For today, at least we are getting better weather here in Baltimore than you in FL for once.

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Pete's reply: Don't rub it in. We're very disappointed that our string of 31 straight 75-degree days has been broken.

Peter,
One thing I like about your columns is you do not waver. You take a stand and you stick to it.
Respectfully I must wholeheartedly disagree with your column today about the Orioles making the right move by not allowing Arrieta to start the season with the big league team.
How soon we forget, as my friend Mark R. so clearly pointed out: Do we not remember the great Paul Richards and how he, in 1960, brought up Barber (age 22); Pappas (age 18); and Chuck Estrada (age 22). It is time for the young Orioles pitchers of today to be in the big league rotation. This is the platform to learn and be fully ready in 2010.
I hope you and Andy McPhail learn from history and follow the lead of Paul Richards.

Thank you.

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Pete's reply: We can agree to disagree. It's very hard to make comparisons between the 1960s and now. The circumstances were different. The teams could afford to waste service time on great prospects pitching in long relief because nobody kept track of service time. The economic and competitive environment is way different now than it was then. PItching was dominant. The mound was higher. Those guys were special.

On whether to promote guys (like Arrieta) sooner or later: I say later. It's just smart to be sure you've mastered one level before moving up--baseball levels, video games, learning to fly, whatever. Until a player is consistently comfortable over a substantial period of time in AAA, it's too big of a gamble. If he has big-league ability he'll eventually shine in AAA, and if not, then he's one of the thousands of good players who just reached his limit before making the Big Show. Why in the world would you bring him up on a guess that he's ready, when you can wait a little and know for sure?

i heard Mora may have tweaked a hamstring. Could this be the same leg he hurt last Sept?

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Pete's reply: Don't know which leg.

I think this question about bringing up young arms was answered by the writers own question. These were not great pitchers. Granted, they were the best arms that the Orioles had at the time...but not great pitchers.
And maybe just maybe....
the fact that they were brought up so soon was the reason why they did not turn into Dave McNally and Jim Palmer.

Well considering that McNally and Palmer came up at 19 and full work at age 20, and winning world series games against the best pitchers that the NL had to offer at the age of 20 and 23, I do not buy it..

Pete, changing topics a bit, the best news to come out of last night's WBC game was that Guthrie threw a bunch of pitches - whether they got hit or not - and that Izturis and Roberts didn't pull a muscle, as much running around the bases as they did.

And that Guthrie's coming back to camp.

I saw Roberts and Izturis talking in the outfield while stretching before the game. Wonder if they worked on anything during the rain delay. Something tells me they won't need that much work to get in synch.

Regarding bringing up the young arms, Barber, Pappas and Estrada were the basis of a pitching staff that grew with the likes of a young Palmer and McNally as well.
The Orioles have nothing to lose by bringing up Arrieta and Bergenson NOW. They are very mature young men who have the mentality to learn the art of pitching at the big league level "on the job."
This is all about economics. Economics and business decisions many times over turn savy baseball decisions.

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Pete's reply: Nothing to lose?

Yes Peter, nothing to lose. By putting Arrieta and Bergenson in the starting rotation, it is a Gain. A full year under their belt in anticipation of 2010, the year earmarked for possible contention, is only a Plus. What are they going to learn at AAA that they won't in the Bigs?
Hopefully at some point this season Arrieta and co. will be brought up because the pitching staff in Lauderdale does not show much promise at all.

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Pete's reply: Plenty to lose. Throw him out there on short experience to get his brains beat out by the Yankees and Red Sox so a few fans can get a quick look at him. Lose a year of service time that will be wasted on a lost season. Plenty to lose, indeed.

Peter,
Au Contraire........my point is that Arrieta and Bergenson will NOT get their brains beat out. They are ready for the Bigs. Your comment/mindset assumes any young pitcher should not and cannot pitch at the Big League level until they are a certain age; or logged x amount of minor league innings. Forget the age. They are mature and ready. Catfish Hunter?
Yes, you can bring up many young pitchers -- can we say David Clyde-- who did get their brains beat out, but it is my opinion that Arrieta is mature and ready to pitch against the Sox and Stripes.
Please do not fall into the brainset that a young pitcher has to serve X amount of years in the minors before going to the Bigs. Each case is different and with the state of the O's rotation and the blossoming Arrieta, bring him up.
Thank you for you thoughts.

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Pete's reply: Did you really drop an "Au Contraire" on me. I think they know what they're doing with Arrieta and the others top prospects. There's more to it than them just going out and pitching. There is some context to consider and some business ramifications. All of that is legit.