While waiting for the O's to make a move, you could always cover bowling. I mean, has there been a Baltimore athlete who ever measured up to Toots Barger?
I must be very bored.

Roch you need to talk to your bookie, the current line is between 24 and 24.5.

It doesn't look like that the Orioles are interested in signing a major free agent this year. But if they do decide to go after one then they should try to extract a promise from the player's agent that, if indeed, the O's are the highest bidder, for the player's services, then, the player would in fact sign with them. Vladimir Guerrero and Paul Konerko used them and spurned their higher offers to get a contract elsewhere.

Actually I heard that the Orioles inactivity is due to McFailures studying feverishly for his upcoming appearance on "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?"

Roch, what are "points," the spread, etc? Or, where can I go on-line to find out? I've never heard an explanation. That, and I'm struggling to follow this frequently discussed storyline.

patience Roch, good things come to those who wait. plus, i was debating with my friends and fellow oriole fans what the chances are of the O's winning a World Series in our lifetimes, (we're 21) The consensus was about 35%, what do you think?

it's killing me too...

*Yawn*

I really wish the Orioles would be more aggressive. Why wait to see what Bedard would bring AFTER M. Cabrera gets traded? Why not talk to the Dodgers about trading him BEFORE the Cabrera trade, so that we get a better selection of prospects?

It would be really nice if Cabrera got traded to a team other than the Angels or Dodgers. That would free both teams up to trade with B-more.

I may be in the minority here, but I think that Andruw Jones might be a "bargain" in this free agent class. He immediately adds a gold glove and 30 homer potential to a position that SORELY needs it. Why is this alternative not being looked at? I could see why if we actually had a CF prospect coming up, but we don't. Why rely on Tike Redman and Freddie Bynum if we don't have to?

Roch, you've basically called for the reinstatement of Syd Thrift, Flanny and Duquette. I know you were kidding (oops, I just remembered that Syd has passed and Flanny is still employed), but it's OK for MacPhail to sit and ponder, don't you think? Our meager trade offerings will gain in value, not lose, as free agent deals get done.

what's all the complaining about not enough news going on, specifically O's news? just go with your strong suit and keep making jokes.

or ... tell us what Anita's doing on her vacation. As long as she hasn't been on anyone else's talk shows.

Jeff V: "teams that work harder for income deserve to reap rewards for that work."
Firstly, we'll need to come up with a "Harder Gauge" to figure out
who is putting more effort into raising money....It might not be the guy with the most money, and we may have to adjust his cap number downward for lack of effort in that case.
And the reward they reap is to have a cap put on the amount of money they can spend to build a team the way they seem fit....does that pass for logic in the business world? Maybe in the world of fandom it does. I think the reward they should get is to spend as much money as they want.
What is the problem with the current system? Not everyone gets a fair chance to win a championship once in a while? Well, not every team is run very well,and deserves to have that chance.
So the owners go out and make a zillion, but the amount paid to the income generators is capped? Great, what a world...sign me up for that. Don't you see that the cap prevents the owners from wreaking havoc on themselves, not the sport!

Someone somewhere prove to me that the quality of play improves when a salary cap is put in place. Make me a believer. And leave the 'woe is me, i have no money to play that's why i have a bad team' argument at the door. Now that's lack of effort.

What I meant Jim is that the 90-100 mil spread that was bandied about is too narrow. As for earning the money...

While the Red Sox are expanding Fenway park, introducing ideas such as seats on the green monster you have the O's arguing for a year while the scoreboard slowly disenigrates.

The Red Sox and the Yankees are not only larger markets then the O's they work harder to brand themselves and expand revenues.

To give a football example, even with the level of revenue sharing in football, certain teams that put effort into it, can greatly increase earings over the average. For instance both the Redskins and the Cowboys earn far more income then the Steelers, even though the Steelers have had the much better team over the last decade.

I honestly have little problem with no upper cap, no teams are in actual finacial trouble that I am aware of, I do think that no upper cap, combined with the unbalanced schedule puts certain teams at a real disadvantage (no one says the Blue Jays are a poorly run team yet they have finished higher then 3rd how many times in the last decade?).

I do however, strongly feel a minimum spending level must be mantained if teams wish to be a party to revenue sharing.

I know what you mean Roch, It is kinda boring even watching the Ravens getting blown out again and the Orioles must be sitting around trying to figure out how they too can blow more games in other ways. I would be a little happy if they signed a minor league free agent with an invite to spring training. Speaking of spring Training, it starts in about 2 1/2 months. MacPhail must be doing something in the last minute like i do with my Christmas shopping or paying my taxes.

Roch, Totally agree with you on the 3-4 movies HBO shows. However, when they play "Grandma's Boy" make sure you watch it. High-larious stuff.

It's absolutely pathetic that the NCAA would allow a team with a 6-6 record to be even considered for a Bowl bid.... and I'm a Terp fan....

Ok, I have seen the light. In light of that, i'm proposing a 1 billion dollar salary cap per baseball team, increasing each yr by 50%, with a floor of $1, decreasing each yr by 50%. Now that should help even things out. And if it doesn't, we can always increase the floor each yr by a ginormous 100%, forcing each owner to at least have to pay something.

d, not a bad iDea

How bout them Eagles! Doh! Horseshoes and handgrenades... Bet those 22 extra points looked mighty fat though as the game went on...

Roch, sorry for the re-post, but here's an interesting angle that you could investigate and write about:

What, if anything, have the Orioles done to improve their scouting, player development, training staff, and facilities?

Spending on those needs was the stated reason for not spending in the free agent market, and for trading away the veterans with expensive contracts.

However, I haven't seen one top scout signed, one competitive new baseball academy opened in Latin America or Asia, one top minor league coach signed, one top trainer signed, or any improvement to the video room or other facilities at the major or minor league levels.

Roch, have these things happened but gone unreported, or are negotiations to obtain these things occurring, or is the owner just pocketing the money?

Given all the horrible off season deals the O's have made over the last decade, no news is definitely good news. Here's to more inactivity. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to watching paint dry.

Roch,
If you can afford to have cable with HBO you could probably find the $1.99 p/month to get Comcast's sports tier that has NFL network on it. It's a promotional rate but I don't plan on keeping it past the football season.

I'm from Baltimore but now live in San Diego. For some reason, people in the Baltimore area have always complained about their cable (good job Comcast). My own family still complains about Comcast's high prices and terrible customer service. On the other hand, out here noone complains about the two cable providers, Time Warner (no NFL network, not even available at a price) and Cox. I have Cox and will get the game, but I don't get everyone complaining about it if you can pay $1.99 per month during the season to get every Thursday game. C'mon people, that's chump change! If you want it, pay for it. It's half a gallon of gas! What people should really be complaining about is the fact that Sunday Ticket is only available on an inferior, obsolete system that still uses a satellite dish on each home it brings a signal into. With all the public money tied into the NFL, the NFL should not be allowed to contract solely with Directv.

Someone said it right in that the fans always finish last. We pay the most but get the least return.