Rockies sign Ubaldo Jimenez to a minor league deal

[TommyPickles]

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/02/rockies-sign-ubaldo-jimenez-tim-collins.html

"It’s been more than two years since the now-36-year-old Jimenez appeared on a Major League mound and nearly a decade since he last donned a Rockies uniform. From 2008-10, Jimenez was a bona fide top-of-the-rotation arm for the Rox, pitching to a combined 3.43 ERA (3.42 FIP) with 8.2 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9 in 638 1/3 innings in Colorado. Given the hitter-friendly nature of Coors Field, Jimenez’s park-adjusted production was 37 percent better than that of a league-average pitcher (by measure of ERA+). Colorado eventually traded him to the Indians for a prospect packaged headlined by Drew Pomeranz.

After a rough year and a half in Cleveland, Jimenez peaked at the perfect time, tossing 182 2/3 innings of 3.30 ERA ball in his walk year with the Indians. He set out into free agency and landed a four-year, $50MM contract that quickly proved to be a misstep for the O’s. Jimenez gave Baltimore one season of league-average innings (184 innings, 4.11 ERA, 100 ERA+ in 2015) but was otherwise one of the least-effective starters in MLB throughout his time there. He hasn’t appeared in the Majors since throwing his final pitch for the Orioles in 2017."

 

Man this still hurts.  One of the worst Oriole signings of the last 20 years (especially considering where we were as a franchise. Window was wide open.)

[DrungoHazewood]

Object lesson on baseball's stratified economics.  We talk about the Ubaldo contract as a massive, crippling disaster.  If the Red Sox or Yanks or Dodgers had signed Ubaldo to that deal they would have released him two years in and nobody would even remember it.  Ubaldo's old deal would make him the 7th-highest paid pitcher on the Yankees.