Koji Uehara Staying Put

Koji Uehara has agreed to return to the Baltimore Orioles on a one year, incentive laden deal for $3 million and the chance to earn up to $2 million more. There is also a vesting option for 2012.

I was critical of The Warehouse for not offering Uehara arbitration since there was reportedly interest from other teams and the Orioles seemed to want him back. However, Andy MacPhail read the situation correctly, gambled and won. Uehara comes back for less than he would have made in arbitration even though there were other teams interested in his services.

As The Oriole Way pointed out, even with the injuries and the shift back to the bullpen, Koji was worth every penny of the $10 million the Orioles just paid him. His stat lines over the past two seasons:

          IP    K   BB   HR   ERA   FIP   W-L   K/BB
Uehara  110.2  103  17   12  3.58  3.10   3-6   6.06

That's pretty damn good and if he does anything along these numbers again, he'll be a fantastic bargain.

And I'm not even including the sideburns.

Around the Oriole Blog-O-Sphere: Turkey Day Edition

Ross Gore of Baltimore Sport Report thinks that new Oriole hitting coach Jim Presley is just what the Baltimore hitters need.

Patrick Smith of Bugs and Cranks would've like to have seen Victor Martinez in the middle of the O's lineup but wonders what position he would have played.

I guess I wasn't the only one who was surprised that the Orioles did not offer arbitration to Koji Uehara and The Baltimore Sun's Jeff Zrebiec tries to get to the bottom of that decision. The bottom line is that the Orioles were scared of a pay raise in arbitration for Koji and the belief that he will want to come back to Baltimore anyway.

According to MLBTradeRumors.com, seven American League teams recently watched former Oriole 1st round pick Larry Bigbie work out. The teams reportedly have interest in Bigbie as a corner outfielder or DH. Bigbie played last season for the Edmonton Capitals of the independent Golden Baseball League. Bigbie was named to Baseball America's All-Independent League team as the DH. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't rooting for him.

Andrew_G of Camden Chat breaks down the new members of the Oriole coaching staff.

The Eutaw Street Hooligans don't like the idea of Derek Jeter in Baltimore any more than I do. In fact, they seem to like it even less.

Craig Calcaterra thinks that the Orioles should be thankful for Buck Showalter although he wonders if Buck isn't the sentient version of Annie Savoy's garters.

Roar from 34 looks back at a political controversy involving the Orioles, the governor of Maryland and the commissioner of baseball.

The Loss Column finds some things to be thankful for in Baltimore sports...beyond the Ravens.

Kevin takes a look at the Oriole coaching changes, as he would, through the prism of baseball cards.

No Arbitration for Uehara and Troubling Warehouse Strategies

The Orioles have declined to offer arbitration to RP Koji Uehara and SP Kevin Millwood.

Millwood was a no-brainer; he may have accepted. Uehara was not though. There is a market for Uehara's services this offseason, mostly due to performance as a closer over the last three months of the season. Uehara showed the ability to close and that skill is still overvalued in the marketplace.

There was a good chance that Uehara would refuse and sign elsewhere, netting the Orioles a supplemental draft pick after the first round in the 2011 amateur draft. If he accepted, I can't imagine he would receive more than $3 million in arbitration. That would allow the Orioles to either retain his services or trade him to a team that wanted his services more. (A similar situation happened with the Braves and Rafael Soriano last offseason..the Braves were able to move him when his arbitration number didn't match their budget.) As it is, the Orioles now receive nothing.

Maybe Andy MacPhail was afraid he would get something closer to his $5 million salary he has earned the last two seasons and he would probably know more about this than I would but it seems a strange decision to lose Uehara for nothing when you could have taken the chance to get something for Uehara's departure.

Speaking of MacPhail, according to Jeff Zrebiec, he was very disappointed that the team missed out on Victor Martinez. I really hope MacPhail is working the PR angle here because if overpaying Martinez was their grand plan for the offseason, I'm worried about the team's philosophy. As I stated yesterday, Martinez was not going to be the primary catcher for Baltimore and while his bat is elite for a catcher, it's rather ordinary for a first baseman. He hasn't even really caught that much over the past three seasons, only 246 games over that span. The chances of him remaining a team's primary catcher anywhere over a 4-year deal are slim.

If the Orioles were putting all their eggs in the Victor Martinez basket, I'm worried about their sanity.

The Roster-Go-Round Revisited

Lots of changes on the active roster in the past week and a half. Time to step back and take a closer look.

Justin Turner DFA'd, Claimed by the Mets

Turner was removed from the 40-man roster to make room for Scott Moore and is no longer an Oriole as the Mets claimed him off waivers. I liked Turner a lot. He was probably never going to be a regular but I thought he could have been a solid utility player in a year or two, kind of a Mike Fontenot type. (He really couldn't be any worse than the 2010 version of Julio Lugo...) He still had value but not a ton of it and he's probably more of an NL player anyhow. Good luck to Red.

Scott Moore Recalled from Norfolk

I like Moore a lot and I wish Dave Trembley would find a way to get him in the lineup on a regular basis. Moore is patient at the plate, has some pop in the bat and can play all over the infield (with varying results). Only protecting Garrett Atkins' ego will keep him on the bench at this point. If you're going to bat Lugo 2nd, there's no reason not to put Moore there every now and then.

Koji Uehara Placed on 15-Day DL

Oh, Koji. Back on the DL yet again. Seemingly, he'll never be healthy but Uehara wasn't really a bad signing. Why? According to FanGraphs, Koji has been so good when he's actually been on the field that he has provided $7.9 million in value in terms of WAR over the past two seasons. The Orioles are paying him $10 million so he still has a shot at fully living up to the contract if he gets back on the field. He showed he was able to compete in the American League so he was definitely worth a shot.

Alfredo Simon Placed on 15-day DL

Simon shows you how low the bar is to close in the majors. Don't let his 2.92 ERA fool you, he is walking more than 5 per 9 innings while only striking out 7 per 9. His FIP is 4.49 (which is an improvement; he hasn't posted a FIP below 5.00 since 2005) but he's been adequate "closing out" games. The hamstring should not keep him out long.

Frank Mata Recalled from Norfolk

Mata is having a good season in AAA and it's legit. His FIP in Norfolk is 3.15. Mata seems like the kind of guy who will get lit up in Baltimore though. He needs to miss more bats and I don't think he will strike out major leaguers at a 6 K/9 rate like he has in AAA. We shall see.

Mike Gonzalez Transferred to 60-day DL

I don't think Gonzalez was going to return before mid-June anyway but he's really hurt. I liked the signing (and maybe still do) but missing half a season is going to make it hard for the O's to get a good return on the investment.

Alberto Castillo Recalled from Norfolk

He's baa-aaack. Can he keep the ball in the park? If he can, the rest of his peripherals look great. If he can't....well, the Orioles don't seem to take him very seriously anyway and he'll be back to Norfolk.

Base Hits: Winter Meetings, Oriole Blogosphere and It Could Be Worse

Not a ton of substantial Oriole news from the Winter meetings. The most interesting thing that was reported was the gulf between what the Texas Rangers were asking in trade for Kevin Millwood and what the Orioles were willing to offer. According to Spencer Fordin, the Rangers wanted Chris Tillman and the O's were offering Brandon Erbe or David Hernandez.

I'm not crazy about Millwood pitching in orange and black but if you had to trade someone, David Hernandez would be the only acceptable piece to give up.

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Speaking of Fordin, he also talked with Oriole manager Dave Trembley about the closer situation for 2010:


Trembley said that he'd rather not rely on Jim Johnson or Koji Uehara as his closer, preferring instead to slot them earlier in the game.

"If you don't get a closer, now you come into Spring Training kind of unsettled again and you might have to take a look at JJ there," said Trembley, who grew comfortable with Johnson as his setup man. "...But if you go out and get a closer, then I think you can kind of line up the back end of your bullpen."

I think Uehara would be great in the closer's role, imagine a Trevor Hoffman type vs. Mariano Rivera. But it sounds like the Trembley is interested in a "proven" guy for that role.

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How do you say Screech in Japanese? Jeff Fiorentino may soon find out as he signs a one year deal with the Hiroshima Carp. Yet another team for me to follow this season.

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Like Arlo Guthrie said, "When you're down it always feels better to know someone's got it worse than you. But what about the last guy? Nobody's got it worse than that last guy."  That's kind of what it's like to be an Oriole fan. We've got it bad but the Nationals fan is that last guy.

First, the Nats traded their Rule 5 draft pick , the first overall, to the Yankees for RP Brian Bruney, a middling reliever with control problems who has filled a ROOGY role for the Yankees the last three seasons. The Nats can afford to carry a Rule 5 guy on their roster more than any team in baseball but choose to send that pick to New York for...well, you could find a guy like this on the scrapheap.

Secondly, they signed veteran catcher Ivan Rodrigez to a two-year deal worth $6 million total. Forget that there were comparable players available for less years and less money, forget that this is 2009 and not 1999...actually don't forget any of this. The Nats overpaid mightily for an aging inferior player.

The team got older, less talented and more expensive. It's rough to be a Nationals fan.


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The Wayward O has the first in hopefully a long series of posts called O Fights! It's gnarly.

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I won't even begin to pretend that I understand all this but over at Fangraphs.com, Dave Allen attempts to show that Gregg Zaun is a fabulous blocker of pitches.

Always interested to see strides made in measuring catcher defense and this may explain in a small way why Zaun's catcher ERA was lower than Wieters' when he was traded to Tampa Bay.

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Tip of the hat to Weaver's Tantrum who wrote about way-under-the-radar-free-agent SP Justin Duchscherer and the possible fit with the Orioles. The thought had crossed my mind but I haven't seen anybody else even hint at the possibility. But it makes a lot of sense.

Dave Mc is a righteous dude.

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John Sickels has his Top 20 Oriole Prospects up at MinorLeagueBaseball.com. No big surprises on the list but a few notes:

-  SP Zach Britton is at #3. Sickels likes Britton a lot and so do I. At least as much as you can like a pitcher whom I've never seen pitch.

-  C Caleb Joseph is at #16. Sickels doesn't like his defense.

Most of the prospects are in the low minors. To conclude:

I think the Orioles system is often underrated. There is a lot to like at the top, with Matusz entering the '10 rotation and Arrieta not far behind him. I probably like Arrieta and Britton a bit more than most analysts. Erbe has tremendous potential as well. There is the nucleus of a really good pitching staff here, with several potential major league starters as well as the raw material of a fine bullpen, with a mixture of excellent arms (Mickolio, Lebron, Cooney) as well as guys with command (Egan, Gamboa) who could be fine staff fillers....

 All in all, this system has some major strength in young pitching but they could stand to boost the hitting.

Which is, of course, just as Andy MacPhail likes it.

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MVN is no more. I wrote a bit for MVN last year. My take: Some great content on MVN but it was a lousy  platform to blog on. Never like the new layout they did either. It was hideous and difficult to read.

That said, it's sad to see them go. Oriole Central was over there and they are gone. Oriole Magic was over there too and still appear to be live on that platform. I assume this will not last long. I am curious to see where these peices on the Oriole blogosphere end up. And I'm glad I kept this original version of Dempsey's Army up and running.

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Twitter is a-buzz with winter meeting news. I sent a tweet to Baseball America's Ben Badler to inquire about Oriole SP prospect Steve Johnson and the Rule 5 draft:

@BenBadler re: Rule 5 - O's fans worried about AA SP Steve Johnson being unprotected. Any real danger here?

BenBadler  @DempseysArmy Definitely a chance he gets picked 

 Well, that's not what I wanted to hear. Sometimes we fans overrate our own prospects and I was thinking that Johnson wouldn't be on anyone's radar. Evidently, that's  not the case. Not maybe...but definitely a chance sounds like it's at least 50/50.

Base Hits: Toxic Fields, Undeserved Awards and Rick Dempsey's Christmas Album

Oriole players may want to request hazardous duty pay when they report to Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, their new Spring Training complex:

At one time the neighborhood ballpark was a landfill so city commissioners requested a thorough environmental check before teaming up with the Orioles.

Recently, the group obtained a 117-page report, commissioned by the city, which shows a plume of vinyl chloride contamination, along with a series of heavy metals and organic compounds that far exceed safe EPA levels.

Wow.

In a related story, the Orioles have unveiled new black and orange DEVO suits.

Since there are plans to renovate or demolish Ed Smith Stadium after 2010, local residents are concerned about what toxins may be kicked up into the air during construction, as well as what pollutants exist, literally, in their backyards.

You would have to think that there are contingencies to clean up the site if need be. If not, do the Orioles balk and go elsewhere?

The full report has not been released to the public. I'm sure there is more to come.

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The "This Year in Baseball Awards" at MLB.com feature few Oriole nominees. In fact, they only feature two, both in the defense category. The first is Adam Jones who had a bit of a down year in center but did have 9 outfield assists in 118 games. OK.

The second was Melvin Mora. Melvin Mora! Mora?!?!?

There are 10 nominees from all of baseball. Anyone who watched the O's this season knows that Mora was struggling in the field this year and that he was not one of the top ten defenders in baseball. In terms of UZR, he ranked 11th among third basemen alone. I don't understand the selection at all.

In related news, Drew Silva at FanGraphs.com thinks Mora could be a nice utility player next season.

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This article on delmarvanow.com details the up and down career of current Phillie outfielder and former Oriole first round pick, Jayson Werth. I would say that former Oriole manager (and current Phillies third base coach) Sam Perlozzo took a cheap shot at the Orioles organization but he does qualify his remark:

"They saw him as a (career) backup," said Sam Perlozzo, an Orioles coach in those days and now the Phillies' third base coach. "To be fair, he wasn't the player he is now. He's gotten bigger, stronger."

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This was kind of a forgone conclusion but Spencer Fordin reports that the Orioles have decided that Koji Uehara will definitely be a reliever next season.

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On MLB.com, vote for The All-Time 9 for the Baltimore Orioles. Even though I consider myself something of a baseball historian, I do not like the inclusion of St. Louis Browns in the ballot. Down with Baby Doll Jacobsen and Moose Solters! And where's Rick Dempsey? Not even a mention?

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Speaking of Rick Dempsey, Rick will be playing live with the Deanna Bogart Band on Sunday, November 15th, 2009 at Serafino's in Ellicot City. I was not even aware that Rick was a musician.

I also did not know that Rick Dempsey has released a holiday CD called Home Run Holiday. I'm getting that. I'm not kidding.

Koji...See You In September

Koji Uehara is out for 8 weeks with a partially torn tendon in his elbow.

I keep beating this drum but...man, The Warehouse did a lousy job building a viable rotation this winter.

Good news for David Hernandez. Dave...it's your time. You're about to get an 8-start audition to show you can strike out major league hitters. Don't let us down!

With Rich Hill, Jason Berken and David Hernandez as 3/5 of the rotation...it could get ugly quick. All Baltimore fans need to desperately hope thise guys improve.

Five Things to Watch: Spring Training Update

Before Spring Training, I listed five things to watch while the O's were in Fort Lauderdale. Let's see what's happening...

1. Koji Uehara...What's Up With That?

Before he pulled a hammy, Uehara didn't look half bad. However, we haven't seen him in two weeks so the jury is out. He's supposed to pitch Tuesday...it'll be interesting to see how he fares against lineups with more major league regulars in them.

2. The Rotation...who will emerge?

We know much more now than we did in February but there is so much more unanswered. Radhames Liz, John Parrish, Brad Hennesey, Troy Patton and Brad Bergensen are all out of the running, either injured, sent to the pen or the minors. Rich Hill will start the season on the DL. That leaves Mark Hendrickson, Hayden Penn, Danys Baez, David Pauley, Alfredo Simon, Adam Eaton and Chris Waters to duke it out for the final three spots in the Opening Day rotation.

Unfortunately, nobody has stepped up yet to grab a spot. Dave Trembley keeps putting off the decision but he really has no choice at this point.

3. Luke Scott...Where's He Playing?

This has been a non-story. For all the talk of Scott being willing to try his hand at first base and Trembley wanting him to try out first, Scott has played mostly in left field and not manned first base once. He'll DH and play some left evidently.

4. The Catcher Situation

Andy MacPhail has stated that Matt Wieters would have to hit .800 to make the club out of Spring Training. Wieters is still in big league camp but I don't believe The Warehouse will let him come north to Baltimore. Look for Wieters in Norfolk until at least May.

Gregg Zaun has looked good in camp. Trembley likes how he blocks the plate as opposed to Ramon Hernadez and he seems to be handling the pitching staff well. As far as backups, it's between Chad Moeller and Robby Hammock. Hammock has hit well and shown the versatility to play the outfield but the smart money has to be on Moeller, the better glove, at this point.

5. Who's The Closer?

George Sherrill has been named the closer by Trembley but Chris Ray has looked spectacular. Look for Ray to get some chances this season too.

In other bullpen news, Jamie Walker looks healthy and, when healthy, Jim Johnson looks pretty good too. The pen could once again be a strength but it's hard to tell until we see who makes the rotation.

Interview With Patrick Newman, Founder of NPB Tracker

Ever since the Orioles signed Kenji Uehara, I’ve been trying to find out more about him and Japanese baseball in general. I mean, if the Orioles are serious about tapping this resource, why not learn a little more about the Nippon Pro Baseball league?

The blog NPB Tracker has been an invaluable resource for all things regarding Japanese baseball. But I still had some questions, so I talked site founder Patrick Newman into a mini-interview so I could get some clarity on a few subjects. I asked him about Koji Uehara, minor league signee Ryohei Tanaka and Japanese baseball in general. Thanks to Patrick for his time…the interview follows.

Dempsey’s Army: According to the Atlanta papers, Kenshin Kawakami has a contingent of 6 or 7 memebers of the Japanses press following him around Spring Training. Kenji Uehara seems to have at least twice that contingent even though Kawakami was touted as the better pitcher this offseason. What's the draw with Uehara?

Patrick Newman: Koji Uehara pitched for the Yomiuri Giants, who are basically the Yankees of Japan, so he has a national following. He's also been talking openly about pitching in the majors for years, so it's a good story that he's finally getting to do it now. And although Kawakami has been more consistent for the last few seasons, Uehara's peak performance was better, with Sawamura Awards* in 1999 and 2002.

*Japan's award for the best pitcher. It's like the Cy Young, but it actually pre-dates the Cy.

DA: Uehara has been primarily a reliever for the past two seasons. Why was that decision made? Also, are relievers in Japan used in a similiar fashion to the way they are used in the U.S. (i.e. one inning at a time on average...) or do they have longer stints? I am wondering how long it will take Uehara to stretch himself out to a starter again.

PN: Uehara was moved into relief after suffering an injury before the 2007 season. He was dominant in the closer role, and the Giants didn't have any other obvious closer candidates, so they left him there for the duration of the season. After 2007, they signed Marc Kroon to close, and moved Uehara back into the rotation. He struggled in 2008, got demoted, and pitched in middle relief, but got back into the rotation and put together a string of good starts in August and September.

Reliever usage patterns in Japan are similar to MLB -- you have closers, lefty specialists, middle relievers, etc. I think this is one of the reason we've seen a number of NPB relievers come over to America and do well. Starters in Japan tend to throw more pitches per start, but get more time in between starts. This is something that Uehara will have to adjust to. I don't know how long it will take him to adjust, but I would be a little surprised if he throws 200 innings this year.

DA: Outside of having to face some imposing lineups in the American League East, what do you think Uehara's biggest obstacle will be on his road to becoming a successful pitcher in the U.S.?

PN: Uehara has been home run-prone in his NPB career, so he'll have to work on keeping the ball down. Another thing is that he could count on getting the close calls in Japan, because of his reputation and his team. He won't have the benefit of the doubt in American. He seems to be cognizant of both these points though.

Off the field, he'll have to adjust to more travel, different food, a new language, etc.

DA: When he's in a jam, what is Uehara's "out" pitch? Which pitch does he command the best?

PN: In Japan it was his forkball.

DA: "Power pitcher" or "junkball" guy?

PN: "Finesse" guy. He has some good stuff but that doesn't include a power fastball.

DA: The stats for RHP Ryohei Tanaka are not impressive. He struggled during a cup of coffee with the Chiba Lotte Marinesand his minor league stats that you posted on NPB Tracker are not encouraging. He's only 26 but why would the Orioles be so interested in him? Does he have a big arm or was he highly touted (or drafted) out of high school?

PN: I've never seen him so I can't speak to how good his arm is or what he throws. I always take minor league stats with a grain of salt, because he might have been facing rehabbing major leaguers, or had a bad defense behind him, or working on a new pitch. But he rates haven't been good and he didn't improve statistically in his eight years.

The Orioles gave him a tryout and must have seen something they liked. He got a minor league contract paying him something like $40k, so there's no risk involved for the team.

DA: What is the view of NPB as a league about Japanese players having success in America? Is it a source of pride or are they concerned about how much talent if leaving the NPB? How do the fans feel?

PN: The league isn't crazy about the trend -- they were particularly upset about Junichi Tazawa last year and actually enacted a ban on players who skip NPB returning to Japan.The fans are more amenable to it. Guys like Ichiro and Matsuzaka are on the news every time they do anything, and their success is obviously a source of pride among most of the Japanese population. I like seeing those guys succeed, because I'm a fan of NPB and I think their success gives the league credibility.

DA: Before I die, I plan on visiting Japan and attending a professional baseball game while I'm there. Any tips for the average American baseball fan taking in a NPB game for the first time? Also, what is the Japanese version of a hot dog and a beer? Is there a traditional ballpark food in Japan?

PN: Get to Koshien Stadium in Osaka and see a Hanshin Tigers game, if you can. The stadium is a dump but there's no other baseball experience like it. I used to eat yakisoba, edamame, and sometimes dried squid at games in Japan -- I would say those are among the most generic items. All of the six Japanese stadiums I've been to served hot dogs, but I've only ever tried them at Osaka Dome. Osaka Dome also had McDonald's and KFC inside the stadium last time I was there. The Japanese version of beer is beer.

Five Things to Watch During Spring Training

Lots of new faces in Ft. Lauderdale this year...what should we be watching for when we watch the meager MASN slate of Spring Training games?

1. Koji Uehara…What’s Up With That?

Uehara is an exciting addition but he’s a huge unknown on this side of the Pacific. Raise your hand if you’ve seen him pitch. I’ve only seen some WBC footage on YouTube. How’s his delivery? How does that fastball pop? Can he control his breaking pitches? How will he do against the competition this Spring?

2. The Rotation…who will emerge?

When Spring Training broke in 2007, here was the starting rotation:

J. Guthrie
D Cabrera
A Loewen
S Trachsel
B Burres

As you know, only Guthrie remains in the organization. Uehara will be the number two starter by default but it’s a Battle Royale for the last three spots. We have star-crossed homegrown prospects (Hayden Penn), cast-off from other organizations (Brian Hennessey), former Cubs farmhands who can’t find the plate (Rich Hill), former Oriole farmhands who can’t find the plate (Radhames Liz), guys who weren’t even sure they wanted to be middle relievers two years ago (Danys Baez), guys dumped for minor league relievers by division rivals (David Pauley), guys coming back from serious shoulder injuries (Troy Patton, Matt Albers), former NBA players (Mark Hendrickson), recent First Round draftees (Brian Matusz) and various farm system products hoping for a shot (David Hernandez, Brad Bergensen, Chris Waters).

That’s at least 13 arms who will legitimately compete for three available spots in the rotation. (I won’t count Chorye Spoone, John Parrish, Chris Tillman, etc…guys who have no real shot at grabbing a spot.) That makes for a lot of competition and a hope that at least a couple of these guys break out and put a stranglehold on a spot in the rotation.

3. Luke Scott…Where’s he playing?

Dave Trembley has said that the arrival of Felix Pie will not spell the end of Scott’s time patrolling LF for the O’s. Scott says he’s willing to play some first base and the DH spot is wide open.

Contrary to popular belief, Scott’s defense in left was not bad at all. He doesn’t look great doing it but he fields his position well. It would seem a waste to put him exclusively at DH. It will be interesting to see how he handles first base; if he is competent, he could be an interesting option for that position in 2010 when Aubrey Huff departs.

4. The Catcher Situation…

Gregg Zaun has the starting job until Matt Wieters shows up but there are a few guys competing for that backup catcher spot…even if they will only have it for a few weeks. Robby Hammock, Guillermo Quiroz, Chad Moellers, Adam Donachie…but obviously that’s not the glamourous aspect of this story.

The interesting thing will be if Wieters plays well enough to break camp with the team. Now, given the free agency ramifications surrounding him, there’s little chance he heads north with the big club in April. Of course, I said the same thing about Nick Markakis three years ago. If he shows up and lives up to the hype of being Christ in a Catcher’s Mask, he’ll make the decision a lot harder for Andy MacPhail.

5. Who’s The Closer?

Or more precisely, how’s the bullpen going to shake out? But figuring out who the closer is will go a long way to figuring the rest of the ‘pen out.

If Chris Ray takes the closer spot back, what happens with George Sherrill? If Sherrill tkaes the setup job, does Jim Johnson take over as the 7th inning guy? Will Jamie Walker be reduced to lefty specialist? Will Walker be effective at all? Will Trembley feel comfortable with a 12 man pitching staff or will he continue to carry 13 arms? Who's the long relievers?

Mundane matters now but they won't be mundane once the games start to count.

Quick Video of Koji Uehara

I don't know, he looks more polished than Josh Towers to me!

O's Sign Uehara, Close to Finalizing Deal

The Baltimore Sun is reporting that the Orioles have agreed to terms with Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara.

Baltimore's rotation is a glaring weakness and the signing helps in two respects.

1) We need competent pitching of all kinds.

2) It gives an early return on the Orioles casting a wider net overseas when searching for talent.

So regardless of how this thing works out, it's a good development for the short and long term.

I know nothing about Uehara so I'll rely on ESPN's Keith Law:

Uehara has, of course, incredible control, and misses bats with a good forkball. It's tough to say how well that pitch will translate here, as American hitters might struggle with a pitch they rarely see, but may also learn to lay off a pitch that often finishes out of the zone. He mixes up his fastball between two-seamers and cutters, but neither pitch has any sink, so while he commands everything to the corners, he's very prone to the home run when he gets too much of the plate.

In an ideal environment -- National League, non-hitters' park -- he could be a midrotation innings-eater because he'll allow so few baserunners. In the American League, he'd be more of a fourth starter, but would have to have some luck keeping the ball in the park to keep his ERA under 4.00.

Two comments: Any pitcher's ideal environment is a National League pitcher's park and if he turns out to be 4th starter caliber, that's still an improvement over what we have right now. We let our other 4th starter caliber pitcher walk and sign with the Nationals.

From NPB Tracker, a blog that follows Japanese baseball:

I actually think that Uehara will be susceptible to baserunners because he’ll be around the plate so much. More troubling is that the HR ball was unquestionably his weakness in Japan, and he’s going to the most HR-friendly park in MLB. On the other hand, he’ll have two good outfielders behind him in Adam Jones and Nick Markakis, which suit his flyball tendencies.

Well, yeah, Camden Yards was the most homerun friendly park in baseball last year but looking at a three year average (usually a better indicator) OPACY is right around 5th or 6th in the majors for giving up homeruns. I'm not downplaying the HR factor but it tends to be overstated at times. Oriole Park is not Wrigley Field or Coors Field, two parks who consistently rank in the top two of HR rates.

And yes, Adam Jones and Nick Markakis help. But Luke Scott doesn't!

I don't have a lot to go on as far as predicting how much better he would be than Daniel Cabrera, but even if he can't keep his ERA under 4.00, even if he has a league average ERA (4.53 last year) I'll take that any day for the reported $5 million a year. I'm going to say that he is a good bet to exceed Daniel Cabrera's production and that alone makes him a fair improvement at a good price.

An encouraging move by The Warehouse. I can't wait to see how it works out.