The Orioles have apparently signed 33 year-old right-handed relief pitcher Chong Tae-Hyon to a two-year, $3.2 M contract. The submariner - or Korean Chad Bradford*, as I'm going to think of him until I learn how to pronounce his name (and maybe after that) - has a 1.93 career ERA in 569 IP in South Korea. Other numbers; 7.1 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 0.4 HR/9. By comparison, Chad Bradford's Triple-A stats; 1.78 ERA, 6.6 K/9, 1.7 BB/9, 0.3 HR/9. * Here's some video of Tae-Hyon. Looks sort of Bradford-like, with maybe worse stuff (though it's not a lot of pitches to see).I wouldn't expect all that much from Tae-Hyon - maybe an ERA around 4-4.25 and somewhere between replacement level and 0.5 wins. And signing him for two years seems maybe a touch overboard. At least he's relatively cheap. Maybe if he picks up some batted ball luck the O's can spin him off at the trade deadline. Low risk, (probably) low reward move. But that's OK*.* #LoweredExpectations.
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