Dontrelle Willis is signing a minor league deal with the #Orioles

[Don Quixote]

If he does something productive, great. If not, eh. Hope he does well but it's not foremost in my mind. That's about it.

[OsFan1987]

He is still dominant v lefties. Makes a lot of sense to turn him into a specialist...

[DrungoHazewood]

Why would anyone complain about this, exactly?

Philosophical objection to LOOGYs.

Per Roch

Left-handers batted .127 against him last season. Maybe he's viewed as a lefty specialist. Or a reclamation project.

Buck does love him some LOOGYs. I might acutally get behind this deal if Willis gets the 18 innings/59 appearances that would otherwise go to Clay Rapada.

Whatever, but he hasn't been any good since 2006.

Rudy Seanez was hurt and/or awful most of his 18-year career, but at 36 he somehow coughed up a 60-inning, 2.69 ERA, 84K seasons. With pitchers you just never know.

If I hadn't said that as a joke, someone would have said it and meant it. Think back to the people we've signed. Steve Trashman, Kris Benson, Adam Eaton. People sure didn't mind them.

What does a bunch of ill-advised acquisitions made under previous administrations and given far too much playing time have to do with a flier on a AAA lefty specialist?

I don't work for NST, I wouldn't mind though, they seem like good people:

http://www.nst.org/

I like the hangout. There's some great discussion here. I'm not a troll. I've got opinions.

Let me guess, you're an advocate of the Trea school of opinions. "All opinions are valid. Nobody should be criticised for their opinions."

This signing tells me that the Orioles are seriously worried about Britton. Seeing this news coupled with the news of Britton visiting Dr. Andrews is very telling.

I don't see why signing a LOOGY to a minor league deal has anything to do with Britton.

He's a guy you root for, though, no doubt. And if he can't pitch anymore, he could pull a Loewen and do something with the bat, perhaps.

He's 30 and has the same career OPS as Justin Turner or Desi Relaford or Brad Ausmus. Unless he's the world's greatest lefty 2B/SS/C, that ain't gonna cut it.

[Don Quixote]

Willis reported this morning and passed the physical. He will wear number 25 (per Roch's lineups).

http://www.masnsports.com/school_of_roch/2012/03/dontrelle-willis-is-in-the-house.html

[Dipper9]

I don't work for NST, I wouldn't mind though, they seem like good people:

http://www.nst.org/

I like the hangout. There's some great discussion here. I'm not a troll. I've got opinions.

Right, you've got opinions and you're not a troll.

That would be like a KKK member walking into a Southern Baptist church and saying..."Go about your business, I'm just here to observe!"

[waroriole]

Right, you've got opinions and you're not a troll.

That would be like a KKK member walking into a Southern Baptist church and saying..."Go about your business, I'm just here to observe!"

I think you mean Catholic church.

[mi_oriolesfan]

He is still dominant v lefties. Makes a lot of sense to turn him into a specialist...

Agreed. He was a mess when he came to Detroit. The Marlins basically stuffed him down the Tigs throat. Hopefully, he can do what he needs to do in the bullpen without seeing much playing time.

[Floater]

Typical O's move. In a year or two when Adam Jones is gone, we'll grab an aging Torii Hunter as a stop gap replacement.

[MarylandAaron]

I'm absolutely okay with the O's trying Willis out as a lefty specialist.

[Floater]

You do realize this is a minor league signing, right? And that he's a reliever? And that this is par for the course for building relief pitching depth all across MLB?

Cool, just checking.

Yep, we'll more than likely never see him play anyways

[weams]

Roch

Dan Duquette

Executive vice president Dan Duquette confirmed today new pitcher Dontrelle Willis will make the transition to left-handed specialist, and will likely have to begin the season in the minors.

Willis held left-handers to a .127 average with the Reds last season.

"The idea is to see if he can be a lockdown left-handed reliever against left-handed hitters," Duquette said. "Our interest in that project is lefties hit .127 off him last year, and three of the last four years he's done very well vs. left-handed hitters.

"The other thing that's interesting is Dontrelle Willis has had a significant major league career and he's been a winning pitcher and placed high in Cy Young Award voting, but he's only 30 years old, and a lot of times these left-handed relievers are just beginning their careers in their early-to-mid 30s. So if you take a look at Arthur Rhodes, for example, who made that transition and did it effectively, he was pitching up until last year. He was in the World Series. So, we're going to give that a shot with Dontrelle Willis."

There isn't enough time for Willis to make the club out of spring training.

"For him to transition into the relief role, he'll probably need some time to do that in Triple-A," Duquette said.

The Orioles already had a lefty specialist in Clay Rapada, but they designated him for assignment and he signed with the Yankees. Willis isn't on the 40-man roster, so he can be sent down.

Manager Buck Showalter has often stated that he didn't have the luxury of carrying a specialist on his staff.

"Clay Rapada was our left-handed specialist, and when we added (Wilson) Betemit, we lost him," Duquette said. "We said we were going to look around for a left-handed specialist that Buck could use against left-handed hitters, and we're going to see if we have that in Dontrelle Willis."

Buck

He's had some success," Showalter said. "I know his left-on-left numbers have been pretty good. It's another option to consider."

As for the difference between letting Clay Rapada go and possibly keeping Willis as a lefty specialist, Showalter said, "He's not on the roster. That's the big difference. There's some maneuverability there.

"It kind of came together last night, so I'm still kind of putting my arms around it right now."

[weams]

I'm a little late, just saw that. He would make a good LOOGY! If we could afford to carry him... is a split contract.

From Roch

Willis is a career .244 hitter in the majors, which is beyond impressive for a pitcher. He was 12-for-31 with three doubles, a triple and a home run for the Reds last season. That's insane.

[DrungoHazewood]

From Roch: Willis is a career .244 hitter in the majors, which is beyond impressive for a pitcher. He was 12-for-31 with three doubles, a triple and a home run for the Reds last season. That's insane.

I guess I'm failing to see how a guy with a .660 career OPS and a .280-something OBP is an asset. Yes, that's great for a pitcher, but barely acceptable for even the best fielding middle infielders. The O's play 90% of their schedule with a DH, and Willis is slated to be an ultra-specialized reliever who typically never bats. There's nobody on the roster he'd be an obvious pinch-hitter for except pitchers during interleague play in NL parks.

Willis' bat is a nice answer to a trivia question, but only slightly more valuable to the O's than Mark Hendrickson's free throw percentage.

[weams]

I guess I'm failing to see how a guy with a .660 career OPS and a .280-something OBP is an asset. Yes, that's great for a pitcher, but barely acceptable for even the best fielding middle infielders. The O's play 90% of their schedule with a DH, and Willis is slated to be an ultra-specialized reliever who typically never bats. There's nobody on the roster he'd be an obvious pinch-hitter for except pitchers during interleague play in NL parks.

Willis' bat is a nice answer to a trivia question, but only slightly more valuable to the O's than Mark Hendrickson's free throw percentage.

Oh of course you are right. But in the correct situation I could see him pinch hitting for lets say...John Hester?