Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Tillman sent down again; more roster moves coming

After a subpar performance last night, the Orioles decided to send Chris Tillman back to Triple-A Norfolk. According to O's manager Juan Samuel, the move doesn't mean a whole lot:
"We figured Tillman is not going to pitch again for five days, so why not do it now and get him on his way," interim manager Juan Samuel said. "That's the decision we made instead of waiting until" Wednesday.
With Kevin Millwood scheduled to be activated from the disabled list tomorrow and slated to start against the Twins on Thursday, the O's needed Tillman's roster spot to make the move.

First off, I don't really have a problem with the decision. The O's need to get Millwood back on the roster to make a few starts since they would obviously love to trade him and get something of value in return. That will only be possible if he's able to pitch well and stay healthy, so we'll see how that goes. Second, the front office's hands are really tied at this point with Michael Gonzalez, Brian Roberts, and Matt Wieters all expected to join the team within the next week or so. That's a lot of roster moves and decisions to make in such a short period of time.

With Luke Scott taking Frank Mata's roster spot and Millwood taking Tillman's, (at least) three more choices will need to be made. Barring possible trades or injuries, here are a few options: 1) demote Josh Bell to Norfolk; 2) release Julio Lugo; or 3) designate Matt Albers for assignment (I believe he's out of options). I guess the O's could also release Jake Fox or demote Brad Bergesen, though that would probably mean that Tillman would be promoted.

In the long run, these roster moves won't mean a whole lot. But even really bad teams have to make difficult personnel decisions.

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