The Wei-Yin Chen appreciation thread

[Davey]

[Ruzious]

He had a nice ride here. Thank you Wei-Yin Chen, and good luck.

[MDtransplant757]

Was a beast in 2014, and watched him grow as a starter. Thanks and good luck in Miami

[Spy Fox]

Chen has no doubt been my favorite O's starter to watch over the past few years. He throws strikes and has an entertaining balance of stuff and control. I'll miss having him.

[weams]

I appreciate the hard work and consistency that WYC gave us these last few years. Best of luck to him (excepting the occasional interleague we'll face him in, of course).

I appreciated his yeoman league average or better stats from the left side. And pick 29.

[Tx Oriole]

Now that Wei-Yin has officially moved on, I'd like to express my appreciation for his contributions to the Orioles.

I still remember the first time I heard his name. Buck was attending a dinner in Delmarva or somewhere like that, during the period after MacPhail had resigned and before Duquette was hired. He mentioned that the Orioles' scouting staff had their eye on a guy named Wei-Yin Chen in the Japanese league. At the time, Darvish was getting a ton of press and folks were anticipating that some team would pay the largest posting fee ever to obtain him. Chen was just some afterthought nobody was paying any attention to.

Duquette came in and signed him for 3/$10.9 mm with a $4.75 mm option and a $400 k buyout -- and what a steal that turned out to be! Fangraphs values Chen's four years with the Birds at a cool $70.3 mm. All told, Chen went 46-32 with a 3.72 ERA in 117 starts. He was our most consistent starter over the last four years. I always felt when he was on the mound, we had a solid chance to win, a feeling that is borne out by his record.

I'm sorry that Chen has moved on, and wish him the best of luck in Miami.

I sure did like him. I do wish him luck though.

[backwardsk]

My favorite starting pitcher. Liked how well he fielded his position and that he was a strike thrower!

You know, that reminds me of a sequence from early 2015 when Machado was having some fielding blips. With the shift, they were trying to turn a 3-5-1 DP, Tillman kind of jogged to cover first and didn't set himself up well for the throw. Manny threw it by him, extending the inning in an eventual loss. There was a similar type play in Chen's next start. He sprinted to the bag and got himself in a good athletic position to receive the throw. It was little things like that where Chen excelled. He also attacked bunts off the mound very well.

For a team with budget constraints, getting production from a starter at that salary was a big part why we've had success while he was here.

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[TheDirtyBird]

Gotta love the consistency. Was the one guy I always thought would have a solid putting and he usually did.

I did get a small chuckle at the fact that it seemed guaranteed that he'd give up a solo shot.

Our rotation will certainly hurt without you especially since no moves are being made to fill the space

[WEAVERMAN]

Chen will be missed, really missed. This is a sad day for the Orioles organization. We have no replacement and it's unlikely we will sign or trade for anyone of Wei Yin's caliber.

[O's are Legends]

Thank you Chen, I hope you beat the Nationals many times and I will watch this happen at nats park.

[hoosiers]

I'll take the production and the pick. Nice job by our scouting department and the front office. I think Chen was in play by the front office before DD came aboard, but that's semantics. Kudos to everyone involved. Chen was one of our best starters and emerged as a near 2 when he was hitting low 90s at the knees. I think there is still some strong pitching left for him and the Marlins have structured this deal nicely, but I like the decision of our FO to let Chen go and take the pick. A real opportunity to add some serious talent this draft if we can hold onto our first pick.

[ShaneDawg85]

It's a terrible shame to lose Chen, but I fully expected before the offseason even began that he wouldn't be back for 2016. He was never flashy, never wowed you on the mound, but he was consistent and as close to reliable as you could ask for. For years we were fed up with pitchers that couldn't throw strikes and gave up too many walks. Chen didn't strike a lot of guys out, but he didn't walk a lot of them either, and that was always comforting. Won the first Orioles home playoff win in 15 years, even though he clearly was battling the whole night, being there I'll always remember that one. I think probably the highest compliment that can be said of Chen is the fact that his contract was such a success and one of the best in terms of cost and production that the Orioles have ever made, that for years to come his name will be the one mentioned whenever the Orioles make a signing, mostly international, as hopefully being anywhere near as successful as Wei-Yin Chen. Best of luck Wei-Yin, your work here will not be forgotten.

[Frobby]

I'll take the production and the pick. Nice job by our scouting department and the front office. I think Chen was in play by the front office before DD came aboard, but that's semantics. Kudos to everyone involved.

Chen was definitely or our radar before DD came on board, as I mentioned in the OP, but Duquette came in and got the deal done. I'm hoping the Kim deal looks remotely as good as Chen's in two years.

[TouchemAll]

I liked that he owned up when he struggled, as opposed to guys who always had an excuse ready.

Agree, Good Luck Chen against everybody but the O's

[weams]

At the price we paid for him. Actually, Koji and the return on his trade at his and their money was superior.