Koji Almost Out Of Texas

[Barnaby Graves]

I think Koji Uehara is a very special baseball player. His career FIP stats (BB/9, K/9, HR/9), on the whole, point to a guy who is a very good pitcher. More specifically, a guy who does not walk a lot of batters and yet still strikes many of them out.

I know that's a simplistic and Captain Obvious way of pointing out baseball facts but for a guy with an 89 MPH fastball that's primarily thrown in the upper half of the plate, batters are consistently uncomfortable batting against him. That's really, really amazing. He has control. He is somewhat deceptive. He has two really good pitches and that's enough for him to get through an inning.

I would be lying if I said anything else: I would be sad to see him end up with the Athletics. I want him to be an Oriole. He might have a few crappy innings and end the season with a 4.00 ERA, or he might get injured. But I think that's part of normal reliever fluctuation. And above all, I think Koji has the potential (more than most) of being a VERY important bullpen contributor.

[wildcard]

Reacquiring a 37 year old reliever with a $4M salary does make much sense of the O's. But if McClellan becomes available because the Cards decide to sign Oswalt, I can see the O's trading for McClellan.