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Of all Duquette's additions, the one that received the most favorable reaction nationally is the signing of Chen, the 26-year-old Taiwanese left-hander, to a three-year deal worth a guaranteed $11.39 million. He throws his fastball in the low 90s, has shown good control in his career and has posted a 2.48 ERA in his past four seasons with the Chunichi Dragons of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. Some teams might have been scared off because his fastball velocity dipped into the 80s during last season, but Duquette said it was back up to 92-94 mph by the postseason. He has an option for 2015 — and won't cost more than $4.75 million in a season (his 2012 salary is $3.07 million). There's always a question as to how pitchers will adapt from NPB to major league baseball, but Chen likely will be at least competent for a few years.

1. Wei-Yin Chen, left-handed pitcher

( Getty photo / August 20, 2008 )

Of all Duquette's additions, the one that received the most favorable reaction nationally is the signing of Chen, the 26-year-old Taiwanese left-hander, to a three-year deal worth a guaranteed $11.39 million. He throws his fastball in the low 90s, has shown good control in his career and has posted a 2.48 ERA in his past four seasons with the Chunichi Dragons of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. Some teams might have been scared off because his fastball velocity dipped into the 80s during last season, but Duquette said it was back up to 92-94 mph by the postseason. He has an option for 2015 — and won't cost more than $4.75 million in a season (his 2012 salary is $3.07 million). There's always a question as to how pitchers will adapt from NPB to major league baseball, but Chen likely will be at least competent for a few years.

Comments (4)

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Biff Tubesock at 1:09 PM February 17, 2012

I can't believe Connolly characterizes Duquette's inconsequential tweaks as some kind of sea change. These are players nobody else wants. Even the Astros would turn their noses up for this dirty dozen. Duq's done nothing but rearrange the proverbial deck chairs--while using equally defective deck chairs to replace broken ones.

Lars Anderson at 9:38 AM February 17, 2012

Not a single addition to the Orioles is a starter on any other team in baseball. Orioles failed to obtain a quality corner infielder, a quality LF or DH. They failed to obtain a starting pitcher with a track record of winning. They added bodies, they made no additions. 95 losses would be expected, 100+ losses would not be unusual

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