Too bad. I'm with you, I liked Scott more than most. Couldn't agree more about Moore...seemed to always have bad luck when he could have been proving himself. I guess he's kinda like Lou Monetenz. Small ample sizes dotted with injuries.

On the bright side, I think Moore will have a better opportunity with the Cubs. Good luck to him.

As a Cubs fan, I liked Moore enough when we got him (from the Tigers in the Farnsworth trade), but wasn't disappointed when we lost him. He'll be a nice addition to the system, but he's probably slated for AAA, with a chance to compete in the spring with a NRI. There's an outside chance he wins a job, particularly if the Cubs decide to save money and cut ties with Jeff Baker. If not, and he doesn't win a job and Moore is sent down to AAA, he'll be in a tough battle for PT. Matt Spencer is likely slated for first, and Marquez Smith slated for 3rd, along with Tony Thomas at 2nd and Brandon Guyer in RF. He'll have to fight for PT.

I like him, and am glad the Cubs picked him up again to fill out their AAA depth chart, but am a bit surprised that he somehow thought that the Cubs offered a better opportunity than the Orioles.

You state that the Orioles are unlikely to sign many minor league free agents but... the teams eliminated from the farm system were low level teams peopled by players who weren't ready for a higher level. Minor league free agents are signed to be possible major league replacement parts (Scott Moore for example) so how would the elimination of lower level teams affect signing minor league free agents? The Orioles can only maintain control of 40 players plus those who don't yet qualify for the Rule 5 draft. Anyone signed to a minor league contract could be taken in that draft (or the minor league phase of the the draft -- is that not correct?). I noticed the Orioles released Joel Guzman who hit 32 HR, 98 RBI in Bowie. Why wouldn't they keep him, at least for Norfolk?

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Jeff Z's reply: Well, it's still all related. Maybe a guy who was supposed to start season at High-A Frederick, gets pushed to Double-A because Frederick (or Delmarva for that matter) has to accomodate some players that were ticketed for one of the lower-level teams. And that pushes a guy who was in line for Double-A to Triple-A. But no, they're still going to make some minor league signings Don, but most will be geared, at least initially, to openings with the big league team. They're not going to be necessarily aimed at filling spots in the minors. For example, I think they'll probably try to get a veteran catcher that way to compete with Tatum and/or Fox for the backup job. If he doesn't win the job, he goes back down to Triple-A obviously.

Off the main topic, but about the O's nonetheless. Jeff, do you know if the O's tried to trade for Uggla to man 3B?

The Marlins got a utility infielder and an erratic reliever for him. I think we could have packaged Pie (Marlins just traded their CF too) and one of our non-premier young arms to get him.

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Marlins wanted a middle infielder in return. That was a priority. The Orioles didn't have that. And they, apparently, don't believe Infante is a utility infielder.

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Jeff Z's reply: Don't know for sure as team officials don't usually comment on that stuff, but know there was some interest. Don't know, however, how serious the talks were. But it does seem obvious that the Marlins were looking for an infielder back to replace Uggla, and the O's don't have a similar piece than Infante.