O's, Hendrickson Close To Deal

[love_that_reefer]

The Orioles are expected to bring free agent Mark Hendrickson to Baltimore to undergo a physcial this week.
It doesn't appear that the two sides have agreed to terms just yet, but a deal is close. Hendrickson would be pretty much assured of a spot in Baltimore's rotation, which is currently comprised of Jeremy Guthrie and a bunch of guys who would be better off in Triple-A.

Hendrickson will no doubt get a rotation spot but Hendrickson did a lot better as a reliever last year than starter. He had a 3.03 ERA as a relief pitcher compared to a 6.24 ERA as a starter. The rest of the division is hoping he starts so their offenses can pad their stats. Hopefully for baseball's sake, he relieves.

[cjkalt]

The O's pitching coach and manager better start training their legs for the beatdown they will take from all the trips to the mound.

[catman]

Hendrickson has decent stuff, but can't keep it for 3 turns through a line up. I agree that he is much better as a long reliever than as a starter. He can keep a team in a game for 3 innings or so, but I wouldn't count on him for more than that.

[love_that_reefer]

O's officially sign Hendrickson today. No word on the money.

[realmofotalk]

The money is $1.5 million, the same amount Hendrickson got from the Marlins last year. It doesn't make sense that Joe Nelson will be paid $200,000 less despite not putting up atrocious stats.

[ThomasTomasz]

Eh, I'm not too happy about it, as there are some other pitchers out there who are better, but he's a tall lefty, and Kranitz might be able to do something to make him a decent pitcher. As long as we continue to develop players like we did with Adam Jones last season and our minor league prospects continue to make progress, I'll be happy.

[love_that_reefer]

Manager Dave Trembley announced Thursday that Mark Hendrickson will be the club's fifth starter to open the season.
Hendrickson is filling in for the injured Rich Hill. With a strong performance, though, he could stick around for a while. Hendrickson posted a 4.50 ERA in 12 innings this spring, including a 4/0 K/BB ratio.

And people think this team will somehow win 10 more games than last year. Guys like Longoria, Teixeira, Bay and Wells are extremely happy with this decision.