Ben McDonald II

Daniel Cabrera is our Nuke LaLoosh. A million dollar arm and a five cent head.

If he can finally harness all of that unique talent and accept the concept of “locate the fastball and change speeds” he would become one of the feel good stories of the 2008 season.

Buena suerte a la tuya, Daniel, ojala lo mejor para ti.

i know D-Cab gets alot of flack here and on other boards, but the O's have to be patient with him and just let him throw.

they aren't going to be competitive this year--or next, realistically--so that affords the O's time to be exhaustive with their evaluation of Cabrera. once a player exhibits a skill, it's his. and Cabrera HAS excelled at this level, at least with limited results.

I don't know. It seems like during the second half last season D-Cab was maxing out at 92-93 and still with poor control. If he isn't any more accurate throwing slower he may as well air it out, as far as I'm concerned.

Cabrera has been most effective when he gets his changeup going. This is a good sign.

Can we hire Mr. Miyagi for D-Cab?

The guy needs some Zen.

Going back two a couple different posts - it seems almost everyone posting here is in agreement that we are a couple years from contention. So why are we worried (especially in early January) about Clement, Lofton or even Patterson? All of those guys might be solid players, but they're not pushing us into the Wild Card race. So even if Clement only cost $1.5m...that's still $1.5m that can be used elsewhere. I, for one, would be more comfortable paying money to watch a Patton or Albers or Penn take their requisite lumps and gain valuable experience than watch Clement go 8-12 with a 4.87 ERA.

I don't want to give up on him, b/c you just know that he will then become a 16-game winner for some other team. But how long must we wait? Until 2009 or 2010, when those in our farm system are ready to toe the rubber?

H is for (I) HATE waiting

caprimode and others. There's no denying that Beane has done well overall with the A's franchise, keeping them competitive with seemingly a new team every year. He was pretty much forced to improvise because guys like Gaimbi, Tejada were bolting via free-agency. Swisher isn't eligible for free agency for a few years so either he suddenly become too expensive or he did something to tick off Beane. This trade severely weakens their offense and jump starts the White Sox. A lineup with Thome, Dye, Konerko and now Swisher can put up some serious numbers if healthy.
Sure, Beane's A's have made the post-season but how far can they go with him in charge? They don't seem to have the horses or the committment and $$$ from ownership to go all the way. He's operating on an apparent limited budget and at some point, it will continue to take it's toll-like being forced to trade 27 yr olds for the sake of a few extra million.
As far as DanCab, how much longer do the O's (and us fans )have to wait? He may never get his act together and he's getting unlimited chances because they are so desperate for pitching. I also feel ti's because of his fastball, if he threw off-speed junk, he'd be long gone by now. Teams are still enamoured by speed and the strikeout and in the process are likely bypassing effective control-type pitchers. Maybe it's time for the O's in particular to change their focus; last time I looked we were among the league leaders in BB, due in large part to hard-throwere/wildmen like Cabrera.

Did you see where Tony Sparano is the favorite to land the Miami Dolphins coaching job? Maybe next season, instead of playing the second half of games, the lights and scoreboard can go out and the whole stadium can just fade to black.

bobbybo,

So he's owned the team for 4 years and you want to throw out one season to make his w/l record sub 500? Why don't you just throw out all of Angelos's seasons except for 1996 & 97 and make him look like a winner?
Angelos has been a pr disaster with his comments and his sons. I was there at Ripken's record breaking game and PA couldn't understand why people started booing him (PA) because he wanted to run his mouth endlessly when the night was for Ripken.
The guy is a loser. Biscotti hasn't been around to show his colors. Give him a decade and we shall see.
At least Biscotti was smart enough to raise ticket prices after a winning year and not after a year like this. Last I saw, the Orioles were again trying to "sneak" in a ticket price increase. I guess losing 10+ years gets expensive.
Oh yeah, lets not forget the complete disaster of the Orioles spring training facilities for the last decade also. Apparently having a place for his friends to visit is more important than having a ML spring training facility.
Yeah right, keep living in your fantasy land.

That's good news to hear. Everyone wants to see him live up to his ability. I remember him starting out drammatically better in '07 only to watch his command fade again. Here's to Cabrera putting it all together and becoming the dominant force he can be.

Not only did Angelos run his mouth endlessly and get booed at 2131, when he was finally done speaking, he introduced Cal instead of the next scheduled speaker, Joe DiMaggio.

Pretty much a microcosm of his entire ownership.

Can we PLEASE stop referring to players, personalities, whoever by their first initial of their first name and first two/three letters of last name (i.e. D-Cab). God that's gotten old. The worst is Joe Paterno (JoePa). Maybe JoeGranPa. He's as ghetto as Dick Cheney.

Geez... Just how much patience is enough. At the first sign of pressure, Cabrera cracks like an egg dropped on cement. Remember what Trembley said last year.... " Eating innings at this level is simply not enough ". Just because he's 6'9" people think he's the second coming of Randy Johnson.... News Flash Roche.... He ain't. How long do you figure it'll take before he loses what little composure he has and throws at someone intentionally again.... and you know it will happen.....

Who cares if potter or his nitwit son have lost patience with Cabrera. They know nothing.

Anon, I saw that too, it was hilarious watching that meglomaniac looking confused , frowning, & asking a flunkie...what are they saying?... I could read his mouth, that was what he said I believe.... he thought anyone wanted to listen to him rattle on? LOL

Every one in the warehouse knows that the future of our hitting prospects are Wieters, Rowell and Tripp. Can Wieters hit pro pitching ? Can Rowell NOT be the next Dave Nicholson ? Will Tripp play left field in 09 ? Snyder is our next 1st. baseman. Reimold in left till Tripp takes over. If we could only pry Jones away from the Mariners without giving up Bedard ?

O's Fan in Indiana - I do not think Lofton is a good option for a young team getting it’s but kicked. The guy is self-centered and has been known to quit when the going gets tough - ask the Braves. He would not be a good option even if the team was a good one, but he would be really wrong for a young team.

I agree that Clement might be worth a shot, but after Benson and Wright you have to be a little wary. Still, if Bedard goes, Clement - not a #1 -would be able to help hold things together while Lowen and Guthrie mature.

Assuming, however, Bedard stays, the rotation looks set with Bedard, Guthrie, Lowen and Patton. Would Clement want to be a #5?

Patton and Lowen have to pitch if you have hopes of them developing and you are not going to take innings from Bedard or Guthrie.

Your main point is a good one - the Orioles need to not be afraid of veterans who can fill holes any young guys in the system can't. It is better to have even a lesser option than a void.

Daniel Cabrera flinches

every

single

time

he throws the ball to the plate.

How do you fix something like that? You don't. Watch some tape of him i you don't believe me. EVERY SINGLE TIME.

X is for STOP FLINCHING EVERY TIME YOU THROW THE BALL

Maybe if the orioles are conceding the season anyway make cabrera or anyone else needing work on a specific pitch throw x number of change ups per inning. Don't let bedard or roberts go unless you get your top price please..

Ha; no, how about some *more* cutesy A-Rod derivations? Let's see, there could be R-Kub (for Roch), K-Mil, A-Huff ... How about A-Loew? or J-Guth? J-Walk? C-Brad?

Or we could expand to the Ravens! B-Bill (for the fired coach)! O-News (for the GM)! Q-Sip! C-Ive! B-Scott! (I guess we already have C-Mac, don't we?)

'Scuse me, I've got to go sniff some more athletic supporter (J-Strap!).

I wonder how much we could have gotten in return if the Os dangled DCab (that was just for you Ron) before the beginning of last season? As I recall, there was alot of interest.

Ron must have been cut by JoePa!

Until he loses his attitude, he will be another Jorge Julio. A lot of talent and no common sense to harnish it.

Roch....Seattle sports shows have been buzzing over Bedard coming to the Mariners for Jones, Morrow and another prospect. Any truth to the rumblings or just wishful thinking on their part.

Typical DCab outing:

1. Strike out 5 of first 9 batters, perfect through 3.
2. Guy leads off 4th with swinging bunt single off a 99mph fastball. DCab clearly cannot process it.
3. 2 straight four pitch walks
4. Drill a guy in the upper back
5. Stare down opposing dugout
6. Wild pitch
7. 5 pitch walk
8. Balk in a run
9. Bases clearing double
10. Hello Brian Burres

As Zimmy would say, "you don't need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows..."

Dump this guy!

don't forget cabrera started pitching as a teen, was rushed to the majors with very little minor league experience, to play on a terrible team, has played for something like 5 managers and 5 different pitching coaches. i much rather have him than garrett olson.

I'd give Cabrera maybe one more year to see what Rick Kranitz can do with him. If he can't do anything with him it will be time to cut ties with Cabrera cause at this point he just seems to be wasted potential.

We heard the same story llast year about Cabrera's willingness to practice his change up and use it in the coming season and he almost never threw it in a game. Wake me when he grows up.

Glad to hear Wild-Dan is getting his changeup going. Now if only he knew were it was going. Because were in a rebuilding mode, and because he has had some success at this level and emormous potential I think its wise to give him another year. But if he has a moderately successful year, he will garner some more trade value, and finally help us. The only way I want to keep a guy like him for the long run though is if he proves that he can match what he's got in his head with even half of what he's got in his arm.

I sound like an idiot now but DCab will make a legit run to be entered into the conversation for the Cy Young in 2008. Make fun of me all you want. I just want this to be logged on the internet somewhere.

I have been hard on DCab for most of his career, even since Delmarva, but I never denied his potential. If he starts to throw with a modicum of command, he will be a bigtime arm. I predict a 3.50 ERA, 200+ SO, 200 IP season.