A small correction: If Givens hadn't signed he would have had to wait until after his junior year of college to go back into the draft. He would not have been eligible for the 2010 draft.

Also, I thought their 9th round pick went unsigned?

Just saw that Tyler Matzek signed at the deadline with Colorado for 3.9 million...not the precedent setting deal he had talked about at draft time. Hobgood may be a talent and hopefully that pick won't come back to bite us, but Matzek was the consensus #3 prospect in the draft and he was sitting there for us and we passed. A four pitch lefty with polish and mid 90s heat. That was a big mistake!

Nats got the 15 million dollar rookie

Stay tuned..

And we have a new "A" ball pitcher locked up until 2025 in place of proven talent. Ah, the beauty of Andy's long term plan. Watch out Luke...heard you can be had for a 16 year old from the Amazon.

Proven talent? WOW! 13 home runs and a .253 BA. If Huff is such a "proven talent" how come he passed through waivers without anyone putting in a claim? Since every other GM in MLB didn't think Huff was such a "proven talent" either, guess that makes them all not as baseball savvy as "jack." MacPhail gets a player for someone who will be a free agent at the end of the season and could actually re-sign with the O's. Apparently jack doesn't know jack.

with the orioles front office how it is we will never win

Baltimore fans are like women. First they were clamoring to just release Huff, they wind up actually getting someone for him, and now "McFail" has no plan.

McPhail got ripped for trading an All-Star by default closer (who was overrated) for a guy who's a good power and OBP guy, whom the managers in the Southern League declared the best defensive third basemen in the league, saying that we didn't get enough for Sherrill. I just love how Baltimore fans wanted to keep guys entering their mid-30s over guys who have more upside and are 5 to 8 years younger. This was after people wanted to start dumping veterans because of the lack of hustle. Just because you people can't make up your minds doesn't mean Andy doesn't have a plan.

Yeah, Huff was part of our long term plan, does anyone in Baltimore know anything about anything? I hope the Ravens miss the playoffs so I can start hearing people calling for Jim Harbaugh's head.

Hi Pete. You said that the O's signed 29 of their 50 picks. Can you put that into context? i.e., how does that compare to the number of signees for them in other drafts, and to other teams in this and other drafts? And is there ever a sense that the average draft pick is less likely to sign because the O's haven't been good for a while? Do they need to pay more for, say, a 30th-round pick out of high school than, say, the Yankees or Red Sox would need to, to get the kid to sign instead of going to college? Thanks.

They signed 9 out of their first 10 draft picks, if your gonna get paid to report on the Orioles at least report the right things.

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Pete's reply: I fixed that. Believe it or not, they don't pay me to be perfect, but I'll try harder next time since you're such a forgiving reader.

Guys, we have to lay off on Hobgood. In the article that Jeff and Dan, did on the Givens signing, they said the O's paid the seined highest amount of bonuses in team history so I doubt that Hobgood was chosen because he was cheap to sign. Joe, has earned the benefit of doubt from O's fans. His drafts have been amazing. He seemed to really Hobgood so lets' see how he pans out before we say bust or should've taken another player.

I agree with Bobby, as fans were dreaming of dumping Huff and now, they want him back. Same thing with D Cab (Andy, guessed right on him), Olson and Penn, and none of those guys have done anything. You know when Baez gets traded next week, someone will go nuts and bash Andy.

This is a great sign for the O's. Givens in my opinion was the best short stop in the draft ahead of Green. And he is the future at the shortstop position.

Am I the only one a little surprised at this considering about 1-2 weeks ago we kept hearing that the O's and Givens had suspended talks because they couldn't get anything done and the team had to focus on their other picks?

And unless Huff is resigned next year, I believe this may pave the way for either the new 1B we got from the Rays or Brandon Snyder to come up to the majors. Somebody's gotta play DH and assuming Reimold is healthy next year, one wonders whether the team would rather have Reimold out in LF, since he seemed to have the job locked up by the beginning of August. Obviously, Reimold will be the main DH now because the team wants to rest his Achilles, but next year? Who knows.

Hey Matthew,

On Givens I am more than surprised, and it was not one or two weeks ago, it was like three or four days ago. Glad it happened though.

I guess the Orioles do not have much left to trade. Mora went through waivers but cannot imagine many takers are out there. So this should be he end of the in season deals.

Pete: Any updates on Montanez? .

Ok folks. Normally I am horribly doom and gloom, and I think that an O's fan with any sense should be right now.

However, no one is excited about this signing?! Just a few days ago this was a lost cause, and now he's on board and sounds genuinely excited to play here. I haven't heard any of the Orioles signings in recent years mention how excited they are to come to Baltimore and meet the fans, etc., like this kid has been saying.

At the very least it's a nice change to hear someone enthusiastic about coming to Baltimore.

Pete, any coincidence that suddenly the O's offer was to Givens liking just hours after trading Huff and freeing up $2 million of payroll the rest of the year? Maybe another fringe benefit to the Huff trade was that AM had the cash to pay this guy?

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Pete's reply: I seriously doubt that. The reason the guy signed at the last minute is because everybody signs at the last minute.

It doesn’t matter who we sign or who we trade everyone knew this season was going to suck when we saw the pitching staff in spring training but I never would have thought it would be this bad. Until we see this team improve on the field everything else is irrelevant. The Orioles have the most laughed at owner and front office in the sports world so until they put together a team that wins over 500 I have to sell this loser.

Hey, don't lump all O's fans together on this Huff thing, when you generize you are usually wrong.
I would have taken a PB&J for him and I'm glad McPhail did better then a PB&J

Can somebody please add a new section in Dave Trembleys big baseball notebook entitled don’t pitch around guys in front of hall of famers? Especially ones that hit a massive homerun earlier in that game?? Please?

Great job yesterday AM! I think we should now trade Kakes for a keychain, Adam Jones for a new batgirl (maybe one of the nationals) Bergy for some more steel reserve for Dave Trembley to guzzle down with buffet food Nolan for another single A guy and Luke Scott for a vacation for Andy Mac and Mike Flanagan. Who needs players anyway?! Totally overrated aspect of baseball I love just rooting for our GM and awesome owner

WHOOOOOOOOOOO

Let the good times roll baby!! Losing baseball giving away money and beer.. The Baltimore way baby!!

TruthBeTold

What did Huff do last season?

I am all for trading Huff but we could have got more and we really dont have anybody to play first better than Huff. I hope I am wrong but until someone steps up I dont think this is anything more than PA being PA

Which position does it look like he'll end up playing?

After reading for months that we should trade Huff, I would have thought there would have been more support for the trade once it happened. Huff could sign with O's after the season, if we want him, and so we added an arm for a couple of months. It wasn't like Huff was going to turn around our season this year, even if he got hot.

I think our GM has done a great job of lifting our minors to top line quality. And I think he has made some awesome trades. Adam Jones will be a super star for years to come. Tillman is a #1 starter. Other players that have come by way of trade have already or will soon contribute. We will be better in 2010 and look out after that!

I think everyone needs to relax. I am happy with this move, as well as many of the recent draft picks. But hey, who isnt when they havent given us a reason to disappoint yet. We all know Huff can be a productive guy, but he had a bad enough year that he was going to accept our tender, and then we would be blocking the klds even more. Then more of you would complain he is here, so what gives? To get a top 10 prospect from a strong minor league system for someone you were going to either lose, or have to keep ,it works well. McPhail has done what he was hoping to do, even signing Givens and paying for talent that fell in the draft. A plan is clear. And as much as I wanna see Snyder, I like the trades for Aubrey and Hughes. One of those 3 will work out, posibly play or learn 3b, DH, whatever. I just think Mora has worn out his welcome, and these other veterans who give us a losing attitude needed to go. Anyone complaining about our pitching? So why we complaining bout his effort to shore that up? I think for fans who are not willing to see change in the last 24 months versus change as a whole in the last 10 years need to step back and wonder if they are real fans. A real fan would appreciate what we are seeing, that we are finally" rebuilding" and not just slowly getting younger and filling with stopgap veterans every winter. Remember the whole Melvin Mora Chris Richard (come see the kids play)? They were and im guessing here, at least 26. Just lets wait it out....

BirdsFan65

You dont know any of that for sure buddy.

You know you root for a bad team when the buzz is about signing prospects. Prospects don’t mean anything at all it could go a million ways. Prospects and their rankings are just hype machines that scum like Boras create to make money. The Orioles team lately has made it a point to go after these guys and turn on the hype/hope movement to keep people interested long term while these guys play out.

In order for a prospect to likely succeed all conditions must be excellent and they must play for a strong organization. The Orioles do not offer that and we have seen many of our prospects fail over the years. I don’t want any of these guys to fail but this team does not have the best track record.

Okay so the great purge has finally began.. Or has it? Huff is gone, Mora and Baez soon Trembley end of the season but he can claim the GM traded his talent away maybe he has a deal worked out with the O’s to work at MASN or in the minors. So when do we get to hold this team accountable for losing? Next year we cant because its going to be a majority of rookies and sophomores unless AM can land some vets and after last season I doubt that will happen also not to mention this seasons FA class is very weak. I think the tell tale sign is who we hire as manager and if guys like Albers and Guthrie are still around because they may just take another 2 losing season to purge out more bad players and restructure. This isn’t even baseball anymore….

Ok complaining boys and maybe girls.

What EXACTLY would you have wanted for Huff? Especially since NO other team put a waiver claim on him? And does it really matter this year anyway?

And if he'd gone away as a free agent at the end of the season - we'd hear the WAH WAH that the owner's too cheap.

And I thought we were "knowledgeable" fans.

TruthBeTold

What did Huff do last season?

Yo' Ron...What a ridiculous comment. What did Frank Robinson do in 1971? And he was traded the following year. Stupid comparison? Yep...just like yours. It's 2009; not "last year" The O's got a player for someone who is a free agent and who they may have lost anyway and gotten nothing in return.

This is a great sign for the O's. Givens in my opinion was the best short stop in the draft ahead of Green. And he is the future at the shortstop position.

Justin

Just are you a scout? Have you traveled for years evaluating talent? LOL this is the typical sucker O's fan that goes to Camden Yards plops down and spends money for nothing and his mind is on another planet!!!!!
I don’t know anything about prospects and who is better and I don’t think anybody really does unless they are trained and are in the industry. Selling these kids like they are in the bigs already is stupid! It puts pressure on them to succeed we shouldn’t even know these guys names until them come to Baltimore!!

TruthBeTold

All we did was cut Huff to lose more games this season and save cash bro. This A baller isn’t a major league player if we are doing stuff like this why not cut Mora and Baez and get the rebuilding plan moving.

I know we owe them money but if we are going to lose games anyway lets get rid of them and get the #1 pick. Then we will basically be paying for it LOL.

I guess the scary thing would be if the minor league replacements played better than Mora and Baez and we end up getting like the 6th pick hahaha that might make everyone look bad for not getting rid of them sooner

When a player passes through waivers, it means he has LITTLE TO NO TRADE VALUE! How can people not understand this?

Hey Ron don't you think it May be a bit early to decide Jacobsen will never see the pros? He's 22, was drafted in the 4th round last year and has only pitched in 24 games professionally.

Oh and by the way he's got a 2.96 ERA in those 24 appearences and averages close to a K per inning. Good to know we have a professional scout here though to let us know he's no good.

To characterize this front office and organization as anything but savvy and committed is ignorant. Andy Macphail has consistently shown that he understands players value as assets not just performers on the field. Here's a couple of quotes from the end of a Huff trade analysis by RJ Anderson on Fangraphs, "Even if Jacobson falters to ever make an impact at the major league level, you have to appreciate the Orioles dedication to turning older parts into potentially useful young ones....turning these old, near the end of the road (either with the O’s or in baseball) parts into something with upside is commendable." This front office gets it, even if the fans don't.

The dog days of August are here, and the Orioles, as usual are in the throes of their annual second half collapse. Only this time, if we are true believers{and I am trying hard} they are pitiful with a purpose. Call it planned pitifulness.

The orchestrated collapse can be compared to the carefully controlled implosion of an old building, in this case the professional in charge of detonation is Andy Macphail.

Pete would disagree, but as fans we were sent mixed signals by Macphail about remaining competeive while rebuilding...but now it is clear ther route is on with a vengeance.

Now we have at least two years of trying out different kids at all many positions while losing 100 games a season.

We are in it now up to our ears. Let's hope it works, or we are into the abyss in 2011.

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Pete's reply: I hope we're not in for another two years of this. I'm hoping they sign or trade for a younger, better first baseman.

David
Thank you for typing in caps to indicate you are angry. People want to see the Orioles win games no matter what the record personally I get sick after games like last night and to see Huff moved did not help the cause this season. Yeah it probably will be better going into the offseason but this team has failed for over a decade and many fans don’t trust the front office to get anything accomplished. Its like they are always buying time.

Well you have tons of good players that go through this waiver process. It is not always talent, sometime it is contract issues. So it is not bad getting another arm for a guy that probably would have only 45 more days with the club. Sherrill was a different issue, he really wanted to be here, and he was doing his job, and continues to have success. His ERA since leaving has gone done under 2 runs per 9 innings.

I guess you can look at it this way, the ending of this season will be interesting and the beginning of the 2010 season. Which I hope brings more hope they can turn it around.

Don't look in that rear view mirror now, blOriOle fans, but the birds could end up with a worse record than the Gnats, the laughing stock of dazeball.

How can this be?

In a word: pitching.

With the exception of third base, the blorioles are a superior team - in the outfield far superior - at the 8 positions (7 if you regard Dunn as a first baseman).

But the Gnats have taken some steps toward developing and stockpiling pitching. And therein lies the difference.

If the blOriOles (and Gnats for that matter) are going to rise above perennial bottom feeders, they need to develop pitching, and that is a looooong uncertain haul.

Micah

I hope the kid makes it but until he does...

JD

This front office gets losing and missing boats

Greg,
I get the losing comment but "missing boats"? Did you mean bats? What boat have they missed? Look nobody is saying that the mlb team is good right now or winning. But would you rather have a losing team stocked with aging vets or youngsters with updside? Because the former characterizes the team under Thrift/Flanagan/Beatty. Under Macphail in two short seasons we've gone from a losing team going nowhere to a losing team loaded with players who should keep getting better. Not to mention our minor league system has gone from the bottom third to the top third in baseball. Not to mention that we consistently spend money on the draft and draft good prospects. Not to mention we're finally spending the money to really scout internationally. To me the difference in this organization is night and day and it blows my mind that fans can't see this.

JD

Too many should, maybes, and potential in that post. Get real buddy we are what we are

JD

Too many should, maybes, and potential in that post. Get real buddy we are what we are

Greg I'll give it one last try and I'll make it an either or question. What would you rather have a losing team loaded with aging vets a la Segui, Huff, etc, or a team with young players such as Jones, Weiters, Matusz, et al? Forget if they ever reach their potential, the point is they have potential and those aging vets, in nearly your own words are what they are. That's it just one or the other. Do you see the difference. And forget the fact that the younger players are far cheaper and under team control giving it more financial flexibility to make future moves. I get it, you don't care about that and probably consider the O's to be cheapskates anyway, right? So just the team on the field, young or old, any preference? Oh and I used the word "should" once in my previous post and didn't say "maybe" at all.

JD
Right now the team sucks. Until they get better they are what they are look at the stats record etc and you will see a bad team getting worse. I try to hope as much much as the next man but I wont until they show ACTUAL improvement. I want them to get better but i wont be naïve like other people on here this team has a history.