MLB

Ubaldo Jimenez more like depth than ace for Orioles

Ubaldo Jimenez passed his physical and his four-year, $50 million contract with the Orioles is now official. There is a press conference scheduled for Thursday morning. A few quick thoughts:

1. Baltimore did not have the willingness financially or in expending prospects to land anything resembling an ace, which is by far its greatest need, in this market. So the Orioles, instead, opted to sign Suk-min Yoon and Jimenez late in the free-agent process, and hope that having rotation depth serves them well.

The Orioles think they have a strong offense that could get better in the coming days since they are interested in adding a DH type such as Nelson Cruz, Kendry Morales or even Ike Davis. But the pitching staff is a worry, in part because closer Jim Johnson was used in a salary-dump trade and now Tommy Hunter likely will be asked to pitch the ninth inning.

Baltimore will try to address the problem with numbers. Team officials have assured me the intention is to take the best pitchers north. Thus, if young, talented Kevin Gausman earns a rotation spot, he will go. He is the Orioles’ best chance to have an ace any time soon, unless Dylan Bundy can come back well from Tommy John surgery. Chris Tillman showed signs last year of consistency and looks as if he can pitch toward the top of the rotation.

Jimenez has stuff, but battles a problematic delivery and wildness. In new pitching coach Dave Wallace, the Orioles think they have a master at smoothing out deliveries. So there is a scenario in which Gausman, Tillman and Jimenez could form a strong front three, likely followed by Wei-Yin Chen and Bud Norris.

That would leave Miguel Gonzalez, Brian Matusz, Zach Britton, Steve Johnson and Yoon out of the rotation. But they could help deepen the pen while giving depth for the inevitable injuries and performance problems during the season.

So Baltimore will try to make it back to the playoffs with offense and pitching depth.

2. The Orioles are feeling the pressure of a closing window. J.J. Hardy is entering his walk year and — more worrisome — Chris Davis and Matt Wieters are free agents after the 2015 campaign. Both are Scott Boras clients, and the expectation is both will be hard to retain.

That puts stress on the organization to field a winner in these two years before it potentially has to break up its very good lineup core.

3. The wildness scared teams off Jimenez. So did the inconsistency. Even his strong September (4-0, 1.09 ERA in six starts) was degraded in some circles because five of the starts were against the Astros, Royals, White Sox or Twins.

If you are interested, Jimenez has faced the Yankees four times, going 1-3 with a 6.45 ERA.