Oriole #939- Joe Saunders

The newest member of the Orioles is starting pitcher Joe Saunders who made his Baltimore debut in last night's game against the White Sox. Let's just say that it was a "rocky" start and hope that his next turn through the rotation has better results.

Joe was the Angels' first round selection in the 2002 first year player draft and he made his major league debut with them in 2005. He represented the Angels in the All-Star game in 2008 and pitched in Anaheim for parts of six seasons. At the trade deadline in 2010 he was sent to the Diamondbacks as part of the package that netted Dan Haren for the Angels. The Dbacks recently designated him for assignment and the Orioles sent reliever Matt Lindstrom to Arizona to bring him to Baltimore. Joe has long been discussed by the Orioles as a possible addition to the roster, at least in part due to that fact that he is from nearby Springfield, Virginia. And it never hurts that he was an Orioles fan growing up either.

Somehow, I happened to already have Joe's autograph in my collection. He signed this card for me when he was with the Angels and in town to play the O's way back in July 2009. I totally forgot that I had it in my collection until I was writing this post and it was quite the pleasant surprise. This is yet another example of why I don't like to trade autographs of current players who play for other teams because I never know who could end up on the Orioles.

Joe is scheduled to become a free agent in the off-season and while it's possible that he re-signs with the O's, if he does not, I would be surprised if he is featured on a card as an Oriole, but anything is possible. Good luck moving forward Joe!