The Baltimore Orioles have signed 25-year old righty swinging 3B Joel Guzman to a minor league deal. Guzman played in 120 games in AA+AAA ball last season and he was 112 for 418 (.268 avg, .759 OPS) with 56 runs scored, 12 homers and 59 RBIs. He has also played in 24 games in his major league career and he is 13 for 56 (.232 avg, .628 OPS) with 7 runs scored and 7 RBIs. The Orioles have nothing to lose by giving Guzman a chance this season to re-establish himself as a prospect.

32-year old switch-hitting 2B Brian Roberts is looking to put up another good season for the Orioles in 2010. He played in 159 games for the Orioles last season and he was 179 for 632 (.283 avg, .807 OPS) with 110 runs scored, 16 homers, 79 RBIs and 30 stolen bases. The RBIs were a huge spike for him as he had 22 more than he had in 2008 so the Orioles are hoping that it wasn’t a mirage. But with the line-up the Orioles have put together for 2010, Roberts should get a lot of chances to drive in runs again in 2010 despite batting leadoff. In the field Roberts made 11 errors while showing below average range. As long as he keeps hitting well the Orioles will overlook his defensive shortcomings.

25-year old Robert Andino can fill in at 2B as he is a solid defender but not much of a hitter. He played 8 error-free games at 2B for the Orioles in 2009. But, if something were to happen to Roberts where he would miss some time the O’s would probably insert Ty Wigginton there. He played 8 error-free games at 2B last season while showing pretty poor range. The thinking is that the 32-year old righty swinging Wigginton’s bat would make up for his mitt.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2B IN 2010: B+

The Orioles have re-signed 35-year old lefty starter/reliever Mark Hendrickson to a 1-year, $1.2 million dollar deal with a option for the 2011 season also worth $1.2 million bucks. Hendrickson pitched in 53 games (11 starts) for the Orioles last season and he was 6-5 with 1 save, a 4.37 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. The Orioles signed him with the idea of pitching him out of the pen where he was pretty effective in 2009. He only allowed 8 of 36 inherited runners to score (22%) which is pretty darn good. He also had a 3.44 ERA with a reliever and hitters only had a .708 OPS against Hendrickson when he was pitching out of the pen. Hendrickson has pitched in 268 games (165 starts) in his major league career now and he is 56-68 with 1 save, a 5.00 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. I like this signing for the Orioles.

The Orioles have designated 28-year old righty reliever Dennis Sarfate for assignment to make room on the roster for Miguel Tejada. Sarfate pitched in 20 games (0 starts) for the Orioles last season and he was 0-1 with a 5.09 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. He pitched two years for the Orioles appearing in 77 games (4 starts) in which he was 4-4 with a 4.82 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. Sarfate has good stuff as he only allowed 83 hits in 102 2/3 innings for the Orioles while whiffing 106 batters. But, he didn’t throw enough strikes as he walked 76 batters the last two years and that is way too many. The Orioles will likely find a trade partner for Sarfate because of his stuff.

In 1983 and 1984 righty starting pitcher Mike Boddicker was not only the ace of the Baltimore Orioles but he was one of the best pitchers in the major leagues period. In those two years Boddicker pitched in 61 games (60 starts) and he was 36-19 with a 2.78 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. He never really matched that success in the rest of him time in Baltimore. He pitched 9 years for the Orioles appearing in 190 games (180 starts) in which he was 79-73 with a 3.73 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP.