Orioles sign Accardo, close on Kevin Gregg?

According to ESPN Boston, The Baltimore Orioles are close to signing RP Kevin Gregg to a 2 year $12m contract. Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun says a 2 year deal for $8-10M is on the table, but the O’s do not feel a deal is imminent. The 32 year-old RHP spent the 2010 season with the Toronto Blue Jays after previous stops with Florida, the Cubs, and the LA Angels.

What will get a lot of attention, is that Gregg has accumulated 122 saves (and 26 blown saves) during the four previous seasons. What matters more is his peripheral numbers. Let us take a look at some of his stats for the three most recent seasons.

2008: 72 games, 68.2 ip, 51 hits, 3 hr’s, 37 bb’s, 58 k’s, .203 baa, .585 OPS, 0.88 G/F
2009: 72 games, 68.2 ip, 60 hits, 13 hr’s, 30 bb’s, 70 k’s, .229 baa, .740 OPS, 0.64 G/F
2010: 63 games, 59 ip, 52 hits, 4 homers, 30 bb’s, 58 k’s, .237 baa, .712 OPS, 0.76 G/F

This pretty clearly illustrates what Gregg brings to the table. A guy that is pretty durable, that figures to give up less than a hit per IP, have mediocre control, and good k rates.

This FanGraphs’ article from last May talks about Gregg incorporating a cutter to his arsenal in 2010:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/the-greggster/

This link visualizes Gregg’s velocity and movement by pitch:

http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/pitcher/276514/

Gregg had turned down Toronto’s offer of arbitration. As a Type B Free Agent, the Jays will receive a compensatory pick but the O’s will not have to give up a draft-pick.

If the O’s obtain Gregg, the bullpen would currently look like:

Gregg
Gonzalez
Uehara
Johnson
Berken
VandenHurk / Accardo
Patton / 2nd lefty (FA?)

Jeremy Accardo, a 29 year-old RHP also most recently with the Blue Jays, was signed to a 1 year $1M deal according to Rogers Sportsnet.

After a 30 save season with the Jays in 2007, Accardo barely pitched in the Majors the next 3 successive years. (2008 lost to injury) I would imagine his signing is some insurance against the current injury risk of Berken. Someone in the O’s Front Office obviously liked what they saw out Accardo in the Pacific Coast League the past two seasons, and believes he is a decent reclamation project.

Here are his career statistics:

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/A/Jeremy-Accardo.shtml

I guess Accardo illustrates a point that a lot of people will make if the O’s do ink Gregg to that purported contract. The idea being that relievers are volatile and not a great bet for consistent production. Still, count me as one that thinks Gregg is a worthwhile signing. Saves are overrated, but that experience is not. He adds depth to the pen, and takes pressure off the shoulders of all of the other relievers. Since there is no draft pick being lost, the only ‘risk’ is the monetary investment. I have doubts about whether that money would be reinvested into amateur scouting, so I think being upset about the dollars spent carries minimal weight.