Orioles News, Notes, and Links

• The Orioles finalized a deal today in which they acquired infielders JJ Hardy and Brendan Harris from the Twins, in exchange for minor-league relievers Jim Hoey and Brett Jacobson. Hardy (28) will most likely start at shortstop and bat in the bottom 3rd of the lineup; Harris (30) is more of a reserve middle-infielder type (he's played every infield position at the big-league level), and will fill that role for the O's, but has been a starter in the past. His best season was 2006 with the Rays, where he posted a .286/.343/.434 line, including 35 doubles and 12 HR. Hoey (27) has been a prospect for a long time, but got hurt and missed all of '08 with a shoulder problem; he pitched well last year between Bowie and Norfolk. I wrote about Jacobsen yesterday - he's talented, but still a long way from the big leagues.
• The team also re-signed reliever Koji Uehara, on a 1-year deal with an option for 2012. The deal is supposedly incentive-laden, with a base salary of $3 million that could escalate to as much as $5 million, if he stays healthy and performs. To me, this is a VERY big deal, since the Reynolds trade sent David Hernandez west to Arizona, and depleted an already-suspect bullpen.
• The Mets selected 24-year old RHP Pedro Beato from the Orioles in the Rule 5 draft. Beato was a former 1st round pick (32nd overall) by the O's in 2006, and pitched pretty well last year at Bowie (4-0, 2.11 ERA in 40 games as a reliever). The O's also lost RHP Pat Egan, who pitched well for Bowie and Norfolk over the last two seasons.
• I had to research the rules for this sort of thing, as a lot of times, Rule 5 picks don't stick with their new clubs, and get offered back to their original teams. According to Wikipedia:

"To prevent excessive turnover in the minor league levels, each draftee costs $50,000. If the draftee does not stay on the selecting team's 25-man (major league) roster all season, the player must be offered back to his original team at half-price. Organizations may also draft players from AA or lower to play for their AAA affiliates (for $12,000) and may draft players from A teams or lower to play for their AA affiliates (for $4,000)."

• The Orioles made their own Rule 5 picks: they acquired 6'4", 21 year-old RHP Adrian Roasario from the the Brewers organization, Dale Mollenhauer (ChiSox, INF), Casey Lambert (Cubs, LHP), and Jacob Rasner (ChiSox, RHP). I'll write some more about this after I figure out what level they'd have to play at in order to stick with the O's.
• The Boston Red Sox announced today that they have signed former Tampa outfielder Carl Crawford to a 7-year, $142 million deal. That makes him the 2nd highest paid outfielder in history, behind only Manny Ramirez. With Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury, the Sox now have more speed at the top of the lineup than any other team in baseball, and having traded for Adrian Gonzalez already this week... that lineup is REALLY scary.
• Buck Showalter weighed in on the Orioles current priorities: 

"We are trying to attack the bullpen...Get more of a proven area, some guys with good track records and [we] feel like we are fairly close on some of those things. I think hopefully we can get Jimmy Johnson for a full year. If he comes back for a full year and he's healthy for the full year, he adds a couple of track record guys down there."