The Andruw Jones signing opens the door for the Dodgers to move Kemp. Torre must really like Bedard.

Bedard to Mets for

Pelfrey or Humber
and
Fernando Martinez (Next Pujols)

Every year after the winter meetings I think, man did we get hosed. If all we can do this year is draft well and wait for all those bloated contracts to end, then so be it. It's far better than wasting money on the Huffs and Paytons of the game. Keep drafting well and when all those terrible contracts end in two years, we will have "real" players ready to take their place.

Sounds good about the Rule 5 draft. The guy from Detroit seems promising. IF and I really mean IF this is followed up by solid moves the rest of the winter, then great. Following up on the Roberts deal, I agree that if Pie or Hill are not in it then I would pass. Roberts is an above average second baseman and a very strong leadoff batter with speed. He would be worth A LOT to a good team. Unfortunately, we don't have the bats to drive him in. And unfortunately, he will not be a spring chicken by the time we are ready (if we are ready) to be competitive. He also has had a fair share of injuries (remember the great Hairston-Roberts injury competitions a few years ago). I doubt his value will get higher. The guy is a fantastic man. i've supported some of his causes and he strikes me as everything that is good about baseball in this town. but for his sake and ours, it looks like it's time to benefit both parties. bitterness is creeping in to every public remark he has made lately. i don't know. it's a tough call.

Rule 5:
I can hardly wait to see Callix Crabbe at 2b for the Portland Beavers.
Or to find out how to pronounce his name.
Or just to see it in the box score.

I guess 50-60 quality ABs at the end of last season didn't convince the Reds to hang onto Jorge Cantu, though they still want to hang onto Hatteburg at 1B (a better "clubhouse guy," no doubt) and of course still have Votto even as they're dangling him as trade bait. Just thought I'd bring up ol' Jorge as a possible B-Rob replacement, RH 1B platooner and a fitting heir to Aubrey "Onan the Barbarian" Huff as our token TB Ray convert for next year. Hey, he's a better risk than Seth McClung or Ben Grieve, but then again, he might be a better fit with Manny Acta's bad boys down the Beltway.

I made a post at the end of the "Brian Roberts" topic that has some info on Bierd from Baseball America.

Good things.

Roch is right, too, about Rodriguez. You have to wonder why they didn't have Norfolk take Martinez and Bowie take Rodriguez.

But Brown could be a sleeper.

The answer to the question on Phelps is the Yankees designated him for assignment, meaning they had to offer him back to the O's. The O's passed. As a Yankee, Phelps struck out a lot, showed no power and did not hit well in rbi situations. He also was so-so at 1B.

I know there are a lot of Josh Phelps fans around here, but he went into spring with a chance to be the everyday 1B and ended up being released. I think we all agree the Yankees do a significantly better job evaluating talent, and they cut him free.....

BC Mike - I am thinking something similar, except with Tejada not Bedard.

tvdpdx - Crabbe has to be one of the captains on the All-Name team!

After seeing his name I was hoping the O's would have drafted him because what goes better with Bier than Crabbe????

It would have been the Ultimate Baltimore Rule 5 draft!!!!!

this is from the ESPN blogs... The Dodgers' signing of Andruw Jones sparked talk Thursday that they were going to turn around and include Matt Kemp in a big offer for Johan Santana. Checked that out and couldn't find any evidence the Dodgers are in on Santana or plan to be. There are rumblings that they actually have more interest in Erik Bedard. That deal would probably be a 4-for-1 swap centered around their best pitching prospect, Clayton Kershaw, and either Kemp or Andre Ethier. But it appears the Dodgers prefer to explore less pricey options first, such as free agent Hiroki Kuroda or a deal for Oakland's Joe Blanton.

• The Orioles' Andy MacPhail left Nashville late Thursday morning. So that makes it official -- the Orioles won't be making any deals here. Their talks with the Cubs about a trade for Brian Roberts have been back-burnered while the Orioles prioritize talks about Bedard and Miguel Tejada. But what we found on that back burner is that there is mutual interest in a deal that would send Roberts to the Cubs for pitcher Sean Gallagher, plus a second player that still needs to be determined. Despite speculation Felix Pie could wind up in that trade, teams that have talked to the Cubs about Pie say he would only be movable in a much bigger deal.

If you are going to trade Roberts, Bedard or Tejada, at least make suitor take Gibbons, Baez or Millar in the deal.

The object is to get better.

It is time for the Orioles to start signing the top talent...scouts. In two years, Bedard, Roberts, and Tejada could bring back three Type A draft picks.

I don't blame MacPhail for not making any trades. If it ain't there, it ain't there. But wow, did Beatagan and Flanaquette put him in a rough spot. The dead weight of Baez, Gibbons, Payton, Huff, Hernandez, and Mora is unbelieveable. At least Traschel, Wright, and Benson are now off the books.

Assuming that MLB gets a salary cap, I can see the Orioles reaching .500 by 2018.

Wow, & I thought MacFail was spewing PR BS, but after reading about these shrewd moves Roch, I see we can all rest easy, the farm system is restocked & ready to go!

tvdpdx:

You'll love cah-LEEX CRAB. Easy to say, got lotsa AAA clutch hits here in N'ville between sleepy position players in late innings, and is almost the same height and weight as me or B-Rob. Guess the Brewers are finally deciding that they don't need a lifelong reserve player for Ricky Weeks, and they've already started purging excess OFs. And I've never heard anyone try to pronounce Crabbe's middle name (Sadeaq), thought I suspect it's like Neil Sedaka's last name w/o the "a," but let me know if you find out anything.

And the Opryland Hotel, the borderline suburban site of the Winter Meetings, is not part of "Nashville," in my humble opinion, but more of an an enlarged greenhouse shelter built in anticipation of global warming.

Hey Roch (and whoever else wants to read)...

Just saw some rumors pop up on ESPN if no one has seen them...

1:44 p.m., from Jayson Stark
• The Dodgers' signing of Andruw Jones sparked talk Thursday that they were going to turn around and include Matt Kemp in a big offer for Johan Santana. Checked that out and couldn't find any evidence the Dodgers are in on Santana or plan to be. There are rumblings that they actually have more interest in Erik Bedard. That deal would probably be a 4-for-1 swap centered around their best pitching prospect, Clayton Kershaw, and either Kemp or Andre Ethier. But it appears the Dodgers prefer to explore less pricey options first, such as free agent Hiroki Kuroda or a deal for Oakland's Joe Blanton.

• The Orioles' Andy MacPhail left Nashville late Thursday morning. So that makes it official -- the Orioles won't be making any deals here. Their talks with the Cubs about a trade for Brian Roberts have been back-burnered while the Orioles prioritize talks about Bedard and Miguel Tejada. But what we found on that back burner is that there is mutual interest in a deal that would send Roberts to the Cubs for pitcher Sean Gallagher, plus a second player that still needs to be determined. Despite speculation Felix Pie could wind up in that trade, teams that have talked to the Cubs about Pie say he would only be movable in a much bigger deal.

If Brian Roberts goes to the Dodgers, which just sounds insane to me, then the idea of getting Matt Kemp in the O's lineup sounds good. I can't even imagine Roberts being on another team anyway. He needs to stay.

Houston sports radio is going crazy over a Tejada trade rumor. www.mlbtraderumors.com is reporting that we would get Adam Everett, Chris Burke and a pitcher in return... ugh!

PhilF: The idea that a team like the Mariners will cave in and acquire one of the top pitchers through trade makes sense. There are still teams out there like the M’s who, whether or not they reveal it publicly, are quite eager to take that next step and know that, unlike the Red Sox and Yankees, their options may be limited. On an open market, could the Mariners best the Yankees and Red Sox in signing Johan Santana to a free agent contract? I’m sure those two clubs are confident that Santana will come their way one way or another. If he doesn’t, they’ll find someone else.

Looking at the Santana talks, the thing that seemed to propel that the most was the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry; if the Yankees would’ve stayed in, I figure the Twins probably would’ve gotten what they wanted from either club. With the Yankees removed, there’s no sense of urgency for the Red Sox because their primary concern is one-upping the Yankees, or perhaps more appropriately, not being one-upped by them (they already have in place a team that can win the World Series).

The Rangers are looking at Corey Patterson and LaTroy Hawkins. I like Corey, but he isn't here, then I hope he lands a starting job somewhere.

The Orioles would be nuts to let Roberts go in a deal for Felix Pie (and it is not pronounced "pie," its the more sophisticated French pronounciation). He might be the Cubs #1 prospect, but he hit .215 last year with no power. The world is full of outfielders that can do that, and now it sounds like the Cubs are pulling him out of the deal and substituting Matt Murton. Plus, Hill is much better than Gallagher, but Hill is now being taken out of the deal. That's all we need is another pitcher that can't get the ball over the plate. Also, Matt Murton wasn't even a starter for the Cubs last year and spent part of the season in the minors. So we give away an All Star 2nd basemen for a non-starter and an unproven guy who can't get the ball over the plate, and we end up without an established leadoff hitter. If MacPhail goes that route, and Angelos approves it, I'll be shocked.

The Cubs/Roberts rumor & the Houston rumor better NOT be consummated, those are weak returns for Roberts & Tejada. The O's have better possibilities in AA & AAA than Gallagher for instance. They turned down similar offers from Houston for Tejada before too.

How long do the O's have to look at Bierd before is he offered back to Detroit? I hope Randor stays around and is as good as I hear.

Gibbons was framed, then he admitted wrong doing. Rats! And I liked his athletic abilities in 2006. Until he hit that wall, he was on fire. I'm sure he'll rebound after working so hard this offseason.

Bill: The O's have to keep Bierd on their 25 man roster (or on their major-league DL, if he has a certifiable injury) for the entire 2008 season. If they choose to send him to the minors, they must first offer him back to Detroit for 1/2 ($25,000) of what they paid for him ($50,000).

MLB just suspended Jay Gibbons for 15 days for using a banned substance, human growth hormone.

Does anyone know if that suspension is with pay, or without?

I agree with Brian - Everett is 30, hits like a SS and is average defensively. He also missed 90 some games in 2007 - what was that about?

Chris Burke is a 4-A guy with no power, no speed and is below average defensively - Gibons is a better OF than this guy.

If the pitcher isn't Oswalt or Lidge this deal is a bigger loser than the dreck being discussed for Roberts.

Maybe MacPhail is playing the Angels by making it look like Houston has the inside track on Tejada?

I really, really hope this is the case. Because if this is the best he can come up with for 3 of the top players in the league at their position there is not going to be much of a rebuilding going on in B'more.

Hey Roch, when do you think Pacman Jones is going to pull a Bo Jackson and sign with the Nationals? With the roster they're creating they can finally recreate the fight scene in West Side Story with the Bengals.

Re: Deke..

Are you serious?

If the O's are lucky enough to be offered Pie for Roberts, they should laugh all the way to the bank...

Even with the inflated stats of the PCL, you can not ignore Pie's 973 OPS in 229 ab's in Triple A during 2007... he produced that at age 22...

The O's finished with 69 wins last year, 25 games out of the Wild Card...

Bedard, Roberts, and Tejada are our most valuable commodities, and all need to be moved this offseason for the best prospects we can get.

The latest series of free agent signings shows once again that owners have more money than brains. I mean 18 mill per year for Jones & Hunter, 12 mill for Guillen ...
The only team that really has a handle is the Tigers who filled their holes with smart trades. They actually have surpluses that they can deal to fill any holes and lo and behold, a solid contender. Sure, they traded 2 potential stars and Maybin is supposed to another Al Kaline and Miller the second coming of Mickey Lolich but there's no guarentee either will have a long MLB career.
Willis and Cabrera are still only 24 years old and they can help the Tigers win for 10 years.
The desperation plunge into the free agent market by the Dodgers, Angels doesn't really make them that much better and as far as the Royals??? They spent 80 mill on a head case (Guillen)and a 10 game winner(Meche. That might vault them all the way to 72 wins.

Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports says the Mets are targeting Bedard.

Wow, I wonder how Tim Brown feels now that the Orioles targeted him today and he'll now be writing between innings while he plays for the Norfolk Tides.

bill l --

Can't believe nobody else picked up on this"

"Aubrey "Onan the Barbarian" Huff"

Great stuff!

TerryP - Tejada is supposed to be this team's leader. His "solid effort" that you speak of has been very suspect the last two years. How many times has he asked to be traded? He has said that he would change positions if traded, but not if he stays in Baltimore. Sounds like a player who isn't willing to do whatever it takes to win.

His dogging it on groundballs is something that does not happen in other organizations . . . . like for instance the Yankees. Why? Jeter won't allow it. True leaders, by example, motivate lesser players to be better. I'm sure their are some Orioles who look at Tejada's lack of effort on routine groundballs and think "if he can do it, so can I."

This isn't high school, and maybe you should be judged largely on your performance, but attitude does matter. Tejada has become part of the stench that is this team. I'm sure MacPhail sees a need to change that stench.

Players are traded because of attitude. How many teams have Guillen and Milton Bradley played for?

The fact of the matter is, the Orioles did play better this year with someone of lesser ability(Luis Hernandez) at shortstop.

Bedard??? I love his attitude. His attitude is to do whatever it takes to get hitters out. Who cares if he doesn't like talking to the media?