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Orioles Designate Rick VandenHurk For Assignment

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The Orioles announced that they designated right-hander Rick VandenHurk for assignment to create roster space for infielder Wilson Betemit.

VandenHurk, 26, has experience in five big league seasons, but he appeared in just four games for the 2011 Orioles. He spent most of the season as a starter at Triple-A, where he posted a 4.43 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 154 1/3 innings. The 6'5" native of the Netherlands has a 5.97 ERA with 8.8 K/9, 4.7 BB/9 and a 27.9% ground ball rate in 181 career innings with the Marlins and Orioles.

Procedural Notes: Abreu, Blanco, Evans, Hernandez

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The latest procedural notes…

Orioles Moves: Hendrickson, Riske, VandenHurk

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The Orioles are paring down their roster today; here's the latest:

  • Lefty Mark Hendrickson is among the team's cuts, tweets MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli.  Hendrickson can opt out rather than report to the minors.  Given his success against lefties, he should be able to find work in the big leagues.
  • Reliever David Riske is also one of today's cuts, reports Ghiroli.  She says Riske left camp for personal reasons, and the team isn't sure whether he'll join them in Triple-A.  He too has the ability to opt out. 
  • Righty Rick VandenHurk has been cut, reports Ghiroli.  Since the Dutchman is out of options, he'll have to clear waivers to remain with the organization.  The O's snagged VandenHurk at last year's trade deadline in the Will Ohman deal.

Marlins Acquire Will Ohman

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The Marlins aggressively pursued bullpen help on deadline day, and ultimately acquired veteran lefty Will Ohman from the Orioles for 25-year-old righty Rick Vanden Hurk.

Ohman, 33 in August, has a 3.30 ERA, 8.7 K/9, and 5.4 BB/9 in 30 innings this year with three home runs allowed.  He came a long way since signing a minor league deal in February, even spending a few days as the Orioles' closer.  He hasn't displayed any special ability to retire lefties since the '08 season.

Vanden Hurk seems an acceptable return for two months of Ohman.  This year at Triple A he posted a 4.68 ERA, 8.0 K/9, and 3.7 BB/9 in 98 innings, allowing 11 home runs.  He's had multiple stints at that level and also has 155.6 big league innings under his belt.  Strikeouts have been there, but everything else has been an issue (including health).  Baseball America ranked Vanden Hurk 13th among Marlins prospects before the '07 season, noting that he was signed at 17 out of the team's Dutch academy.  Did you know the Marlins had a Dutch academy?  BA described Vanden Hurk as "smart and coachable."

Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun first tweeted that Ohman was traded, and Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel tweeted that Vanden Hurk was the return.

Marlins Meeting Notes: Uggla, Bullpen, Free Agents

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Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald looks at what's in store for the Marlins as the Winter Meetings approach:

  • No surprise here, but the Marlins won't be players for any reputable free agents. In fact, were you aware that over the past three offseasons, the most the Marlins have spent on any one free agent was the $2MM they gave Luis Gonzalez in 2007? Needless to say, Matt Holliday and Jason Bay aren't headed to South Florida.
  • The Giants have been one of the most outspoken suitors for Dan Uggla, but the Marlins have asked for Madison Bumgarner in any deal for Uggla. The Giants top pitching prospect is a hefty price to pay, and could lead the Giants to pursue other avenues to add some thunder.
  • As we've heard before, Renyel Pinto and Matt Lindstrom could very well be moved at the Winter Meetings.
  • Even if Pinto and Lindstrom stay put, the Marlins will be on the lookout for affordable bullpen help now that Kiko Calero and Brendan Donnelly have departed.
  • The Marlins will turn to internal options such as Gaby Sanchez and Logan Morrison to replace departed free agent Nick Johnson and his monstrous OBP.
  • Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco are the team's two locks for the starting rotation. From there, a combination of Anibal Sanchez, Andrew Miller, Sean West, Rick VandenHurk, Chris Volstad, and Hayden Penn will fill out the final three spots.

Spencer closes, quoting Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest: "We'll definitely be active… There's no reason to go there and not do anything. Whether that leads to anything is anyone's guess."

Padres Rumors: Kouzmanoff, Durango, Correia

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A few Padres rumors from Tom Krasovic:

  • The Marlins, who are eyeing Heath Bell, are a bit more open to trading Rick VandenHurk than guys like Sean West and Andrew Miller.
  • All quiet on the Kevin Kouzmanoff front, not that the Pads haven't tried to gauge his value the last few years. The 28 year-old third baseman is hitting .248/.282/.417 in 401 plate appearances this year and is under team control through 2012.
  • Krasovic says speedy minor league outfielder Luis Durango is drawing interest, and he could potentially be packaged with starter Kevin Correia. Yesterday we saw the Brewers linked loosely to Correia by Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.

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