The Orioles will sign Dontrelle Willis to a minor league contract, report ESPN's Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter). Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun reports (on Twitter) that Willis will make $700K in the big leagues. The Sosnick Cobbe client was released by the Phillies last week.
Willis pitched 75 2/3 innings for the Reds in 2011 — his highest total since 2007. The 30-year-old southpaw posted a 5.00 ERA with 6.8 K/9, 4.4 BB/9 and a 54.5% ground ball rate in 13 second half starts with Cincinnati this past season. An ineffective Spring Training with Philadelphia led to his release.
If every time Dontrelle Willis signed a contract, you licked a tootsie pop, you’d be licking paper at this point.
Three licks? That’s a small sucker.
I count six so far. Florida, Detroit, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and now Baltimore.
The owl made it in 3, just sayin’.
Forgot about the Giants but that’s only four. He was traded to Detroit and Arizona and was drafted by Florida. Unless you’re counting every contract he ever signed, but if you do that, it’s only like six. That’s not all that crazy.
Don’t you remember the commercials? Three licks was all it took to get to the Tootsie Roll center…
Haha poor orioles..so desperate for pitching. Of course just a few short years ago we were dumpster diving, so I can empathize.
On second thought..for what Angelos has been doing to us with the MASN deals and all…then i was right from the start..haha
haha…Nats fan. Go Expos/Rangers/Twins!!!
Yesssss. Now sign Mark Prior and my life will be complete.
I called this the minute the Phils released him. This guy should really be a bullpen guy at this point.
you mean as in bullpen catcher, right?
No, a guy locked in a pen with a bull.
In his last two seasons against LHP, he has thrown 38 innings with a FIP around 2.2 and is striking about 11 per 9 while walking around 2 for 9. He actually would be a surprisingly solid LOOGY.
Why don’t the Orioles try to obtain Tim Tebow? He’s a “Lefty” and available. It might just put some fannines in the seats at OPACY.
On a more serious note, what do the Orioles plan to do about their anemic offense?
With exception to the Yankees game against a “Surly” and “Ineffective” Ivan Nova the Oriole offense hasn’t produced all that much.
Tebow would probably be better at baseball than he is at football.
What position though? I mean he can’t throw at all. DH?
He absolutely can throw. That’s his problem in the NFL. He throws like an outfielder and not a quarterback.
If Tebow was throwing grenades, I wouldn’t want to be in his fox hole.
Offense was solid last year, 708 run is very good middle of the pack offense(Phillies scored 713 and Tampa scored 707). The pitching was bad. Really bad, basically everything that could happened bad happened.
Offense was absolutely not solid when you consider the division. We were 4th in the division (beating TB by one) and lagged pretty far behind the rest of the division. Our rotation is not TB good. We needed to improve in both areas and didn’t.
Well no leadoff hitter, a Clean up hitter with no pop and the best HR and RBI threat batted 7th or 8th most of the season.
Throw in they made Adam Jones the 3 hitter and you can see why the offense was pretty blah. They are thinking like a 1980s team with the line up where B.Average means anything while OB% is unimportant.
The Line Up should be something like:
DH B.Roberts (No head first dives at DH)
RF N.Markakis (.350 OB% last year)
C M.Wieters (.328 OB% last year)
3B M.Reynolds (Lead team in BBs, HR, RBI, OPS)
CF A.Jones (Lead team in total bases)
1B C.Davis (Split up the righties)
SS J.Hardy (Lead team in Slugging)
LF N.Reimold (.328 OB% last year)
2B R.Andino (.327 OB% last year)
Players with the top OB% should be near the top and bottom with the power guys in the middle. Let those guys get on for the others.
I don’t think Roberts ever plays another major league game. Personally, based on where I think this team is going this season, I’d rather see Flaherty at 2B and Andino traded. Also, I am for giving Chris Davis a chance, but I am incredibly leery that he delivers on the opportunity.
Why do you think they picked up D-Train? He’ll be the Orioles Opening Day Left Feilder.
/Sarcasm… but he should be in all honesty.
I appreciate your honesty. I know how hard it can be to tell the truth. /Sarcasm
Agreed. Been saying the entire offseason that the offense needs as much of an upgrade as the pitching. Of course, some would say we greatly improved our hitting with future MLB HR league leader Taylor Teagarden. Then Teagarden got hurt, so where’s that leave us.
Anemic offense? Are you one of these people that think spring offensive stats mean anything? The O’s had one of the best offenses in the league last year, and there is absolutely nothing to indicate that will change this year.
A match made in heaven.
Agreed with the LOOGY comments. In 60 PA last year (admittedly a small sample size), he held lefties to a .369 OPS.
It’s a &*^@%*&% minor league deal. It’s so annoying for all you frontrunners to jump on the O’s for things that if any other team in baseball did you would ignore.
Agreed, the worst part is 99% of the comments aren’t funny. You’d think people could be more clever.
Anyone feeling the necessity to point out that the O’s have been bad probably isn’t gonna bring the clever with them.
Better than JoJo Reyes
A beer league pitcher is better than Jo-Jo, and that really is a fact…
first jo-jo and now dontrelle, plan the parade O fans
clever
your faith misplaced, it is.
From the man who brought you Pete Schourek, Steve Ontiveros, Mark Portugal, Ramon Martinez and other has-beens…..Duquette Productions brings you Dontrelle Willis.
Orioles urgently need to sign an Ace. Roy Oswalt is opened to play everywhere. Blanton and Floyd could be available. I don’t feel satisfied about Wills signing. I think Duquette is playing a kind of Moneyball (like the movie)
Oswalt would not come to the O’s for 15 mil a year andhe O’s have nothing to trade for Floyd. Willis was signed as a lefty specialist and has to make the roster.
Willis is done