The Orioles acquired Rick VandenHurk from the Florida Marlins… (Getty photo)
July 31, 2010|By Dan Connolly, The Baltimore Sun
With minutes remaining before Saturday's nonwaiver trade deadline, the Orioles pulled off their second deal in three days, sending left-handed reliever Will Ohman to the Florida Marlins for Triple-A right-hander Rick VandenHurk.
VandenHurk, a 25-year-old from the Netherlands who has been shuttled between Triple-A and the majors the past four seasons, will go into Triple-A Norfolk's rotation and likely will be promoted to Baltimore later this season. He is 8-9 with a 5.96 ERA in 35 major league games (32 starts), which include two relief appearances with the Marlins this season.
"I think it's great. I'm very excited to come to the Orioles organization," VandenHurk said in an e-mail to The Baltimore Sun. "I've worked with [Orioles pitching coach Rick Kranitz] before, and he knows me and knows what I've got, and that's important. I'm excited for this opportunity."
The Orioles had attempted to acquire VandenHurk before but had been rebuffed until just before Saturday's 4 p.m. deadline.
"We had asked for him and they had said no," said Andy MacPhail, the Orioles' president of baseball operations. "Five minutes before the deadline, they came back. We had sort of put him out of our head."
The move came two days after the Orioles acquired minor league right-hander Wynn Pelzer, 24, from the San Diego Padres in exchange for veteran third baseman Miguel Tejada and about $1.1 million.
Heading into Saturday, MacPhail didn't believe any trades were imminent, and he said he was surprised by the flurry of calls Saturday afternoon.
"We had more conversations than I had expected about a greater variety of subjects than I had expected going into the morning," MacPhail said. "How close we came [to other deals] I don't know. Whether we'll do something later as the result of the talks we have had, that's possible as well."
Now that the deadline has passed, the Orioles must pass players through waivers before they can be dealt. The club likely will send most of its roster through the process. If a player is claimed, the Orioles can revoke waivers once per player. If a player is put through waivers a second time and is claimed again, the Orioles would lose him.
Some of the club's pending free agents, such as starting pitcher Kevin Millwood, shortstop Cesar Izturis and outfielder Corey Patterson, likely will get through waivers and could be traded in August. All-Star first baseman Ty Wigginton, who was considered the club's best trade chip among their pending free agents, could be claimed by a contender and might have to be pulled off the trade block.
The best chance of moving Wigginton seemed to evaporate Thursday when the Texas Rangers, the most aggressive suitors for his services, traded for Florida corner infielder Jorge Cantu. By not dealing Wigginton before Saturday's deadline, he likely will stay with the Orioles for the rest of the season.
"I'm good with it. I'm cool with it. I just want to play baseball," said Wigginton, who has been traded in July twice in his career. "Anytime you go into the season, you expect that trades are part of it. If it happens, it happens. But I'm a Baltimore Oriole, and we'll see it through."
MacPhail wouldn't talk about specific trade discussions but acknowledged that several teams called about designated hitter Luke Scott, whom the club has under contract through 2012.
"There was interest in Luke, but with whatever clubs we were talking to we couldn't come to something that we found mutually acceptable," MacPhail said.
Starter Jeremy Guthrie also attracted interest, but given how well he has pitched recently, how the rest of the rotation has struggled and that Guthrie is still under club control through 2012, the Orioles were not eager to deal him.
That left Ohman, who was 0-0 with a 3.30 ERA in 51 appearances, as the most attractive candidate to be traded.
"Will certainly did do everything he could have," MacPhail said. "Part of the rationale on making the trade was we are obviously not in the race and the Marlins are a lot closer than we are, and they don't have a lefty in the bullpen. Based on how we are going with our bullpen, a short-inning lefty or lefty specialist was really a luxury for us."
Ohman, 32, a good-natured veteran who signed a minor league contract this offseason and made the club with a strong spring, took the deal in stride.
"Anytime you get traded it's a good feeling," said Ohman, who was second in the league in appearances. "[It means] you did well enough ... to merit the trade, and there's somebody else out there that thinks you are serviceable. In that way, I guess it's a compliment. Got another 24friends picked out for me in South Florida. So, [I'll] go find out if they like me."
The Orioles liked the 6-foot-5, 215-pound VandenHurk, who signed as a 17-year-old out of the Marlins' Dutch academy and speaks five languages.
