Baltimore Orioles: Former Birds Finding Roosts Near and Far
Apr 27, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter (26) takes the ball from reliever Evan Meek (47) in the seventh inning against the Kansas City Royals at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Royals defeated the Orioles 9-3. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports
In the past 24 hours there have been quite a number of former Baltimore Orioles players finding a place to land for the 2015 season. Many of them will have to fly through quite a headwind to ultimately land in the 25-man roost for their new team (or in this case, is it called a 25-man rooster?).
Steve Johnson – The closest to home is a former Oriole who is in fact coming home to the organization. Johnson has signed a minor league deal with invite to spring training.
Watching Steve Johnson pitch at the end of 2012 was a thing of beauty. He pounded the strike zone and was 4-0 in 12 games with a 2.21 ERA and WHIP of 1.070. The future looked so very bright. But since then, he has been the pitching version of Nolan Reimold with a variety of ailments. There is not anyone around the Orioles who does not hope Johnson could regain the command he had just three years ago.
Evan Meek – Not far from home is where Evan Meek has found a landing spot – in Washington with the Nationals. The 31 year old right-handed reliever has likewise received a minor league deal with invite to spring training.
Meek had a spring training to be proud of last year (see what I did there?) and made the Orioles roster for the trip north. In his first eight appearances over 9.1 innings, he gave up only three hits and zero runs. However, in his ninth outing he allowed four runs.
Meek additionally have up four runs on two other occasions, therefore allowing 12 runs in just two innings of work—translating to an ERA of 72.0. But in his other 21.1 innings, he only yielded three runs for an ERA of 1.27. So he has the skills to still be effective and could well be a factor for the Nationals.
Dontrelle Willis – It is a bit of a stretch to call Willis a former Oriole, as he only ever pitched in four games for Norfolk in 2012. He has not been in the majors since 2011. He too has a minor league deal with invite to camp with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Kelly Johnson – Guess what? Another minor league deal with invite to spring training – for Kelly Johnson with the Atlanta Braves. After helping the Orioles in 19 games at the end of the past season, Johnson returns to the organization that drafted him in the first round in 2000. The .250 lifetime hitter has played almost one-half of his career games in nine years for the Braves. Impressive that Duquette resisted the temptation to add him to the O’s, eh?
Dana Eveland – You know the deal … yep, same as above for the lefty pitcher who was with the Orioles in the early part of 2012. Eveland was 0-1 in 14 games, throwing 32.1 innings with a 4.73 ERA.
In 2014, Eveland had a fine year with the NY Mets. His ERA was 2.63 in 27.1 innings over 30 games. One would think that is good enough to stick with the Mets, but apparently not. The Orioles might see him if he makes it with the Red Sox.
No Extra Charge – Oh, and just so y’all don’t think I’m not being complete, Endy Chavez – he of the .203 average with the Orioles in 2012 – is reported to be likely to return to the Mariners. He has played in Seattle the past two seasons, and he has actually hit for a .271 average in 177 games. But you may have heard that the Mariners have a new outfielder this year – his name is Nelson Cruz.