Oriole #959- Francisco (K-Rod) Rodriguez

Slowly, very slowly, I'm making my way through the list of players who have recently made their Orioles debuts. Up today is K-Rod.

Francisco Rodriguez, Oriole #959, Debuted July 25 against Royals

The Orioles swung a trade with the Brewers to add this four-time All-Star to their bullpen for the stretch run. The Birds traded away Nicky Delmonico, their #5 prospect, and 2011 6th round draft pick, to pry K-Rod away from the Brew Crew, so I certainly hope that he does something over the course of the last two months of the season to make the deal worthwhile for the O's. 

Things started out on the wrong foot for K-Rod and the Orioles as he gave up four home runs in his first four appearances for the team. Luckily, his five appearances since then have been free of homers, or any runs at all, and he has struck out nine while only giving up two hits.

After Jim Johnson's recent stretch of being absolutely horrible (did you know that he has blown 7 of 15 one run save chances this year?), it's entirely possible that K-Rod just might be the Orioles closer at least in the near future, if not for the remainder of the year. Since he was the Brewers closer before being traded, was 10-10 in saves this year, and has 304 career saves, I think he could do the job. Another thing to chew on is that K-Rod's 40 strikeouts on the year are just one fewer than Johnson's 41, in just over half the innings pitched. 

Good luck in Baltimore K-Rod! Oh, and it would be nice if the next time it's only me and one other person asking for your autograph, you might oblige us. It would certainly help a brotha out!

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!