Hey Pete,

I think most people understand that Trembley is doing a pretty good job with a very young team, but there is still some vocal criticism. How he handled a struggling George Sherill early in the year was a brilliant decision. How about a column highlighting Trembley publicly pulling Sherill from the closer role and how it turned around his season?

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Pete's reply: Not a bad idea, though I have to be careful or I'll look like a Trembley apologist.

It's obvious the O's have one of the best outfields in baseball.

My questions:

Is it the best in baseball right now?

Is there any outfield the O's would swap for straight up?

After Hill almost got that single, he had very little time to relax since the hitters went 3-up, 3-down in less than 10 pitches. He only had about 2 mins rest and didn't look the same afterward.
Hope he's OK and it was just a minor tweaking of sorts.
Great Game! Go O's!

After Hill almost got that single, he had very little time to relax since the hitters went 3-up, 3-down in less than 10 pitches. He only had about 2 mins rest and didn't look the same afterward.
Hope he's OK and it was just a minor tweaking of sorts.
Great Game! Go O's!

Pete,
it might be a tad early to talk about the trade deadline but its been preying on my mind lately. I am not venturing to say the orioles are buyers and going to be in contention by any means. I just dont think as much is on the block as before. By my count I see 2 maybe 3 tradeable pieces.

Baez - great recovery from surgery proved he can pitch long, middle relief. 3 years and 19 mil later, a taker will bite hard on that.

Sherrill - I dont want to see it happen, but i assume there will be contenders who inquire. You could groom JJ for the role and kind of split it up with him and Ray until he is fully ready to take over. I just feel that right now Sherrill has been incredible. Not sure on his contract status either, that might be a factor (seem to remember arbitration?)
I cant put Ray there full time, in the 9th too many things could go wrong with mechanics and that delivery with a one run game that makes me uneasy.

Mora/Wiggy - I like Wiggy's versatility, i like Mora's D and batting better. Wiggy has good pop, more than Mora, i just like what Mora brings to the table to play small ball as well.

I cannot see moving Scott or Huff. I just cant. Huff gets 6.5 mil now for an average of 25 and 100. Adam Dunn gets 10 mil for 40 and 100 with a lot lower BA and more strikeouts. Give Huff a 3 for 27 extension or something like that. He plays solid D. If you trade him, you are opening a HUGE HUGE hole that you cannot fill that inexpensively. The last thing we need when we lost on Tex going into a year when we could be in contention for a wild card next year is a major cog in the machine to be lost (Huff)

Scott is developing very well into a less streaky hitter. Plays left spotting for Nolan and DH suits him. Why lose that?

Sorry to be so long, I just dont see the O's making that many moves. Things are coming together.

Pete,
it might be a tad early to talk about the trade deadline but its been preying on my mind lately. I am not venturing to say the orioles are buyers and going to be in contention by any means. I just dont think as much is on the block as before. By my count I see 2 maybe 3 tradeable pieces.

Baez - great recovery from surgery proved he can pitch long, middle relief. 3 years and 19 mil later, a taker will bite hard on that.

Sherrill - I dont want to see it happen, but i assume there will be contenders who inquire. You could groom JJ for the role and kind of split it up with him and Ray until he is fully ready to take over. I just feel that right now Sherrill has been incredible. Not sure on his contract status either, that might be a factor (seem to remember arbitration?)
I cant put Ray there full time, in the 9th too many things could go wrong with mechanics and that delivery with a one run game that makes me uneasy.

Mora/Wiggy - I like Wiggy's versatility, i like Mora's D and batting better. Wiggy has good pop, more than Mora, i just like what Mora brings to the table to play small ball as well.

I cannot see moving Scott or Huff. I just cant. Huff gets 6.5 mil now for an average of 25 and 100. Adam Dunn gets 10 mil for 40 and 100 with a lot lower BA and more strikeouts. Give Huff a 3 for 27 extension or something like that. He plays solid D. If you trade him, you are opening a HUGE HUGE hole that you cannot fill that inexpensively. The last thing we need when we lost on Tex going into a year when we could be in contention for a wild card next year is a major cog in the machine to be lost (Huff)

Scott is developing very well into a less streaky hitter. Plays left spotting for Nolan and DH suits him. Why lose that?

Sorry to be so long, I just dont see the O's making that many moves. Things are coming together.

You just cannot underestimate what good pitching will do for you...the phils have given up almost 30 runs in their last 4 games, all losses. That's a stat with a familiar ring to it.
I've been all over Kranitz, but i guess when he has something to work with,
he can do a pretty damn good job.
This staff is light years different than last year when I thought the guy was gonna crack and end up throwing balls at Cabrera from the dugout. It looks as though the organizational pitching philosophy might be starting to pay some dividends, as the young guys are arriving clued in and ready to go.With the pitching depth at all levels of the org, how about a rotation where Hill and Guthrie end up being the 4 and 5? And a time when this team is not paying millions for middle relievers? At the least, your system should be developing lots of those purely by accident.
I'll also admit that with KRod on the mound and the bottom of the order up,
ye of little faith was an apt description.
It was also nice to see Dave T with a guess free game...

Not to nitpick, but I would have saved Sherill with a five run lead. Philly hasn't seen Georgie, and he might be more valuable against Rollins-Utley-Howard in a potential series clinching one run game this weekend.

That said, are we 7-3 intraleague? One more win, and I believe it will be the first time we beat the NL in at least 5 years.

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Pete's reply: He might have saved Sherrill if he wasn't already warmed up, which is almost like using him.

I enjoyed watching Hill pitch in Kansas City in May in what was either his first or second O's start after his injury. I hope he can keep producing enough nights like this to give O's a chance to reach .500 as our young stud hitters keep making strides against AL pitching.

I'll wager that you don't see 38 pitchers at spring training next year.

Can you say enough good things about AM? Really. From the staff he has put together, working on all the right things- drama free, deliberate, going about the business of building a credible professional baseball club.

I saw mr bedard has climbed back on the DL this week. Seattle can't wait to ship that guy out of town. He got one GM fired, who's next? Hey, maybe he can set the career record for being traded for more players than anyone else. Does that get you in the HOF?

Hill really settled down and obviously his hit was crucial. Rich, JJ and George were all great. I hope Matt doesn't change #s because I think the one he has, suits him fine. The catch in the O's dugout was awesome and watching him swing the bat on a daily basis, he is only going to get better. Watching Matt and Nolan, as well as the young SPs, has been fun.

I know that Sherill will be very valuable at the trade deadline, but I wouldn't trade him. Last year was his 1st year as a closer and while it wasn't always pretty, he got the job done. This year, he is even better. JJ might be able to close, I don't know, but if this team is serious about being a . 500 team or better, starting in 2010, I want both a setup man and a closer that know what they are doing and we have both. Some teams would kill for that. Yanks are still looking for a setup man since Joba went into the rotation. I don't see any reason for the O's to tinker with what works.

Heard about Erik on the DL so my question for you Pete, can any team really be willing to sign Bedard to a long term deal? I know the obvious answer is look at what AJ got, but AJ is far more durable than Erik, not to mention has more success as a SP. I am curious what your take is Pete?

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Pete's reply: Of course, someone will sign him long term, but I doubt he gets $80 million.

What do you suppose McPhail would be looking for in return if he was to trade Huff/Mora/Sherrill/Baez? More young pitching? I don't know. The thinking is that you can never have enough, but it seems that with Guthrie, Koji, Hill, Bergeson, Berken, Hernandez, Tillman, Arrietta, Patton, Matusz, Erbe, Britton, and even some of the studs at Delmarva, that we should be set for some time to come. I think that you'd have to package most of the current major leagues mentioned earlier into one deal in order to get a stud 3B/SS prospect, and even then it seems risky. The path of least resistance would be to just sign a qualified 3rd baseman in free agency this offseason. McPhail says "buy the bats", and I remember seeing an article shortly after spring training about Angelos saying he would spend money in free agency if he felt the team was on the doorstep of contention. What I'm wondering is that since I don't like our trade options too much right now for some of our solid contributors, that if the young pitching i.e. Tillman, Patton, Arrietta get a September chance to show something this year, what exactly is it gonna take for PA to sign a 10-12 million a year 3B or SS and make the team contenders for 2010, perhaps a year ahead of schedule.

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Pete's reply: If he hangs Huff, Sherrill and Baez out there (I doubt Mora will waive his no-trade), I would think he would look for a top corner infield prospect who could compete for a job next year and a promising left-handed reliever, among other things.

I would just like to say I did not write the first comment posted by Danny, as I've already received apologist hate mail because of it haha

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Pete's reply: I can vouch for Denny, who is not the Danny I mentioned in my latest cheeseburger entry.

shrimptrawler: The O's were 11-7 against the NL last year.