BALTIMORE (AP) -The Baltimore Orioles acquired help for their beleaguered pitching staff Friday, getting minor leaguer Brian Bass from the Minnesota Twins for a player to be named or cash.
The Orioles selected Bass’ contract from Triple-A Norfolk and added him to their major league roster.
The 26-year-old Bass was 3-4 with a 4.87 ERA in 44 games with Minnesota this season, but the right-hander had not pitched for the Twins since mid-August.
A series of injuries and poor starts by the Orioles left the team desperate for fresh arms. Baltimore didn’t have a starting pitcher for Wednesday’s game against Boston and was forced to use five relievers in a 5-4 defeat.
“We’re going to have to attack it with numbers,” club president Andy MacPhail said. “The attractive thing about Brian is that he throws strikes, doesn’t walk a lot of guys and keeps the ball on the ground. We had two pretty good scouting reports on him.
“Plus, when Minnesota didn’t bring him up we made the call and said, ‘Hey, if you’re not going to use him, we could.’ And they were accommodating on behalf of the player.”
The Orioles also recalled infielder Brandon Fahey on Friday and selected the contracts of catcher Omir Santos and right-hander Alfredo Simon from Norfolk. Fahey appeared in 40 games with Baltimore earlier in the season, and Santos batted .269 in 84 games with the Tides.
Simon, 27, was signed as a minor league free agent by the Orioles last Friday. He spent the majority of the season with the Monterrey Sultans of the Mexican League.
“He’s the first product of our international scouting foray. It’s not a high-profile, high-expenditure, but we think he was better than what else we had at our disposal,” MacPhail said.
Speaking of the additional arms in the clubhouse, manager Dave Trembley said, “I just want to have guys that can get people out and throw it over the plate.”
To make room on the 40-man roster for Bass, Simon and Santos, the Orioles released pitcher Fernando Cabrera, designated infielder Eider Torres for assignment and transferred right-hander Chris Ray from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day DL.
Cabrera was 2-1 with a 5.40 ERA in 22 games with Baltimore.
“Performance is the bottom line,” Trembley said. “I didn’t see Fernando Cabrera fitting in on this club next year. I think we can do better.”
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