Remember Alfredo Simon?

Of course you do. He was at spring training with the Orioles until they put him on waivers four days before breaking camp. The Reds signed Alfredo Simon, and he pitched the 10th inning in today's game against the Nationals. He later lost today's game by throwing a wild pitch that allowed Ryan Zimmerman to score. Simon hit Zimmerman with his first pitch and gave up a single to Jayson Werth. He was one out away from escaping the jam when he skipped a pitch past catcher Devin Mesoraco. Simon has made three appearances with the Reds, allowing three runs and four hits in 3 1/3 innings. He's walked one and struck out six. I was reminded about Simon again yesterday after the Orioles signed Joel Pineiro to a minor league deal. Executive vice president Dan Duquette envisions Pineiro working in long relief, a role that could have gone to Simon if he hadn't been lost on waivers. The Orioles knew the chances were pretty good that Simon would be claimed. They began the season without a long man in the bullpen, and it's already been an issue in the first week, with Brian Matusz lasting only four innings and two games dragging past regulation on consecutive nights. That's a lot of baton passing. Why not just hold onto Simon instead of scrambling to find someone sort of like him? Duquette refers to how "we lost Simon." The Orioles pretty much handed him over. Plenty of teams were interested, as long as they didn't have to give up anything. Well, they needed to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. Pineiro signed a minor league deal, so he isn't hogging one. Also, Simon never won over manager Buck Showalter. That much was evident when Showalter would refer to Simon's inability to sustain any success on the mound - one good outing, one or two bad ones - and noted that if a pitcher hasn't figured it out by the time he's 30, it may never happen. Simon also didn't gain many supporters after the shooting incident in the Dominican, if that's what we're still calling it. Simon served up a two-run homer in his Reds debut. A National League scout who attended the Orioles-Yankees series mentioned how Simon looked a lot better in his next outing. Today, Simon retired two batters and gave up the winning run. Impressive fastball, inconsistent results. Will Pineiro be any better? The Orioles are willing to find out.