Hey Pete,
I'm off to South Bend for USC-Notre Dame tomorrow. (I'm ND Class of '08)
I know you're a Southern Cal guy so I thought I say GO IRISH!
Enjoy the game tomorrow and Go O's!

Pete - I don't think B.J. is going to be considered for the job. A week or so ago he was named President of the autism organization he founded (he previously was vice president). This is a really busy organization and I can't see him having the time for baseball as well. (a lot of their functions are in the evening)

I'm petitioning for Buck Martinez.. An ex-catcher and ex-manager that Dave could probably have a comfort zone with. I'm not sure he'd be interested though.

BTW - that nitpicking crap is always going to happen in these kind of blogs from people who just like to get reactions from others and have the spotlight shine on them. I think a lot of it has to do with you automatically letting blog entries post right away. It makes it feel more like chatting for some and they can just spew whatever they want constantly. Roch doesn't have that problem as much on his blog.

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Pete's reply: We've been debating that. It seems like the majority of posters are willing to put up with some stuff like that to have their comments go right up. I monitor it as best I can, but stuff happens and I'm not going to censor somebody for questioning my grammar.

Hey Pete, I only write in to mix it up with you on your topics and not bust your ball$$ on spelling and stupid statistics.

By the way, I love watching Manny get his butt kicked (even though he jacked 1 last night). I think the Phils might accidentally fall into their 'repeat' World Series.

Hope the O's will get someone who knows how to improve our pitching as far as coaching goes...(wishfull thinking).

I am still weary of the Ravens this weekend (BTW).

Have a good one.

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Pete's reply: I think Kranitz is doing fine with the existing members of the staff. The new coach won't have anything to do with that, but maybe the front office will add a free agent who can help lead the young staff.

Here's the link again to B.J.'s news release.....

http://www.pathfindersforautism.org/newsItem.aspx?id=110

Hi Pete,

The nit pickers are fixated in the anal stage of development, and have rigid anal retentive personalities. They are obsessed with detail. If they walk into your house and see a picture on the wall slightly crooked, it will drive them crazy unless it is straightened. They just can't help it.

People who work with them constantly fantasize of killing them with their bare hands.

I think Jeff Conine would make a good bench coach. Perhaps he could put his foot up someones butt. Could also teach baserunning and how to advance runners via sacrifice and productive outs.

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Pete's reply: Conine would be a great choice. I agree.

I especially enjoy the posts when people are nit picking you Pete....and making mistakes of their own at the same time...I have not and will not ever nitpick you....and to Patrick, I like the idea of Niner as bench coach, he was always like an extra coach on the field.

Ryan said:
Hey, Peter. I love your blog, keep up the good work!

I just have a question/comment regarding the O's offseason and what i'm sure will be the hot topic of the hot stove season, and that is, what do they intend to do to fill the gaping hole at first and third and hitting behind markakis in cleanup spot?

My thought is:

Make a deal with the Brewers for Prince Fielder and give up:
Troy Patton, David Pauley, Ty Wigginton, and Zach Britton

Then following that make a deal with the Marlins for Dan Uggla to play third and give up:
Jason Berken, Michael Aubrey, and David Hernandez and or Felix Pie

If that falls through then just sign Troy Glaus to a low risk deal, to play third until Bell is ready

After that, Sign Matt Holliday, or Jason Bay with all the leftover Teixeira money from last year which I know the O's have. He will be glad to come here after seeing all the progress we have made in the offseason, and he will be happy to jump at the chance to come to a young team with a real chance of being competitive.

Then go out and sign a proven veteran pitcher ie. John Lackey, Jason Marquis or someone of that caliber. He will be more than happy to come here if he sees the other moves made, and sees the team very clearly headed in the right direction and being in contention, as soon as this year.

All that needs to be done after that is fill in the missing pieces ie: resign Mark Hendrickson to reprise his role from last year, and same with Chad Moeller.

Our Roster would then be pretty much set

Lineup

Roberts 2B
Jones CF
Markakis RF
Fielder 1B
Holliday/Bay LF
Uggla/Glaus 3B
Weiters C
Reimold DH
Izturis SS

Bench: Montanez or Pie, Justin Turner, Chad Moeller, and Robert Andino

Rotation

Lackey, Marquis, or other proven veteran
Bergesen
Matusz
Tillman
Guthrie

Bullpen
*Hernandez
Uehara
Johnson
Mickolio
Meredith
Sarfate/Perez* if no hernandez
Castillo
Hendrickson

Let me know what you think of these many proposed offseason moves
And if you think any of these will happen, and if you think they are possible

Thanks so much,

Ryan

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Pete's reply: I'm all for some of the players you mentioned, but you're not going to get anybody to give up value for the David Pauley's and Jason Berkens in the organization.

Pete,
I would say there are a lot of people out there making offseason predictions and asking for your opinion. I say it is time for you to give your offseason predictions! Just moves on that impact the 25 man roster.

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Pete's reply: Soon.

Ryan -

I think you have stepped outside your mind.

Let's break down your trades:

Trade One:

Brewers trade:

- A 25-year-old elite power hitter with three straight 34+ homer, 100+ rbi seasons under his belt already

Orioles trade:

- A 24-year-old pitcher who put up a 6.45 ERA in Triple A this season and already has one shoulder surgery under his belt.

- A 26-year-old pitcher whose lifetime minor league ERA is approaching the 4.00 mark.

- A 32-year-old utility player.

- A solid 21-year-old pitching prospect with good numbers in Rookie and A-ball.

Doug Melvin would fall off his chair laughing if the O's presented such a horrible deal.

Trade Two:

Marlins Trade:

- A 29-year-old second baseman with HUGE power numbers.

Orioles Trade:

- A 25-year-old pitcher who proved in '09 that he has big league guts to go with his minor league stuff.

- A 27-year-old first baseman with no power.

- A 24-year-old pitcher who horrible command and zero poise.

I'm not sure how this is possible, but that offer might be worse than your Fielder offer.

I really hope you were joking.

b, yeah i can see where you're coming from with those deals being bad but if you were to offer a deal for prince fielder, who would u give? and same for dan uggla? What offers would u make?
To a point i was joking because i know it would never happen but a man can dream can't he.

Ryan -

Considering the fact that the O's probably aren't willing to trade Brian Matusz, a Prince Fielder deal would almost certainly need to be centered around Chris Tillman.

Keep in mind here that Prince Fielder is one of the top three power hitters in the game along with Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols. And he doesn't turn 26 until May. And he's coming off the best year of his career.

Something like Tillman, Brandon Erbe, a lower level pitching prospect like Pedro Beato, Oliver Drake or Rick Zagone and probably a high ceiling hitter like L.J. Hoes would be a good starting point. But given Tillman's struggles in his first stint in the bigs, I wouldn't be surprised if the Brewers told the O's thanks, but no thanks.

Uggla would be a little easier to snag, obviously, because he's four years older than Fielder and his game is so one-dimensional.

And given the fact that the Marlins would only deal him to save money, I wouldn't be surprised if the O's could snag him with an Erbe/Beato/one more prospect deal.

Oh, and if I'm trading with the Marlins, I'm trading for Jorge Cantu.

1. At 27, he's younger than Uggla
2. He gets less recognition than Uggla, so he might be cheaper.
3. He fills the hole at first base.
4. Over the past two seasons, he's put up a .283 average while hitting 45 homers and driving in 195 runs. And I bet no one here had any idea.

B, yeh that's true but i don't think the o's are wiling to give up tillman so if that's the case then you can count out fielder. As for uggla, that deal sounds reasonable, and yeh his game is one dimesnional but it is the dimension that we lack, and as for cantu, eh, hes ok but hes not so much a power hitter as a contact hitter, i'd much rather have uggla, and if we can get him with that package, that's fine by me

Peter - I majored in Econ & Math, and I would never nit-pick the non-existent mathematical concept of it because I know where you are coming from. There are those that who believe the law of averages are as tantamountably equivalent in undeniable scope as the law of physics.

Ryan and b - Great discussion, guys. I can only hope The Warehouse is as serious as you two.

Nitpickers - No, I don't know if "tantamountably" is an actual word. Remember, this is only a blog. Besides, you don't want Gil, the proctologist, analysing your anal tendencies some more, do you?

There's your boy Schmuck. Granted there were a couple big misplays, but Lackey gives up two singles before Teixeira helped him with a shallow fly out on a 3-0 pitch. He's been pretty good against the AL East in 3 games this year. What do ya think though Pete, do we have a chance at getting him? Or even, should we go for him or try for another guy in a trade?

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Pete's reply: I doubt they have a chance to get him, but he would be perfect for this team.

Hey, all of you Chone Figgin fans:

He is 0 for 14 so far in the post season. GULP!

Figgins is 0 for 15 and counting. AHEM! GULP! CHOKE!

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Pete's reply: I'd take him in a minute.

"And I bet no one here had any idea."
--b

b--Your modesty embarrasses all of us. You know so well what others who love baseball and follow it so closely can never know.

Please consider changing your moniker from "b" to the more appropriate and deserving "a plusplusplus".

Pete, Coward is only a used up Lonely Hearts writer. They (Sun), let Steele go and hired Coward???? He wouldn't know a football from a frizzby. I can't stand his writing or logic.

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Pete's reply: Be nice. Kevin is great. The departure of David Steele was tremendously disappointing for all of us, but nobody chose between him and Cowherd. It came down to union seniority, which is why I'm still here, too.

So, how much should we spend to sign Chone"choke" Figgins?

How about Paul Blair for bench coach. He could teach players how to run the bases and he was also a great bunter. He could also teach Adam Jones how to play center field and get him to stop blowing bubbles while he'e trying to run down fly balls. Plus he is a WINNER!.

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Pete's reply: I doubt Blair would be considered. He has had a contentious relationship with the team for years.

I don't know if Don Baylor and Jim Tracy, are best of friends or if they were just thrown together after he was hired, but if Baylor, becomes available, I would take him in a second, as he was a tough SOB when he played the game and as a Manager.

Eric Wedge, would be my dream choice because I think he is going to turn into a fine Manger. He had some bad luck when the club was in the same phase the O's were in during the time Grover was here which is the "should we rebuild all the way or somewhat?".

The last name is Manny Acta. He had nobody to work with in DC so he's young, knows a lot about dealing with young players in tough situations and he could be a fresh voice in the clubhouse.

Why are the Marlins going to give away both Uggla and Cantu? They have a new stadium on the way and although the owner is a fool, the guys in charge of drafting and making trades, are amazing, as you don't pull a fast one on the Marlins so these guys will cost more than a few low level prospcets.

It would be foolish to move Tiilman or any of the highly rated pitching prospects that we have. Nothing is a lock, but after all the waiting, I want to see what happens with these kids.

Barry -

I made the "no one here" comment about Cantu because he plays for the Marlins and he's fourth fiddle on that team behind Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla and Josh Johnson.

Heck, the only reason I knew about Cantu's numbers is because he's been on my fantasy team each of the past two years.

You have the right direction, but what did you do with Luke Scott who led the team in power strokes this season?

Pete, I teach writing at a local
university, and I am in awe of anyone who writes and gets paid for being a scribe.

Signed,

Prosaically Frustrated in Carroll County

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Pete's reply: Well, actually, I don't get paid for writing. I get paid for being a wonderful human being who just happens to write.

pete,
steadman would not have said ,,he didn't have a copy editor. john wouldn't make grammatical or spelling mistakes
that being said-we enjoy your columns
and insights. you're in a league of your own, grammatically speaking

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Pete's reply: Well, that's because John did have a copy editor, as do I every time I write in the newspaper or write an article for the newspaper web site. But the blog is a one-man operation. Thanks for the note.

Has any one brought up Manny Acta as bench coach?

Since the prob with Jauss was chemistry, do we assume his replacement will be someone with whom DT already has a baseball relationship?

Ryan said:
My thought is:

Make a deal with the Brewers for Prince Fielder and give up:
Troy Patton, David Pauley, Ty Wigginton, and Zach Britton
________________________
You're joking right? Do you really really think the Brewers would give up an All-Star first baseman with power for Patton, Pauley, Wiggington and Britton?
And maybe we can trade Melvin Mora, Danys Baez and Matt Albers to the Cards for Pujols. Some people....