Baltimore Orioles: Yet Another Former Oriole Joins The San Diego Padres

Former Baltimore Orioles pitcher Jimmy Yacabonis has signed with the San Diego Padres.

Little did we know that when Manny Machado signed his 10-year/$300 million contract with the San Diego Padres last offseason, it would open the gates of Petco Park to many more former Baltimore Orioles players and coaches the following offseason.

Earlier this winter, former Orioles coaches Wayne Kirby and Bobby Dickerson joined Jayce Tingler’s staff in San Diego, as did former O’s utility man Ryan Flaherty. Flaherty is transitioning from major league player to Quality Control control coach for the Padres.

Flaherty described to Rich Dubroff in his own words what that title means,

"“There are going to be some different responsibilities. I think one [is] really kind of looking at the opposing team we’re going to be playing, dissect them and look at them, also some stuff with our own guys. I think just try to handle information and being able to give information to players, coaches and whoever else. As baseball continues to change, I think these kind of jobs are going to be created.”"

Former Orioles pitching prospect Zach Davies, who was traded away for 55 games worth of under-performing play by OF Gerardo Parra to Milwaukee, also now finds himself in San Diego after being dealt to the Padres on the day before Thanksgiving. Davies went 43-32 with a 3.91 ERA across five seasons in Milwaukee, including a 17 win season in 2017.

We can now add former Orioles starter, closer, set-up man, and VIP member of the Baltimore-Norfolk shuttle Jimmy Yacabonis to the list of ex-Birdland players/staff who will call beautiful San Diego home for at least the 2020 season. Well, Yacabonis is going to have to a little work to do before he signs on the dotted line for that beachfront property.

As first reported by MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, Yacabonis has signed a minor league with the Padres and will look to fight for a roster spot in spring training. Despite a 94 mph fastball with some of the biggest movement in all of baseball (Devan Fink of Fangraphs dedicated an entire piece to the pitch) and slider combination that proved effective out of the bullpen early in his career, Yacabonis was unable to find stability in the major leagues with the Baltimore Orioles.

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In the big leagues, Yacabonis was 3-4 with a 5.75 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP across 55 appearances, walking 56 hitters and striking out just 74 in 101 career innings. While the stuff has always been good, the results were never there in the majors for Yacabonis. Whether the constant travel between Baltimore and Norfolk or the always changing role had an effect on his performance is up for debate, but at the end of the day, failure to capitalize on his opportunities in the majors led to him being removed from the 40-man roster late last season. He officially became a free agent in early-November.

If you’re an avid follower of the Orioles minor league system, we will always have the 2017 memory of Yacabonis in Triple-A with the Norfolk Tides. Appearing in 41 games, Yacabonis went 4-0 with a 1.32 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and a .144 average against. He didn’t allow his first earned run until his 14th appearance. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from that 2017 performance.

We wish Yacabonis and everyone else in San Diego who used to call Camden Yards home best of luck in 2020.