Liz couldn't have landed in a better place for a pitcher with homer-itis.

If he continues to take a few notches off the fastball and keep the walks down like he did in the minors in '09, he could be successful in Petco.

Dear Sir:

Here in San Diego, the big topic is whether star Adrian Gonzalez will be traded. Rumors are that he will be here if the outfield fences are moved in. How far will the new fences be moved in. Think of Yankee stadium where the Yankees first baseman hit one fewer homer than Gonzalez. And are the Os interested in Gonzalez or is ti just the Yankees and Red Sox

Good luck to Liz. I bet Orioles would like to have Oscar Salazar back. He plays acceptable first or third base. He can fill in at the corner outfield positions. And he has been an above average pinch hitter. Then they would not be pressed into a trade nor pressed to take a FA that doesn't fit into thier long term plans.

Mr. Shipp:

I can assure you that the Orioles, along with every other team in baseball, is interested in acquiring Gonzalez. The team's interest is tempered by the fact that it is unknown whether or not he would be willing to sign a long-term contract extension after the trade, which I believe would be a condition of making a trade. The Orioles certainly have the pieces to acquire him, should they be willing to do so. They simply cannot take the chance of giving up highly regarded talent for just two years of Gonzalez.

Cecil: Salazar does not play acceptable 1B or 3B. If he did, they never would have moved him, and they never would have signed Wigginton last offseason. If Salazar was as good as people want to remember him to be, he would have unseated Kouzmanoff as the Padres' starting third baseman. In fact, he never played a single inning at 3B for San Diego. 16 starts in the OF, 4 at first, and 2 at second, but nothing at third.

I wish Liz well. I hope he becomes something close to what everyone here in Baltimore hoped he would. He is one of the legacies of the Flanagan/Beattie era, that of poor drafts and washout prospects.

Goodbye eLIZ ebth, you batting practice pitcher!

Liz was never goig toge another chance here. They threw to towel in on him before last sprig training. He turned out to be DCab Jr.

Obviously all proposed trades by commenters of this blog regarding Adrian Gonzalez come from an Oriole point of view. However, if I was running the Padres, I think that I would start discussions at Adam Jones, Tillman or Matusz, Snyder, and a high quality/lower level pitcher.

If that was the asking price, would you still be interested? Not sure if I would.

First, Happy Thanksgiving to you Pete; as a Canadian, I am envious of the way you guys celebrate a holiday! Hopefully, I can sneak away from work a little early and watch my beloved Detroit Lions take another on the chin..
Liz is moving on and all the best but in reality, how many ex-O's pitchers in recent years have done anything elsewhere? Of the top, I can only think of Maine-most end up in obscurity-ala-Cabrera, Olsen, Penn.

Well, we had no choice, but to let Liz go....what with our signing of Hinckley who pitched for the surging Nationals last year and managed to walk 11 in 9 2/3 innings....

I've been thinking about an Adrian Gonzalez trade for some time, because I think at his age he will still be in his prime when our young players peak. I think the O's have the organizational depth in pitching to give the Padres a nice package, but I also think we have to go through the free agent process first. Are the O's going to pick up a new 3B like Adrian Beltre? Then Bell becomes a nice chip to trade. No Jones or Matusz in any trade, but I would be willing to include Tillman or Arieta and Snyder along with Bell. John from SD: are you still interested in AG for Tillman/Arieta, Bell and Snyder?

The long term solutions to the third base and first base situations for the Orioles may be in the minor leagues, but may not be named Brandon Snyder or Josh Bell, but Rhyne Hughes and Brandon Waring.

Hughes is particularly compelling, a classic left handed hitting first baseman at 6'2" 175 lbs with big time power. He combined for 25 home runs between AA and AAA last year and the scouts say he is a smooth fielder. He actually hits lefties better than righties at this stage of his career. The knock on Hughes is that he always seems to be one year behind the level he is promoted to and he is 26, but keep your eye on him.

Everyone knows about Waring by now, and he will be watched very closely as he contnues to progress. He will start the year at Bowie but don't be surprised if he is at Norfolk by mid year.Scouting reports are that he has tremendoud power to all fields at 6'4" and 195 lbs He has a strong arm and needs work at third base.

I got see to Brandon Waring play during his brief promotion to Bowie at the end of the year and he strikes an imposing figure at the plate. To me, he has a startling resemblance to Tony Conigliaro both in his lean, powerful build, and his swing and batting stance.

I find it interesting that of these four promising young positon players, only one, Brandon Snyder was drafted and signed by the Orioles.

Happy Thansgiving to Pete's following.

My guess is the media in San Diego won't struggle so much with the pronunciation of Liz.

Liz reminds me of how a guy with so much "stuff" can still struggle. He seems like a decent lad. I hope he finds his way professionally with the Padres.

Thank goodness we realized this guy wasn't going to make it a long time before we realized it with Daniel Cabrera. He has all the makings of another Cabrera, looks great 1 game a month and can't get out of his own way the rest of the time. Just goes to show that pitching isn't all about 95 mile per hour heaters, it is more about location and having multiple pitches to get guys out with.

Well, it's about more than location and multiple pitches. In reality, it starts with a fluid and controlled delivery, which enables all the other things. If you don't have the delivery, you can't possibly target your stuff consistently.

And that is the heart of it with Liz. He was allowed to progress thru the system because of some stuff and velocity, instead of someone addressing his rancid and uncontrolled delivery. I went over this on the Sunspot forum a few years ago. I do *not* expect to see Liz succeed. Not because I wouldn't want it for the kid, but because I know that if you don't have a pro delivery, you won't last long at all.