Orioles Non-Tender Albers

The O's announced today that they were not going to tender RHP Matt Albers a new contract, which effectively makes him a free-agent. Albers (27) was eligible for arbitration (Super 2), and was set for a raise over his $680K 2010 salary should the Orioles offer him a contract, which they declined to. The 230-ish lb righty went 5-3 with a 4.52 ERA in 2010, and was 3rd in the league in relief innings with 75 2/3. Below is the story on MASN Sports:

Orioles don't offer contract to RHP Albers

This one kind of bums me out... I've liked Albers since he came over in the Tejada deal, and not just because he's a fellow fat-ish guy. He's always had good stuff (and yes, mediocre command), but got in a groove for awhile last year and was really their best reliiever for about a month in the 2nd half. I really thought he turned the corner late last year, and was thinking he'd be a part of the pen again in 2011.

Now, supposedly he the Orioles are still negotiating, as MacPhail was quoted in the Sun as saying the following:

"The negotiations can continue — we just didn't want it to continue with the end possibility potentially being an arbitration case."

A few other things you might not have known about Matt Albers:

• Born in Houston, Texas in 1983.
• Drafted by the Astros in the 23rd round (#686) in 2001, out of high school.
• Was up-and-down in the minor leagues, but his prospect status increased significantly with a 10-2 record and 2.19 ERA at Corpus Christi (AA) in 2006.
• He was the Texas League Pitcher of the Year that season.
• Made his major league debut on July 25th of 2006, with Houston.
• He was traded to the O's on December 12th, 2007, in a deal that included Albers, Troy Patton, Luke Scott, Dennis Sarfate and Mike Costanzo for Miguel Tejada.
• Appeared in 146 games over the last 3 seasons for the Orioles (all but 3 in relief), and posted an 11-12 record and a 4.60 ERA.
• 2010 was the first year he spent the entire season in the big leagues.

And finally, a short article I found on how Baseball Arbitration works, which was informative.