Snohomish’s Eaton agrees to minor-league deal with Orioles

VIERA, Fla. — Adam Eaton and the Baltimore Orioles agreed to a minor league contract Sunday and the right-hander will join the team’s major league spring training camp.

The 31-year-old Eaton, who played at Snohomish High School, was released by Philadelphia on Friday after going 4-8 with a 5.80 ERA in 21 games for the Phillies last year. He is 68-63 with a 4.80 ERA in nine seasons with San Diego, Texas and Philadelphia.

The Orioles have three spots in their starting rotation up for grabs behind right-handers Jeremy Guthrie and Koji Uehara. Left-hander Rich Hill, a starting candidate acquired in a February trade with the Chicago Cubs, was scratched from Sunday’s scheduled start against Washington with left elbow soreness.

“It’s an opportunity to add a veteran starter,” said Andy MacPhail, Baltimore’s president of baseball operations. “Last year, he had 19 starts, 10 of which were quality starts. It’s something that’s appealing to us. It represents a low-risk opportunity to have a veteran that we can evaluate to see if it makes sense to us going forward.”