June 14, 2006

Russ Ortiz, we hardly new ye.:

posted by lilnemo to baseball at 01:06 PM - 28 comments

Summary: Ortiz has a 5-15 record with a 6.95 ERA in 1+ season's with the D-Backs. Safe to say that he had this coming...though he's still owed a hefty penny of money...

posted by chemwizBsquared at 01:10 PM on June 14, 2006

Surprising or unexpected player movements might be related to upcoming revelations regarding performance enhancing substances!

posted by bpielet at 01:31 PM on June 14, 2006

Come on. That's pure speculation. Ortiz is being let go because he has become a horrible pitcher.

posted by mattcschmidt at 01:45 PM on June 14, 2006

Surprising or unexpected player movements might be related to upcoming revelations regarding performance enhancing substances! Or maybe the guy just sucked.

posted by jerseygirl at 01:49 PM on June 14, 2006

Watch, the White Sox will pick him up and he'll go 9-0 the rest of the year !!

posted by wdminott at 02:01 PM on June 14, 2006

Ortiz will be picked up by someone. If you are a lefty and you have a heartbeat someone will want you. Look for Arizona to pick up some of his salary in a trade.

posted by Termite at 03:09 PM on June 14, 2006

Or maybe the guy just sucked. Wait a minute...you can still release a guy because he's no damned good? Who'da thunk it?

posted by The_Black_Hand at 03:13 PM on June 14, 2006

Either too much HGH or not enough Throw Straight Hormones.

posted by gradys_kitchen at 03:24 PM on June 14, 2006

If you are a lefty and you have a heartbeat someone will want you. Which would be great for Russ. If only he was a lefty. Having said that, there could be a team who would take him on as a reclamation project but not if it means paying any portion of his ($20 Mill remaining) contract. I think he's more likely to clear waivers and get a make-good minor league deal.

posted by lilnemo at 03:24 PM on June 14, 2006

Opps! I misread the link. I thought Russ was a lefty. It's not as simple now but I still expect him to get a look somewhere.

posted by Termite at 03:32 PM on June 14, 2006

Dude parlayed two high-win years (even though his peripheral stats were not great) in Atlanta into a fat contract with Arizona. Another reason why (a) Leo Mazzone is worth whatever the Orioles are paying him, and (b) you don't look at wins when assessing a pitcher.

posted by holden at 03:53 PM on June 14, 2006

Actually he also had some good years in San Francisco but he would always have that one wild inning where he could serve up 8 runs before you'd know it.

posted by fenriq at 04:00 PM on June 14, 2006

is it me? or dies it seem the D backs have some of the shittiest luck, Sexton comes to mind.

posted by blakrain at 04:05 PM on June 14, 2006

is it me? or dies it seem the D backs have some of the shittiest luck, Sexton comes to mind. I don't think it's bad luck, I think it was bad personnel decisions under the old regime. (Something that appears to be changing based on the recent draft and the other personnel moves under GM Josh Byrnes and his team.) Irrespective of whether Sexson was injury prone prior to coming to Arizona, the D'backs gave up a lot (Lyle Overbay, Craig Counsell, Junior Spivey, Chad Moeller, Craig Capuano and Jorge de la Rosa) to get a guy (Sexson) only under contract for one year plus spare parts.

posted by holden at 04:24 PM on June 14, 2006

Wait a minute...you can still release a guy because he's no damned good? Who'da thunk it? Comment icon posted by The_Black_Hand at 3:13 PM CDT on June 14 Its true! That being said, I'd like to get Julian Tavares to ride sidecar with Roethlisberger.

posted by jerseygirl at 04:27 PM on June 14, 2006

But will he be wearing a helmet? Think of the ChildrenS!

posted by lilnemo at 04:42 PM on June 14, 2006

I bet the Yankees have some interest in this guy- at one time he was a decent pitcher, but with Arizona, he sucked.

posted by redsoxrgay at 05:11 PM on June 14, 2006

is it me? or dies it seem the D backs have some of the shittiest luck, Sexton comes to mind.

posted by blakrain at 05:21 PM on June 14, 2006

oops sorry souble post

posted by blakrain at 05:22 PM on June 14, 2006

That may be the longest period of time between double posts that I've ever seen: 76 minutes.

posted by grum@work at 05:52 PM on June 14, 2006

hahahahahahhahaha

posted by gmactothemax91 at 06:38 PM on June 14, 2006

If you are a lefty and you have a heartbeat someone will want you Bullspit!

posted by erkno11 at 06:53 PM on June 14, 2006

Maybe the Orioles will pick Russ up and Mazzone will turn him into a pitcher again.

posted by roberts at 07:02 PM on June 14, 2006

Bullspit! How's the season treating you?

posted by yerfatma at 08:09 PM on June 14, 2006

Lets just say this...at least Ortiz has a better shot at landing a job in the majors than former teammate Grimsley does. Ortiz to Baltimore is a legit answer, though watch even the O's be unable to fix this once "solid" starter.

posted by chemwizBsquared at 08:25 PM on June 14, 2006

That's pretty funny. Ortiz's success was always a bit of a mystery to me - he would win, depsite all the indications that he shouldn't - high pitch-per-inning, not great control for a guy who didn't throw hard, and a low K per nine. Yet, there he was, with 15-16 wins and a decent ERA on a winning team. But man, what an ugly ballplayer. I conclude that Leo Mazzone is a mutant. But after watching a couple of Oriole games this year, I think his "magnetic rocking power" has a particular regional limit.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:53 PM on June 14, 2006

Weedy, I hope Mazzone's powers aren't regional, I've just been assuming they need some time to kick in. Like a year or two of working with the kids. Ortiz might be a decent fit in Baltimore, they could certainly do worse (I hear Kirk Reuter's looking for a team, just kidding).

posted by fenriq at 10:46 PM on June 14, 2006

Dunno about anyone else, but my father would be ashamed to see me listed as a sunk cost.

posted by yerfatma at 07:37 PM on June 15, 2006

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