Here's to hoping the O's comeback player of the year is Hayden Penn. We need young arms!!!

I sure hope Ramon Hernandez doesn't suffer any more groin bruises. After I saw what happened to him last year, I started wearing a protective cup everywhere I went.

Plain & simple , here are the 11 million reasons why Dotel wasn't $igned to close.... once again a cheap FO loses out.

Octavio Dotel and the Chicago White Sox agreed today on an $11-million, two-year contract.
He is not closing there either, he is setting up Jenks. If he was given the chance to close here, I bet he would have taken it with less $$ too.

Roch, I’ll second Ramon Hernandez as the comeback player. He’s a better than average talent for his position and, unlike a lot of players on this team, we can expect that he’s capable of putting up a better than average season and not have it be a fluke. Now, how about players for letdown of the year? My nominee will be Aubrey Huff, an easy pick with his current injury. A lot of other guys were so bad that I can’t imagine them being any worse.

How about something else positive and go for surprise player of the year? That’s a tough one with this crew. I’m going to say Luke Scott. He’ll put up nonglamorous numbers—20 HRs, 70 RBIs, maybe a .260 average—but it’ll look really good on this team and make us wonder why we’re paying the likes of Aubrey Huff $7 million per year.

Roch - To be a "comeback player" implies that you were once pretty good. Sadly, I'm not sure there are too many candidates on the O's right now. Ray and Baez might be good bets, but unfortunately it will be for 2009. Solely based on process of elimination, I'll go with Jay Payton.

Adam Lowen.

Almost former.... I had not heard the Fassel rumor. I doubt they would sign him up, but if so, I'd take the chance with him over Harbaugh. All that being equal, Fassel will have a great deal more talent to work with on offense with the Skins than he did with the ravens.....

When asked for his reaction about the invitation, Clemens replied "I'm pumped!"

I'm going with Daniel Cabrera. I know it's probably not going to happen, but if we're are paying him all that money to pitch like crap, I might as well hope for the best.

Here's hoping he goes to Spring Training with a new outlook on life and decides to throw away the poor attitude and becomes our new ace. HAHA I know it's a long shot.

Clemens commented that he hopes any former Astro teammates at the camp won't needle him about signing with the Yankees.

Clemens told reporters that he hopes he doesn't suffer any injuries at camp because "working with trainers is a pain in the butt..."

TOM D - I actually threw that trade out there, not T-Mac. T-Mac endorsed it. And it was basically just tossing things around. Greene has some pop in his bat, Antonelli and Headley are two of their best prospects, so I started yammering. It just stems from my frustration of this off-season, I start shooting off at the mouth.

I kind of feel like when I was in my teens and I would be driving my friends and I somewhere, would have my foot on the gas, and one of my friends would throw the car into neutral to be a jack***. That's exactly how I feel now, like we all have our foot on the gas saying "Full Speed Ahead!!!!!!!!!" and AM and PA throw the car and neutral and say "No no no" and shake their fingers at us. So frustrating.

TOM D - Just out of curiousity, you seem to be a wise man, what kind of trades do you toss around in your head?

Hilarios Roch! Good stuff.....

Bellicheat can't be behind the air cast, can he??? Maybe Brady got a little too much Bunchen after the AFC Champ game?

I say Hernandez plays his @ss off , trying to look good to prospective playoff teams in need of a C at the deadline...

What about Jay Gibbons? Wouldn't it be nice if he came back to the 2005 Jay Gibbons? He of a .277 average, 33 doubles, 26HR, a .516SLG and a OPS over .800?

Or how about Aubrey Huff coming back from a "strained groin" to hit what he did back in Tampa in 2003, .297 47 doubles and 34HR?

Man that would be great, but....

"W" is for "What the heck are you smokin' ?"

I felt bad for Ramon after watching his groin get bruised...everyone should be allowed at least 15 days rest after the shot he took!

Here's hoping that he can replicate, or at least come close to the career year he had in '06.

I also hope that Loewen will be able to come back and have a great year...we are going to need about 50-60 no hitters from our pitchers next year seeing that our offensive numbers will be the lowest in the MLB.

Roch, - Please stick to the Boring O's. You are just NOT that funny, dude.

Roch, I agree on Hernandez...if he did what he did in 2006..things would look lots better. I have been reading that the Padres and O's have discussed SS Kahlil Greene...for trade..any word on that? How come O's are not talking much about CF Corey Paterson any more? Any interest in LF Kevin Mench? He is a decent OF....but has not gotten to play much lately. Just tired of the lack of progress on Bedard and Roberts on anything and any other moves in general...I guess if you knew something you would tell us but sure is frustrating to say the least with 22 days till report time.

Cabrerra will be the comeback player of the year. Expect him to win 15 games.

Technically to "comeback" you need to have been there in the first place, so that leaves out Penn and probably Loewen too. Huff's also a possible choice, although an unpopular one. He'll either toughen up and make a good showing, to prove his detractors wrong, or isolate himself and disappear completely. The Orioles and ex-O's provide an incredible number of potential choices - Benson, Wright, Baez, Ray, Tejada, Hernandez, Huff, Payton, Cabrera, etc. Shows how bad things are when half your 40-man roster from last year are in a position to challenge for such a somewhat dubious honor. You can throw last year's coaching staff and even the former front office people in with that. Come to think of it, the Ticket sales Director had a rotten year in '07 so let's his/her name. And Angelos has to be in the running for "Comeback Owner of the Year." It even bled over to the Ravens who were absolutely terrible and can put Fassel, Ryan, Neuheisel, etc into mix for "Comeback Coach." Maybe the entire town should compete for "Comeback City." I haven't visited since 2001 - has it really gotten that bad there? I'll need to call my dad and offer condolences. It's in the 70s today here in Orlando btw. Have fun with your winter coats. I discarded mine years ago.

No Matter what happens this year I have faith, love and a lot of HOPE. I hope Monnie does come healthy and is traded by the deadline along with Bedard. Because if he is the only 18 games we win, I would rather get something for him.

Here's to a club that was: ONCE GREAT; STILL PROUD.

Right now the beer is warm and just got put in the ice.

R.I.P.- C.T.

Daniel Cabrera

I agree with Ramon being the comeback player. I think he'll be more focused and in better shape when he comes to ST this year...even if he isn't thrilled about the idea of being on a "rebuilding" team I'm sure he's also smart enough to know if he wants another sizeable paycheck and avoid the year to year back-up catcher routine at age 33 after his time in Baltimore is done he's going to need to show that last year was not the barometer of his capabilities.

Tom Brady is a great quarterback (not to mention unbelievably attractive) it's just a shame that he has to play for a New England team - otherwise I might actually not have sch a driving need to see his crew go down in flames at the big show!

To: jwbbz
I think in order to become a "Comeback" player you have to attain some degree of success first??? I don't think Hayden Penn has reached that yet.

I would like to repeat my opinion that NONE of this would make any difference if David Newhan were still in the mix. Give him the award and also give him the award for being treated the worst by the team. Ottawa to Bmore and back and forth then a broken leg then shipped off to the Mets. Those were dark days and David Newhan Kenobi was our only hope. Come to think of it, these are still dark days.

i'm going to go WAY out on a limb here, risking all respect and self dignity, and speculate that jay gibbons will be the come back player of the year. i just think he has too much heart to just sit down and give up. i'm not a fan of his illegal enhancements, nor of his contract, however, i do like his heart.

and since my first choice is so contraversial, i'll propose a second: ramon hernandez. heart, again, being a big factor. i believe he will/does want out of baltimore and he knows the only way to do that is to play for the trade deadline.

j is for jay gibbons, comeback kid!!!

Comeback player of the 2008?
Gus Triandos.

For everyone picking Cabrera as comeback player, we’re still waiting for Cabrera to come and have a good season and fulfill the much hyped potential. I do understand the sentiment, though, of wanting him to do better. I feel that his performance last year more than anyone else on the club was the most devastating. He pitched more innings than any other starter, pitched to a 5.55 ERA, gave up close to 5 walks per 9 innings, allowed more than one hit per inning (something he hadn’t done before last year), and gave up a lot more HRs than he had previously.

How much better would this club have been if Cabrera had merely put up his modest numbers of 2005? Maybe 7 games (I’m guessing), if you consider not only his improved pitching but the decreased strain he would’ve put on the bullpen?

His struggles might be worth it if it meant he learned from them and becomes the pitcher everyone thought he could be. It’s disturbing that in his fourth season, he takes a major step backward when he should’ve been taking one forward.

At this point, he’s just two seasons away from free agency and his trade value is just about zero. The O’s might as well just ride out his time and hope he improves enough to help them as a serviceable starter during that time or someone else emerges to supplant him. If he managed to put together an Erik Bedard type season, you’d have to seriously wonder at this point whether or not he could duplicate it given his track record. Bedard has established he can pitch well and even improve. Cabrera has only established he has occasional flashes of brilliance and can’t be consistently good.

how bout this one: jay gibbons.

Here's a scary thought: What if Aubrey Huff IS the winner of the "Letdown of the Year" award ... and no one notices?

My choice for comeback player of the year is Jay Gibbons, barring injury obviously. If he is indeed healthy (as was supposedly the case last year at this time), he could definitely improve considering the terrifying stats he had last year. Aubrey Huff is another obvious choice. But let us not get carried away here. . . .we are a last place team :(

Orioles Comeback Player of the year? How about a midseason trade sending Bedard to Houston for a package of players including Tejada? That would be a most unwelcome "comeback". On the same note, Gibbons and Payton and Aubrey "It's all in the wrist" Huff would be the leaders for "Go Away" players of the year, not "come back" players

Can anyone tell me why we won't cut or trade players like payton or gibbons and go after a stand up consistant utility OF like Shannon Stewart? I see his name out there and he is just as old as those guys and far more consistant in terms of fielding and hitting. I don't get it...

Comeback player of the year..... *drum roll* ...... Adam Loewen

When reporters asked Clemens if he was afraid of injecting controversy into the Astros pitching camp, he told them to butt out.

I see that Tampa is close to a multi-year deal with pitcher James Shields (7 years, $38 million—the Rays are getting serious now signing pitchers to long-term deals), who had a solid season last year in just his second season. Beyond the obvious comment that such a proactive deal is what the O’s should’ve done with Erik Bedard and Brian Roberts and I hope are working on for Nick Markakis, the O’s should be as proactive with Adam Loewen if he emerges this year and puts together a solid season. Don’t waste time and wait to see if he does it again in 2009. By that time, free agency will be in his sight and a better look at this club’s future will be in everyone’s sight (and it still may not be pretty heading into 2010). Lock him up before that happens.

Elaborating on my Cabrera comments, the O’s would be in a bind if Cabrera puts up a solid 2008. It’s better than him posting another poor season, of course, but it would complicate matters. With a year left before free agency, do they lock him up long term and hope that his 2008 is the year he found himself and not an aberration? That would seem like a huge risk, but Cabrera establishing himself is what everyone’s been waiting for. It would be frustrating if he did that and then left in free agency, but it would be more frustrating if he did that, the O’s locked him up long term just to see him return to his erratic ways.

Comeback Player of the Year: Brandon Fahey

Runner Up: Jon Leicester

Hey Roch, your colleague Richard Justice at the Houston Chronicle is taking some tongue-in-cheek umbrage at all your funny jokes about Drayton McLane. You can see what he wrote here.

I was sitting watching sportcenter when it hit me:

The fact that Mcphail won't deal either BROB or EB is because he really believes that it isn't a 4 year plan.

He believes that if the pieces fall together after 2009 he can increase payroll and fill in the blanks with free agency.

Work on extending Bedard and Brob should be the only payroll additions they need to make for the next two years.

So what I'm saying it that I feel the organization may be preparing itself to end the losing. Not necessarily next year. The year after. Gotta believe, and gotta stay patient.

Gotta watch Nadal v. Tsonga in the Aussie Open semis.

No one has mentioned Kevin Millar for comeback player of the year, I think I'll go with him. Since he will more than likely be hitting in the cleanup spot, and he knows what his role is (unlike last year), he may have the confidence to put up .300, 20 HR and 85 RBI. He's always good for drawing walks as well.

TO CRB:

I always think of DCAB as a #5 starter. If he continues to give the innings (never ever hurt) and gets the walks down, he could be 14-11 with a 4.99 on a GOOD team. He's always going to kill you with walks - that's his nature, but if you think of him as #5 (more like a Wakefield) he becomes so much easier to stomach -

I just hope that Loewen can give at least 170 innings this year. Don't you agree that Bedard, Loewen, Guthrie are truly the keys to ending the rebuilding early. If these guys project and don't get hurt we have 3 starters - and if Mcphail is still smart (doesn't he seem to be thus far?) he'll find make some deals that make sense for the team.

CRB-- are you suggesting that the O's have taken the "pro" out of proactive? Look at TB--Shields looks like a solid pitcher for years to come but who can be sure? They take a risk ($38 million) but not a franchise crippling risk by being forward thinking. It's like the Orioles have to hope a prospect doesn't pan out in their 3rd or 4th year or they are too expensive. What do they want??? We all said it BEFORE last season. Sign Bedard. He is either your ace and if not you are in trouble anyway. He raised his bottom line by tens of millions last season---why? Because we thought he would not be that good? The FO always has to talk out of both sides of its mouth-- "Look at these young studs we have in the organization," followed by "We can't afford to make a mistake and hand out big contracts." They can keep mediocre players by overpaying but let quality walk.

Cabrera is the closest thing the Orioles have to Kyle Boller. He will not be the comback player of the year unless he has done some serious maturing or someone has taken him under his wing (who would do such a thing on this team?). Loewen doesn't count--he is basically a rookie. I expect good things though with a few rough patches. Ramon will not stay healthy if he keeps his non-catching hand dangling in front of him, but fatboy may have another paycheck coming so I expect improvement.

Comeback player: Kenny Lofton (in a surprising departure from "the plan" the O's are able to sign him for $800K and he wins the award by not breaking his hip)

Can someone tivo this season for me?

jc-- why would you comment on Roch's humor? most of us love the fact that he mixes in little gems with the bland O's news. keep it coming roch!

Cerrato involved in the process plus getting promoted is the main reason G Williams hasn't already been named Head Coach. Cerrato is a butt kissing/yes man/spy for little danny, it is well known most of the players & coaches have little respect for Cerrato. It has been written that across the NFL he is not well respected either. When Shottenhimer was hired & given full control, the FIRST thing he did was fire the useless cerrato. He couldn't beg another job in the NFL on any level much less one like he has with the Skins. He sat at ESPN doing some chessy segment on their NFL program for a year. One year later little danny couldn't stand not being involved & fired Shott & immediately rehired his proctologist. THIS is the only reason the name fassel is being considered, I am sure. little danny has to find someone willing to accept him & cerrato at equal or even higher spots in the major decision making.

From the Post...
Snyder promoted Cerrato to executive vice president/football operations yesterday -- he was formerly vice president of football operations -- in a move the team said largely was an extension of Cerrato's current duties. Cerrato has been up Snyder's backside since he purchased the team in 1999, with the exception of the 2001 season, when he was fired.

THIS move will ruin the Skins. They will be even more screwed up than the O's now. little danny makes potter look like Connie Mack.

CBPOY: Adam Loewen

Comeback player of the year is Dave McNally. Even in his current state (which, too sadly is deceased) he's got better control than Cabrera and a better personality than Bedard. Could he be worse than either of the Victors from last year?

For some odd reason I think Huff is going to have a great year.

Everyone except Bedard, Roberts and Markakis. Roch, how was your year, mabe we should consider you !!

Holy Crap, everyone needs to go to the link provided by Joe Dalhart for a good laugh. What an idiot. We need to get the guy (Richard Justice) that dared insult our blog leader and hero. Roch, don't ever apologize to that idiot owner in Houston... and you should post Richard Justice's email here so that we can load up his in-box.

i almost forgot: tike redman. he could very well be the MLB come back player of the year.

as far as mr. richard justice. he must rise up and defend his local franchises, otherwise he may never get another "tip". he also could be digging for more gold!!! whatever!!! roch, you're hillarious!!! i think so, dad thinks so, and the fiancee thinks so. and that, as they say, is pretty unanimous!!!!!!!!!

r is for redman, tike: mlb cbpoy

CRB. Tampa apparently locked up Shields for 7 yrs-44 mill-with incentives. That is a bold move for Tampa but if we locked up Bedard for those kind of numbers, we'd all be dancing in the streets.
We all assume Bedard is the better pitcher and is worth more but the difference is that Shields wants to stay in Tampa and who knows with Bedard?
Tampa has a bigger upside and showing signs of some semblance of a plan. On the other hand, the O's sign retreads like Cormier and ponder if they should have offered more to Dotel!
I don't agree with extending every young player just because they showed flashes of brilliance-ie Cabrera and Loewen. The downside is that a lot of $$$ can get tied up if the guy tanks/regresses or gets injured.
A team has to be smart enough to know who to allocate the resources to. Markakis/Bedard and even Roberts seem worthy. We all know the repercussions of extending contracts to the wrong players like Gibbons and Mora. Not only has amost 50 mill been committed to these 2 but we can't even trade them now as they either have no-trade clauses or aren't seen as having much worth on the open market.
Tampa Bay may be jumping the gun on a guy like Shields but their payroll is pretty low and they can afford one or two mistakes. On the other hand, If he wins 15 games per year, they look like geniuses.

Is there any interest in Scott Podsednik & Shannon stewart?

TerryP-- good observations but I think the main point is that good franchises identify good young players who have produced at all levels and show little reason that they won't continue to improve a la Markakis, Bedard, Loewen--that would be a starting place. It does require looking closely at talent, work ethic, consistency, baseball acumen, health, character, and other factors, but how could the Orioles be as truly miserable at identifying these traits as they have been recently when signing long-term deals? Or is it just cheapness? Quality costs big bucks once you have removed the risk element.

Again, it is a very simple equation. You have to either overspend on a proven commodity or take risks on unestablished players on the rise. When you do neither, you become one the most wretched franchises in professional sports.

I always enjoyed Richard Justice's writing for the Sun. I can see he is still in fine form.

Funny stuff, Richard.

comeback? how about c. patterson, as he literally "coming back" to the O's....

ba ba bing

H is for not at all hilarious huh.

I think the vendor who has insane body spasms when he shakes the lemon aid will be comeback player of the year.....
I heard he got hurt half way thru the season and sat out most of the summer...... I think if he is in better shape and healthy he could easily sell 125 lemon aides a night

All's quiet on the Kubatkofront- does that mean somethings a-brewin'?

Tic Toc...... Tic Toc
I have a friend who lives in Chicago and he called me yesterday and wanted me to say thank you to PA for nixing a trade that would have sent a 7 for 2 package to Baltimore. It is the talk of the sports shows out there. Before I replied I listen to him soundoff about how Chicago doesnt want any of Baltimore's disgruntled underachievers to spread that cancer to the Cubs. I listened and when he was finished, it sort of bummed me out that is not just Chicago's opinion of the Orioles and their Managagement but the entire baseball world. I couldnt help but agree with him about the atmosphere here in Baltimore of both the team and the fans. The team is full of a bunch of players that cry when they are not told that they are either in or out of the lineup days ahead and fans who are truly tired and disgusted of the ownership here. I also read an article on RotoWorld the other day about a reject player needing a home, and the first place they suggesting as a landing zone was going to be the ..YOU GUESSED IT the Orioles. It is truly sad that this once proud organization has been relished to the laughing stock of MLB.
Ok where do we go from here.....the one common denominator thru this entire period since the fall from respectability has been Angelos. Until you cut off the head..... a snake will always be able to bite. So until the fans ban together and show support against the management, the fans will continued to be used and deceived with yearly fancy slogun to rah rah .......only to be punked again.

Sorry guys & gals......just totally digusted with the MacAngelos BS

My hope is that Ramon, Adam, and Daniel all bounce back strong and make it hard to determine which one should get the comeback award.

Seeing Corey back patrolling center field would provide a big lift, too. No one on the Orioles dug in harder down the line.

I'd rather it be either Hernandez or Gibbons because I think the team needs offense but I'm going with Loewen as my pick.

From Zreibec's thing today:
"Two months after agreeing to an extended lease on a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic, the Orioles are close to finalizing a scouting plan in Asia. "It's an area that we need to explore to see if we can mine it efficiently or not," said MacPhail."

That's the best news I've heard since the Tejada deal.

Before this offseason started, I would have said that bringing back CPat makes no sense. But since we are clearly not going to get younger or bring in hungry prospects to compete for prime spots such as CF, I say why the hell not. I thought his swing was terrible, but I liked him as a person. That's more than I can say for some of these guys. If that's a good enough reason not to trade our second baseman, it's a good enough reason to sign a mediocre CF with terrible plate discipline. Whatever prevents me from having to watch Jay Payton's sneering expression on non-HD MASN.

Kirk makes a good point about players trying to exhaust all of their options before deciding they need a paycheck in Baltimore. I think there is an element of frustration the players feel when this is their only option. They probably feel bad about their situation and think they should be better off than they are. That just compounds the situation because not only are they not very good, but they probably have diminished confidence because no one else will sign them. At least the players and fans can find some common ground in their sense of learned helplessness. I will be 100% supportive of a FTB3 if substantive deals aren't made before the deadline this season or Bedard is not extended. Not a threat, just a position.

"z"--just one?

KG, I agree completely.

The Asian market is something I and many posters on the ESPN boards have been begging for for quite some time. The Orioles can't just overlook a potential source of talent.

I don't know what is up with Scott Posednik. Apparently whatever has ailed him the last couple of seasons isn't getting better, I haven't heard any team having interest in him.

Stewart could be interesting, but we had a chance to get him last year and the Orioles went with Jay Payton. Stewart is just one of those guys that is on the wrong side of 30 and is supposedly suffering with a foot problem, though it didn't plague him much last year, it isn't a condition that gets better with age.

Roch was on the Anita Marks show today, that is why he has been quiet here. Roch, you need a voice coach, or you just need to stop saying any words with an "s" sound in them. Sorry...I had to say it.

That same article states that the Orioles have some interest in:

Kyle Lohse, Ron Villone, Corey Patterson, Shawn Chacon, and Steve Trachsel. I can understand some of those names, but why Trachsel again? I think he kind of proved last year that in order to win, he needs a good bit of offense behind him...and the O's clearly don't have that.

"j" is for "Just Win Baby!"

Orioles strangley in hunt when Hernandez goes down with a groin pull (trust me - groin pulls will be the new oblique strain.)
Comeback player of the year: Mike Bordick

oh Beerman..... good call on the Bordick idea. Hey if we could get Bordick, BJ and Cal to come out of retirement, we might have a chance at contending. Does anyone have their numbers because I'll be the first to call?

Some people have no class - and you Eduardo - are one of those people.