Hopefully he can hold it together until the trade deadline and the Os can get something of value for him.

Hey Pete , first off me say this has nothing to do w / Adam Eaton , sorry , but I just wanted to raise your attention to an article I read today on SI.com . It's actually in the NFL section but it relates to something I said to you earlier about pitchers not keeping conditioned in the off-season , leading to early season injuries . It's entitled " Conditioned to Lose " , how the lack of off-season training lead to injuries . Food for thought .

Hill will be 3 (he'll be ready), Eaton 4, Penn 5. I think the rotation's been clear since they signed Eaton.

If he only gives up 2 first inning runs for every 7 inning game he pitches I'd be a happy camper. Alas, this isn't probably going to happen. I still say sign Pedro and keep Wieters with the team on opening day. It's all about putting butts in the seats at Camden Yards for future free agent signings to fill gaps when the O's are competitive and both would increase ticket sales.

Jeff,

We CAN NOT have Wieters up here for at least the first 13 days of the season otherwise we could lose him a whole year earlier.

The other clock is the arbitration clock and I don't think that is as important of an obstacle but one nonetheless that may keep him in Norfolk for a couple of extra weeks.

I'd rather have another year of Wieters in his prime than 13 days of him getting accustomed to MLB.

I agree on Pedro, nebraska_jeff, but not on Weiters. If he wants to switch agents, bring him up for the opener, but if he's keeping Boras, he can stay in the minors. It seems to me that Weiters understands that and feels keeping Boras is more important than the extra few weeks in the minors. That's fine.

Pete:
Sometimes stats don't tell the whole story. There were a number of shots hit off Eaton today, just like his first outing when he was saved from a much more disastrous first inning by Pujols trying to tag and go to third on a medium fly to right and getting thrown out.
If the Orioles go into 2009 with Adam Eaton as a number three, this would be I think the absolute worst pitching staff that I have seen to start an Orioles season in the 42 years I have been following them...even the 1988 club that lost 21 in a row to start the season had Jeff Ballard and Mike Boddicker.

I cringe every time I see Albers is going to pitch. I just hope this boy holds up,we're sunk without him.

Can we just sign up the entire Dutch pitching staff (except for Ponson, who signed with the Royals)? They held the DR all-star lineup and those of a few other strong WBC teams pretty well...

I thought of a new promotion for the O's. "Octomom night" Where you get to bring 14 kids in for free.

Eaton as #3 is a sad commentary on Baltimore's pitching, or lack thereof. The Phillies showed this guy the door and are willing to pay him the $7 mil owed under his contract for this year. They (the Phils) have three other guys fighting it out for their #5 rotation spot. If my grade school math is correct that means Eaton would be the Phils #8 starter were he still there. Is there little wonder why we're projected as a last place team?

Pete,

What the heck is going on with Guthrie?? He is getting killed in the WBC, two horrendous starts. Should we be concerned at this point? Has he reverted back to his Cleveland days?

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Pete's reply: I talked to Rick Kranitz and posted that.

Adam Eaton's ERAs the past three years - 5.12, 6.29, 5.80. In those three years he's given up 401 hits in 334 innings. That's to go with 139 walks and only 197 strikeouts. He's also finished in the top ten in earned runs allowed and home runs allowed twice in the past four seasons. His career ERA is 4.80 (average ERA for the league in that time is 4.14). There's not a shred of evidence that Adam Eaton is even an average major league pitcher and the fact that he's even being considered for a rotation spot is a joke. Saying that they have to start him because he's one of the few healthy bodies just points out the tremendous error of going into spring training with only one major league starter on your roster. Good GMs make sure that their team isn't placed in this position and they don't attempt to find three starters out of a bunch of reclamation projects, especially when many have injury histories.