Going back to last night;s game, there were a few key turning points. One, Ramon's failure to block home properly in the 1st led to a big inning. Antother was Guthrie hitting Arod with 2 out and strikes, then Giambi homers.
Third, Castro's failure to lay down a bunt with runners on 1st & 3rd and none out. If you are a .190 hitter then at least learn how to 'do the little things' to help the team. He wasn't even close to getting the ball down.

Overall, these type of mistakes just keep killing us.It's pretty hard to fault Guthrie, he pitched a decent game but we should have buried Pavano early. Oh well, there's one signing I'm sure King Peter doesn't regret.
The positive from last night was decent work from the 'pen. Why not give Cormier a start-can he do any worse than Liz and co.?
Maybe we can salvage one game-which DCAb is going to show up today? He's due for a good start but I'm not betting the farm on it.

So we have to watch Hernandez, the worst defensive catcher in the majors, the rest of the season? Give me a break.

If he continues to impress and has a superb spring??
I say bring him up!
He'd be a lock ROY and despite Ramon's recent output with his bat and a couple of nice throws.....
Sorry, I'd take my chances with Matt and be happy with whatever he brings..
Without 2-3 great pitching upgrades, the O's aren't going to the WS in 09 anyway so WTF not??

And Pete??, I was listening at around 12:30 or so and I agree that Flacco didn't impress, but he didn't have any serious screw-ups either.
NOT ready to be anointed the starting Job by a long shot but the potential is there to see down the road.
Now the last and usually insignficant preseason game has REAL meaning as far as the Ravens QB position stands..
Troy beter get his belly ache under controll or its sure to be Kyle starting and the bashing will be in full bash mode for days and months to come.

Pete, why is there no reason to think he will open the year in the majors? The guy is ripping the minor leagues to shreds. If he doesn't start up here its hard to imagine him lasting more than a few more weeks in the minors a la Evan Longoria

I'm assuming you're saying "there's no reason to expect Wieters will make the team" because of the presence of Ramon Hernandez.

This team should make every effort to jettison Hernandez, his lazy defense and his excessive salary before the end of February. Even if they can't manage to do so, Wieters should be given every opportunity to make the team because he will be one of the better hitters on the roster.

What they really need to do is get rid of Daniel Cabrera. Phew, this guy is terrible.

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Pete's reply: I'm betting against it because Wieters has one year of pro ball and is tearing up Double-A. If he comes up and hits .400 in spring training, he'll probably make the team, but he probably won't do that.

Pete,

I believe the Weiters situation is all about business. With Boras as his agent, I don't think the O's want his major league clock to start prematurely! Another factor, Ramon is under contract for about $8M next year. This is purely a business decision that the O's will continue to hide behind the don't want to rush him.
But I'll say it again, forget Texiera, CC Sabathia should be the #1 target of the offseason. All the young arms in the world don't guarentee you get pitchers, just lots of prospects who struggle at the Major league level.

I agree on not bringing up wieters if he is going to sit. I believe he will be our catcher in 2009. He is one of those special talents that won't need much time in the minors and get the benefit of putting him in a good number of games, while splitting time until the great day that hernandez runs out of contract.

I agree on not bringing up wieters if he is going to sit. I believe he will be our catcher in 2009. He is one of those special talents that won't need much time in the minors and get the benefit of putting him in a good number of games, while splitting time until the great day that hernandez runs out of contract.

I'd like to see Wieters too. But I won't feel like the club has turned the corner until we have enough pitching talent to push Cabrera out of the rotation. Nothing personal, but if he's there it means we don't have enough pitching to contend.

Longoria did it successfully, and Wieters MiL numbers are better than his.

Not really better Steve, not when you factor in the age difference.

Why is everyone is such a rush to see Wieters up here?

His presence isn't going to turn them into a contender, and as others have said, it will only start his free agency/arbitration clock sooner. Let him play another year in the minors and have the benefit of having him one more year in his prime (before he inevitably bolts as a free agent because Angelos tries to underpay him with an insulting "home team" discount).

Ah, the life of an O's fan!

What about the demotion of SCHMUCK to THE ROOKIE BLUEFIELD organization or is that level above his physical, intellectual and maturaty capacity? Maybe he should go back to the "TEE ball" ENVIRONMENT

RE: Longoria did it successfully, and Wieters MiL numbers are better than his.

Yeah, and look where Longoria is. On the DL! The same people who want to rush Wieters up to the majors are the same people who will blast the O's FO if he has a hard time or gets hurt when he moves up. Let the professionals handle this one!