Chorye Spoone is leaving the Orioles to join Boston

After pitching seven seasons in the Orioles organization, right-hander Chorye Spoone, who was removed from the club's 40-man roster July 19, today agreed to a contract with the Boston Red Sox. Spoone's deal, which includes a spring training invitation, will become official when he passes a physical, which he said he felt certain he would do. He was in Boston today for that physical. The 26-year-old Spoone was the Orioles' eighth-round pick in the 2005 draft. His career got derailed a bit by shoulder surgery in September 2008 and he's been on the comeback trail since. He began the 2011 season with Double-A Bowie, but he quickly moved to Triple-A Norfolk and went 2-1 with a 5.50 ERA over eight starts. After going back to Double-A, he went 5-5 with an ERA of 4.11 for Bowie. He was designated for assignment by the Orioles on July 19 and cleared waivers, leaving the 40-man roster, but staying in the organization. After clearing waivers he was moved to the Bowie bullpen where he pitched to a 3.60 ERA in 12 games and there were several good reports on how he was throwing out of the 'pen. Spoone, born in Pasadena, Md., went 10-9 with a 3.26 ERA for Single-A Frederick in 2007, helping the Keys win the Carolina League championship. He was a top starter then in a rotation that included Jason Berken, Brad Bergesen, David Hernandez and Brandon Erbe. It looked then like time with the Orioles would be in his future, but he had that surgery in 2008 and pitched mostly for Bowie the past two seasons. It never came together for him to re-sign with the Orioles over the last few weeks and today he leaves the organization after 141 games and 631 career innings. His career minor league numbers for the Orioles were 36-41 with an ERA of 4.14.