Roch,

Now that the Yankees have offered Girardi their coaching position, do you foresee him extending an offer for Kranitz to become the pitching coach, and do you see Kranitz considering rescinding his deal with the O's to join the Yanks?

I got a Brady flaw for ya Roch.... some hint of an idea about birth control..... it's MUCH cheaper than the child support the bimbo model is making him fork over.

MacFail doesn't need a right hand man... I have no doubt a potter offspring is in his office, his ear, his head, on his last nerve, with astute, keen baseball insights & ideas.... our O's are in good hands.

I agree, don't move Tejada just to do it, make it a fair, equal value deal or don't do it.

It would be great to get rid of Crowley and bring back Trebelhorn

Word is Bedard is trade bait too Roch...any truth to that?

How about staying in a blowout game and risking injury so you can pad your pwersonal stats?

Quick comment on Tejada.

We should try to trade Miggy to the Angels, who have been salivating over him ever since nabbed him off the free-agent market before they did four four years ago. The Angels need a 3B (where they would play Tejada), and since they made the playoffs but were promptly swept away, their in the perfect position to think "If only we had that one more piece..." Which of course suggests that they will make a serious effort to sign A-rod. (The whole A-rod thing complicates the situation, I admit). BUT, if they don't sign A-rod, you can be sure that they'll give a long look at acquiring Tejada. Which brings me to the subject of what we could get from LA in return.

My proposal: Infield prospect Brandon Wood, and starting pitcher Ervin Santana. Before you laugh at me, hear me out. Wood was considered one of the best infield prospects for the previuos few years, but he's been a bit slower making the transition to the majors than expected. Also, he was brought up as a shortstop, but has since been moved to third, not because he's bad at SS, but because he would never make the Angels' roster there playing behind Orlando Cabrera. Wood has been predicted to be a 30 homerun-per-year threat once he matures, and if we trade Tejada, we might be able to slot him into SS immediately. Since Wood has been slower to progress than expected, his perceived value might be a bit lower than it was a year or two ago.

Secondly, Santana's value is definitely lower than after 2006. Although he went 16-8 with a 4.28 in '06, he backtracked last season and went 7-14 with a 5.76. Perhaps we shouldn't be interested at all, his '06 numbers show that he can compete at the big league level and will still only be 25 next year. Signing him would round out our staff with promising young pitchers, which in my opinion is better than signing a Benson, Trachsel, Wright-type pithcer (mediocre veteran) who would give us a single mediocre season before leaving us in the same position as before.

All of this hinges on the Angels not signing A-Rod, and thus this deal would probably have to wait A-rod signs on somewhere else. But if this goes through, we should attempt to make this deal.

The Angels would get: Tejada playing 3B, which would round out their impressive infield and add the extra piece that could turn them from a playoff team to a World Series contender immediately.

We would get: Two solid young baseball players with huge potential up sides. Wood could fill in for Tejada at SS, where he could potentially play for years. Santana rounds out our young rotation, (along with Bedard, Guthrie, Lowen, and Cabrera [or Penn]) and also has the potential to be a productive major league pitcher for years to come, although he clearly still needs some work.

Perhaps its not a perfect plan, or perhaps the Angels would never do it, but this seems to me like a good potential trade that would clearly benefit both teams. At any rate, that's my idea. Anyone else have (realistic) potential trade ideas for Tejada? Let's hear them!

Roch:
I saw the headline on this thread and thought it would be about Brady Anderson and the Mitchell Commission. My bad. As for the Tejada deal: I like the idea of getting Wood back, but not Santana. Wouldn't Shields look good in our bullpen? Wood and Shields for Tejada, me likey. Why not go whole hog? Bill Stoneman's out, so the Angels might actually do something besides grow great talent and make sage free-agent signings. (Gee, how'd they get so good?) How about Bedard, Tejada, and R. Hernandez for Hendrick, Wood, Saunders, Shields, Mathis, Adenhart? You blow it up and build a whole new team at the same time. Me likey.

Speaking of Brady, I'd like to go on record now that there will be a brawl during the Ravens-Pats game. If the Pats are up big (and they are crushing everyone now) and they try to rub the Ravens' nose in it at home on a Monday night, I can see one of the hotheads on defense taking a shot at Brady. The ensuing brawl would be awesome though. But I can see that happening very easily.

Tim in CA-
I thought you said your comment would be quick?

I like the idea of a Miggy and Ramon package to get major-league ready prospects.

Bedard as trade bait -- I actually think that would be good. Yeah, this guy is our best pitcher, but we should be able to get quite a bit for him in return. Hurts next year, maybe two, but if it put good building blocks in place for the future -- do it. Not different than Tejada in my book.

I am not sure anyone should be untouchable on this team, though I would not trade Markakis or any of our young pitchers (under 25).

There is no way we want Ervin Santana, he is another Daniel Cabrera. Wood would be a great pickup tho.

For those of you pushing for Santana, his numbers aren't much better than Cabrera's. Just what we need, another inconsistent starter. He shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as Tejada! It's one thing to maybe trading Miggy if we get equal value but making that type of trade basically says the O's are desperate and just want to get rid of him.
This of trade weakens us offensively, which is an area we can't afford. Look at Tejada's numbers-the guy is a proven hitter. Even '07's off year would be a career year for many middle infielders.

There are many potential suitors for Tejada. The Angels, Dodgers, Cubs, Giants and Phils are just the top of the list, and it doesn't even depend on who ends up with A-Rod.

It's very hard for me to imagine that MacPhail won't make a deal this winter for a couple very good young players in exchange for Tejada.

Tim, I've followed Brandon Wood for a couple years also, and think he's an interesting prospect, but I thought the Angels had moved him to 3B because he was better suited there.

Roch,
Instead of petitioning to get out of th AL east, how about shooting for 2 more wild cards. Give the 2 teams with the best records byes and have the other 4 play. The 2 best teams play the lowest seeded teams left. This would at least give the other teams in the AL east a chance of getting to the playoffs.

Try going to school in Massachusetts...Then you will really hate Tom Brady...and he has NO flaws right now.

Even better situation for the Os? A-rod goes to the Dodgers and creates an even more desperate atmosphere for the Angels to find ANY bat to boost their popularity in LA.

Roch,
Regarding the thin free agent market, is Carlos Silva available for the O's this off-season? He would provide a solid young #2 or #3 arm and eat 200+ innnings.

Having thought about it since the O's season shriveled to its awful close ... I would trade Erik Bedard, for three reasons.

One, as good as he has become, when crunch time arrives, he quits. See the 2004 season (the invisible hamstring injury that just wouldn't heal, when the team needed him) and this year (cleaning out his locker weeks before the end and leaving). At this point -- right now -- plenty of teams think Bedard's a Beckett or Santana in the making and would make a trade to that effect. But he's not. Take advantage of this gap between perception and reality. It's time to get maximum value.

Two, he's 28. That's not exactly decrepit, but by the time the O's are competitive -- if they ever are -- he won't be part of it. The O's can finish fourth without Bedard. Get some prospects.

Three, money. That many millions can be better spent on re-seeding the scorched earth that is Oriole nation. Get out front of an issue, for once, make a clear decision, and make a deal now.