O’s Ink Santana… Eh, Close Enough

After the Orioles signed Ubaldo Jimenez to shore up the starting rotation, you’d have to figure that they would be done spending money, right? Especially after dropping an additional $8MM on Nelson Cruz. When we posed that question to Britt Ghiroli last week, she said we shouldn’t be too sure – the Orioles could still surprise us.

Rumors have swirled that the Orioles might still be “in” on Ervin Santana. I think a lot of that interest is being reported by Santana’s camp, who are trying to create a market for him, now that pickings have gotten slim. Santana loves to tease Orioles fans, though. His Twitter account followed several prominent Baltimore sports accounts a few weeks ago, and came up with this little gem last night:

I don’t want to burst anyone’s bubble, but he also quoted Warren Spahn. He’s self promoting, not dropping hints that he’s interested in coming here. Still, if the O’s were to drop a whole lot of coin and add Santana, it’s tough to argue that it wouldn’t instantly improve the staff, and bump Miguel Gonzalez or Bud Norris to the bullpen.

I was delighted when I heard that the Orioles were close to signing Santana. I was a little less delighted when I realized it was Johan Santana, to a minor league deal.  Then there was this (hat tip to @OriolesFanProbz):

OK, so we have to settle for Johan Santana, even if it’s the wrong Johan Santana. But this is a good move – it’s the kind of move that should be praised when it provides meaningful depth or potential benefit in addition to moves that can be depended upon. Now that Duqette has shut us up about making “the big moves,” he can go back to doing what he does best: finding diamonds in the rough, and taking low risks to provide second chances.

Johan Santana may never recapture the form that made him a Cy Young winner, on the way to a 139-78 record with a career 3.20 ERA. He may never get his fastball back consistently into the 80s. But if he can come back enough to be a contributor to the bullpen, or a spot starter, he can be a real asset. His experience and past success make him an ideal candidate to bolster the pitching staff in what we hope will be a playoff run.

And at a $3MM minor league deal, all it costs is money. Keep it up, Dan.