Throw a Few More Signings on the Hot Stove
The Baltimore Orioles answered the question, who’s on 3rd, by signing free agent Garrett Atkins. Garrett became a free agent when he lost his job to Ian Stewart, and the Rockies decided not to offer him a contract. It seems like only yesterday the 30 year old looked to be a bright young star hitting his way onto the scene in Colorado. In 2006 Atkins batted .329, with 29 homers, & 120 RBIs, following that with a .301 average, 25 long balls, and 111 knocked in, and in ’08 he drove in 99, with 21 big flies, and a .286 batting average. But when he tailed off to .226, 9 HRs, & 48 ribbies, it was time for him to move on, and Baltimore is hoping he’ll regain his stroke in an Orioles uniform.
The O’s also locked up lefty reliever Mike Gonzalez. Gonzalez appeared in nearly half of Atlanta’s game in 2009, 80 (which was 3rd in the majors), and with his funky delivery & nasty stuff Mike was able to strikeout 90 batters in 74′ innings pitched, he recorded a career high in saves, 24, with the Pirates in 2006. His contract is loaded with bonuses if he does well as the closer in Baltimore.
Mr. OBP, Nick Johnson will take his act back to the Bronx, where it all started. New York drafted Johnson in the third round of the 1996 amateur draft, he was a highly touted youngster in their organization, even batting over 700 times with the Yankees in 2002 & 2003 combined. But Nick’s career has been filled with its share of injuries, still he has an outstanding career OBP of .402 in 770 big league games. With Hideki Matsui signing with the Halos, it looks like the 31 year old lefthanded hitter will take over as the club’s designated hitter.
Across town Japanese reliever Ryota Igarashi will pitch this upcoming season out of the Metropolitans bullpen. Ryota missed all of 2007 with an arm injury, but appears fully recovered as he posted a 2.42 ERA this past year for the Swallows, which was his career best. The 30 year old, Igarashi, a righthander, is said to have the best fastball in Japanese baseball.
So far, the biggest trade was the three-way deal involving the Yankees, the Diamondbacks, and the Tigers. New York got All Star centerfielder Curtis Granderson, enough said, they got the best player in the deal. Arizona got starting pitchers Edwin Jackson & Ian Kennedy. While Detroit landed centerfield prospect Austin Jackson, starting pitcher Max Scherzer, and a couple of lefties for their bullpen Phil Coke & Daniel Schlereth.
De Pere, WI native Jason Berken took the mound against the White Sox Sunday at US Cellular Field. The Orioles righthander won his debut the end of May against the Blue Jays, but winning has been a long time coming, 2-11 coming into today. He brought his own rooting section, about 25 vocal friends & family members were on hand to back up this cheesehead. They almost came on the field after Robert Andino & Melvin Mora, who committed first inning errors. But this rookie has learned to overcome adversity, coming to the majors after Tommy John surgery, and today was no exception, as he bested Mark Buehrle & the White Sox for his 3rd win of the year, 5-4. In addition to myself, Dick & Bea, Steve, Roland, Debbie & George, Nancy Faust, and Caramel Corn Mike, were all in the house, the sad house.
Last night was Elvis Night at the Cell as the White Sox hosted the Orioles. Big Elvis was not there, but something you should see before you die is waiting for you at the Barbary Coast in Vegas. Jamie Aaron Kelley performed outside Gate 4 before the gates opened (then did the National Anthem & performed on the field after the game), all of his fans braved the raindrops as he sang Kentucky Rain, and thanked him very much before going inside the ballpark. Flying Elvises (or is it Flying Elvi) dropped out of the sky with the American Flag to America the Beautiful, quite inspiring, even to a non-patriot like myself. Then after the game there was a terrific fireworks display done to Elvis songs, the rain waited until after the game, but got quite wet while ewing & awing.
The Orioles have signed 33 year old starting pitcher Koji Uehara, of the Yomiuri Giants. As a rookie in 1999 he was the leader in wins (20), strikeouts (179), ERA (2.09), winning percentage (.833, 20-4 record), complete games (12), and was named Rookie of the Year. Koji was the Sawamura Award (named after legendary Yomiuri Giants pitcher Eiji Sawamura of the 1930s & 40s) winner in 1999 & 2002, best starting pitcher in Japan. Due to an injury in 2007 Uehara pitched as a closer, saving 32 games, with a 1.74 ERA. He returned to the starting rotation in 2008.
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