Orioles Rumors

Orioles To Sign Mark Hendrickson

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 31, 2011 at 12:07pm CDT

The Orioles have agreed to sign Mark Hendrickson to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter links). Hendrickson had an offer from the Rockies, but chose to return to Baltimore, where he'll compete to be a situational left-hander and long reliever. Dan Connolly of the Sun reports that the deal is worth about $900K if Hendrickson makes the team (Twitter link).

The 36-year-old logged 75 1/3 innings for the Orioles last year, posting a 5.26 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9. He has started at least one game in every season since 2002, but he's primarily a reliever at this point. Hendrickson has held left-handed hitters to a .702 OPS in his career.

The Rays and Orioles also expressed interest in Hendrickson earlier in the offseason. Hendrickson, who played for four NBA teams before focusing on baseball, is now with his fifth MLB club.

Orioles & Nationals Are Finalists For Duchscherer

By Steve Adams | January 30, 2011 at 5:03pm CDT

5:03pm: The Mariners are now out of the running, reports Connolly (Twitter links). The Orioles definitely offered Duchscherer a Major League contract.

2:36pm: Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun tweets that Duchscherer's search is down to three teams: the Mariners, Orioles, and Nationals. All three have offered one-year deals, and more than one are Major League offers.

2:14pm: ESPN's Jerry Crasnick tweets that Duchscherer has narrowed his options to four teams, and that the Nationals and Orioles are both making pushes to sign the former Athletic.

2:10pm: Duchscherer told MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli (Twitter link), via text message, that he's "very close" with several teams and that his decision will be made this week.

1:19pm: The Orioles are the frontrunner to land Justin Duchscherer's services, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. According to Rosenthal, the O's have made an offer that's believed to be a Major League deal. Whether it's from Baltimore or another team, Rosenthal says the right-hander has at least one Major League offer.

Duchscherer, who turned 33 last November, has been limited to just 28 innings since a stellar 2008 season that was also marred by injury. Duchscherer's most recent trip to the DL occured in April this past season, and resulted in season-ending hip surgery on June 7. It was his his third trip to the 60-day disabled list of his career.

When healthy, Ducscherer provides plenty of value, owning a career 3.13 ERA, 6.87 K/9, and 2.4 BB/9 through 454 2/3 innings, mostly out of the bullpen.

AL East Notes: Scott, Chavez, Pettitte, Rays

By Luke Adams 2 | January 30, 2011 at 9:19am CDT

Last season, the AL East produced two 95-win teams and two more who won at least 85 games. However, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the division has seen recent success off the field as well as on it. Three AL East teams – the Blue Jays, Red Sox, and Rays – rank among the top five in Sherman's list of baseball's best offseasons. Here are a few other division-related items:

Luke Scott would be "all for" signing a contract to keep him in Baltimore long-term, he tells the Baltimore Sun's Dan Connolly. As MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows, Scott is one of two remaining arbitration cases for the Orioles, along with Jeremy Guthrie.
Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star (Twitter link) thinks it makes a lot of sense for the Jays to sign Eric Chavez to a minor league deal, though he acknowledges that the third baseman has other offers and the final say.
Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News believes Andy Pettitte will pitch for the Yankees again, "sooner rather than later."
Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times runs through a few moves the Rays could make in the coming weeks, but says the team is "pretty much set" for Spring Training.

O’s Offer Contract To Hendrickson; Rockies Interested

By Mark Polishuk | January 29, 2011 at 3:01pm CDT

The Orioles have offered left-hander Mark Hendrickson a minor league contract, reports The Baltimore Sun's Dan Connolly. Hendrickson, 36, has posted a 4.74 ERA, a 2.19 K/BB ratio and a 10.6 H/9 rate in 105 games (12 of them starts) over the last two seasons in Baltimore. The Orioles declined Hendrickson's $1.2MM option for 2011, but were still known to be interested in bringing the veteran back at a lower price.

Hendrickson is also being targeted by the Rockies, reports Troy Renck of The Denver Post. It's no secret Colorado is looking for left-handed bullpen help, specifically a pitcher who is willing to sign a minor league contract. Tampa Bay and Seattle showed some interest in Hendrickson earlier this offseason, but there has been no news on either of those fronts since the Winter Meetings.

Orioles Notes: Guthrie, Millwood, Scott

By Mark Polishuk | January 29, 2011 at 1:28pm CDT

Some news items out of the Orioles' FanFest event this weekend…

The Orioles have discussed a multiyear contract with Jeremy Guthrie, the right-hander tells MASNsports.com's Steve Melewski. "I love pitching here and anytime you can provide your family with security, it's a great option," Guthrie said. "I'm very happy to also play it out year-by-year and have the motivation to go out and do the best that I can. Whatever happens, I'll be a good spot." Guthrie is going through the arbitration process for the second time in his career; MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith recently analyzed Guthrie's case.
Kevin Millwood is still an option for the O's, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Andy MacPhail told the FanFest crowd that the idea of re-signing Millwood "hasn't been ruled out 'by any stretch,' " but the Orioles can't guarantee a rotation spot to Millwood or any free agent starter. We've heard that Millwood is interested in returning to Baltimore, but without the promise of a regular starting gig, he could turn to other suitors like the Indians or Yankees.
Luke Scott has told Buck Showalter that not only is he willing to move to left field if Baltimore signs Vladimir Guerrero, but Scott "wants to play defense," Showalter tells Steve Melewski. Scott played 106 games in left in 2008 and had a very solid +5.8 UZR/150 rating, but he has made just 40 outfield starts over the last two seasons.

Quick Hits: Farnsworth, Durbin, Izzy, Duchscherer

By Dan Mennella | January 29, 2011 at 11:55am CDT

Here are a few items of note for Jan. 29, 53 years to the day after Stan Musial became the National League's highest-paid player with the one-year, $100K contract he signed with the Cardinals …

The Rays will pay Kyle Farnsworth $2.6MM in salary in 2011, tweets Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. If Farnsworth's option for 2012 is picked up, he will earn $3.3MM that year. If it's declined, the buyout is $650K. The deal also includes up to $300K in incentives for games finished.
The Phillies have not re-signed free-agent reliever Chad Durbin because he is seeking a two-year deal at a higher annual salary than the club is comfortable giving him, tweets Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. Philly is also intent on preserving the roster spot for the sake of grooming younger relievers, according to Stark.
The Reds will decide whether to sign free-agent reliever Jason Isringhausen after watching him throw a bullpen session on Monday in Arizona, tweets John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Isringhausen signed a minor-league deal with the Reds last July but did not appear in any games for them. He last appeared in the big leagues with the Rays in June 2009, a stint that ended when he suffered an arm injury that required Tommy John surgery.
The Orioles remain fairly interested in free-agent pitcher Justin Duchscherer after receiving positive feedback on the right-hander's Friday bullpen session, blogs Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com.

Vladimir Guerrero Rumors: Saturday

By Dan Mennella | January 29, 2011 at 9:06am CDT

10:23am: Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said that there's no timetable on a Guerrero decision, tweets Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com.

9:06am: The Orioles are "settled" on their position in contract negotiations with free-agent Vladimir Guerrero, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.com.

The O's offer to Vlad stands at $4.5-5MM, and if that's not enough to land him, Baltimore is OK with that, Olney says.

This, of course, after several days of hard bargaining between the Orioles and Guerrero.

Quick Hits: Duchscherer, Ohlendorf, Tolleson

By Mike Axisa | January 28, 2011 at 8:36pm CDT

Links for Friday…

Justin Duchscherer threw 50-55 pitches in front of two teams today, including the Orioles according to Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun. Duchscherer has invited every team except the Athletics to a public workout next Tuesday. Connolly says it's possible he'll sign before then. (Twitter links)
"Both sides of the table are hopeful of finding a solution without going to a hearing," said Pirates GM Neal Huntington to MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch when asked about Ross Ohlendorf's arbitration case. "But both sides are fully prepared to go to a hearing if that's the only way to find a resolution. That's not an ideal ending, and I think both sides are fully aware of the ramifications if we had to go there." Pittsburgh hasn't gone to a hearing with a player since Jack Wilson in 2004. Our Arbitration Tracker shows that Ohlendorf filed for $2.02MM, the team $1.4MM.
MLB.com's Corey Brock says we shouldn't expect the Padres to move any starting pitchers in Spring Training this year.
The Athletics announced that infielder Steven Tolleson has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A. He was designated for assignment last week when Oakland announced the Brian Fuentes signing.

Orioles Not Making Progress With Vladimir Guerrero

By Mike Axisa | January 28, 2011 at 6:05pm CDT

6:05pm: Olney says the O's are being told that Guerrero has an $8MM offer in hand, which is about $3.5MM more than they are willing to spend, including incentives (Twitter link). Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reported that Baltimore's offer falls in the $3MM to $5MM range.

MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli hears that the two sides are not close to a contract, while SI.com's Jon Heyman hasn't heard of any recent progress. (Twitter links)

5:21pm: The Orioles and Vladimir Guerrero are making progress in their talks, reports ESPN's Buster Olney (on Twitter). If a deal does get worked out, Guerrero would assume DH duties and push Luke Scott to left field according to Buster.

Yesterday we heard that the O's offered Vlad a one-year deal worth about $2MM, but the former AL MVP wasn't terribly enthusiastic about it. As Ben Nicholson-Smith explained, Guerrero's market is limited, so it's tough to see him signing for much more than what was offered. He hit .300/.345/.496 with 29 homers for the Rangers last season, earning $6.5MM in the process.

Orioles To Sign Nick Green

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 28, 2011 at 5:47pm CDT

5:47pm: SI.com's Jon Heyman reports that Green will earn $600K if he makes the big league team (Twitter link).

3:24pm: The Orioles have agreed to sign Nick Green to a minor league deal that includes an invitation to Spring Training, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link). The sides appeared to be close to a deal in December, when the Orioles re-signed Cesar Izturis.

Green appeared in 14 big league games for the Blue Jays and Dodgers last year. The 32-year-old has a .237/.305/.348 line in 1131 big league plate appearances over the course of six big league seasons. Green figures to compete with Robert Andino and Brendan Harris for a utility job.

« Previous Page

Load More Posts

Show all

Headlines

Orioles Rumors

Navigation

MLBTR INFO

Connect