The Orioles officially acquired shortstop J.J. Hardy, infielder Brendan Harris, and $500K from the Twins for relievers Brett Jacobson and Jim Hoey, the teams announced.
Hardy, 28, hit .268/.320/.394 in 375 plate appearances this year for the Twins after coming over from Milwaukee for Carlos Gomez. He missed time with wrist and knee injuries. Hardy earned $5.1MM this year and is arbitration eligible one last time. He would have been a free agent already, but fell just short of the service time requirement because the Brewers briefly demoted him to Triple-A late in the '09 season. Hardy joins Mark Reynolds in a revamped left side infield for Baltimore. He became expendable for Minnesota with their expected signing of Japanese import Tsuyoshi Nishioka.
Harris, 30, received only 120 plate appearances from the Twins this year after more regular duty in previous seasons. He was outrighted in June due to poor performance, and a $1.75MM commitment for 2011 likely allowed him to clear waivers. Harris is capable of playing all around the infield.
Hoey, 28 later this month, hasn't pitched in the Majors since '07. In a season split between Double and Triple-A, the reliever posted a 3.25 ERA, 12.0 K/9, 5.8 BB/9, and 0.2 HR/9 in 52 2/3 innings in 2010. Prior to his '08 shoulder surgery, Hoey's average fastball velocity exceeded 95 mph.
Jacobson, a 24-year-old reliever, posted a 2.79 ERA, 8.5 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, and 0.9 HR/9 in 71 High-A innings this year. Baseball America ranked him 16th among Orioles prospects heading into the season, noting that he came over from the Tigers in the Aubrey Huff deal in August of '09. He's said to have a power repertoire and a setup man profile.
Tim Dierkes contributed to this post.
