember that his career OBP is .320. They almost look like the Jays on offense (a lot of HR’s and only a few guys that take walks), but to me Toronto has much better pitching going into next year. Anyways, this isn’t a comparison between the two clubs. Matusz and Weiters are two guys I look to break out next year, and if they do that will go a long way in making this O’s team immediately better, a long with in the future. To be quite honest, I don’t really like the rest of their pitching prospects (yes I know theyre young, but it’s just my opinion), so they will need to add at least one, probably two more starters over the next few years for them to even think about contending with the big dogs in the division.
As for the Gregg signing…I don’t like the signing, as I don’t think he’s worth 5mil over two years, but the O’s obviously felt they needed another power arm down in the pen, perhaps he will be their set up man, where he could be more effective.
He was awful in for the Cubs. My fondest memory of Kevin Gregg is one Darryl Ward absolutely crushing a ball to give the Cubs a comeback win in’08. Little did I know he would be bringing those memories to me every other outing in ’09. His ex Marlin’s team mates returned the favor with back to back home runs to win a game in ’09.
I was hoping Toronto could have brought in Reynolds to play 3rd, he fits right into their mold and could perhaps hit 45HR’s in Toronto. Was kind of dissapointed when I saw he went to the O’s, as I really like him as a player, and if he can hit around .240 he should post a decent OBP which Toronto could also use desperately. He also would probably play better D at 3rd than either EE or Bautista would.
I was hoping Toronto could have brought in Reynolds to play 3rd, he fits right into their mold and could perhaps hit 45HR’s in Toronto. Was kind of dissapointed when I saw he went to the O’s, as I really like him as a player, and if he can hit around .240 he should post a decent OBP which Toronto could also use desperately. He also would probably play better D at 3rd than either EE or Bautista would.
WOW possibly 16-20 million for kevin gregg? baltimore must really have to overpay for mediocrity.
I hope, for the Orioles sake, that the vesting option is an unattainable one. The one thing Gregg does very well is stay healthy, and options are always based on __ games finished, __ appearances etc.
WOW possibly 16-20 million for kevin gregg? baltimore must really have to overpay for mediocrity.
When did Jay’s fans become so talkative? I guess being mediocre in a tough division will do that to you…
When did Jay’s fans become so talkative? I guess being mediocre in a tough division will do that to you…
I dig the O’s moves as they are good moves for a team like the Orioles. We don’t need flashy high priced contracts a year after almost losing 100 games, we need to gradually improve and hope one of our young stars will have breakout seasons.
you see, theres this thing called small sample size. maybe you’ve heard of it?
mariners fans are worse
we’ve got enough low AVG OBP high SLG guys
Who are you talking to?
this shouldn’t be news, but disqus is very retarded
Just one note: Jason Frasor must be kicking himself for accepting arbitration. If Gregg can get $10m with a vesting option, Frasor could surely do better than 1yr at ~$3.5m.
Disagree because I don’t think anybody would go near Frasor with his Type A status. I like the improvements the O’s have made. Having the worse team replace positions that basically produced no offense for them with Hardy, Lee, Reynolds will make a significant difference I think. It should be an exciting year in the AL East come 2011.
Disagree- there are enough teams out there with protected 1st round picks (like, say, the Baltimore Orioles) or who have already signed higher-ranked type-A relievers for Frasor to have had a pretty good market for his services.
I guess we can agree to disagree on this one. Frasor is a good reliever. But I don’t know if teams would value him enough to lose a pick (protected or not). It’s a pretty deep draft this year, I think low teams would rather roll the dice on a pick to become a star than a solid reliever. But it can go both ways. Solid reliever = MLB proven. Prospect = roll of the dicen
Always happy to disagree with a gentleman. I think a second-rounder isn’t valued that highly, though I may be wrong. Perhaps the worst thing for Frasor was that, due to his type-A status, he might have had to wait until other, higher-ranked type-As were signed before many teams would become suitors. Earlier in the off-season, it may not have been apparent that the market would remain so robust.
What exactly does “blue jays will receive a pick but orioles don’t have to give up one” mean? Who gives up the pick then?
Everybody give LUNCHBOX45 a hand for instigating an unnecessary attack on the O’s! Way to ruin a post!
Everybody give LUNCHBOX45 a hand for instigating an unnecessary attack on the O’s! Way to ruin a post!