Two weeks into the season, the Birds have already made five roster changes. The latest pair of moves came yesterday and paid immediate dividends. First, the outgoing O’s. Gone back to Norfolk is unstable pitcher #62 Radhames Liz, who thus far seems like an even worse reliever than he was a starter. He retired 4 out of 16 batters in two disastrous appearances on the recent road trip. Outfielder #2 Ryan Freel seems to be wearing out his welcome mighty quick. Given his early grumbling about playing time, and his sub-par performance in his rare starts, the club seemed almost eager to dump him onto the disabled list when he got pegged in the head with a pickoff throw on Monday.
As I said, the newest members of the 2009 Orioles made a good impression. Outfielder Lou Montanez, the AA Eastern League’s 2008 Triple Crown winner and the champion cause of numerous passionate Baltimore fans, had an RBI single last night while wearing #14. He had worn #3 during a two-month audition with the O’s last year, but Cesar Izturis trumped him this year. Lou wore #12 this spring, but backup infielder Robert Andino took it when he made the Opening Day roster via a last-minute trade.
The big story, however, is Brad Bergesen. The organization’s Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year winner in 2008, he had an impressive spring and threw just two games at AAA Norfolk before being called upon to fill a hole in the big league rotation. Brad was a winner in his MLB debut, allowing just one earned run (three total) in five and two-thirds innings while striking out four White Sox. One of the less-heralded of the young arms in the farm system had a strong debut, which is certainly encouraging, particularly since manager Dave Trembley pointed out that the kids are going to keep coming over the next two seasons. Bergesen became the third-ever Oriole to wear #64, and all three have been B’s: Bruce (Chen), Bernie (Castro), and of course Brad. If he can last longer than six weeks, he’ll be the longest-tenured Oriole to ever wear this oddball number. I like his odds.
Okay, now that Andy MacPhail seems to have eased up on his whirlwind of deal-making, it’s time for a final offseason update. The book is closed on another handful of 2008 Orioles:
Lots more player news to discuss. The first especially significant move of the Orioles offseason came earlier this week, when the club finalized a two-year deal with 34-year-old Japanese righthanded pitcher Koji Uehara (oo-eh-ara). In the short term, he’s a much-needed veteran arm with excellent control. Though he’s struggled with injuries the past few years, he still has a good chance to be a top starter for the Birds. Admittedly, that’s not saying much, but he’s still preferable to having to swallow Tim Redding or Paul Byrd as any kind of improvement over what we had. More importantly in the long-term, the O’s are finally players on the international market. If baseball is not going to subject foreign players to any kind of draft, Baltimore has to get their name out there. According to Uehara, the only thing that the Japanese know about the Orioles is Cal Ripken, Jr. It’s about time we did something about it. As you can see, Koji was given a #19 jersey at the press conference, which was his number for the Yomiuri Giants. It’s not surprising that it was available here, as last year’s #19, Oscar Salazar, is a long shot to make the club. Fingers crossed that Koji has some of the same good fortune in #19 that Dave McNally (and to a lesser extent Scott Erickson) did!
Some more changes to the expanded roster, not that any of them should set your loins aquiver.
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Geez, I go to the Ocean for a week and things go topsy-turvy in Camden Yards! Since my last site update, there have been eight changes to the Baltimore roster, with #29 Adam Loewen’s shoulder injury signaling more turnover on the horizon. To sum up:
A quick update to start the week, as the O’s celebrated Mother’s Day by bolstering their paltry three-man bench. Middle infielder Alex Cintron got the call-up, and was given #19. He’s the thirty-second player to suit up for the Birds so far in 2008, and the fifteenth to wear the nineteen jersey in team history. Cintron had previously worn #10 and #12 in Arizona, and #8 with the White Sox. The only one of those numbers that was open in Baltimore was #12, but I assume it’s still being held for Brandon Fahey, should he return from Norfolk later this year.
To the left is Garrett Olson, one of a group of O’s who have been on the move in the past week. It started when #29 Adam Loewen went on the disabled list last Friday with elbow pain. He was replaced on the roster by infielder #14 Eider Torres, who made his major league debut over the weekend and became the twenty-third Birds player to wear one-four. The most recent had been another infielder (Chris Gomez).