The Orioles have signed 29-year old lefty swinging 1B/3B Jeff Larish to a minor league deal. Larish played in 75 games in AAA-ball for the Phillies last year and he was 61 for 254 (.240 avg, .779 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 13 homers, 37 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He last played in the majors in 2010 with the Tigers & A’s. Larish has played in 101 games in his first three years in the majors and he is 55 for 245 (.224 avg, .688 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 8 homers, 32 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He will likely start the 2012 season in AAA-ball and have to earn his way to Baltimore.

The Orioles have signed 34-year old lefty starter/reliever Casey Fossum to a minor league deal. Fossum pitched in 9 games (6 starts) in AAA-ball for the Mets last year and he was 0-4 with a 6.56 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP. He has now pitched in 237 games (120 starts) in his first 9 years in the majors and he is 40-53 with 2 saves, a 5.45 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. Fossum will likely start the 2012 season in AAA-ball for the Orioles.

The Orioles have signed 31-year old side-arming righty reliever Pat Neshek to a minor league deal. Neshek pitched in 25 games (0 starts) for the Padres last year and he was 1-1 with a 4.01 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP. In his first five years in the majors, Neshek has pitched in 157 games (0 starts) in his first five years in the majors and he is 12-7 with a 3.21 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. He has given up only 105 hits in 154 1/3 innings so far in his major league career while whiffing 171 batters as he has been nasty when healthy. Neshek will try to win a job in the Orioles’ pen this spring and I really like the signing for them.

The Orioles have signed 30-year old righty swinging catcher Ronny Paulino to a minor league deal. He played in 78 games for the Mets last year and he was 61 for 228 (.268 avg, .663 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 2 homers and 19 RBIs. Paulino has now played in 553 games in his first seven years in the majors and he is 492 of 1,804 (.273 avg, .705 OPS) with 176 runs scored, 32 homers, 211 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Paulino is going to battle Taylor Teagarden this spring for the right to back up Matt Wieters in 2012. I like the move for the Orioles as competition for jobs is never a bad thing.

The Orioles have signed 33-year old lefty swinging outfielder Cory Aldridge to a minor league deal. Aldridge didn’t play anywhere last year. He last played in 2010 with the Angels. Aldridge has played in 13 games in his first two years in the majors and he is 1 for 18 (.056 avg, .222 OPS) with 1 run scored and 1 RBI. He will likely start the year in AAA.