The Baltimore Orioles have signed 33-year old righty swinging catcher Chad Moeller to a minor league contract. Moeller played in 41 games for the Yankees last season and he was 21 for 91 (.231 avg, .641 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 1 homer and 9 RBIs. He has now played in 462 games in his major league career and he is 289 for 1,289 (.224 avg, .631 OPS) with 138 runs scored, 27 homers and 122 RBIs. Moeller will likely battle Guillermo Quiroz to see who backs up rookie catcher Matt Wieters in 2009.

The Baltimore Orioles have decided not to tender 28-year old righty Lance Cormier a contract making him a free agent. He pitched in 45 games (1 start) for the Orioles last season and he was 3-3 with 1 save, a 4.02 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. Cormier has now pitched in 168 games (24 starts) in his major league career and he is 17-21 with 1 save, a 5.53 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP. The Orioles probably won’t miss Cormier too much in 2009.

The Orioles decided not to offer 27-year old righty starting pitcher Daniel Cabrera a contract for 2009 making him a free agent. Cabrera pitched in 30 games (all starts) for the Orioles last year and he was 8-10 with a 5.25 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP. In his career with the Orioles Cabrera pitched in 147 games (146 starts) in which he was 48-59 with 1 save, a 5.05 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. Cabrera’s downfall in Baltimore was his lack of control as he walked 478 batters in 841.1 innings and it often hurt him badly. He has signed on with the Washington Nationals for 2009 so Orioles’ fans will be able to keep a close eye on him.

The Orioles have signed 28-year old switch hitting shortstop Cesar Izturis to start at shortstop. He will bring good defense and a pesky little stick to Baltimore. He played in 135 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 109 for 414 (.263 avg, .628 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 1 homer, 24 RBIs and 24 stolen bases. He has now played in 903 games in his major league career and he is 822 for 3,165 (.260 avg, .630 OPS) with 342 runs scored, 12 homers, 231 RBIs and 86 stolen bases. This was a solid signing for the Orioles.

The Orioles have traded 32-year old righty swinging catcher Ramon Hernandez for the Reds for Ryan Freel and young infielders Justin Turner and Brandon Waring. Hernandez played in 133 games for the Orioles last season and he was 119 for 463 (.257 avg, .714 OPS) with 49 runs scored, 15 homers and 65 RBIs. He has now played in 1,188 games in his major league career in which he is 1,044 for 3,975 (.263 avg, .747 OPS) with 477 runs scored, 137 homers and 602 RBIs. Rookie catcher Matt Wieters will likely have a good chance of being the starting catcher for the Orioles in 2009. 32-year old righty swinging Ryan Freel will likely be a super sub for the Orioles playing everywhere but catcher. Freel played in 48 games for the Reds last season and he was 39 for 131 (.298 avg, .699 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 10 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Freel has now played in 553 games in his major league career and he is 515 for 1,895 (.272 avg, .733 OPS) with 295 runs scored, 22 homers, 117 RBIs and 142 stolen bases. 24-year old righty swinging 2B Justin Turner was the Reds’ #29 prospect in the system coming into 2008 according to Baseball America. He played in 111 games in A + AA ball last season and he was 124 for 416 (.298 avg, .785 OPS) with 68 runs scored, 8 homers, 53 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. 22-year old righty swinging 3B Brandon Waring was the Reds’ #23 prospect coming into 2008 according to Baseball America. Waring played in 119 games in A-ball last season and he was 119 for 441 (.270 avg, .813 OPS) with 63 runs scored, 20 homers and 71 RBIs. But, he also whiffed 156 times last season which is way too many. The Orioles did better than I thought they would in a trade for Hernandez as they got two legit prospects and Ryan Freel.