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Sunday, April 22, 2012

Dontrelle Willis moved to the restricted list at Triple-A

The Orioles have placed left-hander Dontrelle Willis on the restricted list at Triple-A Norfolk. He had been on the minor league seven-day disabled list with a left forearm strain, but was moved to the restricted list Friday.

When asked if Willis is healthy enough to pitch now, a club official said, “Yes,” but would not comment on exactly why Willis is on the restricted list. I’ll make an assumption here that everything is not smooth for some reason right now between Willis and the club but don’t have anything else to report on this right now.

After being released by the Phillies during spring training, the Orioles signed Willis to a minor league deal with the intention of turning him into a lefty relief specialist.

Thanks to WE.

Repoz Posted: April 22, 2012 at 05:45 PM | 22 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: orioles

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1. Home Run Teal & Black Black Black Gone! Posted: April 22, 2012 at 09:17 PM (#4113363)

I'm eatin' peanut butter for dinner.

2. escabeche Posted: April 22, 2012 at 09:39 PM (#4113372)

After being released by the Phillies during spring training, the Orioles signed Willis to a minor league deal

I know this didn't really happen, but the sad truth is that a significant fraction of the Orioles would have been released by the Phillies during spring training.

3. Magnum RA Posted: April 22, 2012 at 09:46 PM (#4113374)

Not as many as you might think anymore.

4. The District Attorney Posted: April 22, 2012 at 10:41 PM (#4113403)

I seem to remember a couple of years ago, Willis' team (I forget which; one of the 19 he has been on at this point) saying that he was suffering from an anxiety disorder, and Willis denying that that was the case. Is it possible that the O's want Willis to get psychological help and he objects, which itself is a symptom of the problem? I probably shouldn't be speculating about sensitive subjects, but I am.

5. Der_K Posted: April 22, 2012 at 11:20 PM (#4113426)

I thought his issue (now) was deciding that he need to start after all...

6. Tom Nawrocki Posted: April 22, 2012 at 11:32 PM (#4113430)

It was the Tigers, and they claimed to have diagnosed the anxiety disorder via blood test. I don't understand why Dontrelle never sued them.

7. theboyqueen Posted: April 22, 2012 at 11:46 PM (#4113435)

I had never heard that story, which really does not make any sense. The idea that this anxiety disorder was diagnosed by blood test seems to have been put forth by Willis himself -- "(The doctors) see something in my blood that they don't like."

Something must be missing from the story. Otherwise I cannot imagine the player's union not getting involved.

8. Dave Spiwak Posted: April 23, 2012 at 12:14 AM (#4113442)

Something must be missing from the story. Otherwise I cannot imagine the player's union not getting involved.

That's because the union's phrenologist concurred with the diagnosis.

9. Walks Clog Up the Bases Posted: April 23, 2012 at 12:25 AM (#4113446)

Dontrelle's glacial descent into oblivion is one of the most awkward, uncomfortable baseball storylines to unfold in my lifetime. He's one of those engaging personalities that the game could have really benefited from, especially during this cynical post-steroid era. Instead, he's going to be that guy who gets the big Steve Blass-esque feature written about him years from now.

10. Neutral Milk Dotel (Dan Lee) Posted: April 23, 2012 at 05:08 AM (#4113486)

"(The doctors) see something in my blood that they don't like."

I think it was that fried foods angried it up.

Dontrelle's glacial descent into oblivion is one of the most awkward, uncomfortable baseball storylines to unfold in my lifetime.

This.

Y'know, the weird thing about Dontrelle's descent is that even though we've all watched it happen and mourn the loss of what could have been, he's been a not-horrendous ballplayer the last two years. He hasn't been good, hasn't even been average, but he's been replacement level. He's been good enough to hold a semi-regular MLB job.

When guys like Blass, Ankiel, and even Saucier and Cowley lost it, it was *poof* gone. For Willis, it just made him fringy.

11. RMc and His Roster of Rubbish Posted: April 23, 2012 at 05:53 AM (#4113490)

"(The doctors) see something in my blood that they don't like."

I think it was that fried foods angried it up.

Don't look back, Dontrelle.

12. baudib Posted: April 23, 2012 at 06:00 AM (#4113491)

He hasn't been good, hasn't even been average, but he's been replacement level. He's been good enough to hold a semi-regular MLB job.

It's time to turn him into a LOOGY/long reliever/6th starter. It's sort of unbelievable to me that this hasn't happened. His platoon splits are very large and if you could concentrate more of his innings on lefty-heavy parts of the lineup, he'd probably be very effective.

Plus, there's the not insignificant matter that he could serve as a pinch hitter. A career 75 OPS+ with 9 HR in 389 AB is nothing to sneeze at.

13. Tom Nawrocki Posted: April 23, 2012 at 08:42 AM (#4113510)

Bill James once wrote something about how Dontrelle's pitching motion had so many funky moving parts to it that if one piece of it got thrown off, the whole thing was likely to go kablooey.

14. BDC

Posted: April 23, 2012 at 10:15 AM (#4113557)

it just made him fringy

Vaguely like Ben Grieve, a fellow Rookie of the Year gone sour. Grieve also became a AAAA player by his late 20s, not Joe-Charboneau level but nobody you'd want to invest any serious contract in either.

15. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: April 23, 2012 at 10:37 AM (#4113572)

"(The doctors) see something in my blood that they don't like."

Too many midi-chlorians?

16. The District Attorney Posted: April 23, 2012 at 01:49 PM (#4113733)

It's time to turn him into a LOOGY/hitter.

Fixed!

(Or maybe just a hitter.)

17. Never Give an Inge (Dave) Posted: April 23, 2012 at 02:08 PM (#4113751)

Dontrelle's glacial descent into oblivion is one of the most awkward, uncomfortable baseball storylines to unfold in my lifetime.

Was it really glacial? He was good-to-great from 2003-2006, replacement level in 2007, and then fell off a cliff. I had no idea that he was actually a replacement level pitcher for the Reds last year because I assumed he was out of baseball. As #10 says, the surprising thing is that he wasn't that bad last year -- passable peripherals for the first time since 2007.

18. Walks Clog Up the Bases Posted: April 23, 2012 at 02:27 PM (#4113762)

It seems that way to me mostly because Dontrelle's situation is so unlike other once-great pitchers who flame out. You can't really tie his descent to arm or shoulder problems. So to me, Dontrelle's saga is more unfortunate than, say, Mark Prior's. Prior's troubles span more time than Dontrelle's, but you can pinpoint his struggles with the numerous injuries. With Willis, there's just a lot of guesswork as to what went wrong.

19. baudib Posted: April 24, 2012 at 01:58 AM (#4114506)

I thought ChadBradfordWannabe did a study on him and found that the Marlins had totally messed up his motion?

20. rlc Posted: April 24, 2012 at 02:34 AM (#4114511)

It's time to turn him into a LOOGY/long reliever/6th starter. It's sort of unbelievable to me that this hasn't happened.

Willis leaves O's affiliate without explanation

The 30-year-old Willis sat down with Duquette while the team was playing at Gwinnett (Ga.) on Thursday, and Duquette said the organization laid out a plan to get Willis the innings he needed to build him up to be a successful reliever. Duquette said Willis didn't have a problem with the plan at the time, and the organization is still holding out hope that Willis -- who reportedly wants to try his hand at being a starter again -- will return.

Signed to a Minor League deal by Baltimore after being released this spring by the Phillies, the plan from the get-go was to have Willis learn to become a lefty specialist. He suffered a left forearm strain April 12 and was placed on the restricted list -- with no specific reasoning for the move -- on Sunday night.

You can't teach an old train new tracks.

21. Edmundo got dem ol' Kozma blues again mama

Posted: April 24, 2012 at 08:56 AM (#4114549)

but the sad truth is that a significant fraction of the Orioles would have been released by the Phillies during spring training.

You obviously have not been watching the 70 OPS+** Phillies this year.

** Boosted by their .750/.750/1.625 5-run ninth trailing 9-0 last night.

22. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: April 24, 2012 at 05:38 PM (#4115099)

Dontrelle Willis filing grievance

Pitcher Dontrelle Willis is filing a grievance against the Baltimore Orioles, alleging that the club placed him on the restricted list and is preventing him from signing with another organization even though he left the Orioles' Triple-A affiliate with the consent of a team official.

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Sunday, April 22, 2012

Dontrelle Willis moved to the restricted list at Triple-A

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