I have a question for you. What players, if any, did Baltimore protect in the Rule V draft? To follow that, who do you think the Orioles should go after in the draft? This could be a good way to get some young players on the roster who can help the team in the future.

And go Angels on getting Cabrera because I like the package from the Dodgers better for Bedard. If he's going to go, the O's need a very good package back for him!

The O's will be dumping salary in the next 2 years right? (Starting in a few days.) Why not sign Bedard with some of that money? He's an ace.
Unless he's got his bags packed already, keep him.
You have to build around SOMETHING.
Hoping the FO knows more about Bedard's intentions than you or I.

HeatherC – Any player on our 40 man roster is protected as well as certain players not on the 40 man roster that have not been with the organization more than a certain number of years.

Generally, the only reason a team does not place a player they think has a high upside on their 40 man roster is because they are not required to in order to protect them. Sometimes a team has a player that has had an injury or a down year and they will expose them to the draft because they think that another team will not want to keep that player on their 25 man roster the entire season as they must in order to keep that player.

Rule 5 is a way for teams that are rebuilding to take a chance on a player; however, there are not a lot of success stories. Normally, about one a season.

Hope that helps.

Forget all your spectulation. The place for us to look is Seattle. They are loaded with sluggers at all positions in there minor leagues. I mean loaded. Loaded!!

Roch:

Huh? Can you expound on the Bedard to the Dodgers possibility? Do you mean Tejada? I don't understand why the Angels getting Cabrera equates to the Dodgers getting Bedard. Aren't they looking for a 3B?

I agree with HeatherC that given the O's situation it seems like we could handle the risk of using up a roster spot or two. Worst case scenario, we cough up $20,000. I also agree with Anthony's last post. Let some of this underachievers regain some value. It's not like they are blocking anyone from taking their roster spot (and if you say Scott Moore I will laugh in your general direction).

On a brighter note, some of the O's farmhands are getting positive national feedback. We still appear to be in the lower third of minor league systems but appear to have bottomed out a couple of years ago. One of these guys needs to decide that it's showtime.

Orioles' fans should hope and pray that Marlins pull Cabrera back from the trading block, so that the O's get maximum value from the Dodgers for Bedard, and from Angels for Tejada.

Hey Rob, sorry for the confusion. I'm implying that if the Dodgers trade for Cabrera, they're not likely to also trade for Bedard because they won't have enough prospects to give the Orioles. Therefore, if the Angels acquire Cabrera, and the Dodgers can't have him, they can focus on Bedard.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ti-dodgersorioles112007&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

The name discussed is Matt Kemp. On the Orioles mailing list one of the contributors also mentioned Clayton
Kershaw, and Jonathan Broxton.

(The assessment from one of the list-members who knows the minor leagues is that the Orioles should take a deal like this in a minute. On a Dodgers forum someone thought this would be overpaying for Bedard but not Santana.)

However elsewhere I saw that Kemp and Kershaw are mentioned in speculation about Cabrera (along with Andy LaRoche). So as Roch notes, the Dodgers, if they deal, will deal with either the O's or the Marlins but not both.

Let's trade Bedard to the Dodgers, Tejada to the Angels, Ramon Hernandez to the Mets, and Mora to the Phillies.

Extra credit for then turning around and sending half of those prospects to the Marlins for Miguel Cabrera, and the other half to the Twins for Johann Santana.

Santana and Cabrera are young enough to be the stars of any rebuilding project, and would look great in 2010 next to Markakis, Weiters, Rowell, Guthrie, and Loewen.

I know, this is the Orioles, so it ain't gonna happen. But sometimes I like to think of what the Orioles would do if they had a competent front office.

Roch, I was writing a post saying Holliday’s chances could be hurt by playing in Colorado; now it’s all moot since Jimmy Rollins won. Oh well. Both players are quite deserving.

I think you’ve got it right on Bedard and M. Cabrera. The Dodgers aren’t going to get both. I like dealing with the Dodgers myself based on some of the young players who might get offered. I think we should all be realistic, though, about a trade. If we think we’re going to get a bounty of top players for Bedard, we’re sure to be disappointed. I think maybe one or two guys who are major league ready, and maybe some other lower level guys. Bedard is more valuable than Mark Teixeira, but I think that deal last summer should serve as a rough guideline: one major league ready player and four lower level but generally quality prospects. Perhaps because Bedard is a good lefthanded starting pitcher, he gets you fewer but higher quality players.

I tend to agree with others have said on R. Hernandez: he’s good to hang onto for now. An experienced everyday catcher is good to have for what may potentially be an inexperienced team, and he’s a good bridge to Wieters (whenever his time comes). He’s one player that I don’t necessarily advocate dealing right now because catcher can be a difficult position to fill. Tom D, I have to disagree about having another catching prospect. I’ll take an abundance of prospects at any position, because you never know who will make it in the big leagues, who will get hurt, and who might make good trade bait.

The Indians signed Kobayashi for 2 years, $6M. That would have been a very good signing for the Orioles: reasonable contract, potentially solid bullpen help, no loss of draft picks. Sigh.

I'll state again that I'd greatly prefer to keep Bedard. Right now I'd say he's more valuable than Santana, because he's reasonably priced for two years instead of somewhat expensive for just one. So I hope the Orioles can extend his contract, but if not they really should get a ton of return.

Bedard is younger and better than santana at this point trade tejada,mora,cabrera,millar,huff, or hernandez if you get top prospects in return.. But I say keep Bedard, Markakis, Guthrie, and Lowen.. Like the man said you have to have someome to build around..

This may not be a popular idea on this forum, but it is worth thinking about. If Andruw Jones price continues to drop, and the O's could swoop in with say... a deal 5 years for 60-75 million, it could be worth it. He had a down year, mainly due to his weird drop in batting average. Odds are that next year he will hit 260/340/480, while playing all world defense in center, and will prob be around those numbers for the next 5 years (he's only 30 right now).

This should especially be considered if Tejada is traded. And just because a team is rebuilding doesn't mean they are broke, it means giving guys like Huff/Mora/Gibbons/Baez bad contracts is an especially bad idea. Getting a good deal for a guy like Jones is a good deal, rebuilding or not. Hopefully in 3-4 years he'd be leading Wieters and the young guys into competition.

I’m sure that there will be some that disagree; however, I could live with a catcher that is VERY GOOD with pitchers (particularly young ones) for the next two years even if his bat is AAAA. Make the Bedard, Roberts, Tejada trade with the Dodgers and there will be enough bats in the line up to cover that weakness.

If we can get enough in the Hernandez and Mora trades we might be able to land Carl Crawford (if we get Broxton we might consider closing that deal with McCrory). Picture this lineup:

Hernandez SS (This guy has a ML glove and, if he’s hitting in front of these guys, he will hit .280 or better)
Carl Crawford LF
Loney 1B or Kemp CF
Markakis RF
Loney 1B or Kemp CF
DH
Andy LaRoche 3B
Tony Abreu/Freddy Bynum 2B
Catcher (Damian Miller?)

Guthrie SP
Billingsley SP
Cabrera SP
Loewen SP
Olson/Penn/Liz/Veteran SP

Burres LHP
Cherry RHP
Hoey RHP
Bradford RHP
Walker LHP
Broxton RHP

With anything close to the pitching we got last year before the All Star break this team is at least an 80 game winner and will only get better.

Actually Santana is one week younger than Bedard and I don't think most people would say Bedard is a better pitcher. Bedard is at his all-time high in value right now. There is a non-zero probability that he will regress or get injured in the next two years, so dealing him for three prospects diversifies some of that risk.

I'm afraid that the team may be disappointed in whats offered for Tejada. While it would be nice to get a couple of young major league ready prospects, I feel it may be 2nd tier guys being offered.

Trading Bedard without trying to sign him is equal to throwing in the towell.

Unless the Orioles are prepared to shell out 3 or 4 times what Bedard will cost them today for a top of the order starter in a couple years when all this "major league ready" talent we are snatching up becomes the 1927 Yankees, as everyone seems to think, then the plan appears to be not to be a competitive team for another 5 - 10 years. That will not do.

I am now starting to wonder if Angelos is not doing what dozens of morons have done before him - dumping salaries to make the team look more attractive to a buyer.

Except, would you rather shell out the big bucks for a championship caliber club or for a AAA team?????

I am sorry boys and girls, but the ONLY thing that will come from dumping all of our quality players is a well paid AAA team.

Anyone who thnks MacPhail is the equivalent of John Schuerholz is in for a rude awakening. MacPhail has never rebuilt a team from scratch and has never had a draft as successful and the 2007 draft the O's had. If Roch is anywhere near being close to what the FO is thinking this team is toast.

The problem with keeping Bedard "to build around" is that without trading him we would not have many pieces to build with.

Tejada might be worth one blue-chipper and a decent 2nd prospect.

Between Hernandez, Mora, and Millar the O's would get some mid-level prospects but nothing of great value--which is appropriate because those guys don't have a lot of value.

Total haul without Bedard, maybe one ML-ready guy and several marginal guys, one of whom might actually turn out.

Bedard would add at least one quality ML-ready player, at least one blue chip AA or AAA prospect, and one or two more longer-term but quality pieces.

Basically, if they trade him, they have a chance to jump=start the rebuilding and be a winning team in 2009. Without him, we wait until 2010 or longer depending on Rowell and Snyder.

The pieces have to come from somewhere.

"j" for "Just do it, Andy."

grant,

Bedard and Santana were born eight days apart in March, 1979. Bedard is not younger.

He is also not better than Santana, although it was close for a while this season. Santana has been a dominant pitcher for several seasons, Bedard for part of one season.

They might have equal trade value this winter, though, since Bedard has two arbitration years before FA, and Santana is down to his last one.

Tom D – It is hard to argue against your point that it would be better to build around something; however, what does this franchise have to build with?

We have marketable players that other teams need and would be willing to give up quality for:

Bedard
Roberts
Tejada
Mora
Ramon Hernandez
Guthrie
Markakis
Walker
Bradford

Guthrie and Markakis should be considered almost untouchable because they will be here after 2009.

Bedard, Roberts and Tejada have real value and would bring QUALITY return in quantity.

Hernandez and Mora have value to two teams that really need a good player at a specific position.

We need to keep Walker and Bradford unless we can get a quality reliever (Broxton) because SOMEONE needs to protect the leads that our starters bring into the seventh or eighth innings.

If you only trade one of the following (Bedard, Roberts or Tejada) you will not get as much in quality as this team needs in rebuild quickly. Even two players from the list may not be enough, any of the three that we keep may not want to re sign.

The point I’m trying to make is that since we don’t have enough position talent in our farm system we are going to have to get it somewhere else. If we don’t trade the desirable players we have now, it is going to take that much longer to become a winner. Besides, once it looks like the team is headed in the right direction and the fans start coming back, there will good players that will be willing to play here and we will have the money to pay them. Think of the 96 or 97 teams with a much better farm system.

the orioles should have signed
kobayashi. he would be a great draw. he could eat 30 hot dogs every half inning. move mora to left try moore at third, trade miggy use the 26 million miggy would have gotten and use it to sign bedard. trade gibbons for 2 bats and a ball. try to dump huff and pray the wieters and rowell develop real fast. hope hayden penn gets it together and really pray the d. cabrera figures out how to pitch consistently. the reality is the orioles will probably be in last place in 2008. t bay has too many good young players to finish last.

Trading Ramon Hernandez, if and only if you get a top prospect in return, is a great idea. He turns 32 next year, which is typically the last respectable offensive year for a catcher. Also, he will be 34 or 35 by the time the Orioles could be close to contending, and anyone who won't help the team contend should be traded for prospects.

As for Hernandez being a veteran who can help the pitchers develop, there are plenty of veteran catch-and-throw catchers available in free agency, who would not cost any draft picks, such as Mike Lieberthal, Doug Mirabelli, Damian Miller, and Sandy Alomar.

Also, based on his physique and injury history, I think that trading Bedard now that his value is at its peak is also a great idea. If you could get James Loney (1B, 23 y/o, .919 OPS) and Matt Kemp (LF, 23 y/o, .894 OPS) from the Dodgers, do it. Dodger Stadium is a pitchers' park, and yet those hitters have been tearing it up over there. Both of their OPS last year would have been better than any Oriole (Markakis led the team with .848 OPS).

Finally, do everything possible to trade Miguel Tejada and Brian Roberts before the Mitchell Report comes out. Get as many young prospects as possible, but selling early is far preferable to not being able to sell at all.

Roch,
I think it makes the most sense for us to package Bedard, Tejada, and Huff for Kemp, Loney, Kershaw, and Broxton. I think the nightlife in LA should meet Huff's standards.

Hernandez to the Mets for Milledge. I know a lot of people don't like this because he's Milton Bradley Part II, but I say we take the risk. Our goal is to unload the payroll.

Millar to anybody that will take him. We need to get rid of anybody who doesn't want to be here and takes up space. Maybe for an upper level pitching prospect.

Mora to Philly? I don't know enough about their prospects, but maybe Mora for a few mid to upper level pitching prospects.

If everything goes according to plan, our average age next year....24!

Dave, while its arguable that a trade of Bedard, Tejada, Hernandez and Mora for Miguel Cabrera and Johan Santana is a fair deal (I actually would not want the O's to pull that trigger), then what would the team do? The apparent plan is to rebuild with youth, a lot of it, not with expensive acquisitions. They'd lose Santana in a year. Better think again.

The Dodgers are going to be aggressive as they didn't bring Torre in to oversee a rebuilding project. They want to win now and with a few moves could very well end up the best team in the mediocre NL. They aren't far off despite a series of questionable moves(Pierre, Schmid, Kent,etc); huge sums of money goes a long way towards 'righting the ship'.
Miguel Cabrera is a proven slugger-who cares if he's as big as a house and covers as much ground as a linebacker? Surrender what it takes to get this guy and forget about the future. Besides, Broxton Kemp, Kershaw and whoever else may have shown enough to warrant becoming stars but when you are close, you have to give up something to get something.
They have enough pitching but lack offense, Cabrera will fill that void.
In contrast, even a die-hard Oriole fan like me realizes our chances are slim in '08 so giving up our few decent players for one guy is crazy. By the same token, some of these ideas of trading our best 4-5 players for 10 young guys makes little sense either.
This shotgun approach is about as wise as patching up holes with retreads/castoffs. We may very well end up worse off in the long run, not to mention an extremely ugly '08. OPCY will see all-time low crowds...There has to be some balance, a team full of prospects, stripped of Roberts, Tejada, Bedard, Hernandez will be like watching AA ball.
Anyone who has followed successful teams knows that you need a mixture of productive veterans, established and developing youngsters, sprinkling in role players and only a few what'ifs/unknowns...
And on a final note re: Bedard/Johan Santana comparisons...Santana is obviously superior, as he's proven himself over a longer period. We are so starved and desperate for good pitching that the rose-coloured glasses haven't come off yet when discussing Bedard. He's never won more than 15 games, has really only been healthy one year and had only 2 winning seasons. I'd like to see him stay around and sure, offer him a fair extension but don't get swayed by Santana contract figures. I read that the Twins offered 5 yrs-93 mill-Bedard doesnt' justify that type of contract. I'd offer 3 yrs-45 mill and if he says no, then test the waters...

The Mets signed a catcher so that probably means one less trading partner for Hernandez. I wish the FO would DO something. After 10 years of losing it doesn't take Einstein to see this is a dysfunctional team.

u is for unmotivated front office people

I know it has probably already been said, but Bedard is untouchable, or at least should be. Bedard, B-Rob, and Markakis should be untouchable.

I don't think anyone is untouchable. I would prefer that the Angels get Miguel Cabrera, as I think the Dodgers have better prospects in the positions that the Orioles need. It may take a HUGE trade, but here's some food for thought:
Bedard, Mora, Tejada, Roberts and Bradford for
Loney (1B), Kemp (OF), Tony Abreu (2B), LaRoche (3B), Kershaw (LHP), Billingsley, and Broxton (RHP). I have doubts that the Dodgers would give up 6 really good prospects, but they are getting quite a bit out of this trade as well. This is the kind of trade that Baltimore needs to make.
Our lineup with said trade would look a little better:
C - R. Hernandez
1B - Loney
2B - Abreu
3B - LaRoche/Moore
SS - L. Hernandez
OF - Reimold
OF - Kemp
OF - Markakis
DH - Huff
SP - Guthrie, Loewen, Billingsley, Cabrera, Kershaw
RP - Broxton, McCrory, Walker, Hoey, Doyne, Liz

I'm not too sure about the "getting rid of everyone of value for prospects" approach. Ok, so we can trade Bedard, Tejada, Mora, Roberts, Millar, Huff and Hernandez for prospects... lots of them, and probably very good ones. What would that make us? The Tampa Bay Devil Rays. They have been loaded with great young talent for years, but I don't see them doing a whole lot of winning. The O's neet to try to model themselves after the Oakland A's. Give up some good veterans, get some good prospects in return, and keep the rest of your good veterans until some of those prospects come up to take their place. I'm not talking about keeping Tejada or Millar. I'm talking about why on earth would you trade Bedard (by far the best player to come from the Orioles' farm system in a while). The A's didn't deal Hudson, Zito and Mulder until they had young players ready to come up and take their place. They didn't just clear house and go "let's see what happens now". It would be ridiculous to unload every good player for prospects because they're just that... PROSPECTS! Anyone remember the name Matt Riley? Everyone's going crazy here. Yeah. Trade Tejada, Millar, Huff, Hernandez, maybe even Mora. But Roberts and Bedard? Let's just go ahead and get rid of Markakis and Guthrie while we're at it. We can certainly get good prospects in return for them.

TomD. Good posts! You are one of the few that seems to understand that wholesale trading and not getting equal value in return is wrong for a number of reasons.

Almost Former: You asked what the Orioles would do after swapping Bedard, Tejada, Hernandez and Mora for Miguel Cabrera and Johan Santana. The answer: They'd win! My guess, and this is pure speculation, is that keeping these guys will put the team in, oh, 4th place. And trading them all for prospects is fine, except that the players that you'd get wouldn't be any younger than Cabrera, and Santana is the best player in baseball. As for Santana leaving in a year, well, here's a wild idea: re-sign him! It's not like it would put payroll above the Red Sox or Yankees. And by 2010, the Cabrera-Marakakis-Weiters-Rowell lineup would rock the yard, while Santana-Loewen-Guthrie-Liz-Cabrera would keep other teams in check.

Paul: On a perennial 4th place team, nobody is untouchable. Bedard, at his peak and with his injury history, and B-Rob, with his links to steriods on the eve of the Mitchell Report, are the opposite of untouchable.

TerryP - I agree, and liked your term of "shotgun approach." While I do believe the Orioles should make some trades to bring in good prospects, it'd be foolish to deal away all our chips. I am a really big follower of minor league baseball and prospects, and there are lots of guys to get excited about. But the truth is that the success rate of those guys becoming anything more than average MLB players is low. In today's market, that means that trading off players like Mora and Hernandez for "mid-level" prospects is almost certainly a bad move. The "almost certainly" leaves the window open just slightly for "chemistry" (if the harm the traded players inflict on the team morale offsets their contributions over the AAAA guys that would replace them) and the very unlikely chance that the mid-level prospects miraculously become stars.

Hernandez is ours now, anyway, since the Mets got a better deal and stole Estrada for the price of a PED-using average middle reliever.

Apparantly, Podsednik has been cut from the White Sox. Should be a less expensive alternative to Patterson. Might be worth considering...

Trading Bedard now makes the most sense but neither the Dodgers or Angels are going to move until after the Marlins do something with Cabrera.
Another thing to remember is that attitude plays a part in any trade. Tejeda's image has taken a hit defensively, Hernandez was questioned for not putting in effort, plus all teams are worried about the Mitchell report. Image if the O's trade three prospects for a proven vet only to find he was mentioned in the report and misses time next year, let alone the image problems for the team. Remember how Palmeiro's image took such a hit?
I believe the O's would be lucky to get Brandon Wood and Santana from the Angels for Tejeda because of the image now of Tejeda and the lingering steroid questions, the same could be said for Roberts (steroids). Bedard is your most marketable because of his age, salary and years until free agency. A team may be more willing to give three prospects now but next year may only give two.
It is time for the O's to think three years down the road. Get the three prospects from the Dodgers for Bedard and what you can for Tejeda and Mora (if possible) and wait patiently on the Reimolds, Rowells and Weiters and hope Roberts is not named in that report. Hernandez (heart) and Huff (attitude) are only going to bring bad contracts with bad attitudes. Haven't we seen enough of that already?

Roch
Do all the people that post think the other GM's are dumb?
Who wants Mora, Huff, Gibbons, Millar
and Hernandez? NOBODY That is why the Orioles have them.

TerryP - He's an a$$ - don't encourage him.

The Bedard & Tejada scenarios are different than the Hernandez one & here are the reasons why.....

Hernandez is the ONLY legit C they have & far better than anyone FA too.

With a "young" staff, do you want them throwing to a AAAA C or some journeyman?

Hernandez for a AA 27 yr old or some guy that has little chance of making the ML is stupid. Why? Bec/ of $$? It appears they will save plenty so why completely gut the team?

Hernandez will have far more value in July for a team in need of a C, they get hurt alot remember? Some team on the verge of the playoffs will offer more then than some marginal prospect.

Hernandez had a bad year, he is due, also, he may have incentive to play hard, so he can get traded out of here like everyone else.

Bedard should be signed, at the least, don't trade him for a few maybes..... same for Tejada. Don't give the guy away just to be rid of him.

potter eating Gibbons contract? There is a better chance of potter doing steroids himself before that happens...
I'd offer him around to AL teams needing a 4th OFer/1B/DH & offer to pay most of the salary to be rid of him. Save what you can & move on.

I have a bad feeling that in 2 weeks we are all going to be saying more than a few times... "they dealt (fill in the blank) for who?" They can call it rebuilding, stockpiling "talent", diverting $$ to development, whatever... it's still a salary dump & going on the cheap. I refuse to believe that Baltimore has to become a KC, Minn, TB, Milw, type of team. The revenue sources are available, they are just mismanaged or hoarded.

I'm not sure what the hell these guys are doing in the off-season -

We are going to suck again next year.

Roch, you are talking about handing Bedard over to LA (perhaps because he doesn't give interviews? because you think it would be great to get a few prospects? Great, then Guth could be our #1 with Cabrera at # 2? this is insane.

Oh, yeah, either sign Patterson or Podsenik? Is that really our option in CF?

Is there any chance of us fielding a competitive team with this mindset?

This is not looking good at all!!!!

This will be set in stone. Liz in the 7th. Hoey in the 8th. Doyne in the 9th. Wow! There's no turning back for these three.

you people who say trade tejada beddard are crazy you tell me who put up better stats then tejada who played for the orioles or who could replace beddard prospects? please propects take time and with the orioles history of being taken com on keep beddard and tejada get rid of the cancer of gibbons and hernandez huff spend cash for one legitamate power hitter in left keep patterson and nick plus redman always hit and is a perfect fourth outfielder and pray lowen stays heathy . with all that said it will still take a miracle to get out of last place flangan was a good pitcher but has no worth in the front office but the orioles would rather get rid of minoe league coaches and call this cleaning house if they trade beddard or dont resigh him i hope they stay in last for enternity

If Jay Gibbons is on the major league roster of the Orioles next year I will not attend one home game and all the front office people should be fired for being the worst judge of talent in the history of the game.

I think the orioles shold keep Ramon because he's a veteran catcher that has a good chance to rebound. There is no improvements on free agency. Tejada rebounded after his broken wrist and if the Orioles want good power than he need to stay. Erik Bedard is worth alot and can be traded for a solid fielder, reliever, and a good prospect. If they get rid of him Daniel Cabrera will really need to step up and be dominate, along with Loewen and Guthrie. The Orioles definally need to get a backup catcher, centerfielder, and possibly another reliever.

Whats wrong with Jay Gibbons? I think he'll be back and get some at-bats off the bench. If he returns he will play some leftfield, mabey, firstbase, and DH. He is capable of putting some good numbers up.

Bedard fits the perfect criteria for what this team is suppose to be building on. Let's get busy and sign him! Why, however, would we want to sign Jay Gibbons? He is everything this team doesn't need. If we keep him, we might as well have kept Raphael Palmero. He was at least a real proven major league player year after year. By the way, I don't suppose the Orioles are one of the teams willing to sign Tory Hunter to a five year contract? That would be asking too much.

Ryan,

Unfortunately by thinking Ramon will rebound you are supporting HGH usage by MLB players- Ha Ha!!!

I'm sorry for the comment, but those fresh O's pics of Palmer, Flanagan, Murray, Brooks, (On the Sun's site) kind of just made me realize that there is very little hope at the moment... Especially if EB is traded! He's got at least 4 good years left. At least!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Give him what he wants or the conversation has to move to ownership. Sell the goddammed team if you can't sign EB!!!!!!!!!!! Angelos!!!! for godsake, give it up and get real. Go buy a yacht and drink your days away - you are rich. Either that or open up a line of credit for 75 million annually, becuase that is what we freaking need!!!!!!

Does the Angels $80 million deal with Torri Hunter alter the Orioles chances of dealing with Angels?

O's fan in san fran,

Ramon can rebound without HGH. Why do you think im supporting it? The Oriole that needs to go is Jay Payton. They need a good CF and Torri Hunter would of been perfect. Tike Redman can fill at LF. Bedard is the center of the Orioles pitching but could be traded for some good players. The Orioles still need a backup catcher, CF, and possibly a veteran starter because Dave Trembly want a veteran to stable the rotation. Jay Gibbons will stay if the Orioles get rid of Kevin Millar or Aubrey Huff and do not get another 1B in return.

Mabey I was wrong about Jay Gibbons he's coming off shoulder surgery but I still believe that he's gonna be with the O's in spring training. Though I still think Ramon will be the Orioles catcher if the Mets dont go for him. Tejada should be traded to whatever team doesnt get Miguel Cabrera. Luis Hernandez can be a gold glove at SS, but Dave Trembly doesnt feel comfortable with him.

Torii Hunter at 90/5 makes Tejada look good at 26/2. We'll be glad the Os didn't sink that money into TH in two years if not sooner. Over 100Ks in his last 6 full seasons. NEVER hit .290. OBP is in the low 330s. And still a year older then MT. Eventually, the Os will have to overspend to get a big bat. Vlad and Carlos were worth it...Torii is not.

The Orioles have always over estimated the worth of their players. It is not a matter of what this guy is worth, but what I can get for them. In this market the interest in Tejada is minimal. If I were the Orioles I would try to trade Tejada for Brandon Wood (SS) Angels straight up. Wood is considered to be a top 5 prospect in all of the minor leagues. Since 2005 Wood has 92 homers, 9 triples, 123 doubles, and 279 runs batted in. I would try to package Olson, Penn, and/or Cabrera with Mora and make a deal with a team (Phillies) for a player such as Adrian Cardenas (2B/SS). I would deal Bedard to the Dodgers for low cost talent. I would prefer LaRoche (3B), Kemp (OF), and Kershaw (SP). I would try to sign Andruw Jones to a 5 year deal in the $15 million/year range. Assuming that Tejada would be dealt $13 million would be saved. Allocating that money to Jones wouldn't be a huge deal. In 2009 the salaries of Gibbons, Huff, Payton, Mora, Hernandez, and Baez come off of the books. That will save the Orioles $33 Million. At that point the Orioles should go after Teixeira at the $18-$20 per year range. Spend the remaing money on a good starting pitcher and relief help. That would give the Orioles a 2009 lineup of:

1. Brain Roberts (2B)
2. Matt Kemp (LF)
3. B. Wood (SS)
4. Markakis (RF)
5. Teixeira (1B)
6. A. Jones (CF)
7. Andy LaRoche (3B)
8. Scott Moore/FA (DH)
9. Matt Weiters (C)

Pitching Staff would be:
Guthrie
Loewen
Cabrera
Kershaw
FA/Penn/Olson

Bullpen Staff:

Hoey (Setup Man)
Bradford
Walker
R. Liz
Ray
FA Veteran

That would put the Orioles team salary in the $100-$120 Million range, but the product should be much higher. We reportedly spent about $94 million in 2007,

Josh: I really dont think the Orioles would package both Penn and Olsen because they could be the future of the Orioles in the rotation.
If I were in charge I would trade Tejada for some young player like Matt Kemp. That would save us some $$$$ to resign Bedard who's got at least 4 great years left. The Orioles should keep Daniel Cabrera, but one more screw up year and he's gone. Matt Wieters is definally not ready to be with the Orioles at the start of the year so dont put him in your lineup. The Orioles could deal Mora but wont get much back. Then Scott Moore can play 3B. If the Orioles really want to be cheap they wouldn't sign a CF. The would let Tike Redman play CF. Jay Payton in LF. While someone like JEFF FIORENTINO be their backup. While someone like Ryan Hueble who's on AAA or Matt Wieters be whoevers catching backup. I would like their linup to look like this:

1.Brian Roberts 2B
2. Matt Kemp LF
3. Nick Markakis RF
4. Andrew Jones CF
5. Aubrey Huff DH
6. Kevin Millar 1B
7. Ramon Hernandez C
8. Scott Moore 3B
9. Luis Hernandez SS

As one of the few Miguel Tejada supporters on this blog (we've all whined about our job...nobody else cares about it), I am biased...and hard pressed to find 3 SS on other rosters I'd rather have...Hanley Ramirez being the only hands down choice. Reyes? Possibly but who'd hit 3rd?, Tulowhatever from Col? .256 away from the thin air. Jeter...Nope. Not saying the Os shouldn't trade him,they're gonna stink with or without him next year, but he would be one of the 3 best hitters in ANY lineup in baseball...yes, Boston too. You don't trade away a genuine 3 spot hitter just to get rid of him. Sure, he's making noise about not moving from SS for the Os. So? When push comes, shove him to 3b or 1b. One thing about Miggy, he's got pride when it comes to hitting and he'll put up the numbers. And if for some reason (mitchel report) the Os can't get real value now, let him put up some #s next year then get something for him.

I agree with cush Tejada is better than most SS, but the Orioles need to fill in other positions and get the $$$ their paying him to resign their future: Erik Bedard

I like paul's prospective lineup with
one exception...catcher..we should
get rid of hernandez he is overpaid
and is not a good receiver.
we must get younger and faster
rid ourselves of some of the malcontents and have a group of
people who give 110% and want to
play the game.

Why Why Why trade Bedard???????
He is the only guy who can pitch. With Guthrie and Lowen coming back, you have a solid 3 pitchers.

Dump everyone else on the team except B Roberts!

WE HAVE 4 SOLID PITCHERS. Bedard, Loewen, Cabrera, and Guthrie

Rotation:
1. Erik Bedard (if we resign him)
2. Jeremy Guthrie
3. Adam Loewen
4. Daniel Cabrera
5. Penn/Olsen/FA