I would have loved to see Daniel Cabrera for Delmon Young, but that would have made too much sense for the Orioles to do something like that.

It probably wasn't that Cabrera wasn't offered, it was the contents of the " package " that turned them off....

Since this is kind of a regional sports blog at times, does anyone else really like this new Terps bball team? I get the feeling that Gary is a bit calmer (despite Vasquez's odd decisions) because he sees the pieces of a good young team that has room to grow in the next couple of years. They may still struggle to make the tournament, they give up easy 3s and can't seem to make many, but the team seems coachable and hard-working. I'll admit I know nothing about how to coach a bunch of college basketball players, but i think gary has a good group to work with and seems to have them prepared. maybe i'm just being optimistic that there will be a team in the area to cheer for, but this is a team i enjoy watching despite their offensive difficulties.

I'll just be glad when there is finally something concrete that happens so that people can talk/debate about something substantial. All the would-be GMs over the blogs and messageboards discussing their perceived trade possibilities ad-nauseum are starting to drive me absolutely batty!!

Hulk must be branching out, as I saw his profile on WWeHarmony.com last night.

Roch, you read my mind on Delmon Young,doesn't he fit the exact profile of the type of player macphail claims to want to build around?

I gotta admit; I'm skeptical about the whole "rebuilding" thing,are the O's really interested in rebuilding or was macphail brought in simply to cut payroll under the guise of "rebuilding" while he waits to become commissioner.

I just don't trust Petey, we were promised that we would see "immediate impact" from the MASN money, now we won't sign any free agents?

I'm not suggestion any more dopey segui-type signings, but maybe a hard nosed player like Rowand for CF or a little depth in the rotation with A Freddy Garcia or Randy Wolf type, at least

Bay is another good Canadian Kid from Trail B.C. I know one thing, you are getting a character player there. Ask Loewen.

In response to Tom D's comment on the last post, averages are devilish things. Bedard was listing among Santana, Pedro, and Halladay with IP over their first 4 years.

In his 4th season, Halladay threw 239 innings. Pedro, in his 4th season, threw 216 innings. Santana's 4th full season (using your combination), he pitched 228 innnings. Barry Zito threw 231 in his 4th season...Erik Bedard threw 182.

My point is, Bedard is not in their class, at least not yet. Being a #1 is not just about "stuff" - you have to show up, have a track record of being healthy and reliable, and occasionally throw past the 6th inning before handing it over to the 'pen.

For some reason I have always like Garza, he hasnt shown much yet, but I think he could be a decent #3 or #4 starter for the Rays...

The Rays have an abundance in pitching, mostly not proven, but they are gaining on us...

I only hope that we can strike some deals in next weeks winter meetings to start the rebuilding process and beefing up our beliegered farm system...

Just noticed in the 12/3 issue of Time Magazine a story about the upcoming presidential primary in Iowa titled, "Barack Around The Clock." Yeah, he may be trying to undo 8 years of Republicans in the White House but that's nothing compared to covering 10 years of Orioles Baseball at Camden Yards. He may have Oprah, but you've got a whole season of Aubrey Huff puns to "whack" around. Trademark, Roch, trademark.

Jennifer, Brady isn't going to be on Dancing with the Stars, but I did hear he wants to be cast as the skating partner for the lead in Blades of Glory 2. He would be a natural in the role....

Gotta love the fact the Simpson Judge is a woman & that she appears to not be amused......

Roch, I LIKE the Hogam joke!

On the surface the D Young for Garza trade makes you think. HUH? What? Minn should jump all over it.... however, D Young is the next coming of A Belle if you know his history or talk to Tampa people. That more than equalizes that trade. Smart move by Tampa.

That's too much for Bay, especially with that salary. If they would take one less ML ready guy, ok.

The Hulk is ready to start dating again. They should give him his own dating show, I could see it now, would you except this belt, and be the champion of my love, brother? Delmon Young to us would have been real nice, I'd bet they'd be willing to accept Loewen for Young if they accepted Garza.

RAY - I had not heard that he refused MacPhail's direct request to move to 3B. I had heard MacPhail talked to Tejada about his view of the team and how to get better and that this was done at Trembley's request. MacPhail said they discussed "options," which certainly does sound like he is being polite.

I wonder how that went down.... If it was that direct, it is very disappointing.

In any event, here is some food for thought on Tejada and Mora. (Funny how these numbers never seem to show up here....)
http://www.pressboxonline.com/story.cfm?id=2631

Brian,

HAHA! Good Call! I'm guessing Barry Bonds could be his larger partner.... have they outlawed steroids in Men's Pair Figure Skating yet?

The only immediate impact from the MASN deal was in Angelos' wallet! Tampa Bay will get fourth place this year!

Roch--Right you are about that IV line causing havoc for Baldelli. I understand he and Mike Hampton were working out together in the Mexican Winter League under the direction of David Segui when all three got entangled in the line and went down. Looks like hammies all around.

Baldelli is projected to be back sometime in midseason 2009. Plenty of time still for him to conjur up memories of the Old Man in the Sea's "The Great Dimaggio." Unless, of course, a bone spur becomes an issue. That, for Rocco, may be the knockout blow.

Re: the Hulkster - When it comes crashing down and hurts inside, you gotta be man it don't help to hide. Well, you hurt my friends and you hurt my pride, I gotta be man, I can't let it slide.

TOM D- the premise of the article, at least as how I read it, was that Mora and Tejada are better fielders because they have more opportunities to field balls. I'd say they are on the field a little more than their counterparts with the crack pitching staff that we have in Baltimore. I do believe that Mora is a solid but not spectacular 3rd baseman. Tejada let us down badly in the field last year. Most of us probably saw 100+ games last year and our eyes aren't lying. Big mistakes at key times may be worse than several mistakes in non-pressure situations. That's what separates Jeter from Tejada. Think about it, when has Tejada ever had that snapshot moment or clutch hit to win a game? You would think just by chance and being 4th in the lineup he would have many opportunities throughout the season. Whether it be fielding or hitting, Tejada shrinks a bit when the pressure is on. Who wouldn't take Jeter over Tejada even with those "glaring" stats that have been presented in Tejada's favor? Ughh, this from a guy who can't stand Jeter. Anyway, I am still in the camp of not shipping them out because we "need" to. Tejada especially should stay if we can't get a very good prospect and a good reliever. The Bedard situation could go either way but you either have to trade him for power or sign him long-term now.

I am also wondering if the rebuilding thing is just a way to save money. This from the same person who willfully neglected the minors and overseas scouting, now suddenly realizes its time to act like a small market team. It's all fairly convenient to Angelos' bottom line, no?

Roch, the question that’s been continually asked is, why did the Pirates even trade for Matt Morris last July? That had to be stupidest trade of 2007. The lowly Pirates were dumb to be saddled with Morris, who’s clearly not the same pitcher he used to be, and his contract.

Roch, I don’t know if a Garza-D. Cabrera comparison is warranted, and the Rays would’ve been true suckers if they dealt Young for Cabrera. Garza, while not spectacular, is just 24 and showed improvement in 2007 over his previous season. I thought he was fairly well touted though not someone you’d expect to emerge as an ace (perhaps a middle of the rotation pitcher). Tampa needs pitching if they want to climb out of the AL East cellar, and they seem to have a relative abundance of young outfielders. Young is a bit volatile though he’s still extremely young at 21. His meager OBP last season should be cause for concern, but again, he’s young. I’d say the biggest concern is that he matures and doesn’t let personality issues be the thing that prevents his career from gaining traction (that’s a big concern, I’d say).

I’d say D. Cabrera is fairly untradable at this point, unless the O’s want practically nothing for him or give him away as a throw-in for a bigger deal. Who would want to give up a lot for a young pitcher who is two years away from free agency and is regressing? Garza, on the other hand, is four years away from free agency—a big consideration for smaller market clubs—and is poised to take another step. Cabrera is a mystery who will probably continually frustrate everyone but the hitters he faces.

All of the talk has been on the Twins dealing Johan Santana, and they and other teams seem to be aggressive on that front. Now, here they are pulling of a six-player trade and Santana isn’t involved. Check that out—a front office that can do multiple things at once. We can all probably predict that the window of trade opportunity will probably pass the Orioles by as they stall and ponder and wait for other things to happen or not. Perhaps a few moves are made but not as many as they could have while they work on a one-at-a-time approach.

opps, sorry. previous post i meant 1 HR in every 6.75 GAMES. not at bats. my fault.

sorry about the bad info!

as for miggy's age, i don't know if he lies or not, i was just goign off of wikipedia ; )

and i do think he'd play 3rd for the o's, i think he was just talking tough... but everyones entitled to their thoughts here in blogland ! thanks for the insight...

the other difference i'll revert back to is that miggy can be the team leader, mora can definitely not in todays state of affairs...

Delmon Young is exactly the type of player you don't want to build around. A bad character you cannot count on.

Thanks for noting that article, TOM D - it was quite good. That's why I think Tejada should have high trade value, but other teams don't seem to see it that way. So basically, if he can fetch GOOD prospects and not Syd Thrift type ones, deal him. Otherwise you keep him, hope he puts up monster numbers over the first half, then re-evaluate. I see Mora as a known commodity - average 3B, average contract. There's a large drop-off between that and replacement (and I'm not convinced Moore will be better than replacement level at this point), so you can't deal him for nothing.

JPA, yes to the notion that we didn't see many Tejada defensive gems in key situations last year and I remember some bad mistakes. But I also remember a bunch of times during his first seasons when he did come up with great plays when we needed them. Maybe he is regressing, or maybe it's small number fluctuations. In Jeter's case, there's this perception that he's clutch so it gets fueled by plays like him going into the stands against Boston or pulling that shovel relay to nab Jeremy Giambi in the playoffs. People remember those easier than the multitude of grounders that pass to his left.

Jeff - My point was not to make a direct comparison but to show that some of the pitchers we regard as exemplars grew into the role.

4 years, 5 years? We can quibble about that. The point is that these other "studs" developed into their status - just as Bedard is. He is moving at a similar pace.

A legitimate question is his durability. I don't care if he is only a 7 inning pitcher as much as a 162 game pitcher. Having spent extended DL time in '06 and '07 is cause for concern. Maddox, with a similar body and style, always seems to have been at 200 innings.

This, of course, cannot be settled here. Only time will show if he is a china doll or a bulldog.

While being a #1 is, indeed, more about will and desire than stuff, none of the will and desire matter if you do not have a dominating pitch. Bedard has 2 - the curve and the pitch he needs to use more, a change-up. And he only developed the change in 2006.

Pitchers with 2 killer pitches are few and far between. I would rather keep a pitcher like Bedard and develop him into, at worst, a Flanagan or a McGregor then trade him for a handful of lesser talents.

Everyone seems to have the vision that we can trade Bedard or Tejada and get at least one equivalent of Alex Gordon, Chris Young or Ellsbury or another Wieters or Guthrie. That is far more fantastic then my saying that we are only about 4 players away from being a competitive team.

But, even if we land a Delmon Young in a trade (and Bedard certainly has more value than Garza!), we will not find another pitcher like Bedard without paying through the nose.

If I was forced to choose, I would trade Roberts before Bedard. I would trade Lowen or Guthrie before Bedard. In fact, I would put the "untouchable" stamp on Bedard along with Markakis.

I'm with JPA. With all due respect to Tejada when you have a below average defensive SS, you have a below average defensive team. Anyone who's played or watched enough baseball can tell you that SS and C are by far the two most important positions on the field. And, like JPA said, it's quite probable the only reason Tejada had more chances is because our staff was so bad that he was out in the field a lot more. I despise pretty boy Jeter as much as anyone, but Tejada can't hold a candle to him in the field. In fact the most glaring difference is how each player makes plays going to their right. I probably watched 100 more O's games than Yankees games last year but saw Jeter make many more plays in the hole than Tejada.

All that being said, I agree we shouldn't give Tejada away for nothing. Personally, I'd rather get one ML ready blue chipper (if possible) instead of two pretty good prospects. Take Brandon Wood or Matt Kemp in a heartbeat.

Saw on Yahoo Sports that the Diamondbacks may be the favorite for Bedard. If we could get Carlos Quentin, Conor Jackson and a pitching prospect, don't you have to make that deal?

It's quite possible Angelos is taking us for another ride. . . . That being said, the current plan isn't working. Why not try a new approach???

Promise this is the last time. ADAM JONES !!! MARINER"S. Give a lot Flan. Sorry, you are just a mouth piece. Andy pick up the phone. Make it happen. Pete will give you a raise. He's the real deal.