Roch - Have you heard anything about Sherill being packaged with Roberts in a deal for 4 or 5 players from the Cubs? (see http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/024698.php )

Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead!!!!

So where is the trade rumors about Brian Roberts and the Cubs? Is that deal dead or simply waiting till Bedard gets done? Who are the rumored players coming over for Brian? Renew my mind Roch.

It is getting interesting - so close to Spring Training.

Roch,
While making your calls, how about telling Andy to give Roberts the farm and sign for long term.

There isn't anything iwould see in the trade for Roberts that justifies his true value to the O's.
Let the boss sit down with BRob. He can pull the money out and give him the personal guarantees BRob needs to hear.

Trading Bedard is the best decision made in recent years. We can't keep him, we trade him. As simple as that. That goes to Roberts, too.

I noticed that someone mentioned in yesterdays blog that Penn is out of options so he must make the major league roster this year. Roch can you confirm or deny this.

Roch,
I'm just here to put my two cents in about Garret Olson. You say that you omitted him from the running as the fifth starter, but I tend to disagree. Last season, he showed that he could, indeed, win at the major league level. You also have to give him a break because he was a rookie. I believe that when Bedard is finally traded, the number 4 and 5 slots will consist of Troy Patton and Garret Olson. I believe that other starters like Liz, Burres, and Albers will find themselves in the pen.

roch---I HOPE THIS BEGINS A STRING OF MOVES INCLUDING TRADING DANNY CABRERA,CHAD BRADFORD,JAY GIBBONS AND RAMON HERNANDEZ.SIGNING---ODALIS PEREZ LHP,KEVIN MENCH LF-DH,TONY CLARK 1B,RON VILLONE LHP AND MAYBE ROYCE CLAYTON FOR SS UNTIL WE CAN TRADE FOR ONE......1-ROBERTS 2B 2-3B MORA 3-RF MARKAKIS 4-1B T.CLARK 5-LF-LUKE SCOTT/JAY PAYTON 6-MILLAR OR MENCH-DH 7-C R.HERNANDEZ 8-CF ADAM JONES 9-SS CLAYTON OR LUIS HERNANDEZ RESERVES--ROBERSON-OF TERRERO-OF BEN DAVIS-C SCOTT MOORE-DH-1B-3B BYNUM SS-LF-PR PAYTON-LF HUFF=DH=1B

"Last season, he showed that he could, indeed, win at the major league level."

If you mean by that he could, indeed, win a game then yes. His numbers from last year far from prove he is a legitimate major league starter however.

Last year he was 1-3 with a 7.79 ERA. He had a WHIP of 2.16 for goodness sake! He gave up 42 hits in only 32.3 innings.

Now I will say that 7 starts and 32 innings is not conclusive proof one way or another but last year did not go well for him.

Btw we really dodged a bullet with Trax last year, his periphals were terrible and he was lucky he did as average as he did, the odds of that happening again are remote. I would rather see more kids out there.

Roch if that is true that Loewen could be a #1 one day, then the trade rumors for Loewen should begin soon & the process of getting the traded guys here for physicals could start any time now....

The Orioles, specifically team owner Peter Angelos, were angered by Jones' comments, insisting that several issues still had to be worked out before the deal was done.

Well potter showed him didn't he??

If they had this much trouble getting the deal done for a top flight, young, #1 starter that many teams would love to have & need, how long do you all think it will take to get a deal done for an above average 2B with few teams needing one?

I hope the BRob deal goes down. Interesting rumor flipping Sherrill & BRob to Chi-town for another 4-5 players. That would add 15 new bodies to our system.

OUTSTANDING !!!

The O's will be young & raw this year but hey....WHY NOT !!! 1989 all over again baby!!

Reports are B-Rob is next. Sean Gallagher is the centerpiece. We need a secondbaseman, hopefully they will throw in Fontenot.

I was always impressed with Olson coming thru the minors and once he gets over "Oh crap this is the BIGS" he will be fine. He wont overpower anyone but I could easily see him being a younger Jamie Moyer once he gets his control in the ML.

So w/o Bedard: Guthrie, Lowen, DCab, Patton, Olson... And then if one falls there are more options in Penn, Burress, Liz... BUT WHERE IS THE VETERAN PRESENCE?

I dont think we should trade Roberts- we should offer him a deal he cant refuse because he is the kind of person we want on and off the field as an Oriole. Granted he is getting older but he is the face of this team

Why would they give Sherill a physical if they were just going to flip him to the Cubs?

Is it too early to predict Bedard as the Cy Young winner for this year with the Mariners while Adam Jones hits .260 with 15 home runs? Of course we'll all be complaining about how McPhail traded away our best player for some maybes. Trading a starting pitcher for a hitter worked real great last time. Glenn Davis was the talk of the town for years. Jones will be too in much the same context.
Lowen will be a #1 within two years meaning we could have had two and be contending that year.

Been hearing that Sherrill is going to Chicago with Roberts. I'm not a fan of that. Reports are we don't need Sherrill, he doesn't fit in our plans. I don't agree. He could definitely help us in those one or two run games. Plus, he wouldn't make a bad closer for us.

I met Dwan Edwards, didn't think he was the friendliest guy in the wordl, but maybe he was just having a bad day?

I think its funny how the Orioles fanbase has moved past the Bedard trade like it has already happen and everyone is buzzing about Roberts now.

I personally don't think Roberts goes anywhere. Millar and Roberts are two positive veteran personas who can teach the younger players, even if its for only half a season.

Still I think Roberts's best shot to be traded is next offseason. I could be wrong, I said Bedard would be gone this Monday, but I think Roberts stays this season.

Roberts to the Cubs and Bedard to the Mariners SIMULTANEOUSLY? It would explain the delay in announcing the Bedard deal and the recent murmuring about Roberts to the Cubs again...

While the club has the Bedard deal and potentially a Roberts deal to work with, I hope someone took notice of the deal that Tigers recently have given Curtis Granderson: 5 years for roughly $30 million with a club option for a 6th year. Similar terms sound like a good deal for Nick Markakis. I know it’s beating a dead horse and other similar clichés, but the club, even in its rebuilding phase, needs to be working on a long-term Markakis deal even if he still has four years before free agency. The club is usually quiet on such things and I have yet to hear a peep they are pondering such a deal. He could be the face of the franchise because I don’t think it’s going to be Brian Roberts.

Extending Markakis has become my new cause. The club should not let this become another Roberts/Bedard situation where re-signing him becomes impossible. Do it now while it’s relatively cheap ($6 million per season would end up being a steal for Markakis).

So, assuming the trade happens (and that B-Rob stays), this is about what we are looking at:

2B Roberts (S)
CF Jones (R)
RF Markakis (L)
1B Millar (R)
DH Huff (L)
C Hernandez (R)
LF Scott (L)
3B Mora (R)
SS Hernandez (S)

B Quiroz (R)
B Gibbons (L)
B Bynum (L)
B Payton (R)
B Moore/Redman/Fahey/Kubatko

F is for... %$*@

I still think Brian Burres deserves a spot on the rotation. I guess we will see in Spring Training. Not so much a fan of Olson. I don't think he's ready yet, but hey who knows with the Orioles!

Speaking of nibbling, it was Bedard who so frustrated when he first came up -- by nibbling, not trusting his stuff. (Like a good tennis player who chooses to "push" the ball instead of letting it rip in competitions.) Of course, we know what happened once he started to trust his stuff.

I am more excited for this year than any other baseball season in recent memory (i probably say this every year; but stick with me!).

Its new and exciting to see our team with such definitive direction. I know we will probably get 5th place; but that's ok. I'm very excited to see this team take the field and progress more and more every single month.

Yes, I'm an optimist.... But i feel very safe in saying that for the first time in 10 years my optimism is warranted.

Go O's!

What if the doctor aske Bedard a question and he tries to slip out through the back door of the office?

Would he still pass?

I don't know if hitting my refresh button 1,000 times a day qualifies as fun the last two weeks! I will be relieved when this deal finally goes through (assuming it will). I've been on board all along with trading Bedard, Roberts however, is harder to part with. I think mainly it's because he has a much more open, outgoing personality whereas you can tell Bedard, by his own admission, is more uncomfortable in the public eye. Roberts has mentioned his desire to win and he may not want to go through a rebuilding even if offered an long term deal.

What somebody else is saying about the trade.

"What I admit to knowing very little about are the three pitching prospects the Orioles received. What better way is there to segue into John Sickel's The Baseball Prospect Book 2008 than with a review of each player using Mr. Sickels' assessments along with their highest 2008 minor league level.

RHP Chris Tillman (High A):

He has a 90-93 MPH fastball and a very good curve, and, late in the year, his command was quite good. As long as that remains true, he has to rate as one of the better pitching prospects in the game. I am very impressed with the way he handled the hardship of his first Cal League outingss.

RHP Kam "The Almighty" Mickolio (AAA):

Intimidating on the mound at 6'9, he gets his fastball into the lower 90s....his stuff is good enough he reached Triple-A in his first full season....If his command sharpens, he could reach the Orioles pen sometime in '08.

LHP Tony Butler (Low A):

...pitched brilliantly at times down the stretch, with a 3.29 ERA and 44/16 K/BB in his last 52 innings....He's a very intelligent and well-spoken young man....Grade B- right now, but I expect that to rise if he stays healthy.

After reading John's assessments, I am impressed with the ability of the Orioles to sell high on a 29-year-old lefty starter who has yet to throw 200 innings in a season. In return, the O's got the can't-miss CF prospect the Twins had hoped to get for Johan Santana, a quality lefty reliever who will close, and three top pitching prospects, one of which is likely to become an immediate future closing prospect in Kam Mickolio!"

This rumor that the Orioles will be packaging Sherill with Brian Roberts to send to the Cubs does make sense. Roch, even you've noted a few times in your blog that if the Bedard deal gets made (and barring a rash of oblique injuries...or is that an oblique of rash injuries...it will be), BRob is soon to follow. It's a deal I'd rather see made than the Bedard one, nothing against Roberts, he's a standup guy and player, but at his age, by the time the Orioles are truly in position to contend, he'll be auditioning for Viagra commercials. The Cubbies hot stove rumor mill is saying to look for something to occur this weekend. Again, this also makes sense as I would think MacPhail would like to have all the big deals done before our boys of summer arrive in Florida. Then he can focus on what to do with "the B-team," i.e. Jay Payton, Melvin Mora, Aubrey Huff, Jay Gibbons and company. Melvin has been a great contributor over the years, but really started to look his age last year. I think a new third baseman is a top priority, as I'd think Mike Costanza is probably too young/inexperienced at this point. Besides, who knows if he'll continue playing baseball, I understand he wants to be an architect or sell latex for Vandalay Industries...

RE: Hayden Penn's options - a player has 3 Minor League Options. This means that once a player is on the major league roster he can be sent to the minors in 3 separate years. During these 3 years he can be sent out any number of times.

If the player reaches the major league roster and has less than 5 years of PROFESSIONAL experience he is allowed an additional option year.

Penn was signed in 2002 and debuted in 2006, so he would qualify for a 4th option, if I understand the rule correctly. I am also not sure how last year qualifies because of his injury.

Even so, he should have at least 1 option left.

I think it would be best for him and the Orioles to start in AAA and get both his arm and his perspective back in shape.

Roch - Any word on "minor" deals?

I have been hearing all winter that Texas is interested in Millar and I thought the O's wanted to move Payton, too.

Anything up on that end of the spectrum?

Roch - Just out of curiosity, who on the current O's roster is out of options?

I know Sarfate is. Wasn't Patton also out? Bynum? Who else?

Roch:

It'd be great if you could provide us a bit of analysis on whether you think the Orioles' downtrodden vets have any chance of being shipped off at the midseason break? You know, everyone except for Markakis, Jones and B-Rob*? Thanks for any insight.

*assuming he's still there

Does Sherill stick out like a sore thumb in this rebuilding process to anyone else?

He presents a solution to a problem the Cubs 'pen has had and that is 1-2 solid lefties...Eyre will bounce back, and Sherill can close if Wood's arm explodes...Marmol must prove to be effective in the same role he was in last year, and Howry belongs in the 8th...

I'm foreseeing Roberts, Sherill to Chicago for Sean Gallagher, Sean Marshall, Ronnie Cedeno...and 2-3 of the following: Donald Veal, Kevin Hart, Jose Ascenio, Eric Patterson, Matt Murton, or Sam Fuld.

Once again, I simply cannot give up Pie and that level of defense in CF, when you have a liability like Soriano in LF. Great arm, but simply will not go near the Brick, regardless of extra warning track room in '08. And the lack of a natural feel is understandable, as this is his 3rd year of full-time OF duty. Pie is simply too important to the Cubs PRESENT, regardless of his importance over the next 6 years into the future.

I find the Marquis rumors as laughable, even though he is one of the better "innings eaters" in the NL. That is where the compliments end, as he will be paid far too much for a legit rebuild, and is not a young piece to a rebuilding puzzle. I almost feel like taking him from the Cubs would do them a favor, and give them the necessary money to sign an established starter to accompany Zambrano at the top of the rotation...next year

Os are going to get a much, much, much, much, much better group of players for Bedard from the Mariners than Twins got for Johan...Os are even going to get a better group of players for Roberts from the Cubs than Twins got for Johan...and Roberts is "damaged goods"...McFailure is trying to redeem himself, and it only took until Spring Training to do so!!!

My bold pick for '08...Rich Hill takes another step and posts an ERA below 3.50, 200+ IP, 200+ Ks, and finally gets the run support to reach 15+ wins and becomes the "#2" starter that the Cubs desperately need...

Baltimore's goal should be to build up the money and young excitement to make a push to sign C.C. Sabathia in the approaching years...Cleveland is going to keep him, as they are at the doorstep of contending for a ring in C.C.'s last 2 years there...Cleveland would rather take the 1st round picks (would it be 2, since he'd be an A+++++++ Free Agent?) than the prospects they'd receive with their backs against the wall (i.e. Twins-Santana) to sign (impossible) or trade Big C...

Could the Cubs unite Big C and Big Z to form 13 feet and 650 lbs of ace pitcher???

Maybe if the Os trade for Marquis...

Where is the source of the Sherrill with Roberts to Chicago rumor? It couldn't be the good 'ol Orioles Hangout, could it?

Don't you think they would have learned? As Scotty said "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me...." I guess those guys have no shame....

An important thing is to listen to Andy MacPhail to see what his intentions are. While rumors swirled that Scott was obtained to flip in a Bedard or Roberts deal, MacPhail was saying he thought the guy can put up Tejada type numbers. It was obvious he was not moving unless MacPhail was knocked over by an offer.

Similarly, both he and Trembley have let it slip that they thought Sherrill has closer-ability. It would be a great surprise if Sherrill went anywhere - unless his inclusion got Hill from the Cubs.

Roch-
Do you think the Os would ever (in 08)consider using a 6 man rotation? It would allow most of the young guns to get major league experience without over laboring them. It would help the bullpen. I think it is something worth considering. I still say DCab for closer. Some of the names of other potential closers intrigue me just not Aquino and FCab.

How can this take so long? Didn't the tiger aquire two franchisee player from the Marlins in 24 hours?

If this Bedard trade goes through, it would come very close to making me sick to my stomach. All of these questions that follow it, battles for the 4 and 5 spot, veteran presence in the rotation. How about we don't trade away a man who set the franchise Strikeout record in less than 200 innings and stood up to the hardest 1-9 offensive lineups in the American league. We are getting rid of a potential Cy Young Calibur Pitcher who has Proven he is an ace, before we get rid of drunk Huff, mouth running Payton and Millar(who wants in on Boston more than he wants to be here but just doesn't have the guts to admit it.), all guys who did more talking with their mouths than their bat. In Corey Patterson, we have top notch defense, top notch speed on the basepaths and the best bunter on the team, we'd rather grab a young buck who hasn't proven he can do any more with the bat than patterson, while giving away a guy who we've waited for years to become the number 1 that he is. Now we have to wait another 2 years for Loewen to be that number one and find some "veteran presence" when we had both in Bedard already if this organization would just show some appreciation to somebody and spend some freakin' money. We'll have to pay it eventually to Loewen anyway if he meets expectations. Not everyone can be the darn Florida Marlins(Angelos). What is the sense in making a trade for young prospects when we have burres, olson, guthrie, loewen, Cabrera and Bedard all under the age of 30. The reason we don't have a closer now is because the organization tried to go cheap with Ray. How's that working out for them? We still don't have one legitimate power hitter, a lineup half full of whiners(payton, Huff, Millar, Hernandez) a steroid one hit wonder(Gibbons) and in need of an ace and a unnecessary battle for the 4 and 5 spot in the lineup. So what, are we going to trade Loewen when he gets good? Huh? We could have had him and Bedard to protect Guthrie from any potential sophomore slump and Cabrera in the 4 spot with Olson and Burres having it out for five. But no. Our front office is garbage when it comes to making decisions. You don't win championships by giving away Cy Young Winners, who has that worked out for recently? Seriously, name one team that has won a world series even three years after getting rid of a Cy Young calibur pitcher? (With the exception of Boston not keeping Martinez, but they still had Schilling for the first one and him and Beckett for the second).This trade is garbage. How is an Ace gone before a man who has not only admitted to using Steroids, but who's numbers have been down after the fact.Now, the one reason why fans would even think of buying those inexplicably price raised tickets is headed to Seattle for a Center fielder who we really didn't need and a bunch of Pitching prospects that we were already full of. Thanks alot MacFail.

Chris Roberson is out of options as well.

The Denver Post is reporting that the Orioles have interest in FA pitcher Josh Fogg.

"s" is for s.n.a.f.u.

CRB, I fully support your cause! You'd think it'd be an easier one, with Markakis being the star Greek Angelos always wanted. With so many guys in his bracket getting multi-year deals, you know Markakis has noticed and started thinking "why haven't I been approached about this?" Wait too long, and he may have already decided he's not respected and that he'd rather flee the organization when his time is up. Do it NOW!

For perspective, had we extended Bedard last year during the season he'd probably have MORE trade value today because of his sensible contract in comparison to the money going to guys like Silva.

Tom D, Patton can't be out of options. He's only 22 (work backwards from the years of experience and relation to options you note in your post), and I think his only major league call-up was last September.

Doug - I just have 2 questions:

1. When did Erik Bedard win a Cy Young award? I missed that announcement.
2. When did Erik Bedard even make an all-star game? I missed that announcement too. I did not, however, miss the announcement that he was turning 29 before the season.
3. This is what you would call "selling high".

Hey Roch, Do you ever wonder why people post completely illegible or scatter-brained comments and ask questioned that have been answered time and time again? IMO, some people shouldn't be allowed to voice opinions. Thanks for all the intelligent reporting.

I don't see the advantage of dealing Roberts if we can sign him unless we get a top SS, 2B or 1B power hitter prospect or we plan to use some of these young arms to fill these holes. To rebuild you need some top position prospects to believe in too..

Lets assume the trade goes through (and I am one of those in favor of the trade), the Orioles still have some fundamental flaws in their lineup.

The problem is with Payton, Gibbons, Huff and Millar we don't have guys who are that flexible in the field or the lineup and especially a balance lineup with enough right handed hitters. With a 25 man roster and 12 pitchers we need guys who can play multiple positions. Scott Moore would be great since he can fill in at first and third (it is painful to watch Huff at third). However with Gibbons and Payton, it becomes impossible to project Moore onto the 25 man roster. Also if we are rebuilding each at bat that we give to Payton and Gibbons we can't see if players like Moore or Chris Roberson can be part of our future. It becomes worse if we trade Roberts since there is no obvious candidate to lead off. Bottom line we need to dump Payton, Gibbons or Huff (preferably all three) in trades or just DFA one of them (Gibbons) and forget about it. If we trade BROB, our biggest need is a lead-off hitter and hopefully a second baseman (both in one) and perhaps we get that from the Cubs (maybe Cedeno OBP .422 in AAA or Fontenot OBP .336 in Majors).
The pitching, while not strong, benefits from having a lot of depth. I would hope that we keep Bierd on the roster all year. If we lose 90 or 95 games who cares -- so having Hooey vs. Bierd probably doesn't make us a contender. Hooey could probably use some time in AAA and in the long run we get to keep Bierd. The same goes for Sarfate who is out of options and must stay on the big league roster or go through waivers. You can pick any one of Albers, Penn, Olson, Patton, or the pitchers we get from the Cubs for 4th or 5th starter (assuming Guthrie, Lowen, and Cabrera 123). The rest should go to AAA and the bullpen should be Burres, Bierd, Walker, Bradford, Aquino, Sarfate and Sherril. That means we really don't need a veteran all that bad unless the back-end candidates really need more seasoning in AAA and I don't think any of them do.

"In Corey Patterson, we have top notch defense, top notch speed on the basepaths and the best bunter on the team, [but] we'd rather grab a young buck who hasn't proven he can do any more with the bat than Patterson."

Because the Orioles need a good bunter! That's proven as the way to win American League baseball!

And maybe Jones hasn't proven he can do more than Patterson with the bat, but Patterson has proven he can do nothing with the bat. This is the kind of thinking that has gotten the Orioles a decade of mediocrity. In order for the Orioles to move forward, they need lots of talent. Not talent like Corey Patterson (who has shown he's a fringe Major Leaguer), but talent like Adam Jones (who has the potential to be an impact Major Leaguer).

Everyone needs to stop worrying, get ready to lose 100 games in 2008, and enjoy watching Nick Markakis and (hopefully) Adam Jones mature into bona fide middle of the order hitters. The only benchmarks for "success" this season should be:

1) Nick Markakis continued improvement
2) Adam Loewen continued improvement
3) Adam Jones establishment
4) Jeremy Guthrie improvement
5) Nolan Reimold advancement
6) Not signing any mediocre veterans to multi-year contracts

It doesn't matter if the Orioles lose 80, 100 or 120. As long as they are making progress toward winning 90 by 2010, this season will be a rip roaring success. I just hope that everyone can keep that in mind amidst all the losing that is to come. This is going to be a very, very bad team at times. But hopefully there will also be times when Loewen throws a shut out and Markakis hits two homers and we realize the good times will come. In the meantime, change the channel during all those Melvin Mora, Aubrey Huff, Jay Gibbons, Kevin Millar and whoever is playing middle infield at-bats.

I feel like Im reading gossip columns.

Sports reporting is such a sham.

"According to a league executive... A high ranking official..."

I feel like I am reading about Britney Spears sometimes... "A pal said... an insider said... "

We need a hockey and basketball team in this town or something. Need more articles to fill reporters time with.

Speculation is not news! How about me? Im a league source, I go to games.

According to a League Source apprised of the situation, Eric Bedard is soft and often injured, he likes the glory of strikeouts, causing his pitch count to skyrocket and legs to weaken.

Hey Roch,

what do you think about the following ... the Indians have virtually given up on Josh Barfield at 2B and have never really given Andy Marte a shot at 3B (he's also out of options) ... O's maybe offer up some young pitching and plug those 2 in and let them play ... both fit into youth movement with a lot of potential upside ... what have they got to lose ... also thought they should have checked into Dallas McPherson to see if he could possibly stay healthy ... Marlins signed him as a free agent ... cost them nothing ...

I think signing a former ace such as Bartolo Colon would be wonderful for the Orioles. They need a veteran presence to take the load off from Guthrie and Loewen's shoulders. Colon may not be 100% effective this year, but when he is effective, he is EFFECTIVE. Sign him to one year deal that is incentive laden, and it's a win win situation.

I think we may be able to surprise some people this year. We won't win 90 games, but I still see this team resembling the Marlins of last year. Let's go O's :)

Anyone catch Mattingly's wife's mugshot? Talk about scary.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/05/AR2008020501597.html

Rich

Roch: why the heck would we think of trading sherill? we had quite possibly the worst bullpen in O's history. we were desperate enough to us Paul Shuey!!! keep sherill around to make sure no more 30-3 debacles happen!

This is one of the dumbest trades in Orioles history if it ever gets done.A guy has 2 more cheap years left on his contract and you trade him for 4 unproven players. Jones will be more like Cory Patterson than Mike Cameron. He's a sucker for breaking balls. By the end of April people will be blowing their brains out over this deal. I can't for the life of me understand the cheering in the streets knowing we're trading one of our best chips and still have a ton of holes and old men in the evry day line up.

Tom D.,

I guess that would depend on whether or not the doctor spoke Canadian.

"e" is for Erik -- I'm going to miss him, both as an Orioles pitcher and as an interview subject. I'll bet not a single one of the guys we get for him will even be able to say, "Eh?"

Geez I just get done posting a comment about how we should go after a former #1 pitcher in Bartolo Colon, and right after that I visit ESPN only to see we are interested in Josh Fogg. . .can someone tell me why we would have an interest in someone whos ceiling is not even as high as Matt Albers' ceiling? Fogg at his best could only provide 5-6 wins for this team. He stinks. If Colon is close to 100% healthy, I can envision 11+ wins from the guy. Yeesh.

Any word on calling back C.B. Burns? Give him another at bat and some time in the field. The guy batted 1.000 for the Orioles and it's a shame he never got another chance.

I think I'm glad MacPhail is running the team and not crazed fans that don't have access to the wealth of information that Andy does.

The Bedard trade needs to go down, if for no other reason than he has implied (very heavily) that he had no interest in resigning here while we are bad. We will lose without just like we'd lose with him, and at least by trading him, we get some bodies in return that are more projectible than draft picks.

Not tearing this team down to it's skivvies circa 96 and again circa 98-00 has cost us an additional 5 years at least in watching a losing team. And I know we had a good run in the second half of '96 and went wire to wire in 97, but there were trades that would've set us up for the future that we did not make.

We need to remove our emotions from this transaction and see the benefits. This will allow the team to be much improved by 2010 than had we not made it.

Suck it up, bounce back, and move on.

E is for Enough Already

Doug--I guess we should not have made any trades and stayed with the same team as last year--Wasn't that fun?

Doug,

Are you serious, about that rant you just posted?!?!? Cy Youngwinner?!?! Name 1 person that won the Cy Young with 13 wins and 190 innings. Plus he does NOT want to be here. The whole point is: is the 8 or nine extra wins over the next two years really worthit. The answer is no.

The O's gave away a Cy Young quality pitcher to get Frank Robinson from the Reds. That one worked out pretty good, didn't it?

The Bedard trade is brilliant. Not because Bedard won't be a great pitcher, but because we're getting real value for him, and lighting up the Orioles' future (at last!)

jeez doug, calm down. last time i checked bedard wasn't the owner of a cy young award.

I'll laugh if another team swoops in and takes Adam Jones and company before the Orioles get this way too long of a deal done. Everyday I'm reading that this Bedard deal is almost done or a few days away or two weeks away, etc. If Bedard goes, I don't see the Orioles near the seventy win plateau. Fools!

FUBAR

For anyone who buys into Rob Neyer, he's rated Markasis his top RF for the next 5 years ahead of Corey Hart. He factors for Maggs (Ordonez), citing his age as a factor sooner rather than later.

That's good news for building blocks for the Orioles. Also Wieters was ranked in the top 25 overall prospects by Neyer. I think rebuilding at this point is helpful if Bedard refuses to sign an extension. If he won't do it now, there is no reason he would do it at the end of what will be a poor year for the Orioles.

If Loewen had stayed healthy last year and put up numbers like Guthrie's aggregate numbers by the end of the year, I think the loss of Bedard wouldn't seem quite so bad.

I still like a foundation of Guthrie, Loewen, Wieters, Markasis and Jones. If we continue to add members to our farm system the remaining holes can fill themselves in. It's clear the Orioles problems are too big to solve in Free Agency, so I'll drink to the reconstruction of a farm system that has long needed the help.

I can't believe some of you still think this crap team should hold on to Bedard. Can I name a team that traded it's best pitcher and improved? yes. The Braves traded Doyle Alexander for John Smoltz. The Pirates traded Rick Rhoden for Drabek. The Mariners traded Randy Johnson for Carlos guillen and Freddy Garcia.

But the biggest reason to trade Bedard is that to keep him, you'd have to sign him to a 7/$150 million contract, while all the players the team is reportedly acquiring other than Sherrill are under contract for 4+ years at 10-15% of that annual cost.

Oh my goodness! No wonder Mattingly is estranged from her. She probably scared him out of the house, along with any rats and mice and bats that were in there.

Hey Roch, the Denver Post is reporting the Orioles are interested in Josh Fogg. You pick up anything on this.

um Brian, there is no A in FUBR.

Roch
Did you get kidnapped? You had mentioned making some calls and filling us in this afternoon----what's up?

Hey Roch, Fogg's nickname is the dragon slayer, because he defeated Mike Mussina, Curt Schilling and Brandon Webb during 2007. The Twins are also apparently interested in Fogg. Last year with the Rockies he was 10-10 and is 60-60 for his career. When asked about teams having interest in his career, he said, "I hope something happens soon." He has also played with the White Sox and the Pirates. Is this the inning eater we keep hearing about?

These reports on Colon....... Seems to be damaged goods.

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=Mlb&id=2363

My apologies for the comment about Bedard winning the Cy Young(which he has not), but if we focused more on getting rid of the real garbage(Millar, Payton, Gibbons etc) first and get Bedard some real run support, along with the other young guys in the rotation, then maybe we would win some more and maybe he'd want to stay. Bedard's run support was terrible. Instead, now he have to get a veteran presence, and worry about spending money on the Colons' of the world and so forth when we have the foundation right there in front of us. You cannot win without that foundation. And you are going to have to spend the money and show the dedication to the player if we get another true ace anyway. So, why not show it to Bedard who has proven he can take down the top offensive lineups in the league. His contract extension should have been taken care of a long time ago. But he wasn't shown that respect, that's why he doesn't want to be here. Because he is on the trade block and disappointment Huff and wannabe leader Millar still get to run their mouths around what we wish we could call a starting lineup. That's the reason why the Orioles have been losing so much. The Conines and the Gomezs' of the world have to go through heck to get consistent respect in the starting lineup while Tejada gets to lolly gag down first base until he absolutely has to be traded. What are we honestly getting out of this deal with Bedard that makes you believe we'll be better off without a man who dropped 210+ strikeouts in less than 200 innings and went 13-5 despite atrocious run support and a late season injury. He didn't start complaining until it came to a few months from spring training and his extension wasn't taken care of.

Anybody see Buster Olney's column on ESPN's site? I'm not an insider, but the tease at the top says other talent evaluators within MLB think the Orioles are making a great trade. Also says sources are saying Roberts will still get traded to the Cubs.

"if we focused more on getting rid of the real garbage(Millar, Payton, Gibbons etc) first and get Bedard some real run support"

And outside of just releasing them where do you suggest we send them?

I try and keep my ear to the ground during the offseason but I have yet to hear of a team having an interest in aquiring any of the players listed above.

I'll re-post this for Doug, since he asked what are we getting for a 13 win 190 inning pitcher, who doesn't want to be here. The damage to the O's is already done, now it needs to be fixed. Tejada, then Eric, now Roberts. Hopefully after that we can pawn off Payton, Mora, and Gibbons. We need Millar.

Jones and Sherrill everyone should know about.

What somebody else is saying about the trade.

"What I admit to knowing very little about are the three pitching prospects the Orioles received. What better way is there to segue into John Sickel's The Baseball Prospect Book 2008 than with a review of each player using Mr. Sickels' assessments along with their highest 2008 minor league level.

RHP Chris Tillman (High A):

He has a 90-93 MPH fastball and a very good curve, and, late in the year, his command was quite good. As long as that remains true, he has to rate as one of the better pitching prospects in the game. I am very impressed with the way he handled the hardship of his first Cal League outingss.

RHP Kam "The Almighty" Mickolio (AAA):

Intimidating on the mound at 6'9, he gets his fastball into the lower 90s....his stuff is good enough he reached Triple-A in his first full season....If his command sharpens, he could reach the Orioles pen sometime in '08.

LHP Tony Butler (Low A):

...pitched brilliantly at times down the stretch, with a 3.29 ERA and 44/16 K/BB in his last 52 innings....He's a very intelligent and well-spoken young man....Grade B- right now, but I expect that to rise if he stays healthy.

After reading John's assessments, I am impressed with the ability of the Orioles to sell high on a 29-year-old lefty starter who has yet to throw 200 innings in a season. In return, the O's got the can't-miss CF prospect the Twins had hoped to get for Johan Santana, a quality lefty reliever who will close, and three top pitching prospects, one of which is likely to become an immediate future closing prospect in Kam Mickolio!"

Coming soon to theaters near you...MacFailin' stars in "SuperbadTrade"

Our good buddy Victor Zambrano just signed a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies. I guess they saw the O's swooping by to nab Josh Fogg in two or 14 days or any day now.

jake, the A in FUBAR stands for All.

This blog is getting to be about as slow as this trade.

None of the 40+ websites I have been checking shows this, just wanted to point out a few items:

The signing of Fogg seems a long shot at best IF the Cubs trade goes down. If there is no Roberts trade then I still see Trachsel with his AM ties coming in.

If Roberts is traded then who comes in return?

(1) One of the 40+ sites I have visited stated that the O's package back from the Cubs would be better if the O's took on Marquis from the Cubs. I do not believe this to be true if Gallegher is included because that would wrap up the rotation without giving Olson, Penn or Patton a shot.

(2) If a deal could involve Pie, then what happens with Reimold in a year? DH?

(3) Why acquire Cedeno when you have the same type player in Hernandez there already? Even if Hernandez is not ready this year then Cedeno is a one year stop gap or you have given up on Hernandez.

(4) One interesting player could be Eric Patterson. The 24 year old 2b has speed and some power and spent most of last year at AAA. Two publications I read though stated his defense was not good at all and the Cubs thought of moving him to CF. The irony is he is the brother to Cory Patterson. The Cubs may be willing to cut ties with all the Patterson brothers.

Just am getting this feeling that holding Roberts until the break may allow the O's to see what holes exist, and which trade best fills those holes.

If you think it's slow here, you should see the Seattle PI's forum.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/forum/boards/viewboard.asp?boardID=1

How can I be expected to work when there is no news, no new interesting blogs, nada?

Doug, stop expecting the Orioles to be better in 2008. That's not the stated goal. It might happen anyway, since they sucked so bad in 2007, but if you think that's the goal, where have you been? Its called rebuilding. Plus, the team had Bedard last season. How'd they do? Without trading Bedard, where should they find the quantity of players needed to rebuild? The neighborhood? Wake up man!

Really Jake........ how do you account for the A in ALL in that phrase then??? F'ed Up Beyond All Recognition.....

The things some of you guys pick at are hilarious... if I nitpicked every error, word spelled wrong, every mistake, I'd be typing & posting nonstop.

We just like to pick on you Brian.