Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
The Baltimore Orioles were expected to land a pitcher before the trade deadline and it looks like they pulled through with about 20 minutes to spare. The Orioles have agreed to a trade with the Houston Astros for starting pitcher Bud Norris. In exchange, Baltimore will reportedly send outfielder L.J. Hoes and a draft pick to Houston.
The Orioles currently sit five games back in the AL East and are trying desperately to keep things together in the highly contested division. Norris will come to Orioles with a 6-9 record on the season and sporting a 3.93 ERA. These are even more impressive numbers when you consider the fact he’s on a dismal last place team.
Baltimore is near the bottom of the league in team ERA (4.30), good for 26th in all of baseball. That’s too high of a number to keep pace in the AL East over the next two months. They’re hoping Norris can help bring that figure down and help to stabilize the rotation.
It once seemed that Jake Peavy was destined to toe the rubber at Camden Yards, but getting Norris is not a bad consolation prize. You could even argue that he’s a better option, considering he’ll come $11 million cheaper than Peavy would have. Norris is set to become a free agent at the end of the season, but I’m sure he’s just glad to be on a contender.
As for the Astros, they remain big sellers with nothing but the future in mind.
Follow Andrew Fisher on Twitter
