In the later hours of the night, Mike Elias acquired an old Oriole who is in the later hours of his career. At 36 years old, Wade LeBlanc was signed backed to the Orioles on a minor league deal worth around $700,000.
Last season in six games, LeBlanc was simply an innings eater. After giving up six home runs in as many games, 20 runs, a 1.57 walks/hits per inning, and a 8.08 ERA, LeBlanc went on the 60-day injured list. While it ended his season, the Orioles truly didn’t miss too much productivity-wise.
Much like last season, LeBlanc will probably be a back of the rotation starter who will eat up some time before arms like Bruce Zimmermann, Michael Baumann, or Zac Lowther are ready to be called up.
This minor league deal comes with a spring training invitation for LeBlanc, as he looks to make the rotation out of camp.
Welcome back to Birdland, Wade!