27-year old righty starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens will join the Orioles’ starting rotation this Saturday against the Tampa Bay Rays.  He will be replacing lefty Wei-Yin Chen, who has recently been placed on the D.L.  Jurrjens has pitched in 8 games (all starts) in AAA-ball for the Orioles this year and he is 4-1 with a 3.14 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP.  Jurrjens has pitched in 126 games (125 starts) in his first 8 years in the majors and he is 53-37 with a 3.62 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP.  Jurrjens was a solid major league starting pitcher not too long ago, so maybe the Orioles will catch some lightning in a bottle with him.

The Orioles have acquired 28-year old righty swinging 3B/SS Brandon Wood from the Royals for cash considerations.  Wood played in 16 games in AAA-ball for the Royals this year and he was 14 of 53 (.264 avg, .700 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 2 homers and 7 RBIs.  Wood last played in the majors back in 2011 with the Angels and Pirates.  Wood has played in 272 games in his first five years in the majors and he is 130 of 700 (.186 avg, .513 OPS) with 65 runs scored, 18 homers, 64 RBIs and 5 stolen bases.  Wood has whiffed 218 times while only walking 32 times so far in his major league career.  Wood will have to play really well in AAA to get a shot at some point in 2013 with the Orioles.  He was once one of the most highly thought of prospects in all of baseball, so he could potentially be a late bloomer.

The Orioles have designated 29-year old righty reliever/starter Zach Clark for assignment.  Clark pitched in 1 game out of the pen for the Orioles earlier this year and he was 0-0 with a 16.20 ERA and a 3.00 WHIP.  Clark also pitched in 5 games (all starts) in AAA-ball for the Orioles this year and he was 1-2 with a 4.56 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP.  The Orioles won’t miss Clark too much if he gets claimed on waivers (which he probably won’t).

UPDATE:  (5/6/2013) - The Baltimore Orioles have outrighted Zach Clark to AA.

The Orioles have acquired 32-year old righty swinging catcher Chris Snyder from the Angels for 28-year old righty reliever Rob Delaney.  Snyder played in 21 games in AAA-ball for the D-Backs this year and he was 27 for 79 (.342 avg, 1.072 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 7 homers and 21 RBIs.  He has played in 706 games in his first 9 years in the majors and he is 465 of 2,067 (.225 avg, .714 OPS) with 227 runs scored, 77 homers and 297 RBIs.  Delaney pitched in 3 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Orioles this year and he was 0-1 with a 10.12 ERA and a 2.06 WHIP.  He has pitched in 5 games (0 starts) in his first two years in the majors and he is 0-0 with a 10.50 ERA and a 2.33 WHIP.  This was a great move for the Orioles as Snyder will be Matt Wieters’ new backup.  Snyder will get the chance to keep the backup job if he plays well while Taylor Teagarden is out of action.

The Orioles have released 36-year old righty reliever Scott Proctor.  Proctor pitched in 6 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Orioles this year and he was 0-0 with 1 save, a 8.59 ERA and a 2.73 WHIP.  Proctor has pitched in 307 games (1 start) in his seven years in the majors and he is 18-16 with 1 save, a 4.78 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP.  Proctor won’t be missed at all for the Orioles moving forward.

The Orioles have signed 23-year old righty swinging outfielder Delvi Cid to a minor league deal.  Cid played in 9 games earlier this year in AA-ball for the Indians and he is 4 for 28 (.143 avg, .440 OPS) with 6 runs scored and 1 stolen base.  Cid has now played in 508 games in his first seven years in the minors and he is 472 of 1,800 (.262 avg, .666 OPS) with 277 runs scored, 12 homers, 133 RBIs and 200 stolen bases.  Cid will likely start his career in AA-ball for the Orioles.

The Orioles have signed 30-year old righty swinging 2B Paco Rodriguez to a minor league deal.  He played in 69 games in Independent ball last year and he was 71 for 269 (.264 avg, .679 OPS) with 40 runs scored, 2 homers, 29 RBIs and 7 stolen bases.  He has now played in 580 games in his first 8 years in the minors and he is 583 of 2,067 (.282 avg, .729 OPS) with 318 runs scored, 10 homers, 184 RBIs and 85 stolen bases.  He will have a hard time getting to Baltimore at any point of the 2013 season.

The Orioles have announced that 30-year old righty swinging 1B/OF Conor Jackson has decided to retire from baseball.  He played in 9 games in AAA-ball for the Orioles this year and he was 5 for 25 (.200 avg, .573 OPS) with 1 run scored, 0 homers and 2 RBIs.  Jackson played in 658 games in his seven years in the majors and he was 591 of 2,184 (.271 avg, .757 OPS) with 291 runs scored, 52 homers, 295 RBIs and 27 stolen bases.  The Orioles should be o.k. moving forward without Jackson.

The Orioles have claimed 25-year old righty reliever Alex Burnett off waivers from the Blue Jays.  Burnett pitched in 2 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Blue Jays this year and he was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP.  Burnett pitched in 67 games (0 starts) for the Twins last year and he was 4-4 with a 3.52 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP.  Burnett has now pitched in 174 games (0 starts) in his first three years in the majors and he is 8-11 with a 4.61 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP.  I really like this pickup for the Orioles as Burnett will likely help them at some point in 2013.

The Orioles have released 31-year old lefty reliever Rich Rundles.  Rundles pitched in 4 games (1 start) in AAA-ball for the Orioles last year and he was 1-0 with a 2.02 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP.  He has not pitched so far in 2013.  Rundles has pitched in 9 games (0 starts) in his first two years in the majors and he is 0-0 with a 1.50 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP.  This isn’t much of a loss for the Orioles moving forward.