Dontrelle Willis Filing Grievance Against Orioles

ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick is reporting that left-hander Dontrelle Willis is filing a grievance against the Baltimore Orioles.  According to Willis and his agent, Matt Sosnick, the Orioles placed him on their restricted list after the club consented to release him.  While he’s on the Orioles restricted list, Willis is unable to sign with another team.

Reports first surfaced earlier this week that Willis went AWOL from the Orioles Triple-A affiliate.  It was later reported that the southpaw had been placed on Baltimore’s restricted list.

This was apparently news to Willis, who was of the understanding that he had been released from the Orioles organization.  Willis and his agent were surprised by reports of the veteran’s placement on the restricted list and, as of yesterday, were hoping to have the situation resolved.

The situation hasn’t resolved itself, so Willis is filing a grievance against the Orioles.  Apparently the Orioles and Willis had a disagreement over his use as either a starter or reliever.  Orioles general manager Dan Duquette believed that Willis could be a successful reliever, while Willis thought that pitching in relief would lead to injury and preferred to be a starter.

For more on the Orioles be sure to check out Birds Watcher.

You can follow Call to the Pen on Twitter at @FSCalltothePen or like us here on Facebook.