Dan Duquette talks about the three pitchers O's added Monday

HOUSTON - Executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette sounds pretty high on all three of the pitchers the Orioles acquired last night. He provided some information on each hurler during a telephone interview this morning.

In trading Brian Matusz to Atlanta yesterday, the club shed his salary and added two pitchers from the Braves. A third pitcher came in a deal with Cincinnati. The savings on Matusz can now be used in another way to the help the Orioles. The O's had to part with a draft pick (No. 76 overall) in the Matusz trade.

"We made these trades to strengthen the organization by adding pitching depth," Duquette said. "We were able to do that by adding two starters, and possibly three. If people ask why we traded the draft pick, we traded the pick to add to our pitching depth. And we're adding pitching depth that is experienced and closer to helping our major league club than someone we could draft.

"We still have plenty of draft picks that we are going to utilize to secure some good young players for our system in June. But to be able to get a couple of good college pitchers that have already distinguished themselves in pro ball and are closer to the big leagues, we thought that was good for the organization. And that compelled us to make the deal."

Right-hander Brandon Barker has gone 3-2 with an ERA of 2.00 for Double-A Mississippi. He is headed for Double-A Bowie with the Orioles. Over 45 innings, he has allowed 35 hits with 12 walks and 40 strikeouts with a .217 average against. Barker, a 16th-round pick out of Mercer in 2014, has a 2.6 career walk rate per nine innings and a 7.2 strikeout/nine innings rate.

Duquette on Barker: "He is off to a really good start at Double-A this year. He has a good fastball with a very good slurve with good control and he keeps the ball in the ballpark. He's got some talent and really likes to compete. You can see he has command of himself on the mound."

One report listed Barker's velocity ranging from 89-93 mph and touching 95mph, and Duquette said that is accurate.

Trevor Belicek also came in the Matusz deal. The 23-year-old lefty has gone 3-0 with a 2.22 ERA this year, pitching mostly for Single-A Rome, with one appearance in Double-A. Over 28 1/3 innings, Belicek has allowed just 22 hits with one walk and 32 strikeouts. That is some ratio. In 26 career games, he is 8-0 with a 2.43 ERA with 13 walks to 73 strikeouts over 85 1/3 innings. A 16th-round pick in 2015 out of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Belicek is reporting to Single-A Frederick

Duquette on Belicek: "He's got good life on his fastball with a good overhand curve and excellent control. And he's an excellent competitor. We may take a look at him as a starter, too. He has issued just one walk with 32 strikeouts this year. Both Barker and Belicek are 6-foot-3, 215 lbs. Good size guys. Belicek is 8-0 since he got into pro ball. Belicek throws 86 to 90 with above-average life on his fastball and he has very good control."

Belicek was a very solid pitcher for the Braves in 2015, going 5-0 with a 2.53 ERA between Rookie ball and the South Atlantic League, and making nine starts among 14 appearances. He has pitched out of the bullpen this year, but the Orioles are considering moving him back to starting, as Duquette said.

The Orioles acquired Franderlin Romero from Cincinnati last night for two international slots totaling close to $700,000. Romero was pitching for Single-A Dayton and was 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA over eight starts. The 23-year-old right-hander from Venezuela has pitched 47 innings allowing 46 hits with nine walks and 42 strikeouts.

Duquette on Romero: "He's done well in the Midwest League and is a guy that throws up to 94 mph. He's got good control and has a good groundball percentage, almost 50 percent. A big strong guy with a good changeup. Last week, he threw 90 to 94 and there were a lot of 92s in there. He has good changeup and a decent breaking ball. He pounds the strike zone."

The Orioles reportedly gave up nearly $700,000 in international bonus slot money to get Romero, who will report to Single-A Frederick. Last year, the O's traded two international bonus slots to get lefty Chris Lee from Houston. Lee is the O's No. 6 prospect, according to Baseball America, and is 5-0 with a 2.98 ERA this year for Bowie. He may be putting himself in a position to get to Baltimore sometime later this season.

In a move that kind of got lost in the later deals from Monday, the Orioles signed lefty reliever Brian Duensing, who is going to Triple-A. Duensing was 41-37 with a 4.13 ERA and 1.384 WHIP in seven seasons with the Minnesota Twins spanning 354 games and 649 1/3 innings from 2009-15.

With T.J. McFarland hurt, Ashur Tolliver, coming up from Double-A Bowie, gets the first crack at Matusz's spot in the bullpen, starting tonight. But Duensing potentially could get his shot later and he will reportedly earn $1 million if he joins the O's roster. That also would be a savings off the remainder of the Matusz contract for 2016.

Of three pitchers, I get the sense that Barker is the one the O's have ranked as the best, and he is also the one currently closest to the majors.

The Orioles also have the savings from trading Matusz to possibly reinvest in someone that can help them try to win later this year. It could be more re-deploying those funds than saving those funds.