Jair Jurrjens agrees to deal with Orioles

[MachadOboutManny]

I thought it hilarious when anyone wanted to trade for him, but for this contract its worth a flier. He throws batting practice for the most part, but he locates it well when he's on. He is Dontrell Willis -- flukish numbers and undeserved hype. I said these things before either of them hit hard times, so do not punish me for sticking with those beliefs today. Watching Jair has never been impressive, but I will hope that someone is able to find some magic in that arm of his.

Jair is now an Oriole, so I am a fan of his.

[MachadOboutManny]

Except Duchscherer was 33 and had only thrown 39 professional innings over the previous two seasons.

And he Duchscherer had better stuff.

[MachadOboutManny]

You do not want Jonathan Sanchez at this point, trust me. I played against the man for 2 years and faced him at least 15 times (probably more than that, but my memory serves me wrong sometimes) in college. He was SO easy to rattle then. I could not BELIEVE he pushed through the minors and made the SF rotation as a 15th round draft pick....and then he had success (no-hitter!).....he was a completely different pitcher! Someone in the minor leagues in the SF organization did their job!

But then the 2010 NLCS - San Fran vs. Philly - even though San Fran prevailed - I completely predicted (based off my personal previous outings with him - his college, Ohio Dominican and my college, Mount Vernon, were rivals, and met quite often in the playoffs), that he could get rattled in Philly. He did. Wasn't long he got traded to KC....then Colorado. Sanchez would be the WORST SP we could pick up cheap b/c of his mental problems.

Does he have good stuff? Yes. I won't deny that. He has proven that. But he is a head case. Would be an awful signing.

Depends on the money. If I could simply pick one to be on the roster, it would be Sanchez.

[HokieOs]

Wow, and to think we were seriously toying with the idea of trading Adam Jones and others for Jurrjens and Prado. Now we get Jurrjens for essentially nothing except a small amount of cash. Low risk and possibly high reward if he can get his form back. Certainly well worth the gamble if he can become remotely close to an All-Star.

[MachadOboutManny]

The issues weren't underlying. He was an awful pitcher last year.

He had a 3.40 career ERA going into 2012 though, and we have an industry-leader in mechanics. The reported injury issues and velocity drop may very well be a mechanics issue. DD clearly thinks we can fix him. I can't imagine he's just gonna pencil him into the starting rotation like some think. I'd still like Saunders.

Id prefer Saunders to Jair, but I dont want either. I wish the O's got to play against Jair. Its as if people didn't watch him while his ERA etc were good...if you just watch the guys pitch, there isnt much to like. There is zero chance he reaches his incentives, I hope he tears up AAA for a spell and we're able to trade him for a low-A prospect with a high ceiling. At that point you can sell his AAA numbers and his name. He cant pitch in this division. No chance.

[MachadOboutManny]

Wow, and to think we were seriously toying with the idea of trading Adam Jones and others for Jurrjens and Prado.

How embarrassing that is for people who were advocates of that deal. Prior to the 2012 season I said Jairs career would take a Willis like turn. The reason was, stuff. What was there to like about Jair? Trading Jones for Jair would have made me vomit. He can't pitch in this park or in this division. He's not that talented.

I am hoping for the opportunity to eat some crow, and the move is fine seeing as we're not going after anyone who might help the big league team, but its never going to have any positive impact on the big league club. He's not good enough. People wanted to deal Jones for this guy....oy vey. People love the name. ATL missed the chance to sell high on him, but they were able to fleece Arizona today. They do things well. Get Justin Upton, dont give up your best prospect or anyone who could possibly make an all star team at any point. Prado...solid player...but Justin Upton?

Seattle would have laughed their asses off if ATL had sent that package for the package Seattle had previously sent to Arizona. Atlanta couldnt trade all of those guys for Walker alone.

[24fps]

Wow, and to think we were seriously toying with the idea of trading Adam Jones and others for Jurrjens and Prado. Now we get Jurrjens for essentially nothing except a small amount of cash. Low risk and possibly high reward if he can get his form back. Certainly well worth the gamble if he can become remotely close to an All-Star.

My recollection is that we weren't seriously thinking about trading AJ for Jurrjens and Prado, but were trying to work out a better deal based on that starting point. I never got the idea that DD was overly tempted by the Braves' initial suggestion.

[MachadOboutManny]

Jairs fastball moves less than Osama Bin Laden.

[MurphDogg]

Jairs fastball moves less than Osama Bin Laden.

From 2009-11, hitter hit. 218, .220 and .260 off his fastball. It was bad last year but he also lost velocity. Hopefully he can find that lost velocity. He could be a very good reliever if he could be a 96 MPH max effort guy like he used to be.

[24fps]

Im just not impressed with this at all. I know most of you are happy. I dont get why we always have to take on projects. Why cant we just get top talent ? The fan base deserves it. The team

has the resources. Let the record show that I am not pleased with another project.

In principle I completely agree. But you have to admit that a Duquette project is considerably more sporting than a MacPhail project.

[MurphDogg]

This guy was released by the Braves. If he had anything they wouldve signed him for something.

I am posting this on this thread for the third and final time. This is not a legitimate argument. He was non-tendered by the Braves because his salary had climbed to $5.5M last season and the arbitration system is not designed to give young players large pay cuts. I'm sure the Braves and at least a dozen other teams would have taken him on a minor league contract. If I was in his situation and was offered identical contracts from the Orioles and the Braves I would probably take the Orioles offer because the change of scenery gives him a fresh start and a chance to put the 2012 season behind him. I don't think he is definitely going to work out but even if he reestablished himself as a reliever he could be worth $1.5M, and there is a chance he could be worth much more.

Jurrjens turns 27 this week and was an All-Star 18 months ago. To compare him to Derrek Lee and Danys Baez is ridiculous.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Why can't the Orioles afford a "big money guy"? Sometimes they earn their money. Why exactly do I have to "get over it?" Because I want this team to be more than a home base for projects?

Adam Eaton was a project. Garrett Atkins. Nick Johnson.Rich Hill.Danys Baez. Derrek Lee. They were all on the down side and we buy into the hope that they have nowhere to go but up,

or return to former glory.

Theres a ton of other guys like them that we sign.This guy was released by the Braves. If he had anything they wouldve signed him for something.I just feel frustrated that the REAL needs for

this team: 2nd base and another LH bat with good OBP is not addressed. We have enough solid arms.This guy isn't close to what we need. Low risk, high reward. Who cares? I just want high

reward.Im tired of bargain basement baseball.

I don't see PA playing big budget baseball anytime soon. I guess I choose not to dwell on it and look at what we can do smartly within our limited budget. You're certainly a high profile guy, maybe you can catch somebody's ear more than anybody else and do something constructive by getting some answers as to why the MASN money isn't being spent and what the plan is.

[lint06]

Why can't the Orioles afford a "big money guy"? Sometimes they earn their money. Why exactly do I have to "get over it?" Because I want this team to be more than a home base for projects?

Adam Eaton was a project. Garrett Atkins. Nick Johnson.Rich Hill.Danys Baez. Derrek Lee. They were all on the down side and we buy into the hope that they have nowhere to go but up,

or return to former glory.

Theres a ton of other guys like them that we sign.This guy was released by the Braves. If he had anything they wouldve signed him for something.I just feel frustrated that the REAL needs for

this team: 2nd base and another LH bat with good OBP is not addressed. We have enough solid arms.This guy isn't close to what we need. Low risk, high reward. Who cares? I just want high

reward.Im tired of bargain basement baseball.

I'll take "bargain basement baseball" every year if it is like 2012.

[SrMeowMeow]

Why can't the Orioles afford a "big money guy"? Sometimes they earn their money. Why exactly do I have to "get over it?" Because I want this team to be more than a home base for projects?

Adam Eaton was a project. Garrett Atkins. Nick Johnson.Rich Hill.Danys Baez. Derrek Lee. They were all on the down side and we buy into the hope that they have nowhere to go but up,

or return to former glory.

Theres a ton of other guys like them that we sign.This guy was released by the Braves. If he had anything they wouldve signed him for something.I just feel frustrated that the REAL needs for

this team: 2nd base and another LH bat with good OBP is not addressed. We have enough solid arms.This guy isn't close to what we need. Low risk, high reward. Who cares? I just want high

reward.Im tired of bargain basement baseball.

I agree that we shouldn't rule out big name free agents, but it's a little rough to cherry-pick all our bad cheap free agents. McLouth and Miguel Gonzalez were huge for us. Every year teams have huge success by finding value in unlikely places on the cheap.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Wonder if this means the end for Saunders.