27-year old lefty swinging outfielder Jeff Fiorentino has signed a minor league deal with the Orioles. He played last season in Japan and it didn’t go too well. He last played in the majors with the Orioles in 2009 in which he played in 24 games and was 18 of 64 (.281 avg, .648 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 8 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Fiorentino has played in 58 games in his first four years in the majors and he is 40 of 148 (.270 avg, .666 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 1 homer, 21 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Fiorentino will get a shot to win a job on the bench this spring but he’s a longshot.

The Orioles have re-signed 36-year old lefty reliever Mark Hendrickson to a minor league deal. Hendrickson pitched in 52 games (1 start) for the Orioles last season and he was 1-6 with a 5.26 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. He has now pitched in 105 games (12 starts) in his first two years for the O’s and he is 7-11 with 1 save, a 4.74 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. Hendrickson has pitched in 320 games (166 starts) in his first 9 years in the majors and he is 57-74 with 1 save, a 5.02 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. The price was right to bring back Hendrickson for 2011 but he will have to win a spot in the pen this spring.

The Orioles have signed 33-year old righty starting pitcher Justin Duchscherer to a 1-year contact. Duchscherer pitched in 5 games (all starts) for the A’s last season and he was 2-1 with a 2.89 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. He has now pitched in 224 games (32 starts) in his first 8 years in the majors and he is 33-25 with 14 saves, a 3.13 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. This was a nice low risk/high reward signing for the Orioles because Duchscherer has been very effective when healthy. The O’s hope that Duchscherer will be able to give them 30+ starts in 2011 but that might be a reach as he has only pitched in 5 games the last two seasons due to a hip problem.

The Orioles have signed 32-year old righty swinging infielder Nick Green to a minor league deal. Green played in 14 games for the Dodgers & Blue Jays last season in which he was 3 for 21 (.143 avg, .360 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs. He has now played in 392 games in his first six years in the majors and he is 237 of 1,000 (.237 avg, .653 OPS) with 142 runs scored, 16 homers, 96 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Green will duke it out this spring with Robert Andino and Brendan Harris to see who the Orioles backup infielder will be in 2011.

The Orioles have signed 32-year old lefty reliever Nick Bierbrodt to a minor league deal. Bierbrodt pitched in 35 games (0 starts) in AA+AAA-ball for the Rockies last season and he was 1-1 with 1 save, a 6.57 ERA and a 1.92 WHIP. He last pitched in the majors way back in 2004 with the Texas Rangers. He has pitched in 38 games (25 starts) in his major league career and he is 6-9 with a 6.66 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP. He is downright awful as a pitcher and the O’s will be in bad shape if he gets anywhere near Baltimore in 2011.