Roch, with everything that has been done this week, the trade being on, then being off, then on, and off, then almost on, can I ask the physical that Jones was scheduled for on Tuesday...was that the one that got canceled, or did this one actually take place? Thanks!

Rumor has it we are talking contract extension with Bedard. 7 yr 100 million. A poor investment in my opinion.

Great, pencil us in for 4th place for the next 7 years. If we are rebuilding, this trade has to happen. Dont let anyone sugar coat it, this trade was voided by the worst owner in pro sports. This is all too familiar territory for us to be fooled.

Rock, I'm starting to get worried that we're trying to sign Bedard to an extension. While aces do not come along every day, this will seriously put us way behind in our rebuilding effort. I think we need to trade our most marketable player so we can restock our barren farm system. I would imagine that other than Weiters, if we traded Bedard and Roberts, our top 10 prospects will be prospects from other teams and our homegrown players will be no where to be found on that list!

Y'all crazy.

Frustrating, isn't it?

One thing we DO know is that SOMETHING has to happen over the course of the next week or 10 days.

If Andy MacPhail takes this team as presently constructed into spring training, I will vomit in terror.

Even if the trades go through, based on the rumored returns, The O's still have a gapping hole, or 2 holes, up the middle. We'll have lots of arms, OFers and corner players but no true major league middle infielders . And no one in the system that projects out as a ML middle infielder any time soon. So Andy still has lots of work to do to fill the roster and upgrade the organization in that area. Maybe an arm or 2 for Jason Bay.
r as in ready for something to happen

Waiting for Roch to come clean about the provenance of the Adam Jones bad-hip rumor.

Roch, lots of your readers asked you to clear the air, yesterday. You going Eutaw Street on us?

Yes, I know Bay is an OFer, which somewhat contradicts the posting, but the man can hit and bats righty. Better than anything else we have for a cleanup hitter. Scott is very expendable, as is Payton so no logjam there.

hey at least the terp's won..... ; )

i think the O's should complete the deal in the middle of the super bowl, a la ARod saying he wasn't going to resign with the yankees in the middle of the world series.

M is for Middle, (or mellow meticulious or meddling or monstrosity, etc)

Happy Birthday anyway. I understand. It ain't easy. What you need is a big present to make up for it. How about a Miguel Tejada jersey?

Roch,
It was sort of fun to watch all the trade talk progress. But now it has turned downright saddening! We have a ownership and FO that is so indecisive that we are now the laughing stock of the baseball world. Wouldnt you give it a last ditch effort to sign EB before you dragged a team and players into the media with extensive trade talks. To hold this last minute extension talks with EB is nothing more then a PR move to overshadow a very dissapointing off season. AM clearly has failed with reshaping this organization as promise. And PA has failed miserably with promising AM full descression in doing so. I didnt renew my season tickets this year. The first time in 29 seasons. Part of me feels numb and part of me feels releived. It is the fans here that have been the victim and until the team is sold......this never ending cycle of dysfunction will never end.
Hope you get to spend some quality time with yoru daughter before you leave.....that is what is important in this world....not makign PA wallet even fatter.

Roch
Just a quick follow up to my recent post. This could have been such a memorable moment and PR move for the FO office if they were not so hesitant. They could have ran with the "Kids" slogan all year and fans would have went in groves to OPACY no matter if they were winning or losing. But because of the eronious dragging out of the process....all gains have been lost in my eyes. Truly ANOTHER sad day in the once proud history of the Orioles.

It really is never easy to be an O's fan.

I guess the part of this whole thing that I'm having the hardest time grasping is if Erik was so interested in possibly signing a long term extension why it took until about three weeks before pitchers and catchers report to Ft. Lauderdale for that bit of information to come out.

This whole offseason has felt like being in a relationship with someone who's bi-polar and not taking their medications. I'm worn out.

I really feel the faster route to winning will be trading Bedard--he is a very good pitcher but we are stronger with pitchers then we are with position players and we really need a player with Adam Jones skills to play every day instead of every 4 days--If we don't trade Bedard and maybe Reberts we will continue to be stuck in our present rut--our system is short on position players.

Roch, try 50 percent of baseball thinks a trade is imminent. 100 percent believe angelos is an asshole.

Waiting for the guilt to subside, perhaps ?

Roch, since absolutely nothing concrete is happening on the trade front, perhaps we could turn our attention to the upcoming rebuilding process.

Over the past several years, Orioles fans have become more and more impatient for a winning team. Or a .500 team. Or to see some progress. Or a change to the jersey. Really, we'd have taken any sign of hope.

Shouldn't there be some talk of tempering our expectations for the '08 campaign ? I can just see it now, the way the blog (and other message boards around town) will look as the O's pile up losses :

People will lose their minds, as usual, as Trembley fails to rearrange the deck chairs. Except this year, he'll have the flimsy plastic kind, that don't fold correctly, and have no cupholders built into the arms.

Young, inexperienced players will make mistakes that cost us games, and cause us to cringe. Injuries to the few MLB worthy players on the roster will plague us, and the stench of the steroids controversy will hang in the air all season.

Last year, I really wanted 81 wins, but would settle for anything more than the year prior. Naturally, we lost one more game than 2006.

This year, I just hope to stay out of the cellar, but will settle for 63 wins.

Thougths ?

I think the Twins got taken, they didn't get enough in the deal. The Orioles were offered pretty much the same deal for Bedard. But they had no choice, no way are were they going to resign him so they had to get something now. The Orioles don't have to rush into anything. (eventhough I'd like them too.)
Don't worry about missing your daughter's birthday. She'll be fine.

The Twins didn't get nearly enough. In a prior post, I commented that I wasn't sure I'd trade the five players we got for Tejada for the four the Mets gave up for Santana. Gomez might be a decent CF but is more likely going to be a 4th outfielder (Baseball Prospectus notes one of his top historical comparables is Luis Matos). You might still take that promise and youth over Luke Scott, but it probably depends on the circumstances of your roster make-up. Humber and Albers aren't too far different - fairly young, some quality pitches, no success in reasonable-length major league service. Patton is a better prospect than either of the other Mets pitchers. Yes, Santana is going to cost a lot of money to wrap up this deal and he had the Twins over a barrel, but they could have gotten more (the Yankees and Sox offers were a LOT better).

Tom D, obviously you are never wrong & I simply don't have all the free time you do to write long narratives here to make my case....

Yes, I don't like PA ,aka potter. Yes, I think he & his meddling sons have ruined the team that was the O's. Yes, there are countless examples of this & stories out there about the same that would almost be unbelievable. To be frank, some of the actions have been so over the top they would be hard to accept in a bad C listed comedy movie.
If you think you are right & the entire baseball world is wrong about the fact potter & his brood have made a mockery & industry joke of the franchise then I relent, you are right, everyone that has had to deal with this megalomaniac is wrong.

Jason Bay should look in the mirror first, he had a sub par year last year compared to his previous ones.

Roch, I think, in due time, that the Twins will be shown to have gotten a better deal for Santana than the one the O's are getting for Bedolt, if the deal goes through as currently suggested (Jones, Sherrill, & the 19 yr old P). I think that's not good considering the M's will get an extra yr of Bedolt , if neither signs with their new team that is....
Anyone question why the M's didn't try for Santana when the O's kept holding out or waffling? ? Perhaps because the package from the Mets was better? Maybe the Twins wanted more or better players?

Roch, maybe a ticket dated Feb 13th to Ft. L. would be an excellent birthday gift for her? A long weekend in the sun & warm weather with dad? You are running out of years to do that with her buddy...

Sun Sports Reader: First of all, thanks for reading. Second, I was trying not to illuminate the subject any further, but here goes: Stan "The Fan" Charles phoned into Mark Viviano's radio show on 1300 AM and, I'm told, said something about the Bedard deal being held up because of concerns that Adam Jones had a degenerative hip condition. Both teams deny this is an issue and it's been shot down by the Seattle press. All I did, because of endless reader comments on the topic, was point out that you have to be absolutely sure before saying something like that on the air - it's not like kicking around trade rumors - and reporters at The Sun wouldn't be allowed to go on the air and blurt this out without having concrete evidence and writing about it first. I wasn't implying that Stan needed to do the same thing, though he apparently took it that way. Anyway, Jones apparently is 100 percent fine and the hip isn't holding up the trade. That's the word on the street. Stan and I go way back. I didn't use his name at first because I didn't want to appear as though I was bashing him. But he used mine, so whatever. Hppefully, we can put this tired subject to bed, but I didn't want to appear as though I was holding out on you.

See ya down at Spring Training Roch! I will be down there to-but I won't be blogging. lol

Roch, You are getting to FL just as it is warming up here..been kinda cool the last few weeks...Mr Bad Dad.....at least Jason Bay knows who he has on his bad team...the O's know nothing...no position players for sure...no starters...no relievers..just bits and pieces...and all uncertain and unknown news....frustrating....BIG TIME...can't imagine your head in the field...maybe we will get lucky and hear some small move today but I have a feeling you are right....even if it is an extension with Bedard....takes time to do that as well. O's wows...

Roch, I always appreciate "further illumination" from The Sun. "Light For All," no?

Thanks again.

I dont get how people say there are gaping holes up the middle. If the trade to teh Cubs happens for Roberts the O's will most certainly get Ronny Cedeno in that deal. And although losing Tejada's bat the defense up the middle gets better by default

Let the baseball people do their job they know what they are doing a lot more then you fans claim to know.

They are weighing in on the option of signing Bedard just to call his bluff. He is full of it. He doesn't want to be here. He just may wat to be in the great northwest even less. I think Pete wants the fans to know the sincerity of the Bedard comment. Then he's gone.
Of course I would love to hear Bedard sing the Oriole's Baseball theme to Roch.

Why not sign EB to a five year extension? Having Bedard in an O's uniform for the next 7 years will go a lot further to helping this team than any package we can get from Seattle. He's the best pitcher on the O's staff in a quarter of a century. How do you trade that for a center fielder and some "prospects" that may or may not pan out. Sheer lunacy in my humble opinion.
Sign Patterson to a one year BB incentive-laden contract and go after big Tex next offseason. That's a team worth watching. Team for '09 would look like this barring any other FA acquisitions or minor league call-ups.
Line-up =
Roberts - 2b
C-Pat - cf
Markakis - rf
Texiera - 1b
Huff - dh
Scott - lf
Moore - 3b
Wieters - ca
Hernandez - ss

Rotation =
Bedard
Lowen
Guthrie
Olson/Penn
Liz/Cabrera

Closer = Ray

Roch any word on the catchers that will be sent up from the minor for spring training?

Just wanted to give you pat on the back for keeping us uninformed of all the things that aren't going on! Keep up the great work...

Don't worry Roch, Angelos will step in and veto the trade and you'll still be the #1 Dad.

From Seattle, I'm hoping the trade happens. Seattle can't compete with a Bedard caliber player. I don't mind losing Jones, even though he's going to be a stud. I'm more worried about losing Tillman, Sherrill, and Triunfel.

Dont you have to be something first to rebuild back to that previous state? We are rebuilding back to crap. The correct term in this instance is YOUTH MOVEMENT.

The new rumor has Bedard willing to sign an extension. He is allegedly looking for a 7 yr 100 mill deal. $14.2 / year is reasonable, but for 7 years?? The O's offered 3 years. I wonder if Bedard would meet them in the middle at 5 yrs?

I still think our best option is to trade him to Seattle for 5 prospects. At this point, I am convinced that it isnt going to happen. The O's are not innovative enough to make a savvy move like this. I think we win sooner adding these guys. 5 prospects from Hou & 5 prospects from Sea would give us lots of fresh faces to compete for jobs in spring training. It would be like 89 all over again.

BUMMED

I wish I believed Andy MacPhail when he said The Peter didn't nix the trade.
But I don't.
The answer was too short and too pat; even in your story, it reads like he said it through gritted teeth.
The Peter has zero credibility left in this area, and MacPhail is his new employee.
There's a lot riding on this trade, and MacPhail's credibility in this position is also in the balance.

Roch,

I think the Twins blinked and took what they could when Santana turned down their offer (at least they made one). I think it is apparent most teams do not want to give up significant prospects even for the greatest pitcher in the game. This is why the rebuilding mania is a bit ludicrous. I was all for rebuilding if you can get equal quality back. Difficult to do now. So they got what they could and everyone will criticize them.

I'm afraid the O's will do the same thinking that "rebuilding" is the magic bullet. Well, if we make this lousy trade for Bedard as reported, we will get WORSE fast. And the perception that we will "rebuild" and get better is a pipe dream. Dropping the ace of your staff for one possibly decent CF'er and a releif pitcher is NOT rebuilding. It's creating a big problem one place for the hope another problem is solved. Jones in CF is a much bigger question mark than Bedard's capabilties. If you can extend at a reasonable rate, you do it!

People are trade nuts becasue they're tired of losing. Well, trade Bedard and Roberts and get ready of cellar dwelling for at least the next five years.

Are you kidding me??? What a joke to try and sign EB to an extension. Name 1 single benefit for doing this????????? I thought (for the 10th time) Baltimore baseball was rebuilding???????? THIS IS SOOO AMUSING.

The trip down south with Dad is a great idea. Much better than my idea (I was just kidding). Really - see if you can pull her out of school for a while. I know you will be working most of the time you are there but that could be good too - Better than packing guilt, pal.

Jake - As much as I hate to say it, if MacPhail gets the players most often rumored for Bedard and Roberts 2008 may not be the disaster people are expecting.

Allow me to elaborate. Use the 2007 Nats as a reference. They were a bad team but the finished much better than any expert projected. They followed a basic baseball “rule: If your pitching keeps you in the game you have a shot at someone doing something to win the game. They did not finish .500, but they also did not lose 120 games like 'everyone" expected - myself included.

If the O's can get a veteran pitcher who wins more than loses and knows how to pitch, it could be a similar year. Even a Jason Marquis - not a long term solution - could be a big help. Guthrie will probably be the #1 starter. "The Vet," if they get one, #2, Lowen #3, Patton/Liz #4 and, hopefully Liz/Patton/Burres #5. I know lots of people LOVE DCab, but I really think he needs to go to AAA and actually learn how to pitch. While this rotation does not scream "postseason!" it really doesn't suck, either.

The key will be defense. Jones looks solid in CF and Markakis is one of the best RF in baseball. If Scott can hold his own in LF we may have the best defensive O's OF since Devo and Brady were out there.

Millar has to play 1B because we need his glove. Even if he hits like 2006, he showed a lot of leather out there. A good defensive 1B can make any infield look a lot like Brooks, Belanger and Grich!

Hernandez is a really good SS with a huge arm. I do not think SS will be an issue at all. Mora played gold glove 3B in '07 and Moore actually looked pretty good there. (I think Trembley wants to see more of Moore - no pun - at 1B, however) If the guy who wins the 2B job can field (Just as long as it is NOT Fahey - great guy but no way a starting MLB player...)….

Catcher is problematic. Hernandez cannot have another year like 2007. If the 2006 Ramon shows up this position will also not be an issue. If the 2007 Ramon shows we have no one else to step in until Wieters is ready – and I do not see the O’s rushing him.

A strong defense prevents runs and allows for many more positive things to happen. I am not saying postseason. I am not even saying .500. I am saying not worse than last year.

I think we missed a big opportunity to get better in 1 season and create momentum for 2009 - 2010 by not extending Bedard and Roberts and bringing A FEW quality players. But that is all academic at this point. After losing Bedard and Roberts, 70 wins may look awesome.

Can't the O's just combine with the Pirates and Devil Rays and have a powerhouse team (or at least one that will compete for a playoff spot every year)?

I think that would be a lot more fun than 10 (soon to be 11 and probably 12 and 13) consecutive years of losing.

Roch,

Any truth to the rumor that your daughter put Sun Sports Reader up to playing the guilt card.

c is for children!!

Tom D -

Good post. You came in strong. I too would have liked to extend both Bedard & Roberts. However, if you do that, what do you add in FA's, to improve? This past off season was weak. I think had we added Carlos Lee last year, then maybe you take a shot at Torii Hunter this year. Then you could extend Bedard & Roberts. But we didn't sign the big bat last year.

So, even if we added Torri Hunter to play center and signed your guy Sean Casey, we still have holes in the rotation and bullpen. Two years from now, Hunter is at the end of the line, and Casey is retired.

I know where you are going with this, and I'm half inclined to agree, but the damage is done. Bedard & Roberts know their days are numbered. Maybe we still salvage Roberts, and extend him. I've always liked the kid. And I do agree with you that he is one of the top 3 second basemen in the game. No question there!