O's Acquire Jai Miller; Jo-Jo Reyes Signs with Pirates

On Tuesday, the Orioles announced they had acquired Jai Miller from the Athletics for cash considerations. He figures to compete for an outfield spot during Spring Training and must pass through waivers if he is sent to the minors. My feeling is that he is behind Endy Chavez and Nolan Reimold in the current outfield plans, so he will likely provide the team some OF depth at AAA Norfolk. Since Brandon Snyder had been traded to the Rangers the same day Jai was acquired from the A's, Miller simply slides into Snyder's spot on the 40 man roster.

Since 2008, Jai has seen limited Major League action with the Marlins, Royals, and A's, most recently playing in 7 games for the A's in 2011. He has had issues with his strikeout totals throughout his time in organized baseball and will need to continue working on that to become a successful player at the Major League level.

Also on Tuesday, the Pirates announced that they had signed 2011 Oriole Jo-Jo Reyes, #905 on the all-time roster, to a split Major/Minor contract for the 2012 season. I certainly didn't expect him to return to Baltimore since the Orioles had non-tendered him in mid-December, but I held out hope since I was never able to get him to sign a card for me in person. Luckily, I swung a trade on SCN to add his autograph to my collection. Good luck in 2012 Jo-Jo! At least you never had a card produced of you in an Orioles uniform, so no upgrade is needed for my collection.

Orioles Non-Tenders

Earlier this week, the Orioles did not offer contracts (non-tendered) to three of their arbitration eligible players; Luke Scott, Jo-Jo Reyes, and Willie Eyre. 

I hear that the O's would like to bring Luke back, but didn't want to have to pay whatever the amount (with a raise) would have been over the $6.4 million he made last season. I recently heard that up to ten teams are interested in him though, so I'm skeptical that he will be an Oriole in 2012. 

Reyes had a 6.16 ERA during his nine games late in the season, after the O's claimed him off of waivers from the Jays in early August, so I wasn't surprised to see him on this list.

However, Eyre's non-tendering confuses me. Just last week, the Orioles designated him for assignment when they acquired Dana Eveland from the Dodgers. I thought that when a player who didn't have any options was designated, he became a free agent. But I guess not? Can anyone explain this one to me?

Oriole # 905- Jo-Jo Reyes

On August 3, Jo-Jo became the 905th player to appear in a game for the Orioles when he pitched two innings in a loss against the Royals. I didn't have an autograph of double J at the time of his debut and was away from the blog for a few days, so that's why it took me just over three weeks to write about his debut.

Jo-Jo was drafted by the Braves in the second round of the 2003 draft and rose through their Minor League ranks to become one of their top pitching prospects. He made his MLB debut with the Braves in late 2007 but he has mostly struggled in the Majors thus far in his career. He was essentially an extra player in the 2010 Blue Jays-Braves trade that sent him and Yunel Escobar to Toronto for Alex Gonzalez and two minor leaguers. He is best known around baseball for his unfortunate streak of 28 starts without a win that was snapped earlier this season with a Jays victory over the Indians. Those 28 starts without a W tied him with two other pitchers for the all-time record, and I'm sure that he is happy to avoid holding that one all by himself.

The Jays designated Jo-Jo for assignment on July 23rd and the O's claimed him on August 2nd. I see him as just another pitcher in a long line of Orioles late season warm bodied pick-ups to finish out the season. He might prove me wrong and he has been decent so far with a 2-2 record and 4.57 ERA over five appearances (four starts) but I would be happier if Jo-Jo was a middle reliever moving forward. His six inning, one earned run start yesterday will likely keep him in the rotation for at least one more start and it would be great if he had continued success through the end of the season.

Good luck double J!