Excellent! This is good news. Now let's lock up Hardy and LaRoche.

EXCELLENT NEWS. Koji's a great closer who goes in there and just throws strikes. As long as he stays healthy (and we play him a little less against the Yankees), our bullpen just got a HUGE boost. Now, if only we had a first baseman...

Good work. Now, sign Laroche and trade for Hardy and I will actually consider this team improved during the off season, which is something I haven't felt in a very long time...I'll stop short of being hopeful about anything though. Been burned too many times, my heart just can't take much more...

Good News ! Jeff any new info on a Hardy
trade or a first baseman signing soon?

...............................................................................................
Jeff Z's reply: I think the Hardy deal has a good chance to be completed by tomorrow. But it's not a formality by any means.

Awesome news! Lets pick up 2 more relievers, Adam LaRoche or Prince Fielder, and J.J. Hardy and let's see what 2011 brings.

any word on the sideburns?

I was expecting that.

all right!!!!! i love it...now, let's get Hardy signed, get Gregg and Laroche and after that let's give some creds to Andy and Buck. this is a big signing on Koji especially since it's for one year.

Not earth shattering or pennant clinching, but a very good signing anyway. Sounds as if the O's haven't overpaid but still get to keep their most reliable late inning guy. Let's get Prince tomorrow!!

An aside to Koji...why the heck is Kevin Gregg being discussed?

Does Andy stubbornly refuse to learn from his mistakes or is he just an idiot? I know we had the name-calling discussion, but I can't think of a better way to say it.

He refuses to "overpay" for guys like Dunn, Konerko, etc, but he'll blow $4-5mil/year on a mediocre reliever who's lost closing jobs with his last two teams? He won't be our closer, so why even offer him that much to begin with?

Andy said he learned from past mistakes like Atkins, and even Michael Gonzalez, but if he signs Gregg, he's clearly learned nothing.

As I said before...the guy was great in his first two years, getting the rebuilding project in full gear, but someone else needs to be brought in to finish it. This is getting so tiresome.

YES! Might be the biggest signing of the off-season. Nice job, AM!

hell yeah!..finaliy...now go sign the best hitter, rbi man left out there and that Vlad, give him two years because nobody else will. he is still a hitting/rbi machine and will be until he is like 60...

Another good move by McPhail. Now sign LaRouche,Izzy and trade for Hardy, and we are in better shape to compete, Also look into signing Russell Martin for backup to Weiters and a good bat off the bench

Well, the Red Sox just signed Carl Crawford, so anything the Orioles do matters even less now than it did a few hours ago.

On some level it doesn't really matter. MLBTR and cbssportsline both are now reporting that the Red Sox have reached a deal with Carl Crawford...7 years and $142 million.

Until someone wakes up Bud Selig from his coma, it's hard to take the game of baseball seriously.

Talk about depressing. Just wonder if Lee decides that the Red Sox have moved so far ahead of the Yankees that he signs with Texas.

Good news!
Good luck in 2011 season.
I'm behind you all the way from Japan!!

carl crawford to the sawx. wow. that lineup is horrifying if healthy:

1. ellsbury
2. crawford
3. pedroia
4. adrian gonzalez
5. youkulis
6. papi
7. jd drew
8. saltalamacchia
9. scutaro

are you kidding me? that's murderers' row for a new millenium. AL east beware.

not to mention:

1. Beckett
2. Lester
3. Dice-K
4. Lackey
5. Bucholz

again, if healthy and pitching up to potential, pretty scary...

in other news, O's resign Koji Uehara. big deal...

Love the Koji signing! Koji seemed to be pumped for the 9th inning so I am excited to have him back.

I wish the O's would move fast on Gregg and Fuentes to round up the BP because with those guys along with JJ and Gonzo, the O's have the makings of a very good pen!

@Enzo,

I just heard the news on Crawford. In my book, he is the most complete player in all of free agency this season and the Sox have gone from old to young with Carl, Adrian, Youk and Dustin at key positions along with that staff. This will be a scary team to face, no doubt about it.

@Jeff,

Does Crawford signing with the Sox, open up a trade of perhaps Luke to the Tigers or Angels? They both seem to like him a lot and both are looking for help in the OF. I am not sure your take, but if they could get a young 1B in a trade for Luke then go out and sign Thome or Vlad to DH, I see that as a major upgrade to Luke because he is wildly inconsistent at the plate.

Todd, are you serious?

Gregg and Fuentes? I don't want them anywhere near the O's pen. Where in the world do you get that they're "very good"?

@ Christopher,

I am serious!

I think Gregg would be excellent in the setup role plus he can close if Koji gets hurt.

I also like Fuentes because he's pitched in hitters parks like Colorado, but had success plus he can pitch in the 7th, 8th, close or face tough lefties.

I am a fairly persistent critic of the front office, but let me say this:

In a year in which the perpetually-injured Joaquin Benoit gets $16.5MM over 3 years, being able to sign Koji to a 1 year/$3MM deal (with a vesting option) is a major coup and speaks well of the front office.

It's not a game-changing move, obviously; this is still a near-100-loss team with no superstars and a lot of holes. But we should give credit where credit is due; this is a good signing.