Yovani Gallardo Reportedly Signs 3-Year Deal with Orioles

Starting pitcher Yovani Gallardo has found a new home for next season after inking a three-year, $35 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network. Heyman also noted the deal includes an option for a fourth year.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports confirmed Heyman's report.

The 29-year-old is preparing for his 10th campaign in the majors in 2016 after going 13-11 with a 3.42 ERA with the Texas Rangers last year, his only season with the team. The Milwaukee Brewers traded him to the Rangers for the final year of his five-year, $30.1 million deal he signed back in 2011, per Spotrac.com.

Gallardo has proved to be a consistent arm in a rotation, having started 30 or more games with 180 or more innings in each of the last seven years. He doesn't necessarily have overpowering stuff, with a fastball that can hit 92 mph.

He isn't as much of a strikeout pitcher as he was earlier in his career. From 2009 to 2012, he recorded 200 or more strikeouts each season. Since then, he's averaged just 137.

But the movement he's able to put on his pitches makes him such a tough customer to figure out. His fastball has the ability to tail away from left-handed batters, while his secondary pitches can cross up the opposition. 

MLB.com took a look at just how well things can go when all of his pitches are working, even if he isn't getting strikeouts:

For the interested teams, Gallardo is a starter who could bolster a rotation.

Pitching is an important need for the Orioles. Last season, no regular Orioles starter recorded more than 12 wins, and only one of them had an ERA under 4.00. 

According to Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun, the Orioles were not going for the top-of-the-market pitchers like David Price and Zack Greinke; the second tier is more their speed. The team expressed interest in Gallardo as early as Dec. 7, per Encina. 

Gallardo could well be a No. 1 starter in Baltimore's rotation, given the team has a prospective rotation of Ubaldo Jimenez, Chris Tillman, Miguel Gonzalez, Kevin Gausman and Dylan Bundy, according to RotoChamp.com.

Bringing in Gallardo adds a consistent arm who could also eat up innings at the top of the rotation. It could also give a break to a bullpen that was ranked fifth in the league in ERA but pitched almost 520 innings last season. 

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.