Redding had a good first half last year but completely fell apart in the second half. Maybe his toe gave him problems. Redding had surgery on his teo this offseason and should be ready to go for Spring Training. He went from a 3.85 ERA in the first half to a 6.85 ERA in the second half. Redding also had a 3.64 ERA in 15 games last year for the Nats. Going to the AL East would be a bad decision for the O's and Redding.FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal says the Orioles are making strong pushes for Braden Looper and Tim Redding.
The O's need innings, and Looper and Redding would be cheaper alternatives to Jon Garland. The Boston Globe thinks Looper is close to a deal with the Brewers, but offers nothing to back that up.
Looper has done a decent job going from the bullpen to the rotation. He's no Smoltz or Dempster but a decent back of the rotation guy. He actually did better in his second year away from the pen than in his first. I personally thought he would break down in that second year but he proved me wrong going 33 starts with a 4.16 ERA. He too would suffer from going to the AL East but like his chances better than Redding's.