Izturis is our best option at SS. Like everybody else, I'd prefer Khalil Greene or JJ Hardy or Alcides Escobar (the rookie pushing Hardy), but all of them will cost more in talent than we can afford to give up right now. Besides, we may get a shot at Greene this time next year.

I'm fine with getting Izturis at short, I just don't want to hear any more talk about A.J. Burnett. He seems like a huge risk to me and I think the team would be better off spending that money over a number of different pitchers.

He is a bad option. He has a career .630 OPS (and was actually a little worse than that last season), hits for no power at all, and will cost $2.5-3 million next season.

His speed doesn't matter, since he only steals successfully two-thirds of the time, which is well under the break-even point to make a stolen base worth the risk (~75%).

He is very good defensively, but you can find shortstops who are very good defensively and who can't hit for the league minimum.

All he has going for him is the fact he has been in the major leagues already.

I honestly don't mind if he is signed as a one-year stop-gap option because we can't find someone better. However, we still need to be looking for a better option, and we need to be under no illusions as to the kind of player we would be getting with Izturis.

The team does appear to value defense at the shortstop position, which is fine. I just doubt Izturis is the best option considering the cost.

Any idea what kind of a deal he is looking for (just to ease you back into your reporter role after your trip...)?

As for the supposed inactivity, as far as has been reported only a couple players overall have signed and only a couple more even have offers (and not many of those are the big names).

I think most fans are willing to wait, as long as the wait is rewarded.

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Pete's reply: Give me a day or two to get some calls out and I'll try to figure out what it would take.

Can you answer why they turned down the Olsen for Greene trade...other then the fact that Greene is only signed through 09...In my opinion Greene is so much better then Izturis offensively and he plays great defense. Why not resign Greene for a couple years?

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Pete's reply: Give me a little time to get up to speed and I'll try to find out.

i don't expect the orioles to sign any top tier free agents. signing a solid defensive ss who can bunt, hit the other way and run a little would help a great deal. i just hope they don't spend millions for an average pitcher. pay for quality pitching but don't pay for mediocrity

If Izturis is such a good option, why is he looking for his 5th team in 4 years?

He's a terrible hitter. Terrible. 2HR 58RBI over the last 3 years (300 games).

And we'll see if the team is still doing nothing in another 30 days or so. Will you be defending the lack of action at that point?

Izturis is probably the worst of roughly 6-8 shortstops in play this winter. And in this new Oriole world of "bad is good," you're praising the team for adding another dud.

This guy sucks!!! Please no more light hitting shortstops!! Knowing the O's im sure we will end up with this guy.

Pete,

Point well taken, of the options out there he seems to be the best bang for the bucks or talent in a trade. It would be a nice starting point for sure as SS was a killer for us this year and a good glove 250+ hitter with some speed will work fine in the 9 hole. But I'm still holding my breath to see if Peter's checkbook shows itself and if there will be any checks when it close to being open!

Pete that's great that he won a gold glove, but wasn't that 4 years ago? I know my math can be off sometimes...I just think there are some better options out there.

He'd hit .210 here with his career OB% of .299 being a dream.

Izturis has a career 0.299 OBP and had a 0.319 OBP in 2008. In 3,165 career at bats Izturis has 12 home runs and 169 walks. So let's take that .263 average and 24 steals with a grain of salt.

I hope the Orioles are only considering a one or two year deal with Izturis. Because if his defensive skills fall off in his early thirties then Izturis will be worthless as a major league ballplayer.

Pete: I agree. All things considered, Izturis is the best realistic option for the Orioles at short and they should waste no time getting him signed. Along with Brian Roberts and Adam Jones, he would give them excellent up-the-middle defense and a decent hitter who only figures to get better under Terry Crowley's tutelege.

Pete -

Heard anything about Bobby Crosby? I seem to remember reading somewhere that the O's may be interested in him. He's the same age as Izturis, but has much more offensive upside and could come pretty cheap in a trade. He hasn't had that breakout offensive season that's been expected for a while, but it seems to me like he could be a "change of scenery" kind of guy.

Izturis would be a great addition to the O's. He is an excellent fielder, scrappy all around ball player and he does the little things right.

Pete, I admire the career of Moose as much as the next guy, but in my opinion, a HOFer has to be a person who dominated their position for a decade. Taking it a step further, I feel you look at the 10 best guys at every position (DH in the AL) in both leagues and take the guys that dominated their era. I don't see Mike as one of the guys who did that. I do feel that since some of the luster of the HR hitters has been tarnished by 'roids, that Mike's overall #s might be looked at more positively, but only time will tell. I always looked at Mike like I do Jim Thome in that they are both great players and have great #s, but neither in my opinion would be in the top 10 at each of their positions during their era. Jim Rice was one of the most feared hitters in his day and he isn't in the Hall. Like everything in life, timing of who you go up against determines a lot.

Pete, any sense when we cane expect a big name like Tex to sign? I don't think he will be in Birdland, but his signing would certainly set up the board for other moves and trades.

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Pete's reply: You can bet Tex will sign during the winter meetings. Boras loves to make a splash.

" There'll plenty of time for cynicism if little happens by mid-February, but keep in mind that everybody reports to spring training at the same time regardless of when they are acquired or signed. "

Unless they are playing in the World Baseball tournament..... and one more thing, don't turn into a "HOMER" type reporter. If the FO does something good, say so... If they screw up, say so !

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Pete's reply: Do you really think I care if the team approves of what I write?

Peter. I agree with you on this one. We can't go through another debacle like the 08 situation at SS. Itzuris gives us a solid glove and some offense and he seems to be the most realistic option. Guys like Renteria and OCab have seen better days, Furcal is going to cost a ton and he's got the bad back. Last year's motely crew should be sent packinga nd it's not like we have anyone MLB ready 'down on the farm'.
The only other guy I think might be worth looking into is Greene from SD. He seems to have declined/fallen out of favour but I remember that when he first came up he was a great fielder and had some pop, even in big stadiums. I know he hits free agency soon but why not trade Dan Cab for him, think SanDiego will bite?
Otherwise, hail Cesar!

Jet lag still has you Pete - you are missing some words in your most recent post!

"He been banged up"
"There'll plenty of time"

But the point is correct. The Orioles have time to get something done. I just hope they do things that will bring the fans back into the park. Signing Tex will do this!

Like other fans, I want a winner but I also want to see improvement while we wait for a winner.

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Pete's reply: Don't worry. I'll be waking up soon.

I think he would be a great option. Cheaper than Furcal, but less injury-prone. He may not be a beast at the plate, but at least he's going to be great in the field. That's all we've been looking for anyway.

Pete -

I actually like the idea of signing Itzturis. That in my opinion is the type of signing a team in full rebuild should be pursuing.

Pete, something I've been thinking about in reading all the posts here. A lot of folks are quick to criticize MacPhail for not moving forward on the Roberts extension. But doesn't it take two to tango? I'd like to see Brian make a statement that he'd consider extending provided the O's make some moves that improve the competitiveness of this team. That would include trades and certainly free agency. I don't blame Brian for wanting to finish his career with a chance to go to the WS, but if he's truly the team player that I suspect he is, then he needs to come out and make a statement to that effect. Your thoughts?

Shooting down Greene was a good idea. Regardless of how disappointing Olsen was last year, the rotation needs arms. And yes Greene hits home runs in Petco, however his .260 OBP is uninspiring, and he strikes out WAY too much.

Pete, that was the answer I was hoping for.

Pete,

Your comment "Pete's reply: Do you really think I care if the team approves of what I write?" are you telling us that you don't invision Peter the Great buying the Sun like that Redskin Owner has tried to manipulate the local media? You're a stand-up guy, I was insulted that your integrity was questioned! Then on the other hand I don't think Andy is waking up each morning saying "what has the Smuck written about me today either!

Stand tall!

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Pete's reply: That didn't bother me. Since Peter and John Angelos refuse to talk to me, I have to believe I'm at least being objective.

The Orioles have to find 60-65% Quality Starts out of 162 games for it to really matter much who plays the field.

So I cant see giving a SP prospect. I see G Olsen on the mound he looks like a pitcher. I suspect he thinks way to much and until he learns to pound the strikezone more he will struggle. But you know what? Jamie Moyer struggled a long time. Look at Jonathan Sanchez on SF. I bet he breaks out this year (2009). Randy Johnson and Nolan Ryan took a long time. Look at Javier Vazquez's first two years and on and on.

My thoughts on Izturis is the same as others. Why is ST Louis letting him go to sign Crosby? Why is he moving every year?

I guess at this point, as long as we get a serviceable one year option I am ok as long as the only consideration giving is the assumption of payroll whether Greene, Crosby or a free agent.

Pete, I'm ok with him because he's good defensively and will save us money to spend on Burnett, Teixiera and Markakis.

Having said that, is it true the O's turned down an offer fro Greene for Olsen? My God, if it is my faith in Andy is shattered! Olson has proven he's far from being a capable MLB starting pitcher and Greene has proven he can field and hit. So what if he's only signed through 09'. Olson's a throw away anyway.

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Pete's reply: I believe so, but I've been away and cannot say with certainty if that offer was concrete.