Orioles sign Richard Hidalgo to minor league deal

[SSH2005]

http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/NASApp/ml...t=.jsp&c_id=bal

Hidalgo signs Minor League deal

Veteran slugger will compete with Matos for left-field job

 

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The Orioles brought in some more competition for their unsettled situation in left field Sunday, when they signed veteran Richard Hidalgo to a Minor League contract with an invite to Spring Training.

 

Hidalgo can opt out of his contract on March 26 if he's not on the big-league roster, but if he makes the team, he'll earn a base salary of $1 million with performance-based incentives that could up the ante. Jim Duquette, Baltimore's vice president of baseball operations, said Hidalgo will be in camp on Monday.

 

"Obviously, we've been talking to him for a while and thought we had a pretty good opportunity," said Duquette. "I'm not sure about the other opportunities he was weighing versus ours. He's a proven Major League player that's had a track record, and, really, it's a no-risk situation for the club.

 

"We're bringing him in on a Minor League contract, and [we'll] have him compete for a job and see where it goes from here."

 

Hidalgo will fight for time with Luis Matos in left field, and his presence could keep Kevin Millar and Jeff Conine at first base and designated hitter. The right-handed hitter batted just .221 with 16 home runs for Texas last season, but he's still well known for the 44-homer season he put up in 2000. For his career, Hidalgo is a .269 hitter with 171 home runs in 987 games.

 

"He's another guy that we can throw in the mix. We'll take a good look at him," said Baltimore manager Sam Perlozzo. "I think he throws very well, and, of course, he's got power. He brings some Major League statistics to the table. He's going to have to go out there and win a job just like everybody else."

 

Duquette said it was important to get Hidalgo in camp before the games start, and he also said he expects the 30-year-old to be in decent shape when he arrives.

 

"When guys come in on a Minor League contract, they're playing for themselves as much as for the club they're with, or for the other clubs to get a look at them," Duquette said. "Rather than being at home, not staying in shape, it's different conditioning for them. I don't know if that made a difference or not. We're glad he decided to come in before the games start."

 

Melvin Mora, Baltimore's third baseman, has reason to be thrilled with the Hidalgo signing. The two Venezuela natives are close friends, and Mora said he thought Hidalgo would make the Orioles a better team.

 

"Richard, everybody knows his numbers in the past, when he was hitting," said Mora. "Everybody knows he's a great outfielder. He's got a great arm. He's a young guy, and he's already got [a] 40-plus homer [season] in the big leagues.

 

"He's not a troublemaker. He's a guy that likes to work hard. And he can hit."

Edited February 27, 2006 by SSH2005

[Soxrock200]

Why didn't he stay in his hitter's park

[iWiN4PreP]

To a minor league deal? If thats that, then it aint a terrible deal. I dont think... Duno why they need him tho?

[SSH2005]

To a minor league deal? If thats that, then it aint a terrible deal. I dont think... Duno why they need him tho?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6022801357.html

Hidalgo Finally Joins Team

 

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Feb. 28 -- After a two-day wait, outfielder Richard Hidalgo arrived at the Baltimore Orioles' spring training facility on Tuesday. After taking a physical, he joined the team late for practice, took batting practice and shagged fly balls.

 

"I'm so happy to be here," Hidalgo said. "One of the reasons I want to be here is they have a very good club and good people here. This is my first time it took so long to get into camp."

 

Hidalgo signed a minor league deal with the Orioles on Sunday that could guarantee him $1 million plus incentives if he makes the team. Hidalgo had been waiting for a guaranteed major league contract during the offseason but couldn't find one. It is the first time Hidalgo has been to spring training under such a contract.

 

"It's not easy when you get in that position, that you have to think a lot [about] what you're going to do," Hidalgo said. "That kind of contract, and you know what you can do, what you've done in the past -- it's not easy. But I accept that. I'm just going to come here, do my best and show people I can play."

 

Hidalgo hit .221 with 16 home runs in 88 games for the Texas Rangers last season. Hidalgo has struggled to regain the form that enabled him to hit 44 home runs for Houston in 2000, though he has shown signs of that potential. In August 2004, Hidalgo hit 10 home runs for the New York Mets, then run by former general manager Jim Duquette, who is now vice president of the Orioles.

 

"He's the one that brought me to New York, too," Hidalgo said. "I'm just excited they're thinking about me. I really appreciate that, what he's doing for me."

[SSH2005]

http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/NASApp/ml...t=.jsp&c_id=bal

Notes: Hidalgo absent from O's camp

Source says outfielder may be contemplating retirement

 

By Spencer Fordin / MLB.com

 

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Richard Hidalgo's tenure in Baltimore appears to be over.

 

The outfielder left the Orioles on Saturday to attend to some personal business and still hasn't returned, leading one source to say Hidalgo may be contemplating retirement. The team is expected to have some official resolution on Tuesday, lending finality to a bizarre week-long saga.

 

Hidalgo signed a Minor League contract on Feb. 26 and seemed to be in the mix for the starting job in left field. He only spent four days in uniform though -- none in game action -- before leaving the team. The Orioles had expected to start him Saturday, but they didn't have any updates on his status over the last few days.

 

"If he's going to come back, we need to find out what his program is pretty soon," Baltimore manager Sam Perlozzo said on Monday. "He came in a little late anyway. We need to get a read on him pretty quickly."

 

Hidalgo appeared to have an excellent chance to break camp with the O's, and if he did, he had a contract that would pay him a $1 million base salary with an additional $2.5 million in attainable incentives.

 

He also had clauses that would allow him to request his release if he wasn't on the roster by March 26, as well as a provision that allowed him to sign with a Japanese club for $100,000.

 

Earlier in the day, Melvin Mora, one of Hidalgo's close friends, said he's not sure what to make of the situation.

 

"Believe me, I was surprised. I think he has family problems -- that's what somebody told me," Mora said. "I don't know what happened. We can say anything we want, but I don't know what happened with his family. He had major reasons to go, and family comes first."

[WilliamTell]

I guess it's a good sign. Has there been anything about him with steriods, didn't he have like 44 homers in one year and hasn't had another huge homer season besides 28 a couple of years later.

[SSH2005]

I guess it's a good sign. Has there been anything about him with steriods, didn't he have like 44 homers in one year and hasn't had another huge homer season besides 28 a couple of years later.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Nothing has come out about Hidalgo regarding steroids but I've always suspected him myself.

[WilliamTell]

Nothing has come out about Hidalgo regarding steroids but I've always suspected him myself.

 

Yeah same here, wouldn't surprise me one bit.

[SSH2005]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/basebal...sports-baseball

Orioles release Hidalgo

Recently signed outfielder left camp for personal reasons over the weekend

 

By David Ginsburg

The Associated Press

Originally published March 7, 2006, 2:52 PM EST

 

Richard Hidalgo's brief career with the Baltimore Orioles ended today before he played a single game for the team.

 

Hidalgo signed a minor league contract on Feb. 26, reported two days later and spent four days in uniform before leaving the team Saturday to be with his ailing wife. He never returned, and the Orioles released the frustrated outfielder today to allow him to pursue an opportunity in Japan.

 

The way it was relayed to us through his agent was that he's not a guy that likes coming off the bench. He's a guy who wants to play everyday," Orioles vice president Jim Duquette said. "He didn't have the desire to keep playing if it wasn't an everyday job."

 

Even if he made the team, Hidalgo probably would have been a fourth or fifth outfielder.

 

Hidalgo is a .269 career hitter with 171 home runs in nine seasons. The Venezuelan batted .314 with 44 homers and 122 RBIs in his first full season in 2000, but he has struggled ever since.

 

He hit .221 with 16 home runs and 43 RBIs in 88 games for Texas last season.

 

After earning $12.5 million in 2004 and $5 million last year, Hildalgo found it difficult to put his name on a minor league deal that would have paid him $1 million if he made the opening day roster.

 

"That kind of contract, and you know what you can do, what you've done in the past -- it's not easy," he said after reporting last week. "But I accept that. I'm just going to come here, do my best and show people I can play."

 

He hoped to make a run at a starting job, but it didn't take long for Hidalgo to realize the team was stocked with capable outfielders.

 

"It all started in his mind right after his wife went into the hospital," Duquette said. "He started thinking about whether he really had the desire to keep going. We let him take a couple extra days just to make sure that was his final decision. He's not going to change his mind at this point."

 

The Orioles invested much time and effort to get Hidalgo, but Duquette said he wasn't disappointed in how it ended.

 

"It's not a major issue for us. We were hopeful that he would be in the mix in the outfield competition, but things have gone fine so far," he said. "We're always looking to upgrade, but we're comfortable with what we have."