What is happening? Are we trading Bergeson during the off-season?? Too many pain killers for you Smuck!!

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Pete's reply: Yes.

charlie;

Yeah, I have heard of this Bergesen too. Some say he is worth taking a look at. Got any info on him for us Pete. Heck, if he turned out we might not have to sign any starters at all.

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Pete's reply: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I fixed that. Out of sight. Out of mind.

Yeah, I was going to ask the same thing. I actually think Bergensen has the most potential out of all of them because of his style of pitching. Highly accurate. Gets ground balls. Works fast, low pitch count, very intelligent. I can't wait to see him back on the mound next season. I'd love to see him work on that Greg Maddux pitch, the front door two-seamer that cuts into a hitter and then dives back over the plate for a called strike. I think that's a pitch that if Bergensen could learn to command it (and I think he's the kind of guy who could) he would be so dominant that it would be ridiculous.

Anyway Pete, don't you, on some level, want to see the O's go into next season with a rotation of Guthrie, Bergensen, Tillman, Matusz, and Arrieta? I know you want a verteran in the mix. But wouldn't it be infinitely more satisfying to succeed with that rotation instead of having a a hired gun in the mix?

Follow the plan, grow the arms, buy the bats. The success of those five guys would be the ultimate vindication of the "The Plan". And it would save more money to buy bats. I know that's what I want to see.

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Pete's reply: If you could guarantee me they will all pitch well and be healthy, sure, but I still want another quality veteran.

Pete,

You left out Jason Berken, who, in my opinion has a huge upside. The kid is developing command, has four pitches that he can throw for strikes, and is experimenting with different grips for more movement. I liked him even when he was getting hammered. As I have said before, from a mechanical standpoint he is similar to a young Greg Maddux.

Arietta has not thrown a pitch in the major leagues yet so he has good potential but nothing more at this stage. In any event, I do think the Orioles will put a respectable starting roation together next year which has a chance to be really good.

The big problem, as I see it, is in the bullpen. We are in desperate need of effective middle relief and need to settle on a closer.

You are 100% correct about having something to look forward to next year, other than player development. No matter how well the young players perform next year, it won't matter if the Orioles are 33 games out in Mid September again. Improvement in the standings should be the barometer to measure the team by in 2010.

Pete,
with 18 games left (6 against Toronto) should the Orioles try to finish in front of the Bluejays or just dust off the golf clubs?

at this point what is more important- draft position or beginning to build team confidence in the future?
...which club is the better bird?!?

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Pete's reply: I think you should always try to get out of the cellar.

speaking of simon- any shot he makes the o's in 2010? or AAA? or are we going to lose him?

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Pete's reply: He'll get a look, and he might be able to fill a bullpen role if he throws well.

The pitching staff is what I am most optimistic about. I think the young arms like Matusz and Bergesen and others have shown a lot of promise this season and I am expecting them to all be better next year.
The first part of next season's schedule may end up being easier that this year's was, but teams can change so much during the year. The Yankees have gotten off to very slow starts several times recently, so the argument could be made that its better to get as many games with them out of the way early as possible before they start clicking.
I feel that what is most important for this team to start winning next season, is for them to not be complacent about losing this season, however little of it is left.
In the last week or so the O's have woken up a bit from what had seemed a deep slumber when they really appeared to be just sleepwalking through the games. That of course is exactly how they have finished so many seasons, so these late season signs of competitive spirit are more important to me as hopeful signs than is a schedule that may or may not turn out to be soft at the beginning.
The offense still worries me and the O's have to get a big bat some how, some way, if they are going to be more than a footnote next year, but I just don't worry about the schedule, it is what it is, and as long as we're on the subject I like the unbalanced schedule. You should have to play the teams in your own division more often.

What's more important is the Orioles won their 59th game meaning Peter Schmuck won't be buying me lunch.

Or finding out who I am. Haha.

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Pete's reply: I know exactly who you are, doc.

Hey Peter, watch what you say; you're starting to sound like all the whining ravens kool aid drinkers who annually whine about the "unfair" schedule and how the NFL is out to get to the whiny wavens. Now all the bloggers from those "soft teams" you refer to will start whining about how MLB is out to get their teams.

Pete --

Isn't it up to Angelos to give our potentially awesome butterfly collections some more competition? With the departure of Huff, and the imminent departures of Mora and Baez, Angelos's pockets are gonna be deeper than ever. To be considered to be making a good faith effort, shouldn't the O's make at least two significant upgrades -- be they in pitching or at the corners?

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Pete's reply: If the right people are available. Don't see a lot of impact corner infielders on the market.

Butterfly's!

There's a great butterfly collection blog online called Butterfly's Forever.

The good news..... It's not run by PA!

Check it out!

One thing this north Jersey native and passionate O's fan loves about the 2010 schedule is the Baltimore vs. New York week in mid-June. Two series back to back against the Mets and the Yankees. Pete, imagine the possibilities for me if all goes well for the O's that week. On the other hand, it could be really bad and I wish I was a citizen of Maryland. But hey, it's June and the Orioles are usually still playing good ball still.

Soft schedule ... hard schedule ...Other than inter-league, don't all the AL East teams play the same schedule? Don't all the AL Central teams? and AL West?

I hate the unbalanced schedule. To be fair, kill inter-league games, have one league of 14 teams (AL) or 16 teams (NL), everybody plays everybody else the same number of times, top four teams make the playoffs, with home-field based on final W-L record.

To have the O's trying for the same Wild Card spot that, say, the Indians are going after is ludicruos, considering the 76 games we get against NY, BOS, TOR, and TB, while those same Indians get 76 games against KC, MINN, CWS, and DET. No comparison.

Maybe MLB should adopt the strength of schedule thing the way the NFL does. Or put the six division winners in the same division the following year.

Pete;

Sorry for tweaking your nose about the Bergesen oversight. I could not resist. Offered in good humour. Hope you took it that way.

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Pete's reply: No, I'm glad you did. It was just a brain cramp and it gave me a chance to correct it fairly quickly.