Orioles claim Vance Worley from Pirates

The Orioles have claimed Vance Worley, who the Pirates evidently waived to clear a spot on their 40-man roster. It's not surprising that the Pirates parted ways with Worley -- they showed little interest in him this season, outrighting him in August, and he figured to get a slight raise on his $2.45 million 2015 salary through the arbitration process. (MLBTR projects he'll get $2.7 million.) I think he's worth that salary, actually, but the Pirates appear to have made up their minds about him long ago -- he was clearly behind guys like Jeff Locke and Joe Blanton on the Bucs' depth chart last season.

Overall, Worley was a quietly solid contributor in two years with the Bucs, particularly given that they basically got him for free after a bad 2013 season with the Twins. His 2.85 ERA in 110.2 innings with the Bucs in 2014 was excellent, even if his peripherals didn't quite support an ERA that low. He posted a 4.02 ERA, 6.2 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 2015 -- not dominant, but not bad either, especially given his ability to pitch multiple innings of relief and function as starting depth.

Anyway, this ends Worley's career in Pittsburgh, and you can strike him from the list of potential non-tenders. Here's wishing him the best of luck in Baltimore.