Here's a tidbit for you. Maybe you can pass it along to the Oriole brass. The Nats are "LOWERING" ticket prices on 14k seats. They said their record justified the move. At least there's one team in the area that has taken the fans into consideration.

Great news about Markakis. I would be fine about Zahn, if I felt the O's are going to give Wieters a fair shake this spring. It seems that scouts everywhere are thrilled with Wieters. He is the best draft selection the O's have made in 25 years. He is the same age as Martin, Mauer and McCall were when they came to the majors. Wieters should start on opening day and bat 6th. Zaun should catch once a week (when Wieters would DH. Hey, if a bust like Pie can be handed an outfield job, why not make up for the hole in the lineup with a real bat.

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Pete's reply: The reason you hold back Wieters a month or two has less to do with his bat and more to do with continuing to mature as a catcher (not to mention the ecnomic benefit to the club). Trying to adapt to 10 or 11 pitchers with no real track record might be too much to put on the kid while he's also trying to learn how to hit major league pitching. This kid is supposed to be special, so you can't get to anxious to see him play every day at this level. I guarantee it won't be long in any event.

hi schmuck., any news on orioles starting pitching?? are they going to sign anymore.?, hoping..

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Pete's reply: Talked to Andy today about that and didn't get the impression they are close to anything, but there still are pitchers out there and the market may actually be moving toward the teams that have waited. We'll see.

I suppose that you must get proposed trade ideas all the time, but here's one that I think would benefit both sides --

How about catcher Matt Wieters to the Red Sox in exchange for first baseman Lars Anderson and pitcher Michael Bowden to the O's? Of course, that's the O's #1 minor leaguer in exchange for the Sox's #1 AND #2.

My thinking is that the Sox are desperate to fill this ONE need, and presumably, Wieters could be best mentored by Varitek, given the similarity of their backgrounds (in particular, Georgia Tech; of course, this presumes that Tek comes back to the Sox). The O's would benefit from filling TWO needs with very highly regarded players. Moreover, both of the Sox picks are young (21 and 22), so it's not like they are "leftovers" who never succeeded in the big leagues, and the O's also get two inexpensive players for several years.

Any possiblity of Wieters being traded?

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Pete's reply: You've got a better chance of hitting the MegaMillions. Wieters was just rated as the top minor league prospect in all of baseball and he's a catcher. He's performed terrificly in his early professional seasons. He's a keeper.

Peter. Are the O's ticket prices locked in stone or is there some 'wiggle room'? The reason I bring this up is that their nearby rivals-Wash. has decided to lower some of their seats. You can also get a full -season ticket for as low as $399 to see the Pirates.
The O's are going to be putting a pretty weak team on the field for '09 so it makes some sense to cut prices, especially since the competition is doing it and the general economy is slumping..
Thoughts?

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Pete's reply: If they've started to sell tickets, the price is set until they come up with some in-season promotions to fill the empty seats.

Pete,
I have read that Jeff Kent is going to retire today. The so called experts think he belongs in the Hall of Fame, some even say on the first ballot. I don't think he belongs. What do you think?

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Pete's reply: He's a funny player, in that he lived in the shadow of Barry Bonds for several years but has really good numbers compared with other players of his era. I'll agree with you to this extent. I heard the guys on MLB Network all agreeing he is a Hall of Famer, and he probably will be at some point, but I don't see him as a first-ballot guy.

I have a question/comment about Aubrey Huff. I'm wondering if we're being a little short-sighted, by not offering an extension to him. It's not like we have any first base prospects in the system, and if you said to the typical fan, "how would you like to get a first-baseman who had 30+ homers, 100+ RBI's, and hit .300+ last year?", he'd jump at the chance. I don't know if Huff would be interested in an extension, but we offered Texiera $20 million+ per year, and gave Markakis about $11 million per year, so maybe Huff would be worth $10 million per year for a couple more years. Maybe he won't do as well as last year, but he's also probably better than how he performed the year before that, so if you averaged out 2007 & 2008, he'd be in the 24 homer, 90 RBI, low .290's range......I'd be pretty content with numbers like that. Whadya think?

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Pete's reply: If you could guarantee me Aubrey would replicate last year's numbers for three or four more years, he's definitely worth $10 million in this market, but that was his first great year after several in decline. I would wait and see how he performs through the first few months of 2009.

I believe the sports hernia surgery prior to last season really helped Aubrey Huff. He also looked lean and fit throughout the year.

Whats up peter, the roast was great last night (i was one of the guys in the O's jerseys). Everyone did a really great job. It was hilarious and for a really good cause, and for those who missed it, they really missed out. Just wanted to give a shout out

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Pete's reply: Joe, it was to meet you last night and I appreciate you supporting the Cool Kids Campaign, which I have been associated with for several years. Great cause. Fun night. Hope to see you at spring training.

Maybe Nick can use some of that money to buy a razor and a decent sports jacket.

TRADE WIETERS????????????????????????What a fing idiot. Just shows ow mush "baseball knowledge" some of the people who leave comments on here have.

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Pete's reply: Now, let's try to play nice.

Pete-

Is the rumor true about you being seen at Northern Parkway and Falls Roads with a cardboard sign that read "will write and blog for junk food"?

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Pete's reply: Northern Parkway and Falls Road are about 45 minutes from home, but now that panhandling is illegal in AA county, maybe I'll set up shop there.

Pete-

Just checking...are the Nats still in D.C.?

Carl-
You obviously have a low baseball IQ. Holding Wieters back doesn't have anything to do with his hitting skills. It's all about control. By holding him back for just a few weeks- they don't lose an entire year of control over him. (the rays did it with Longoria last year). Not to mention- like Pete says, he does need time to adjust to the pitchers).

As far as Pie- being a bust- hard to say that about a guy who never got a fair chance in the majors. Would Nick Markakis be a bust if during his rookie year struggles he got sent back down- only to be shuffled around for another year on a contending team that didn't have time for him to gain his footing?

Calling a player a bust who has only had 260 CAREER major league at bats is a bit of a stretch IMO. Besides- I think MacPhail knows a bit more about player skills than you do.

Pete:

Not to flog a dead horse (about Wieters) but I read a couple of more items on him yesterday. One pointed out that he is well advanced in calling a game and takes pride in it. The other item was on Tillman and noted that his performance improved appreciately after Wieters arrived in AA. I believe that the O's financial situation will improve if the team improves Remember that Wieters is not a HS grad, he has years of experience in the SEC. That ain't little league. Wieters is ready. Could some of the O's lousey pitching last year be due to a lazy catcher who specialized in playing matador on every low pitch? Sorry to be a one note commenter, but how were Mauer, McCann and Martin disadvantage by coming up as 21 year olds?

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Pete's reply: With all due respect, I'm not qualified to say whether Wieters is ready, so I'll have to take your word for it. I do know that if he isn't and he gets damaged by being rushed up during a rebuilding year, I'll be all over the Orioles about it and so will you.

"A fan with delusions of grandeur" is another MORON on this site. Great, the Nationals lowered their tickets prices. Too bad they cost DOUBLE what the Orioles tickets cost. The $32 seats at Camden cost $65 in DC. Do your homework before you complain idiot! Once the Orioles start winning in a few years, the same idiots that rip the team for not signing Ben Sheets to a long term deal will be signing the team's praises, just like all the bandwagon Terps fans, once the team won the title.