Former Oriole Updates

News broke recently that B.J. Ryan, reliever for the Toronto Blue Jays, was in fact released by the team. Ryan became a household name playing for the Orioles from 1999 until 2005, after he was acquired in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds. After the 2005 season, B.J. Ryan inked the largest contract ever given to a closer, which was 5 years and $47 million. This season, Ryan was injured early on and lost his closer's job in favor of reliever Scott Downs.

Another former Oriole made headlines recently. Ryan Freel was in the news yet again as he was traded and will be playing for his third team in just about half a season. Freel was traded to the Chicago Cubs from Baltimore in exchange for Joey Gathright earlier this year. After not producing in Chicago, the utility player was again shipped off, except this time, to the Kansas City Royals back in the American League. Maybe this change of scenery will help Freel to salvage the rest of what seems like a lost 2009 season.