Here are some news items on the Orioles, on the day the team and Brad Bergesen argued their cases in front of a panel of arbitrators…
- The Orioles are working toward a minor league deal with first baseman/DH Nick Johnson, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. Johnson last played in the Major Leagues with the 2010 Yankees, and though he has had trouble staying on the field, he owns a .401 career on-base percentage.
- The Korean Baseball Organization suspended Kim Seong-min, the 17-year-old pitcher who signed with the Orioles earlier this offseason, for signing with Baltimore before graduating from high school, Yonhap News reports. Kim is no longer eligible to play or coach in South Korea.
- Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun isn't convinced that having Manny Ramirez around in the second half of the season would make the Orioles much better. However, it seems that executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette would like to see the slugger get another chance, according to Connolly.
- The Orioles also agreed to sign catcher Dane Sardinha to a minor league deal.
This explains us not Signing Prince. Didnt this guy have one decent season with the Nats back in the 90’s?
The 9 year, 214 million dollar contract didn’t explain it?
meh.
Come on now, the Nat’s didn’t exist in the 90s…
Why do the birds always seem to find ways of wasting money….Dont they know that they are going to have to throw the book at anyone to get them to come here and get out of this funk….not an over aged, out of shape, old timer
OMG you mean if Seong-Min doesn’t work out in America he will just have to play for a Japanese team!!!!!!!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow Korea really dropped the hammer on that kid.
I feel like the KBO kind of overreacted here…
They will NOT be seeing him at the next pancake social. Hmph.
Potato pancake*. That stuff is delicious.
Perhaps the outrage means we’ve signed a legitimate talent? Nah …
Seriously… I would have expected a reaction like that from Fidel Castro before the KBO. With all the players escaping Cuba in the past 5 years, I’m surprised Castro hasn’t declared war on the US by now.
If Nick Johnson manages to make a comeback and somehow squeeze himself into the whole Betemit-Antonelli-Davis-Reynolds/3B-1B-DH platoon, his OBP skills could greatly improve the Orioles as a team, and his trademark patience at the plate could be a positive influence in young players such as Davis himself, Adam Jones or Matt Wieters. Great move overall.
You’re forgetting that we’re talking about Nick Johnson though. In reality, if he’s signed, he’ll report to spring training, play a couple of games and likely break his arm/leg/hand.
Of course, at this point, Nick Johnson is no more than a DH at best, and not even that guarantees he won’t break like… like Nick Johnson, actually -_-‘
A DH and a guy who can play first is what the O’s need right now. Its a good signing, but an underwhelming off-season for the major league roster.
Johnson couldn’t even stay healthy as a full time DH for the Yankees in 2010. He’s a pinch hitter and occasional DH at best. But his OBP skills and patience definitely could have a big effect on the club with players such as Davis and Jones. Heck, maybe even Reynolds could learn a thing or two and possibly cut down on the Ks.
Dan Duquette would like to see the slugger get another chance, according to Connolly. The first thing that should be asked by the media if Manny does indeed sign with the O’s. Is how much money does he intend to give back to the Dodgers if any out of that 2 yr / 45 million dollar contract? If he truly is in a repentant mood, I would be curious as to what he would have to say. Of course he’d have to be asked in order for him to answer.
PS I am thinking there’s a pretty good chance that the O’s will be 10 games under .500 after 50 games. What exactly will be the benefit of Manny signing with us? Also, the O’s owe Vlad Guerrero 3 million in deferred money, I would much rather see him comeback for the 3 million plus maybe 1 or 2 million more for a total of 4 to 5 million. To me that would make more sense than rather give Manny a nickel!
Yeah but isnt Vlad looking for a 5 mil/1 year kinda deal?
Manny makes no sense at all though I agree.
It would make sense to sign him to a minor league deal, so he is not on the 40 man roster while he serves his suspension. Then you let him play in Norfolk and if he’s playing well, maybe you call him up for a bit and suddenly he could become a nice little trade chip to get you a mid-level prospect in July.
There’s really no harm at all in signing him to a minor league deal. Especially if it is under $1m.
You realize that Vlad Guerrero is also terrible?
Terrible at what? Putting that barrel on the ball?
Terrible at getting on base or hitting for any kind of power. No doubt he was a great player, those days are over.
Kim is going to after serve in the army sometime soon then remember.
I like beer too.
Easy for you to say
They never made Choo serve in the army, because he was too good of an ambassador for Korea as a popular and talented baseball player. If this Kim kid turns out to be as good as the O’s think, he might get the same waiver.
choo didnt need to serve because he won a gold medal in the 2010 asian games… South korea exempts all baseball players on the roster of a gold medal winning team in international tournaments such as the olympics or asian games or wbc
Or Kim can just you know… never go back to Korea…
Once he finds out what the real world is like, he’s never going to want to go back
—
China has laws requiring him to come back as the citizens serve the nation. Korea and Japan have no such laws. The players return more for honor in their home country much like US soccer players for the world cup.