I absolutely despise interleague play.

Roch
Tell the O's to get some discpline. On a night where they only have a three man bench, Payton gets himself thrown out of the game for losing his temper. When are these narcisstic ballplayers going to realize they are playing a team sport?

Then yesterday as the DH Mora turns to face the ump and argue. If Mora gets thrown out as the DH do we get to replace him? The point of him DHing is to get his bat in the game, give him some rest, and save another player. But Big Head Mora doesn't get it. Baseball is a team sport.

Let's get rid of interleague play and play more games against KC! I knew the Os were back in town since it's about 45 degrees and rainy.

Perlozzo's pitching decisions drove me crazy last year (of course he had to march Baez out every so often), but I haven't had that kind of reaction to Trembley this year, probably because the bullpen is better.

Anyone else notice that Burres seems to have struggled since pitching right after Olson?

Freddie Bynum - if he plays adequately defensively - can be really useful addition to the O's as he is a good fast ball hitter on a team which has a dearth of good fast ball hitters.

If Ramon has to go to the DL for an extended period of time what are the chances Mr. Weiters gets called up? I know its a long shot but we are pretty inept at catching in the minors. Or will this be Constanzo's shot to show his catching skills. He'd be a nice player off the bench during inter-league play as well.

I agree with the other posters. Interleague play is lame and needs to go. We out of town fans need more home and away series w/ American league teams.

Interleague games are exhibition games and should not effect the standings.

Interleague play is all about money , it has nothing to do with the fans,,,,,,,,,,,,The base ball purest say it cheapens the world series because interleague play is not the rarity it used to be , I tend to agree with them,,,,,,,,,,,

Interleague play was interesting at first...now it's just gotten to be more of a hassle than anything else. I might appreciate it more if I actually got to go to a game and see our guys play NL style baseball. But the O's play they way they always do, we just ship in some NL team to play AL style ball in Camden Yards. How is that any different than playing those extra series against the AL central or west? Seems kind of pointless.

You must have Trembley's ear, Roch. The O's keep making changes that you suggest.

Either that or they are suggestions that are so obvious that they just make sense.

Either way, you mention them before they happen, so keep up the good work, keeping us apprised of what's up.

(Thanks also for the explanation of why the O's have brought up players from AA.)

For all the people complaining about interleague play, at least we get the Nats, Pirates and Stros this year (not very exciting, but more Royals-like opponents are welcome). The road swing to Milwaukee and Chicago could be tough though (I'm going out to Wrigley for the game on the 24th).

I don't think there's any chance they would call up Weiters, even if he is the best catcher we have in the pipeline. Quiroz will play and they'll call up one of the stiffs from Norfolk (Heintz (if he's ready to come off the DL) or Davis) to be the backup if Ramon goes on the DL. I don't think it will be Costanzo because they want him to play, learn how to strike out less and he's not really a catcher anyway.

Finally, Roch, I think Cintron at short and Bynum at second should come sooner rather than later and become permanent. It's the best way to add more (albeit modest) hitting threats to the lineup. We need as much as we can get.

I used to side with the purest opinion, that the only time the AL should meet the NL is for the World Series. But then I became convinced that it IS good for the fans to get a chance to see all good players. Think about it, what's wrong with going to Camden and seeing Hanley Ramirez? Without interleague play, The O's would need to face the Marlins in the World Series, which clearly, is not happening any time soon.
I'm sure it all came down to money, in the end when they made the decision. But unfortunately, you can't blame them. These days, its always about money. If I can go to Camden and see Hanley, Chipper, Jose Reyes, etc, then so be it.

I think O's fans will find this interview on Baseball Prospectus with Chris Tillman, one of the prospects obtained from Seattle for Bedard:

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=868.

Good stuff.

There is a good interview on another website with Chris Tillman, one of the prospects the Orioles obtained from Seattle on the Bedard deal. Tillman is excelling at Bowie.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=868.

Roch, Any ideas when the Orioles will promote Matt Wieters to Bowie? They wanted him to dominate and he has for almost 35 games now. Time to challenge him at the next level (Bowie), if he dominates there maybe he gets a few weeks in AAA in August. How disappointed are the O's in Riemold, he is hardly hitting at AA, I was hoping he be at AAA by June with a September call up. Hope he puts in together.

We all love that draft. Sal and LT should be here. Don't wait till their in wheel chairs. Jones is not setting the world on fire. Wieters is. Tripp is. Rowell is. Arrieta is. If we can get Millar out of here Salazar can play first. Terrero can play center better then Jones. The draft. Looks like high school first. Prediction we will be in the playoffs before Jenna or Mr. Jenna gets mugged in South Baltimore. [Just kidding.] How would you like to be their neighbors. Cancel the home security, never have to lock your doors. Hope those 2 have a happy and long marriage. Excuse spelling.

Love the 2007 draft, Roch. Arrieta and Weiters seem to be for real and Bascon showed quite a bit last year. Any word on who the team is focusing on for the 2008 draft? What are the odds that we get either Beckham for shortstop?

Roch - Following Wieters' progress is like checking the turkey on Thanksgiving morning...you can't wait 'til it's done!!!
Three of four (even if it's only KC) is pretty good and the left coast swing wasn't so bad either, considering we were in every one of those losses.
So far this rebuilding thing is looking pretty solid. Pitching (all aspects of it) has been consistantly strong. The bats are weak, but we knew that going in. And they have shown occasional pop (ex: Markakis, Huff). I really have a good feeling about Andy and the direction he's going in.

Maybe the plague is finally over...

Ace-- if you want to see Hanley Ramirez, drive 40 minutes south to DC when the Marlins (pound for pound, the smartest fish in the ocean- with its sword-like snout, it'll carve your eye out and not think twice about it) play the Nats. I say wrap up this Interleague experiment or at least follow Tracy and others' suggestion of playing by NL rules in AL parks and vice versa.

Love the 2007 draft-- too early to talk 2008 draft and the 4th pick?

A couple of things to keep in mind...here are some stats for you:
AB-551 H-129 HR-14 RBI-52 SO-161 AVG-.234 SLG-.356 AGE-28 (on May 18)

AB-21 H-4 HR-1 AGE-30 (on June 27)

The first line is Luis Terrero's career stats; the second is Oscar Salazar's. Terrero's had about one season's worth of at-bats in his career...I don't think any of those numbers makes us want to dump Millar or Huff and replace them with Terrero. Plus, we're not talking about players who can qualify as "prospects"...granted, some players take some time to figure out how to contribute, but I'm not thinking that either of these gets us into wild card position, or even helps us in the long run.

Terrero and Salazar seem to be your basic 3-A or 4-A players, and not somebody I want to waste time on playing on a rebuilding team.

MLB needs to do something to shake up interleague play. It has gotten stale over time.

They should flip the rules. Play NL style in AL stadiums and AL style in NL stadiums.

Now that makes it interesting and shows the fans something we don't otherwise see.

guys..i'm in st louis. the only time i get to see the al east will be tampa bay (the first place rays) vs the st louis cardinals. i'll wear my o's jersey and talk up the AL east ;) and hopefully it'll be nicer then the last few days here (i.e. the KC series)

so i'm all for interleague play. i had guys at work bring up the rays who have probably never given them 3 seconds of their thoughts in the last 10 years.

plus the NL central is a continuous interleague play. the brewers should be in the AL.

Herb--As always, I love the hipster vibe...straight out of film noir...the crime rap and the Hollywood Page wrapped into a juicy tabloid.

But as always...what the hell are you talking about?

If you can't see the talent of Adam Jones, than maybe you better start spinning Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, and Bennie Wallace nonstop until it all kicks in.

I am prolly in the minority , but i vote for Inter-league to stay. Its unique to watch the O's battle the Dodgers , Mets , Cubs and esecially the Nats !

Wouldnt it be cool having Nats-O's games every year , so either Baltimore or Washington get bragging rights as well rivalry ?

Some of you suggested flip the rules to make it more interesting for fans , that idea sounds good .

Go O's