What are your thoughts on Tim Redding or Jon Garland?

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: Rather have Garland, but not for $13 million per year.

Should be a pretty small camp considering we don't really have any pitchers, or catchers for that matter.

............................................................................................
Pete's reply: Good point, but I think you'll see some action soon, though I don't know if it will be enough to get real excited about.

can the orioles sign ed reed?

.............................................................................................
Pete's reply: Why not? He could play second base after they trade Roberts. Great hands, and loves to underhand the ball to the closest teammate.

You nailed it Pete. You can take it to the bank that MacPhail and Co will be scrounging through the leftover scraps and catch one or two of them.

By the way, have you heard whether or not Flanagan's contract has been renewed ?

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: Good question. Haven't heard a thing, but my guess is that he'll end up on MASN at some point this season.

Who Cares? All Fans should boycott all O's games until Angelos sells the team. If you can't see him sucking this city dry for personal gain then you just are not looking. Again, Peter do your readers a service and dig into the money being made by Peter Angelos and why the O's total salary can't be in the low 100s and still make money. The O's available dollars cannot be compared to the Twins although we are supposed to be believe this is the case while Angelos pockets another 50 mil next year.

Peter,
Given that 2009 is going to be another year in the AL basement, how does the front office expect the Orioles fans to stay interested until the prospects come up to the bigs? Have you thought about how you are going to stay motivated for blogging through a year that is going to be as futile and nasty as 2009? I know Trembley will give a speach (similar to spring 2008) about how nothing is won or lost yet, he's expecting them to win, blah blah blah, but how in the world are players going to get through back to back years of utter futility? I guess earning millions of dollars helps. Any thoughts on how a newspaper blogger is going to make it, though? I feel for you.

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: You bring up a good point. Can I come there and just write about the scenery? You got a futon in the basement or something.

I just can't see them wasting big bucks on Byrdesque pitchers who might give us a 5.00 ERA if we're lucky.
Give Baez a shot... he said he'd like to start. Let Penn show what he can do this spring as well.
Olson, Patton, Burres, Hendrickson, and Waters are legitimate lefty candidates.
These guys for the most part are still young and can improve but I just can't see bringing in a MOR starter who will likely end up going the way of Steve Trachsel.
What we really need is a good frontline veteran catcher to rally these guys..... and I'll say it again..... JASON VARITEK.

.............................................................................................
Pete's reply: You may get your wish on everything but Varitek.

I'm sure there's some upside to bringing in a Paul Byrd type but ican't think ofit right now. The thing is ut'll create a squeeze on the other end as far as who gets cut by opening day.This could mean having to waive Penn or Sarfate. Not sure if Beird has any options left. Signing another pitcher also squeezes the chances down of one of the Bowie boys making the squad. If we pitch old bums all year we'll not know who's going to be ready for 2010.

.............................................................................................
Pete's reply: There's a delicate balance that will have to be achieved. The O's can't afford to have their young guys beat up the way they were in August and early September, so they need a few vets to take some of the heat.

It's obvious that we are not landing any position players of signifigance offensively....why not Brad Ausmus and John Garland? Garland is still only 29 and if Ausmus is as astute as they claim, he would be a great fit to help bring along the staff and Weiters.

Hey Pete, any more word on the Floyd-Roberts trade?

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: Not that I've heard. I would love it if it were a real possibility, but I really don't know whether it is.

Peter: What are the chances Millar re-signs with the O's? And even though Sean Casey bats left-handed, is he a possibility for 1B? I know he's not a huge RBI or HR guy, but he hits for average.

If the O's sign Kawakami, who do you see filling at least 2 of the other rotation spots. I'd imagine they'd have to come from outside the organization, leaving 1 or 2 spots up for grabs for the youngsters who need to knock down the door this time around.

...............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I think you're going to see a lot of people get an audition for the rotation, from Hendrickson to Baez to any number of youngsters. I think it'll be fun to watch in the spring, but might not be so great in the regular season. Millar? I want Kevin back, but I have my doubts the team will go back in that direction.

"Pick up a bargain or two". Isn't that the story of the O's for at least the last 11 years? Isn't it criminal?

It looks like the O's are going to have a rough time even trying to sign Gregg Zaun, much less a decent-quality pitcher:

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/articles/2009/01/04/the_most_improved_players/?page=3

"Millar? I want Kevin back, but I have my doubts the team will go back in that direction"

Dam, Pete. Just when I was starting to like you, you had to go and make a bonehead statement like that. ( -25 points for that one )

...............................................................................................
Pete's reply: Maybe I wasn't clear on what I was saying there. I like Kevin and -- for my purposes -- I love having him around. If the question was, do I think that's necessarily a great move for the team, it depends on who else they're planning to put there.

Any idea what type of contract Paul Bryd is looking for? Personally, I'd say he's not worth much more than 3 mill/yr and no longer than 2 years..
Thoughts?

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I really have no info on this, but I would think he's going to get a lot more than that. He's won in double figures four of the last five years and he's going to give you 180-200 innings. That's might be worth $6 million per year in this market.

When the Orioles signed Miguel Tejada and Javy Lopez a few year back, I thought this team was turning a corner. They had a couple of good guys to bulid an offense arround. Rafael Palmiero was to provide the protection in the line up for Miggy, and Brob, Mora and company would compliment the offense. With Big Sid and the line up starting to shape up we had the make of a team on the rise, we all see where that led us, now we lack a single offensive threat or a starting pitcher with a resume'. This may be one of the worst baseball teams ever assembled, yet with the profits from MASN and the millions of tickets sold, this is the best line we can muster, what a joke.

The Japanese pitcher would be appropriate on a team where most players and fans are ready to commit Kamikaze........... Looks to me as if Peter the Great is going after tourist to put fannies in the seats , look for the O's to sign an Asian position player and an Italian catcher...........

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: "Commit Kamikaze?" Did you mean hara-kiri?

Shouldn't your headline be:

It's forty days until spring training, do you know where your pitchers are?

Anybody worth signing to a one year deal who could be moved at the trade deadline for prospects?

...............................................................................................
Pete's reply: Maybe, but that only works if the guy pitches well and then you might want to keep him.

Jason Varitek wants 4 years/40 mil and if Boras is able to get him that, he should be hired to fix the economy ASAP!!!!

Pete, who do you think are the top 5 bargain FAs out there right now that could help the O's?

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: That's a tough question, since I don't think any of them will really be a bargain. I like Garland, but not for the numbers I've been hearing. Byrd and Kawakami would be about as much as you could hope for, and there's no guarantee they get either one of them.

I am in my forties but in little league, I was a groundball pitcher. Can you let McFly know so he can think about it for forty days. I'm old enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it,people like me. Oh, that's right, that would only get me elected to the Senate.

Pete,

The Miami Times is reporting "The Marlins are interested in signing ex-Marlin Carl Pavano to a deal worth $1 million with incentives but were told Pavano wants $2 million. I see this as a great opportunity, much like what the Marlins are offering an incentive based contract would be ideal. We are a small market team like the Marlins aren't we? I didn't recall if we were a small market or sub-small market (which is just code for really cheap)!

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I would gamble $2 million on Pavano if I owned the team and had $2 million lying around. Personally, I can only go about $700,000.

Pat Burrell to Tampa 2yrs 16mil ... yikes! That right handed power bat would have looked good between Markakis and Huff. How low do prices have to fall for us? Huff/Mora/Scott/Burrell/Salazar splitting the 1B/3B/LF/DH at bats would have been exciting, even if still not playoff bound. By mixing them in the lineup where they would produce the best we could have probably dealt 1 or 2 of them at the deadline for 2+ prospects each.

............................................................................................
Pete's reply: That's not a bad price for Burrell. Don't know if that deal was available to the O's, since the Rays are the American League champion and they do play in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area and he did play college ball in Florida. Would have looked pretty good in the Orioles lineup.

Well, why is the Yankees on the Baltimore Sun's page as the main headline about Teixiera? It makes me sick that they would put that right in front of our faces. As if we didn't know about it!

.............................................................................................
Pete's reply: Now, come on Ben, the news is the news.

Pete--Actually, I don't think it's fair to Paul Byrd to relegate him to a type. Where else will you find a guy doing double pump windups?

OK, maybe in "It Happens Every Spring."

I'd love to have Byrd simply for his fielding. The play he made flying into the dugout years ago has found a happy home in my memories.

Is anyone else scared about the idea of Baez coming back this year? All I can remember is his knack for losing the game. I know we are going to be bad but I would at least like to have a shot from time to time.

...............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I know how you feel, but give Baez a chance to pitch well. He was hurt and, yes, he was awful for awhile, but you never know how he'll pitch if he's healthy. I'm happy for that option. If he can't pitch, he won't make the Opening Day roster.

Normally every year of my life, this is something I look forward to. Now it's just a sign that Daylight Savings Time will be back. Yawn...

Pete,

By Paul Byrd types, I'm sure you don't mean Paul Byrd. Byrd has said publicly that his is either retiring or playing for half a season (the second half), and believe me, that's for a contender.

Try more like another a Hendrickson type.

Peter, How's this? Since the Orioles management has clearly conceded a winning season for 2009, why waste the talents of Huff, Markakis, Roberts, et al? Why not auction them off for a one-year deal to real contenders - then they gotta come back. Angelos makes even more money; the O's field a credible (barley) Triple AAA ball club, and in 2010, we can use the extra cash and current AA players to field a real major league club!

Pete,

I think a lot of people will be upset if someone like Hayden Penn is cut in favor of someone like Paul Byrd. If we're rebuilding, let's rebuild. Put all the cards on the table, and say, "You know what? We are going with all of our younger players. We're going to let them grow up in the big leagues. A lot of fans would respect that, and it would be fun to root for the kids.

I, for one, would love to see any combination of Hayden Penn, Garrett Olson, Jeremy Guthrie, Troy Patton, Radhames Liz, Danys Baez, Brad Bergesen, Chris Tillman or David Hernandez in the rotation. I think that Hendrickson is better used in the bullpen, or to be that starter if the kids get beat up a little bit. This is a GOLDEN opportunity for guys like Garrett Olson, Radhames Liz, Troy Patton and Hayden Penn to step and plant yourself in our rotation before the big boys (Tillman, Arrieta and Matusz) come up.

Besides, I like hanging out in the basement. We get better draft picks down there. The beer is colder too!

I read that the Rays are going to sign Pat Burrell for 2 years @ $16 Mil ... as bad as the O's have been against left handers over the years, why weren't they at least interested enough to inquire ??? he'd be close to his former team in Philly ... he'd offer some protection for Markakis, add some power in the middle of the order, and could be the full time DH (maybe even stay healthy not playing the field) ... Huff can play 1st well enough and Luke in LF ... we couldn't hit lefthanders before and we now lost Millar and Ramon ... your thoughts ???

.............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I don't know if they inquired about Burrell or not, but they would have had a tough time luring him away from Tampa Bay, since they just won the pennant and he's a southern guy who went to college in Florida.

Of course the Orioles are going to have a tough time finding a current major league catcher for the job they have.

If you were an aging catcher and your primary goal was to play a lot of games and prove to the world that you can still get it done, how would this offer sound?

"Hello, how would you like to be our catcher. Oh, by the way we have this Matt Wieters kid in the minors and when he's ready he's going to be a our starting catcher. It could be half a season, a little more, a little less, but whatever the case may be, when he is the starter, you won't be...and then we kind of won't need you after that point in time. So, do you want to know where you sign?"

I mean really, who would want that job? Zaun is going to do the smart thing. Smile and say, "Let me think about it." And all the while he will pray that some other team makes him an offer.

Pete , I actually meant what I said , referring to the pilots in WWII who committed suicide when there was no real hope of survival , see O's...............

Go Ravens,,,,,,,,,,,,,,