Opening Day 25-man roster
Nothing about this should surprise anyone who has been paying attention the past few days, but the Orioles just made their 25-man Opening Day roster official and here it is, direct from the club's public relations department:
ORIOLES OPENING DAY ROSTER
Pitchers (12): Matt Albers-rhp, Danys Baez-rhp, Brian Bass-rhp, Jeremy Guthrie-rhp, Mark Hendrickson-lhp, Jim Johnson-rhp, Chris Ray-rhp, Dennis Sarfate-rhp, George Sherrill-lhp, Alfredo Simon-rhp, Koji Uehara-rhp, Jamie Walker-lhp
Catchers (2): Chad Moeller, Gregg Zaun
Infielders (6): Robert Andino, Aubrey Huff, Cesar Izturis, Melvin Mora, Brian Roberts, Ty Wigginton
Outfielders (5): Ryan Freel, Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, Felix Pie, Luke Scott
Disabled list: Rich Hill-lhp (15-day)
Roster note: RHP Adam Eaton is conspicuous by his absence, but that's because he was a non-roster player and will be added to the roster when his turn comes up in the starting rotation.
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Comments
So Pete, now that we've seen all this, who do you expect will be the first to get the send-down to be replaced by Eaton? Or are we banking on someone getting hurt between Opening Day and Eaton's scheduled start? As much as Brian Bass seems to be the odd man out, he has been one of the better performers this spring, and I'd hate to see him go.
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Pete's reply: It'll depend on the condition of the staff. Could be Bass, who is out of options, or Matt Albers, who isn't. If I was betting, I'd say somebody ends up on the DL.
Posted by: Michael | April 5, 2009 7:15 PM
So who gets shown the door when Eaton's turn comes up in the rotation? Whoever performs the worst between Danys Baez, Brian Bass and Matt Albers (who at least has options)?
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Pete's reply: Albers is not a bad guess.
Posted by: Mark Brown | April 5, 2009 7:48 PM
Whose going down when the O's activate Eaton? Think they'll take a look at any late cuts (Chad Gaudin, perhaps)?
Posted by: Guillermo | April 5, 2009 8:00 PM
Hey Pete, how about printing the 2008 opening day roster and include a "where are they now" column. You might want to include Jay Gibbons in there too
Posted by: Paul Cridler | April 6, 2009 9:12 AM
At Fanfest, Andy MacPhail made a big deal about 40% of the starting rotation coming from countries other than the USA. He said that he was pleasantly surprised that Orioles' International Scouting, John Stockstill, could produce such benefits so quickly. Well before Andy and John, in 2006 the Orioles Starting Rotation also had 40% of players from beyond the USA and finished with 70 wins. In 2005, the Starting Rotation was 100% from beyond the borders of USA and finished with 74 wins.
Yes, Uehara is the first Oriole pitcher from Japan.
But the Orioles have had a long history of pitchers from outside the USA. Mike Cuellar and Dennis Martinez are among the Orioles Top Ten in Career Pitching Victories. Jorge Julio is # 4 among Orioles Career Saves Leaders.
Back in 1955 the Orioles starting SS, Willie Miranda was from Cuba.
So having players from beyond the USA borders is nothing new for the Orioles. In fact, it has always been THE ORIOLE WAY
Posted by: Jay | April 6, 2009 10:58 AM
It will have to be Brian Bass being sent down to make room for Eaton. Someone has to be removed from the 40-man roster. The only alternative I can think of is that Albers could be sent down and someone we are not thinking of (Spoone, for example) is placed on the 60-day DL. That would work.
Posted by: Brian | April 6, 2009 12:08 PM