Orioles - Signed Millar

Baltimore Orioles - Signed 1B Kevin Millar to 1-year contract worth $2.1 million; signed P Franklyn Gracesqui to a 1-year contract.

Millar can also make an amazing $2.5 million in additional incentive clauses; hopefully, these are of the “$1 million if the Orioles win the World Series or Millar wins the MVP” variety instead of the playing time ones.

What can you say?  The Orioles are exactly the type of team who should be finding year 2000 versions of Kevin Millar instead of year 2006 versions.  But, given that the Orioles probably have the least imaginative front office/ownership of any team in baseball, we know that wasn’t going to happen.  You probably could have gotten Val Pasucci back for 3 years at that price.  And before someone shouts Pirates or Royals, Dave Littlefield is imaginative, but dumb, and the Royals pickup of a backup/stopgap 2B in Esteban German (before the Grudz signing) in the Rule 5 draft was a ton more imaginative than anything the Orioles have done in years.

You know a signing’s bad when the team doesn’t even mention the player’s playing abilities and the player in question even announces that he’s “not a very good player.”  Kevin Millar has scads of veteran playoffy experience, super-important in the battle for 4th with the Devil Rays.  One of these years, perhaps even 2006, the Devil Rays will accidentally not screw over enough of their young talent and pass the O’s.

And to think people in Baltimore are confused as to why Tejada is so pissed-off.

2006 ZiPS Projection - Kevin Millar
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 AB   R    H  2B 3B  HR RBI  BB  SO  SB    BA   OBP   SLG  
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487  57  126  24  1  13  59  59  82   1  .259  .348  .392