Well I definitely predicted Deza's demise!!! Too bad I underestimated the Orioles and predicted a 3-run homer instead of a granny haha.

Roch, you said Penn looked sharp so let us hope this guy can continue working hard, avoiding injury, and winning the 5th spot. Just get Patton in the damn operating room already!! He needs the surgery it is obvious. You would think we learned from Benson....yeesh

For every exciting thing that happens (Jones' grand slam) we have some disappointment (Patton's shoulder and Mikolio's wildness). The Astros willingness to make the Tejada trade before the Mitchell report has become super clear. I'm looking for Luke Scott to make up for Troy and Kam. Jones and Scott should start on opening day.

While he hit it off of a pitcher I don't think any of us thought would make the team, it's still kinda exciting to hear that about Adam Jones...

the fielding, however, is a bit unnerving

v is for verily, he'll figure out how to catch the ball.

I've had the labrum injury before, and I don't see how Patton intends to rehab it. Your arm feels very tight and it hurts big time to throw. You can strengthen it enough to make it workable, but this guy is a rookie with a future and it will only be fixed with surgery. Bite the bullet, have the surgery and come back strong next year.

Is Kris Benson pitching for anyone this season?

Thanks for the updates Roch.

Even with Patton gone for the season and Mickilo having control issues and thus going to AA or AAA, we still have a lot of healthy guys that can go out there and fill the 5th starters spot plus the 4 open bullpen spots.

Actually, it sounds like Sarfate and Randor Bierd will definitely take two of the bullpen spots, so that leaves us with two more to fill (assuming that Bradford, Walker, and Sherill fill the first three spots).

That leaves at least Penn, Albers, Burres, Olson, Liz plus many other who are probably looking at the minors right now but who have good potential, i.e. Butler, Tillman, McCory and many others that I'm forgetting. It's hard to keep up with all of these new, young pitchers. But the point is that we have a lot of them, and even if some get hurt (Patton) or others don't do well initially, we still will have plenty of promising and dedicated young arms to fill the remaining spots. These guys deserve to get a shot at the bigs and it looks like several of them will.

All these negative comments after 2 INTRASQUAD games. I grew up (my wife says I'm not done yet) thinking ST was for getting the kinks out. If this were the second or third week of March it might be different. Cut'em some slack! Steady wins the prize!

I'll bet that the Jones' fielding problems will go away. Outfielders always have trouble in Spring Training in Florida with the sun and winds.

Roch, do they put out box scores on the intra squad games?

It should be noted that Jones' previous springs have been spent in Arizona where the wind rarely blows. The high skies and swirling winds of Florida in the springtime take awhile to get used to.Ask any college baseball player who had spring practice in Florida and he'll have a story about an outfielder and the wind. Now before anyone says something about this is the major leagues I would ask them to watch any day game at Wrigley when the wind is coming in off the lake and balls are being routinely misplayed by everyone.

Lindsay - Benson signed a minor league deal with the Phillies and will contend for a spot in their rotation.

Rick Shaw - I'll one up your comment and add that the next year is really a prolonged ST for the O's to work the kinks out.
Adam Jones doesn't have to be great this year, just make progress with the glove and bat.
Patton can spend the year rehabilitating so he's ready to go when we need him - which, by the way, will definitely NOT be this year.
All in all - this is an exciting time because we finally have a unified direction; we just have to be patient during the ride.

Patton is having surgery, he just doesn't want to admit it to himself yet.

Roch, great job, thanks for the pipeline of info!

Kris Benson signed a minor league contract with the Phillies.

To everyone who has felt embarrassed for being an Oriole fan based on decisions made by management, here's something that demonstrates any other club has its moments. The Rockies announced they had signed shortstop Neifi Perez to a minor-league deal yesterday, only to recant and withdraw the offer today. I have to admit I was surprised that anyone would sign him given the fact his skills have eroded and he's still suspended for another 20 games or so because of his third drug violation.

I'm glad I'm not the person who made the "executive decision" to sign him yesterday, only to be overruled today. It doesn't look good on the Rockies.

Just wanted to point out nearly everyone is open to criticism.

Good post Anthony--
in that vein, pitchers should be working on developing multiple pitches, which seems to have been neglected over the past couple of years. if a couple of bombs result, so be it. how a major league starter can only have 2 reliable pitches (or 1 in some cases) is beyond me. Go get 'em Kranny!

Lindsay, Dave beat me to it, but the Phillies thought that Kris would be a low rick move.

Did Liz pitch today? I saw he was scheduled. If so any info on how he threw? Thanx

Roch- Why can't the Orioles send Patton to the doc and get an MRI. The diagnosis will be the same as it was long ago. A torn labrum. Put him on the DL now and end his season. He already is so far behind every one else why bother keep sending him out there. He is only hurting himself.

Why do the O's always play stupid with pitcher's injuries? They should have had a more rigorous physical before they traded for him but hey that would have made too much sense. Sid Thrift would be proud.

Tomorrow's game will feature a home run from our catcher :) Another bold prediction haha.

And Kam is going to be fine. If he does not ever become a major league player it will be because he stinks and can't get anyone out. The control issues will resolve. the question is can he get batters out when the ball is over the plate? I am hoping Sarfate can deliver it over the plate and get outs, as it would stink to have someone with 0 options left pitching for the Orioles and having a BB:K ratio of 25:1

so no gold glove after 2 days of intrasquad games?

folks, it will be very hard to call these deals a bust unless we don't get a single major league starter out of the bunch. remember these guys were making money and heading out the door. i agree with others that it's time to put Patton on ice. it won't be a failure, just a delay that the FO probably saw as likely anyway. we'll wait for you Troy-- just put as much effort into your rehab as Chris Ray.

anyway, we will suck like never before but i am still pretty excited. and i don't think it' sbecause of some sort of oriole warehouse "spin". it's just the opposite. i love the "no spin zone" that macphail occupies.

keep em coming roch! are talks still active with roberts or might we hold off until the deadline at this point?
thanks!

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The Orioles wrapped up their workout portion of spring training today with the same number of questions that existed when pitchers and catchers arrived here two weeks ago.

They still haven't settled on a fifth starter

Well I would say they should be looking for TWO SP not just one Steve Trashel not the answer here !

Hey Roch, have you heard anything about the Orioles trading Roberts to Colorodo for Ian Stewart and another guy?? I saw that rumor on an ESPN chat with Keith Law, I believe. Anyone else heard that? It makes a little sense seeing as how they don't have Kaz anymore and Stewart is blocked big time by Tulo.

Do the Phillies also have an option for Anna Benson?

"I sure hope Wieters vs. Tillman isn't a glimpse of the future. That means that at least one of those players would have to leave the Os.

Posted by: Jon | February 27, 2008 12:23 PM"

Jon - I think Roch was talking about Tillman playing the role of the ace pitcher and Wieters the role of the wily but faithful catcher.

Since in MLB the pitcher and the catcher he throws to during the game are on the same team, Roch's vision would, indeed, be accurate.

Dave - I agree, why don't the O's have him examined? What is it going to hurt to get an image and take a good look at it before he gets even more hurt?

For that matter, why didn't they have him examined the moment they had the deal finished?

If they knew he had a tear, why wait until ST to even mention it?

Personally, I don't think they knew. I think they were as surprised to learn about it as we were. And I don't think they know what to do about it.

Last year both Benson and Wright waited until ST to tell the O's about serious injuries.

I thought it was "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me"????

Rick Shaw - Amen!!!

The squad games are only played so players do not go into ST games having not seen a real pitched ball in 4 months.

If we are getting this much panic (and these many final decisions being made!) from 2 practice games that are basically for grins, what are the Chicken Littles of the blog going to do when the games actually start to count?

Roch, you may want to attach a link to the suicide prevention people on the blog!

http://www.slate.com/id/2100895/

Read the attached article about torn labrums. Not too good.

Patton, Albers, Scott, etc. for Tejada. This is why the O's should never trade BRob for those Cubs pitchers. The Astros traded their "top" pitcher(Jason Hirsch) the year before to the Rockies for a solid CF'er. Go see Hirsch's numbers last year for the Rockies- pathetic. The Astros aren't known for developing pitchers other than Roy Oswalt lately. The same can be said for the Cubs. The guys they're offering don't project any better than Patton or Albers. Teams can make mistakes i.e. Texas trading Chris Young to S.D. for nothing or the worst trader ever when the Giants traded Liriano, Nathan, and someone else for Pierszinski. If the O's are going to trade BRob, just don't do it with the belief that more is better and hope maybe 1 of the players will work out. The Tejada trade will prove to be much to do about nothing.

Did Komminsk try to jump over the wall to catch the HR by Jones?:
http://ss2.cdn.weshow.com/thumbnail/us/large/14776.jpg

Long time Oriole fans should get that one...

Why shouldn't Adam Jones or anyone else take a big, aggressive turn at first base after singling to a left field manned by a camp instructor?

Who was out there? Bill Murray?

Why don't we make this a fun spring training thing for fans? Win a drawing and play left field for Komminsk's Skinks.

Roch--Nothing on Costanzo. Did he K, perhaps? Or did he hit one of those towering pop ups to short stop, the kind that Phil Rizzuto used to say of Reggie, "Oh, he just missed it...another quarter of an inch."

Any chance that he's taking grounders now at 12:26 a.m.?

BIG Z - The O's got Scott, Patton, Albers, Sarfate and Costanzo for Tejada.

Mickolio came from Seattle for Bedard (along with Jones, Sherrill, Tillman and Butler).

Can we take a moment for a reality check - Mickolio is an A ball player. He is about as close to the majors right now as, well, the guys playing in Frederick.

So stop fretting.

Just because he is at ST (as a non-roster invitee) does not mean he has a chance of making the team. He would have to pitch lights out and about 8 other guys would have to tear labrums or suffer a deep strain to their obliques for him to even have a chance this year....

Roch - how was the weather down there yesterday ? back home here in baltimore , it was windy and freezing , brrrrrr , LOL

I like offer my two cents as to why O's are stockpiling pitchers like urgency , from trades , rule 5 , waivers , etc. Lets go back last year's ST , when Benson claimed injury , then like dominoes , Wright , Loewen , Baez , Ray , Bedard , plus few others i forgot whom. When all these pitchers dropping like flies , our pitching depth from AAA, AA was exposed . So i dont blame McPhail for stocking up so many pitchers this off season . " you can never have enough pitching " said Earl Weaver. Now Patton is hurt , Olson & Kam control issues , arent you fans glad we still have candidates waiting ?

D is for Depth

I hope every one is starting to see why we got these guys , only one of them is on the top 100 prospect list at #44 , not good , anything hit to center field will be an adventure........

Brett, you've got that Astros trade involving Hirsh very wrong. The Astros traded Hirsh, Taveras (probably the CF you meant, although he's not really very good), and Buchholz (the much lesser Buchholz pitching prospect) for Jason Jennings and Miguel Asencio. It was basically dealing a marginal CF and their top pitching prospect for what was viewed as an up-and-coming starter who had demonstrated success in the majors (Jennings). It's true Hirsh's numbers weren't great, but his lack of innings were the product of a broken leg (suffered from a line drive). Jennings didn't pan out, either (arm injury) and was only signed through one year (he is now property of the Rangers). To sum it up, the Astros made what was probably a bad deal (Taveras is at least useful, and Hirsh may still develop).

We really need better stuff to do with our time than worry about the first two intra-squad games of the Spring. I mean, wow.

As for Patton and people lamenting the Orioles not going through a more thorough physical before trading for him, let's not forget the anger and vitriol on this board when the Bedard trade was "held up" by physicals. If the O's had done the same thing with Patton, everyone would have lost it and screamed about how Angelos needs to get the hell out of the way. What, exactly, do you guys want?

Tom D - Mickolio did make it all the way to AAA last year with Seattle (and had some success). I would imagine that he'll either start there this year - not A like you mentioned.

Tom D - Mickolio did make it all the way to AAA last year with Seattle (and had some success). I would imagine that he'll either start there this year - not A like you mentioned.