Remember September 28, when the Rays staged that massive late seven-run comeback against the Yankees to squeeze into the playoffs on the last day of the season? That was a great day. That was a great day for everybody, except the Red Sox. And, unrelatedly, the Braves. The Orioles, it seems, enjoyed that day so much they've signed a guy who helped make that Rays comeback happen. (From the Yankees' side.)
Luis Ayala Joining Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles have signed free agent reliever Luis Ayala to a one-year contract with a 2013 option. You are reading a post about Luis Ayala.
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#orioles reach agreement with RHP Luis Ayala. Results of physical pending. 2-2 with 2.09 ERA in 52 appearances with the Yankees last season.
Further, from Dan Connolly:
Source says Ayala gets 1 yer mlb deal worth $925K guaranteed. team option for 2013
Ayala entered the September 28 game in the bottom of the eighth. The Yankees were leading 7-0, and the Rays had the bases loaded with nobody out. Ayala was removed from the game eight batters later, with the Yankees leading 7-6. Then Dan Johnson and Evan Longoria and everything.
Of course, the three runs with which Ayala was charged made up 17.6 percent of all the runs with which he was charged all last season. He had a fairly good season, with 39 strikeouts and 17 unintentional walks in 56 innings. He also got grounders. He was an acceptable reliever over 52 games. Now he’s going from the Yankees to the Orioles. In Baltimore, he’ll probably be a setup guy.
Ayala's a 34-year-old righty who doesn't exactly have a track record of being outstanding, so the Orioles shouldn't count on him to be any kind of difference-maker. But according to reports, he's signed with the Orioles despite having received an offer from the Angels, so that has to make the Orioles feel good. The Orioles might not be able to compete with the Angels in the standings, but they can damn sure compete with the Angels in the generic middle-reliever sweepstakes.
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