Who cares about Wieters? Why didn't you write today about the hot one on one linemen action?!

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Pete's reply: My bad. I'll get back on message tomorrow.

Pete:
What is the Orioles infatuation with this guy Simon? He's 27 years old, pitches in the Mexican league, is signed by Norfolk and starts one game where he goes 4 2/3 innings, gives up 9 hits and 7 runs, 4 of them earned, and then, ends up in Baltimore. He gets hammered in his first appearance with the Orioles, and the Manager says his mechanics are so bad that the opposition knows what he is throwing before he delivers the pitch? With all the other pitching problems the Orioles have, maybe you can explain to the fans why the Birds would even bring this guy up, much less put him in a game. In fact, why are they even interested in him, he is not an 19-20 year old with a great arm or great potential? You don't start building pitchers mechanics when they are 27 years old. We already have one of those problems with Cabrera. On the surface it makes no sense at all. So try to help to help out the less informed fans of the Orioles on this one.

Time to say bye bye to Ramon. Matt is so ridiculously major league ready. Let's hope that we pick up just a tiny bit of pitching. Then Patton and Albers can return from injuries and we get a .500 team in '09 and a contender in '10. Not bad.

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Pete's reply: Don't see how you can reach the conclusion that Wieters is so ready. Remember that he's played a half season at Double-A.

Wow! That is quite an impressive list. I would certainly take that team with all of those players in their prime. Just hope he's more of a Manny Ramirez then a Derek Bell.

We need Mark Teixeira! Sign the petition:
http://www.bringmark.com

Holy Batman, quite an impressive list. You could take the nine worst guys from that list & still have a pretty fair team.

I'm going to feel like an idiot if I missed an easy one, but...

I don't remember Jon Rauch at all.

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Pete's reply: He pitched for the Nationals until last year.

Just a question: Why no article in The Sun today about Wieters being named Minor League POY by Baseball America? That's a pretty big award -- am I missing something?!?

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Pete's reply: I don't have the answer to that. I just saw it on the BA site.

Just a question: Why no article in The Sun today about Wieters being named Minor League POY by Baseball America? That's a pretty big award -- am I missing something?!?

Lets hope Matt is ready, but it's still pitching, pitching, pitching. We need FOUR (4) starters!!! Besides a SS, 1B,3B, and if BRob goes we are really up SC. Good Luck Andy

Lets hope Matt is ready, but it's still pitching, pitching, pitching. We need FOUR (4) starters!!! Besides a SS, 1B,3B, and if BRob goes we are really up SC. Good Luck Andy

There are no guarantees that Wieter will be the same stud at the MLB level he seems to be in the minors BUT you have to love the thought of this kid making it big at the ML level. God knows the O's can use him and a few more like him too. Maybe some of that Bowie pitching staff will develop into quality ML pitching for the O's too. We can only hope!!

Pete:
When you said, "I don't see how you can reach the conclusion that Wieters is so ready. Remember that he's played a half season at Double-A," you overlook the fact that Nick Markakis took the same path. In his last season in the minors, he hit .300 at Frederick and at mid-season,was moved to Bowie and he hit even better, posting a .339 average. Wieters did the exact same thing. The next year Markakis was the O's starting right fielder and hit .291, so you can't rule out the possibility that Wieters will do well in Spring Training and force the Orioles to keep him on the major league roster.
No comment on the Alfredo Simon posting?

I'm told by my Baysox buddies that Matt is still a work in progress at calling the game and handling the pitchers. But in every other phase, he's more than ready.

To respond to Deke, two words: Rodrigo Lopez. Okay, not a Cy Young, but he did pretty well, won 15 games, etc. Sometimes you can dip down into the Mexican Leagues and capture lightning in a bottle. Remember, that's where the Dodgers found Fernando Valenzuela, as I recall. Of course, sometimes you end up with...a guy like Simon. But who knows, maybe he'll get better, it's not like Jim Palmer wasn't ever bombed. And as for Frank, let's all take a moment, deep breath, count back from 10 and realize that Matt Wieters has a ways to go. What he's "ridiculously ready" for is to start next season at AA and, if he pulls a repeat performance of this year, move him to Norfolk and then bring him up in September 2009. Fans have to stop thinking like fans and start thinking like someone who isn't a fanatic. Tough, I know. But let's be logical here. If Loewen hits a home run in batting practice, it doesn't mean, as Trembley said, that the guy is Lou Gehrig. Baseball players, no matter how talented, need time to mature, perhaps now more than ever as today's baseball prospects are not like those of "days of yore" when they grew up doing nothing but play baseballbaseballbaseball. Today, the kids play baseball, then soccer, then video games and things that involve lots of "texting". Which I think explains all of today's injuries. When your body is used to playing a certain game, doing certain actions, all the time, since adolescence, I think you build up a strength that's lacking when you don't. But that's a whole 'nuther story...

Norm - we actually got good production from 3B (23 HR, 97 RBI) this year and tolerable numbers from 1B (20 HR, 71 RBI) so far this year, and decent defense. Neither is a long term answer, meaning 2010 and beyond, but they were not the major culprits for this year's performance. You hit it right on the head with the pitching, pitching, pitching.

Why all the fuss as to whether or not start Wieters next season?

Simply have him duke it out with Ramon in spring training and let the best man win (and start).

The obviously problem will be the eight or so million bucks still owed to Hernandez but, hey, Mr.A. ate $12M this past year of Jay Gibbons salary, so he has shown that he is capable of doing the right thing.

Is there any thought to bringing Wieters up and having him split time and learn from Ramon Hernandez? Say what you want about Ramon, but he can call a mean game and has always seemed to be a pretty good team player. I think Wieters could use a veteran showing him what to do (and spelling him).

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Pete's reply: Hard to say. I don't think he'll come up to play once a week. I think he competes for the job next year and either wins it or plays a couple months in Norfolk while he waits his turn.