Steve Davis: What To Do About Ubaldo?
Isn't that the money question, and "money" is the key word?
If he wasn't owed more than $20 million on his contract, the answer is easy. Get rid of him. However, he is owed all that money, and there's no indication that the Orioles are ready to swallow hard and eat the dough. So, if they aren't, then what are the other options? The best case is that Ubaldo swallows his pride and accepts a minor league assignment to try and get things straightened out. It's a reasonable request considering how terrible he has been. It is also unlikely he will do it, since he's a veteran and vets don't tend to do that.
However, maybe they can appeal to his qualities as a good teammate and put a deadline on how long he will stay down there to assure him it won't be long term. They could also move him to the bullpen. The problem with that is that if he stinks as a starter, he will probably stink in the bullpen too, so at that point you can't pitch him unless you're way down (or way up if you're willing to take that chance). You could try to get him to take a phantom injury request and send him to the minors for rehab. That might be a tough sell to the league, but this wouldn't be the first time it's been done.
Gallardo is coming back, so it's hard to imagine Ubaldo gets another start, but Wright and Wilson haven't been particularly good either, so it's plausible the Orioles could send them down.
Bottom line, there really isn't a good solution to a huge problem for the O's.
