The oriole fans have become so brain washed not only listening to what andy has to say but any trade that he makes they think the player that we get is going to the hall of fame. They already had bell starting at 3rd base next year and 2 years later going to the all star game. He will be joining adam jones and weiters in cooperstown someday. What a shame that after all the losing that this franchise has had the fans now don't rely on there own opinions anymore but follow anything that andy say's like some cult member.How pathetic things have gotten around here.

Blancione,

The sad truth is that the majority of the pitching prospects Macphail is aquiring will never make it through simple attrition. Many of the position players will also fail. The club cannot be rebuilt through prospects alone.

Remember these "top" piching prospects?...

Rocky Coppinger, Chris Fussell, Matt Riley, Luis Rivera, John Bale, Eric Dubose, Kurt Ainsworth, Denny Bautista, Hayden Penn, Jim Hoey, Adam Lowen, Corey Doyne, Garrett Olsen, Randor Bierd .. and I could add a dozen others.

How many are going to Cooperstown? Yet the fans already have four of Macphail's proseptcs in the 2010 rotation.

Unless the organization goes out and brings in proven talent[and a lot of it} the losing will continue well into the next decade.

RESPONSE FROM DEAN: Gil, excellent point about the attition, as well as needing to rely on more than prospects to suceed. However, I think it's a bit of a stretch to compare those names with the current list of pitching prospects. Only a handful of those names were top-notch prospects and none of them were receiving national honors. Randor Bierd? Really? Just my two cents.

Dean,

Fair enough, but that is the problem, it is difficult to judge potential. Certainly Lowen, Penn, Ainsworth{acquired in trade]and Garrett Olsen were highly touted. The others I added to show how few eventually make it.

They thought enough of Bierd take him rule 5 from Detroit and intended to keep him on the roster were it not due to injury.

All I am saying is potential is only potential until it is realized, and I think the Orioles are helping to over build expectations for Andy's acquisitions. I think that many of us are so worn out from losing that we are dealing more in hope than pragmatism. That's just me.

RESPONSE FROM DEAN: Gil, that's understandable. I see the point to 'believe it when I see it' and I think that's definitely justified at this point. When the Orioles finally make it back to being competitive, there will be a lot of relaxed people in this city.

The fact of the matter is that the "prospects" that are in the system, continue to be promoted and continue their success. Rushing prospects too quickly had a major part in why some of the prospects in the past failed to contribute in the major league level. In the past, you would most likely would have seen Brandon Snyder and Josh Bell open up the 2010 season on the roster. Not with MacPhail in charge. He has stuck to his word that the prospects will have to perform and progress so they force themselves to be promoted to the majors. I have no doubt in my mind that Snyder and Bell will be brought up by the end of next year. I highly doubt the O's will sign anyone significant in the off season with their corner prospects on the cusp. I think it is very possible to see Reimold move over to 1B and let Pie play LF. It was proven that Luke Scott can't handle 1B and is a defensive liability. I don't see how you can let Pie sit the bench after the way he came on at the end. If Pie can continue to improve, the move of Reimold to 1B makes sense until Snyder is ready to be brought up. This move would also allow Montanez to make the team as the 4th OF so you can keep all the young players developing in the field. When Waring is ready to be promoted, I could then see the O's trading Luke Scott for more prospects, but maybe not since they probably won't get much in return. If Snyder, Bell, and Waring continue to improve and hit their way on to the field, that could be a potential powerful trio of corner infielders, leaving one of them as the DH in a rotation. I think Bell and Snyder will start at AAA and Waring at AA. When Snyder or Bell are promoted, Waring will move up to AAA. Then in 2011 you should see all three of them contribute for the O's. At that point, I would see the O's seriously pursuing top notch free agents to fill any stop gap positions the team has in place.

Dean,

I couldn't have said it better myself. I like Mr. Frank Rizzo's scenario above. It certainly seems plausible if the players continue to progress and make adjustments. I think 2010 will be the key year for Nolan Reimold as the pitcher's try to exploit the holes in his swing. He will have to make the adjustments that good players do to stay in the Big Leagues. He is not a pure hitter. I think he will struggle at times but in the end have a pretty good year.

One particular case of an Oriole player unable to make adjustmenst comes to mind. Mike Young was a tall, speedy and powerful switch hitting outfielder who raored through the minor league system into the big leagues about 25 years ago. I saw him hit a home run off Skeeter Davis of the Angels one night batting right handed that must have gone close to 500 feet to dead center at Memorial Stadium.

Earl Weaver picked the spots for the kid but in 1985 he penciled him in nearly full time and he had a breakout year hitting 28 home runs and displaying speed on the bases. His potential seemed limitless.

The following year he got off to a rough start and started swinging at bad pitches and literally getting himself out. He was never able to repeat the type of success he had in 1984 and 1985 and his batting average continued to fall and his strikeouts increased. The book on Young became bad slider in the dirt, swinging strike one. Fastball away, strike two. High fast ball out of the strike zone strike three.

He was out of baseball after the 1989 season, still a young man. He failed to make adjustments. Potential is only potential until it is realized. Getting to the big leagues is only the start.

That's why I caution Oriole fans not to over estimate our prospects. The team will eventually have to go out and aquire proven major league talent to achieve a winning record.

But it is exciting finally to see real talent in the farm system.