Leo is eating and rocking, eating and rocking, eating and rocking.

Where will this Blue Crabs team be playing their games?

In Charles County.
Here's a link to their Web site:
www.SOMDbluecrabs.com,

Wow, that's quite the dig at Leo, Roch.

In the previous string someone asked whether we could still get Santana and Aybar from the Angels for Tejada. Why not think bigger than that and do some “one stop shopping”? This is a post I made on the last string. Any comments?

I hope they are using that quiet time at the Warehouse to figure out how they can make a trade with the Dodgers that will allow their franchise to win the World Series they expect under the Torre regime, and provide the quality MAJOR LEAGUE READY players this franchise so desperately needs.

The Dodgers have holes in the OF, 2B (even if Jeff Kemp comes back he is better suited to 1B), 3B, and REALLY need a quality left handed starter. They will probably fill the OF hole with Torii Hunter. They won the A Rod sweepstakes (they didn’t sign him), and they won’t fill all of their needs by trading for Miguel Cabrera since they will use most of their marketable players in such a trade.

We could offer them Tejada (just as good as Cabrera defensively and, when he wants to be, an RBI machine), Roberts, and Bedard for at least five of the following:

James Loney 1B
Andy LaRoche 3B
Tony Abreu 2B
Matt Kemp OF
Chad Billingsley RHP
Jonathan Broxton RHP
Clayton Kershaw LHP

We might be able to get a sixth name from that list if we added Bradford or Walker.

I would prefer to keep Bedard just as much as the next fan; however, this franchise needs to be honest with itself: His availability issues and lack of enthusiasm make it questionable that he will be a major contributor or even here beyond 2009. His trade value will become less each day, and teams will be reluctant to trade that quantity of talent during the season as it is harder to fill those spots.

Brian Roberts would be a big loss in the lineup and the community but his value will also only diminish from this point forward. I was one of the fans opposed to the trade with the Braves last winter because I thought he would be an irreplaceable part of the plan I THOUGHT our FO had in place. He is signed through 2009 and this team WILL NOT be WS material by then.

I realize that this trade would bring in young players for the positions that Billy Rowell and Brandon Snyder are projected for; however, with their health history and reasonable questions about being able to adequately field these positions, they should not be counted on. Besides, when was it ever a bad thing to have depth at more than position?

If Kemp is not part of the Dodgers deal we could try to get enough in the Hernandez and Mora trades to get Carl Crawford from Tampa. They have a surplus of OF prospects, and are ALWAYS looking for pitching. The Mets have a couple of pitchers that might interest them.

The last time this team made this kind of trade was in 1976 and it provided the missing pieces to a team that went to two World Series. If Andy Mac Phail REALLY has decision making authority, if the entire organization is going establish one PROPER way to learn how to play the game, and if Dave Trembley is going to require his players to behave in a professional manner then this trade would allow us to compete with the Yankees and Red Sox no later than 2010.

Seems the fans in Angels land already have Miggy as their shortstop. They have him batting third. Their only concern seems to be that the Dodgers or Cubs might outbid the Angels for Miggy.

http://www.forums.mlb.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=ml-angels&tid=88044

Hey yall:

In case you missed it, LA Times has a story speculating about why the pitching heavy Angels picked up Jon Garland today. One theory is that they'll trade Ervin Santana or Joe Saunders to B-town for Miggy.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/angels/la-sp-angels20nov20,0,7420811.story?coll=la-home-center

Hmmmmmmmmmm...the Angels trade away their starting SS, maybe a deal for Miguel is in the works???

It seems now like just maybe, we are going to get more than I hoped for Miggy. I would take Saunders or Weaver in a heartbeat as the centerpiece of a trade for Miggy, but Santana scares the horses__t out of me :-)
Also, Billingsley and Loney are the two names I see kicked out the most in DodgerLand for Mig, and once again, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Broxton and Loney sounds better, but Chad Billingsley looks like he could be quite the complement to Bedard if we can sign him long term.
Roch - Do you have any idea who the "high level prospect" the O's asked for for Hernandez was?

Hate to put a damper on some of the excitement. I really do. But when the Angels fans are talking about trading for Miggy, about 98 percent of them are talking about Miguel Cabrera.

That said, with Lowell's apparent signing in Boston, I think it still looks good to get a good return on Tejada from the Dodgers or Angels, depending on who wins the Cabrera sweepstakes with the Marlins

BBbeenberrygood2me:

They're talking about Miggy Cabrera, not Miggy Tejada. Gotta keep your Miguels straight.

Never mind the Miggy and Bedard trade talks: what I want to know is what's Wally Backman been doing with all his free time since the D'backs bumped him from the managerial appt. a few years ago after the ugly background check? No one else in organized ball (or should I say the "dependent" leagues?) wanted to touch him? He was a fiery li'l so-and-so who could intimidate umps and motivate middling farmhands when managing Birmingham a few years back.

BBbeenberrygood2me dont get to excited about that...If you read all the post Miggy is refering to Cabrera not Tejada...The possibilty is still there but lets wait and see about the Marlins plans...

Hey guys, you might want to read that Angels message board a little more closely. The "Miggy" they're talking about trading for is Cabrera, not Tejada.

Saunders and Reggie Willits for Tejada.

Roch,

Thanks for the Blue Crabs update. Can't help but be happy for Brooks (who I know likes his steamed crabs) who is putting together a beautiful ballpark for a family to enjoy baseball. I like the idea of those grass berms beyond the fence; that'll give fans a fun perspective for watching the game.

Looking forward to all the headlines: "Crabs Shell Bluefish;" "Crustaceans Crush Patriots;" "Crabs Claw their way past Bears;" "Jimmies Mount Comeback."

One of my dreams has always been to own a team and call them the Crabs. I would put the player's numeral right in the middle of an ornately rendered, steamed orange crab on the back of the jersey. There was a successful thoroughbred racing stable on the Maryland circuit a few years ago--The Crab Stable-- that featured white silks with a nicely done red crab on the jockey's back.

Can't help but notice, too, that the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs colors--sky blue and red--remind me of the paint on the Gordon's Crab House in Baltimore many years ago.

Man, am I hungry for some steamed crabs.

Brooks, I'll be out there to greet the team in their opener on May 25th in Somerset, NJ.

Have fun, #5!

BBbeenberrygood2me: Those Angel fans who are projecting "Miggy" in their 2008 lineups are not talking about Miggy Tejada. They're talking about Miggy Cabrera.

The concept of Miguel Tejada is better than the person who played in Baltimore last year.
I'm sorry to see him go, if he goes, but he may just get worse in the field. His power has certainly diminished.
For fans, it's just another huge hope dashed. Remember when the O's were in first place the whole first half that season?
I've never figured out exactly what that was about.
Perhaps they should sell anti-depressents at the concession stands.

Before anyone gets all excited about Ervin Santana for Tejada. Here's one more look at Ervin Santana's stats when he's not pitching in Anaheim.

41 games
39 starts
10 Wins
21 losses
206.2 innings pitched
250 hits
173 runs
164 earned runs
42 homers
88 walks
165 strikeouts
7.14 ERA
1.64 WHIP
.299 Batting average

Trade Tejada for two top Angels prospects.

Trade Bedard for the three Dodgers prospects - Kemp, Broxton, Billingsley

Trade Hernandez for two Mets prospects.

Trade Mora for two Phillies prospects.

That's nine new, good young players. Put them on the Major League roster, along with Weiters, Reimold, Moore, Penn, Olson and eventually Rowell, Snyder and Arrieta.

We'd finally have some guys to root for and get excited about.

Roch, now that the Angels have traded O. Cabrera, what are the chances Tejada will get dealt there? Ha ha. I saw the last thread and I missed out on all the fun! Anyway, it’s a pertinent question, but it’s funny how many people asked a variation of it.

Tom D: I agree—Anderson appears that he could’ve been a step up over Payton and Redman. Not only is he younger than both, he’ll make significantly less money than Payton. It’s hard to believe how much we’re paying Payton, a guy who at best should be a fourth outfielder. Anderson shows that there are cheaper, younger options out there who will give you similar if not better results (and just about anybody has to be better than Payton). You don’t have to necessarily pick them up from the scrap heap. And who knows—perhaps someone like Anderson can surprise everyone and be a better player than thought. We know Jay Payton and Tike Redman most likely won’t be (Redman was decent here last season; at age 31, though, and not able to catch on as a regular player, you figure he’s limited).

OFahn: Your big-time trade idea is quite intriguing, though I doubt that the Dodgers would deal a good part of their future like that for any group of players. Some of the mentioned players such as Loney, Broxton, Kemp, and Billingsley have major league experience and have shown they can play in the big leagues (these aren’t Hayden Penn type players who look completely overwhelmed—Loney hit .331 last season, Broxton has struck out 218 in 172 innings, Kemp hit .342 last season, and Billingsley won 12 games). These guys aren’t prospects—they’re here now, and they’re better than most players we have. The Dodgers may have a lot of talent and money to spend, but, like many teams, I still see them banking on such players to take them to the postseason. I see Bedard perhaps being the most intriguing to them and the one player they’d be most likely to deal some of these players for.

You all make it sound like teams are standing in line to give the O's their top prospects for players who have displayed average major league production and are getting older. They also have contracts that currently overpay them so in a best case scenario we eat some of the cash to get prospects. Do you think this organization will eat millions of dollars to get younger? It will certainly be a litmus test of the new FO. At any rate, the only way a team is trading prospects is if they have determined those players have a limited ceiling in their organization. Pretend for a second that we were close to competing (I know it's a stretch). Would we give away Weiters and Arrietta to get that final pitcher we thought we needed to get over the hump? Probably not. Well, keep throwing out the trades--they are fun to read and there really isn't much happening with this team so fantasy deals will have to suffice.

I'm not sure the FO deserves much credit for this, but at least they haven't lied to us yet this offseason. I guess we should appreciate the small positive changes.

You eliminated my jock shock joke.....

Oh why couldn't Brooks own the O's....

MacPhail had a preliminary discussion with Erik Bedard's agent, Mark Pieper, but no serious negotiations have taken place about a contract extension for the ace left-hander. ... If the Orioles trade Tejada and aren't convinced Luis Hernandez is ready to take over as the starting shortstop, one potential replacement is Cesar Izturis, whose option was not picked up by the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Orioles have discussed acquiring the slick-fielding Izturis in the past.

No serious talks with Bedard yet? He should be $igned by now, the price is just going to keep going up. They are F'ing around here, he is as good as gone. Maybe not this winter, but he'll be dealt eventually, not now, they will keep waffling, waiting no doubt for his trade value to fall as FA approaches for him.
Itzuris is a good D SS, but a banjo hitter. A decent stopgap measure for a year or two. All of you begging for Tejada to be gone will be in shock when you see what this does to the lineup, Itzuris in place of Tejada.... I am not anxious for this supposed deal of Tejada for 2 avg players back from the Angels. They won't get top talent now & are too anxious to unload him. Hopefully MacFail can line up someone else to "bid" for Tejada against the Angels but shrewd moves are not part of the O's FO now are they.....

Good ideas Andrew but merely a dream....

Uh, why is Cecil Fielder interviewing for a low A managerial job. Didn't he have at least one 8 figure contract? And, you mean to tell me that there isn't a major league organization that would like to have someone of his "stature" in their clubhouse?

RIP Joe Nuxhall