Pete's a lumberjack and he's ok...

He sleeps all night and he works all day.

Still waiting for... It's official: Tejada's front

Sarfate is the D Cab of relievers so I don't care what happens to him.

Pete, do you think there could be any takers for Wiggy? I'm not a fan of Wiggy, but at his salary and the fact he's versatile, he could be attractive to a NL team.

Lastly, last year I asked you who your sleeper pick was and you said Perez so who are you going with this year?

.............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I'm going to wait a little while on a sleeper. Doesn't seem like there's much opportunity in this camp for anyone who isn't already projected. Don't know if there's any market for Wigginton, though I agree that he could be a better fit as a jack-of-all-trades in the NL.

Orioles: Looking Ahead

- 71 wins!
- Last Place!
- 13th Consecutive Losing Season!
- Trembley Fired (still not his fault)!
- Continued Drop In Attendance!
- Continued Bottom of MLB Payroll!

- Continued 'It's Not About This Year'!

The 2010 'Hail Mary' O's

Sarfate falls into that unfortunate group of Orioles players whose effectiveness cannot be properly evaluated because they have or are returning from some type of illness/injury. When healthy, Sarfate throws in the mid 90s with movement. That's not an arm on which you give up. Albers is the same way, indeed, Chris Ray can also be put into that category.

The sad part is, Ty Wigginton likely is the best option to be released. Frankly, there really doesn't seem to be a place for him. Mike Aubrey at least bats LH and is defensively superlative. Andino could be another option, but his defense cannot be overlooked.

By when do the Orioles have to make the roster move?

wayne,

Just shut up.

.............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I can't shut up, it's my blog...oops.

pete- are you going to grow a beard like Luke - sans mustache?

............................................................................................
Pete's reply: No my head is big enough without adding another half inch in diameter.

Wayne, I don't agree. More likely,

84 wins in 2011
Fourth place
Trembley stays
Attendance rises considerably
continued bottom of AL payroll
Wait til next year!

ken,

Trust me ken, I know.... Seeing reality in print hurts!

Now stand up to the organization until they give you a winner.

It's just been far too long ken. It's time they put up!

Pete,

Are you filming a reality TV series? I am getting a visual of you in a History Channel special dodging logs rolling down the hill towards the river.

And Saturday you are going to jump into the Chespeake Bay with one bad leg in the dead of winter.

Pete, when I had my mid life crisis I bought a sports car.

Tom,

Maybe you're right (accept for the attendance)! I guess we'll see though!

Ken,

doubt that will happen. i hear ya though.

wayne,

I think ken's problem is the proverbial beating of a dead horse. We get it.

We've gotten it every day since October 4, 2009.

That being said, when will you stand up to the organization? All you've been doing is standing up to Pete and other fans on this blog who disagree with you. I think we'd have a lot more respect for your words if they weren't starting to just sound hollow.

Wayne;
If you are wrong, will you promise to leave the blog forever? That would only be fair to all the other participants who you continue to abuse with your repetitive (ad nauseam) rants.

.............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I have to step in here. Don't be telling Wayne to leave the blog if he turns out to be wrong, no matter what the subject. I'll double my traffic here just with the people who will want to taunt him.

He puts on woman's clothing.......

First of all, I want to bring attention to something. From what I can tell, a few days ago, a poster by the name of James C coined a new term: WAYNEHOUSER. For all of the folks blindly lining up behind the great and all powerful antagonistic overlord of this blog. I had never seen it used before and I think it kind of got lost in the midst of one of our usual insanely long strings. But it's perfect.

Now, maybe I'm wrong about this. Maybe this has been used for a while without me knowing. But I'm pretty sure this guys needs to get some credit for coining a new and incredibly funny term for this blog.

That aside, here's my WAREhouse approved opinion. I think the biggest thing missing with the O's for a long time has been chemistry. in the clubhouse and on the field. bad teams can win games. and good teams can lose games. it's something that happens in the player's heads where they feel like they're going to win and that translates into performance. the o's have had none of that going for them for a long time. I think that changes this year. I think that now, for the first time, this team is going to feel like that have enough talent on the field to compete and that will translate into the missing wins. this team may not have enough talent to beat up on the yanks and sox. but that doesn't mean we don't have enough to beat them a good number of times. i think we will do just that.

this lineup should have so many people on base that we're gonna have to score runs. roberts, tejada, markakis, jones, wieters, and reimold all should have BA's at .285 or better (a few will have even better). throw in a little plate discipline and that translates into great obp's for 6 of 9 guys. the other guys, who knows? but if scott can have a hot month here and there and atkins can do anything, that leaves izturis as the only whole in the order and he'll still hit his career .260 in the 9 spot (not that bad). now, i know a lot of things can happen, but how can you not be enthused about the potential for this lineup?

the starting pitching is a mystery. i'll admit that. a lot of potential. but we don't know how it'll turn out.

but i like how our bullpen is coming together. gonzalez, koji, jj, mickolio, probably hendrickson and hernandez +1. maybe one other situational lefty. maybe castillo. possibly this guy Ohman we just signed, or maybe wilfredo perez. either way, there's no way you can argue this bullpen isn't light years ahead of where it was a year ago. a lot fewer leads are gonna be blown this year. combine that with the absolute certainty that the starters (no matter how bad they are) will be pitching more innings than they did last year. so we're talking fresher arms. i like how things are looking.

my general prediction for the season is 75-85 wins. that's a pretty broad range, but i think it'll hold true. my optimistic prediction for an exact total is 83. and after all, i am a warehouser and a huge optimist. so that's what i'm saying. 83 wins. I'd say that's good enough to get us a real shot at 3rd place in the East. I think the rays are gonna have a down year. seems almost inevitable. there's been a lot of player turnover down there. the chemistry is not what it was two years ago. plus i predict a trade of pena midseason because there's no way they're signing him as a FA in the offseason. if things go well for us and not so well for them, i could see us having a real shot at a respectable 3rd place come september. granted, that's not a playoff spot. but it's the most meaningful things the o's have had to play for in an awful long time. gotta start somewhere. should be fun.

I'd let Scott Moore go. There are several third basemen ahead of him icluding Bell, Atkins, Wigginton, and Tejada. At Norfolk Turner can spell Bell when need be. Sarfate seemed to have a better control of his fastball in September last year, and deserves to get another look.

wayne - seriously its baseball not healthcare. You need to focus your efforts on something a little more meaningful in life than picketing the warehouse.

The Orioles have 12 infielders on the 40-man...that's where I'd place my bets. I'd imagine Turner, Hughes or Florimon is headed out. Probably Hughes, who looks most redundant.

Andino
Atkins
Aubrey
Bell
Florimon
Rhyne Hughes
Izturis
Roberts
Snyder
Tejada
Turner
Wigginton

Heck, Wayne, I have no idea what this team is going to do since there are so few guys we have a bead on.

Anyway, my predicition of a rise in attendance was based upon the 84 wins. I really believe if this club did that people would get excited again and Camden Yards would begin to rock a little like it did in the old days. Maybe I'm dreaming but I do believe the team will be much more interesting this year.

What I didn't include in my previous paost wa anegative thought about 2011. It went something like this, the Os get 84 wins, attendance is way up, they're still at the bottom of the AL payroll and they make absolutely no moves to improve the team in 2011. Sorry thing is, that may be an accurate prediction!

Scott Moore is not on the 40-man roster, according to the Orioles website (which shows 41, including tejada.)

http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/team/roster_40man.jsp?c_id=bal

*Cameo Alert*

The Yankees just signed Randy Winn for ~$2M, presumably closing the door on Johnny Damon.

As I've said before, Damon fits perfectly into the #2 hole in the O's lineup as a DH/LF and makes Luke Scott expendable.

Signing this guy for $6-7M makes far too much sense for this club, so it probably won't happen. But...

Prove me wrong, Andy!

Wayne, I'll bet you $1,000 the O's don't finish in last place this year. They may even climb past the Rays into third.

NB, I like Johnny Damon and what he brings to the table, but do you really think even if the O's offered him 7 mil, he would come here? I think he would be a great DH for this team plus he is a great clubhouse guy, but I feel like he might wait till a playoff contender comes calling even if that means he would miss the beginning of the season because I doubt he would go from being a World Series Champ to playing for any team that doesn't have a shot of being in the playoffs. I would love it if he signed, as man what a lineup the O's would have!

NB and BL Todd,

This is an interesting development. I really thought Cashman was just playing hardball to get Damon's price down. Now, Damon is almost out of suitors.

I gotta tell you, I love the idea of Damon at DH. But only DH. He would have to be willing to not play in left at all. He has the worst arm I've ever seen. seriously.

If he's willing to give up playing in the field, he would be an amazing #2 hitter for us.

Furthermore, I don't think the playoff team is an issue. He's already got 2 rings. He's not dying for that one last chance at a ring. He wants to go somewhere for a year and prove that he can still rake. We might be able to give him just that. Plus I can see him wanting to come here to stick it to the Yanks for so unceremoniously throwing him out after such a good season.

And, if we want, we can trade him mid way if we want to get more AB's for Pie. I like it.

Todd -

The only other team that I can see in the hunt for Damon is the Braves, and they don't seem to have the funds to offer him any more than $5M.

If that's the case, I do believe he would come to Baltimore for $7M, as he would have a much better chance of scoring a two or three year deal in 2011 if he can establish himself as a DH/part time outfielder.

Playing in Atlanta would continue to expose his weaknesses in the outfield and Turner Field is not a very good environment for hitters.

OPACY is a great hitter's park and in addition to splitting time between DH and LF, Damon would get a chance to stick it to the Yankees 18 times.

Unfortunately, Andy's not even going to consider Damon because he's already got Reimold and Pie. But what have Reimold and Pie done? What if Reimold's not 100%? What if Pie turns out to be completely worthless, as he's been over the course of his big league career, excluding a nice June and a great August last season?

Once again, prove me wrong, Andy!

NB,

MLBTR says that the Rays are in the game as well. Again, I have to question whether they're willing to spend the money.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/01/yankees-not-having-any-discussions-on-damon.html

Gotta love Wayne. He makes a prediction that is wrong before he even makes it. Since the Orioles were not the bottom team in payroll last year, how can they continue to be the bottom team in payroll going forward? He could have said near the bottom, he could have said bottom third, he could have said bottom 5, but no, he has to stick to his bombastic, self impressed, negativism so making a grandstand statement is more important to him than being . . . you know . . . accurate.

Sarfate it is. From where I sit (i.e., with no information that isn't public, and only some that is...) that doesn't make any sense.

Wayne,
Even if we only finish with 71 wins, I can't see the Blue Jays doing better than the Orioles in the standings. I still think we'll be better than 71 this year however.

For those on the blog who missed the lumberjack references (those lacking in a proper education) here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZa26_esLBE&feature=related

OK, not to sound like Wayne or anything, but I really see no reason why the O's don't throw 6 or 7 mil at Damon and get him here to DH. He would make Scott trade bait, would add a winner to the clubhouse, and could be traded at the deadline if we are out of it, or get the right deal from a contender. The only thing they have to lose is money. I would have to imagine that at his age he would rather play outfield (to give Reimold the occasional break) on natural grass than go playon the turf in that dump down in Tampa. I would not consider this a "missing piece" move, but one that could help not only in terms of the line-up, but in the veteran leadership department as well. Don't get me wrong, I like Luke Scott, but he'll be 32 this year and there were several players available in free agency that were better or on par with him that we could have signed if need be. Package him and a pitching prospect for a close to MLB ready prospect @ SS.
Don't know if that can happen, but worth a shot.

There's a lot of discussion/speculation about how many wins the O's will have/are they headed in the right direction etc..
I've followed the O's since the early 60's so I've seen the good.bad and ugly. The common denominator of the good Orioles teams, especially in the 70's, was our solid starting pitching. To remininsce, we even had 4-20 game winners in a season and certainly, there was usually 4 and sometimes 5 decent starters in those rotations.
I know the game has changed in that it's become more specialized and starters are lucky to go 6-7 innings but still, pitching is key. That's why I feel the O's are finally getting to the point of respectability, soon be to followed by becoming serious contenders.
Look at our starting situation-Tillman, Mateuz, Bergesen, and waiting in the wings-Arieta, Hernandez with a couple of vets-Millwood & Guthrie...Flashback to the days of Drabek, Chen, Ortiz, Sir Sid and better days are ahead.
The approach before was to assemble a rotation with guys who seen better days, castoffs, etc. The pen became a dumping zone/tryout camp too..kind of like playing Russian Roulette!
For the first time in recent years, the O's are releasing guys rather then sending them back out.
I'm not saying our offense is going to remind anyone of the '27 Yankees but there are some decent hitters.
It seems like the O's are finally giving us some hope. Yet many here only see the dark side of things and will criticize every move made, to the point where it is boring and predictable.

Maybe Damon would play in Baltimore if we give him 6 million AND tell him he can grow his hair back.

i guess no team wants to see johnny with a glove on or a bat in his hand outside of yankee stadium
he probably should have taken a 1 yr 7m from the yanks and hit 28 more hrs with that well-tuned swing

Not Brooks,

I welcome the cameo. I was talking about Damon about a month ago as a guy who'd probably still be available late in the game. I still think he'd be a good fit, but I don't think there are many trade partners out there to make room for him. I still think a signing like that would mean someone has to get traded and I'd at least hope they'd make a significant trade when it's time.

The one thing I see happening is that he signd in Tampa (since that's where he's living anyway). I'm not sure they want him, but it'd be another place that made sense.

On the other hand, maybe the deal get's too good to pass up if no one else is going after him.

Hey, I thought this blog was supposed to be about the O's, not wayne.

Yes go for Johnny
Trade Luke for 1 good prospect

Not Brooks, James C.,

NB, we know you were in physical therapy, the diagnosis Carpal Tunnel Syndrome for typing "Prove me Wrong Andy" all fall and winter. Glad to see you are back off the DL.

I have been intrigued by your suggestion about Damon since you brought it up. Maybe we are not thinking out of the box. The Orioles lineup is not that good that we could not find a way to get Damon into the #2 hole..

What are all of the possibilities if we decide to sign Damon and play him at Dh and LF?

Gil,

the one thing that i don't like about the possibility of Damon coming is that it would mean a drastic cut in AB's for Pie.

Luke Scott would be a DH / LF every once in a while. And, it would not be a disaster to have him out of the lineup every once in a while. I'm sure it will happen once a week if not more sometimes.

Damon on the other hand is a play every day kinda guy. He's generally extremely healthy and durable. And his bat is very very consistent. So, we're talking almost no time for Pie, if Reimold is gonna be our every day LF. Some people may like that. I would have mixed feelings about it.

On the other hand. Damon's fielding is atrocious. I cannot overstate this. His arm is the worst I've ever seen. Hands down. Gil, you were talking about you're kid throwing the ball at fan fest. You have to trust me when I say that your son has a better arm than Damon. He also has lost some speed in the outfield and always seems to take a bad angle on balls hit behind him. So, he would have to be a DH only. Unless there were multiple injuries in the outfield. in that case, i'd still take Montanez and Pie in the OF over Damon.

I'm not sure that he will be willing to go for a DH only role. but if he is, that means that there is zero role on this team for Luke Scott. And there's no way we'll be having a 4million dollar a year bench player. So, the question would be... what could we get in exchange for a package like Scott + Hernandez?

Pete said!

Sorry for the soft blog action today, but I'm over on the Eastern Shore studying to be a lumberjack. Had a large tree fall in the forest and no one was listening, but it made a lot more than a sound.
------------------------------
Pete - don't hurt yourself. Remember you are the mascot on Saturday. :)

Gil,

I'm thinking much the same as Enzo actually.

Although I'm not tied to Pie or Riemold either. That's why I think/thought the O's could make a pretty good package of guys for someone legitimate instead of trading troubles with someone. Even if they dumped all 3 (Scott, Pie, Riemold) they could bring up Montanez for a platoon or grab another OF from somewhere. We saw this winter that if there's ever an excess of FA's at a position it's OF.

All that being said, I don't see it happening since I can't see who'd want just Luke by himself. Even Luke and Hernandez wouldn't get much. I think it'd take Luke, Hernandez, Tillman or Bergesen and someone else to get someone really worthwhile.

Speaking of trades, while we're making bets around here, any wonders on whether the player we get when Wiggington is shipped out this summer will be named or not?

James and Enzo, I think there would still be a lot of AB's for Pie even if the O's signed Damon. I love Jones, but I don't see him as a guy who's going to play more than 130 games a year in CF because of the way he plays. Felix is still going to get time in LF as the 4th outfielder. I think you get the players and worry about how many AB's everyone will get later on. If the O's can sign Damn, do it! Damn can also play a little bit of 1B so the days you rest Dizzy, move Catkins to 3B, Muggy to SS and Damn to 1B. I think Damn would be making a huge mistake going to a NIL team because he needs to DH at this point in his career.

This whole Damon situation is certainly intriguing to say the least. The O's would have their most balanced lineup since the wire to wire season without a doubt. Do it Andy!

Pete,

I read the article, it effectively took all the wind out of my sails. Are you sure your name isn't David Steele? hahaha, just kidding. You are right, more or less, regarding the past anyways. It's very sad that we as fans, and even now in the press, have learned to take whatever excitement we are feeling about the team and suffocate it before the season even starts. Welp... I guess we'll all just have to expect the worst, even if for nothing else than to protect ourselves from another year of disappointment.

Johnny Damon???
I hope Mr. Macphail doesn't touch him.
How does it make any sense?
Luke Scott had similar numbers with over 100 less at bats. Sure, Luke finished horribly, but with the same amount af AB's as Damon you are probably looking at 30 homers and 100 rbi's. And he's 38? You all are kidding right?
Luke plays much better defense and he's like 8 years younger.
I'd much rather give at bats to Luke and Pie than a perhaps washed up Damon. The Yankees probably made a good baseball decision. Why do we want to make a bad one?
Damon? Pass
Our offense will be fine...It's all about the pitching which is why Andy won't even call about an old bad defensive outfielder who is NOT A POWER HITTER!

I get on a plane, fly half way across the country, glance at my laptop, do some work, glance at Pete's blog, then...wow!

So many warehousers saying so many things that i never said... So many mistruths, so many lies!

Damn all, I'm just a participant on these blogs. A participant who hates 12, going on 13 losing seasons. I'm just a participant who wants ownership to stop stealing from the fans by being nearly last in mlb payroll.

I'm just a participant who hates to lose at anything...... someone who despises the fact that the team he supports will AGAIN come in last place in 2010.

And for you who want to bet me that the O's will come in 4th instead. Huh? Would coming in 4th really be a 'win' for you all? 4th would make you happy?

Anyway..... The Orioles will lose again this year folks, and lose big. This will happen because the Plan is flawed. Remember, just because the team is in better shape than before, doesn't mean they will win.... they won't. Not until PA, JA and AM spend the kind of money needed to help the kids develop properly.

Now..... Tell the O's to go to work people! Pay less attention to me, and more time demanding a winner!

James C. Enzo, Birdland Todd,

I know it's a reach and Damon is not the kind of player that you can hide on our team defensively. Enzo, what you said is really funny because my next door neighbor who moved in from queens two years ago is a big time Yankees fan. He plays catch with my son and he told him last fall that he had a better arm than Johhny Damon!

Defense aside, I think we need more speed in the lineup and Damon was just a thought. He could add some pop and help to set up the rest of the order.

I am going to go down to sarasota next month and tie it in to business. I hate to admit it but I have not been to see the O's in Spring Training in almost 10 years, I used to go all the time.

I know a lot of people on the blog think that I don't want the Orioles to win. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sooner or later the team is going to have to spend some serious money on FA's and I am skepticlal that Angelos will do it in the new era. Am I wrong?.

Damon would come in and immediately teach the young guys about winning!

Sorry guys - That's just not part of the Plan!

What Wayne and the NAYHOUSERS forget,, is that baseball is not like football with its reasonably predictable draft, its balanced schedule, its salary cap. Baseball isn't like basketball, in which one true super superstar can virtually turn a franchise around by himself (see: James, LeBron) or Bryant, Kobe). It isn't like hockey - thank God. Quick turnarounds are very, very rare in baseball. It's too democratic, in both the general and political senses of that word. Even Babe Ruth only gets to bat once out of every nine guys who trot to the plate. Even Cy Young can only pitch every 4th (or, now, 5th) day. Even Brooks Robinson can only affect the plays in which the ball is hit to him.

Baseball is a game of patience, in a given at bat, a given inning, a given game, a given season, and over a group of seasons.

I hate losing, too, but I love the Orioles. I actually think I love the O's MORE than I hate losing. As a real fan, I have stuck with the franchise since its inception in 1954 (I was all of 6), and I expect to be around when another WS Championship banner flies in Crabtown. And that will be sooner, rather than later.

fellas, johnny damon couldn't get 7m from the Yanks, a team with more money than you know who, and you want the O's to pony up 7m so he can help them to 3rd or 4th place. The Yanks thought so much of him and Matsui that they dumped them both, and Cabrera- and now have Gardner, Granderson, and Swisher as their starting outfield, with Nick Johnson as the DH. What if your Orioles trotted those 4 out there every night? Think about it??

I mean, will someone get the list of players that are left in free agency and we can review each one and make a case for why each one is better than what the O's have...

now it's johnny damon---he hit after Jeter, and in front of tex, who hit in front of Arod.
you think that helped him any??

someone tell me why no one has signed johnny damon yet...

here's an idea- the O's send reimold packing to the angels for matsui, and get damon and send jones down to AAA to work on his swing. then they'll have 13m invested in those 2, have a few winners who could teach the guys about winning, and jump up to about 75-80m in salary.
How's that sound?

if they sign damon, i might have to join wayne in his rants on why they didn't make a huge play for figgins.

B Rob
A Jones
N Markakis
M Tejada
L Scott
N Reimold
M Weiters
G Atkins
C Izturis

Balanced. Lots a solid contact, potential for power up and down, this is a lineup that genuinely gets me excited. To "you know where" w all you cynics!
Baby Birds Blow Up This Year! Finish 3rd, just nudging out TBay, 81 wins to their 80.

I am still hoping to see bedard back with the orioles to give a try at his potential..

jim66,

Damon was just a thought, since I feel that the Orioles have a lineup of mostly piano carriers and need a little more team speed.

What would be your suggestion to get over 100 stolen bases as a team this year? They stole nearly 50 bases less than the Yankees and Red Sox and 100 less than Tamba Bay last year.

Hi Gil, Damon stole 12 bases last year, the lowest of his career. He probably did more damage adjusting his swing and smacking 24 hrs. I'm a nut case who thinks that at the end of the day, or year,the stolen base is overrated.Well, unless you're Brock or Henderson...you get my point.
50 stolen bases , 1 every 3 games. Not such a big deal. 100+ less homers. Big deal.
5+ ERA. Big bad deal.
Most times I look at teams,players and money this way:
If I'm the Orioles, and I have to spend 7m on anything, is it gonna be towards some pitching. Or I might need the money if I pull the trigger on a big bat. Or am I going to bring in someone who is pretty much what I have if I put a developing player with serious upside like Jones who costs me a tenth as much in the 2 hole?
Isn't that part of what goes into building a team, and I'll get crucified for this, getting
things right for the long haul?

Damon is an ok player, and a good baserunner,but for the bucks and what the O's already have,what's the point?

Cheers, Jim

Wayne said
Now..... Tell the O's to go to work people! Pay less attention to me, and more time demanding a winner!
~~~~

Reading this blog without paying attention to you is like watching a porn video and ignoring Ron Jeremy . . . You just cant ignore the biggest d**k in the room.

jim66,

I am in no way advocating spending 7mm on Damon, this started as a hypothetical argument, although you did raise an issue that I disagree with. A team like the Orioles with a low OBP and no 30+ Home Run bat in the lineup is going to have to manufacture runs. Stolen bases are part of that. The Orioles had only 76 last year. Why do the Yankees and Red sox steal 50 more bases than the Orioles a year with all of that power in the lineup? Because they can and the Orioles can't. The Orioles don't have the type of lineup to play station to station baseball and wait for someone to hit a 3 run home run.

That being said, I went to too many games last year where Trembley put on the run and hit and ran us right out of the inning.

Earl weaver agrees with you and thought that the sacrifice and stolen base was overrated. But you know why, and the present team does not have that type of power.

jim -

No one has signed Damon yet because Scott Boras completely overplayed his hand with Damon. Damon and Boras were looking for $10M+ per year on a multi year deal. Not a very good price for a 36-year-old. But 1/$7 is a damn good price.

Moving on...

Jones has a .320ish OBP as an Oriole. Sure, he's developing, but at this point, he's better suited to hit fifth, as his power game is much more developed than his patience.

Damon's got a .360ish OBP over the last five years. While his 24 homers last season were absolutely a New Yankee Stadium induced fluke, he's still got a little bit of pop and could easily hit 15 homers playing half of his games in OPACY.

Damon's a textbook #2 hitter. And the Orioles don't have one of those. Why not spend $7M for one season to vastly improve the offense?

And to settle the "we don't need him, we've already got so & so" crowd, since when was it a bad thing to have too many good players?

One more thing: The Yankees offered Damon 2 years, $7M and Boras turned it down. The Yanks didn't exactly "dump" Damon. They just didn't want to pay him the $10M that Boras was asking for.

I am also against Damon. He does not fill a hole so he merely sets back the progress of one of our young outfielders, presumably Nolan. I am not convinced that signing Damon does anything to improve the team this year over just starting Nolan and Nolan certainly adds more to us going forward past this year.

I totally understand signing one year rentals to fill a hole or to give a prospect time to develop. I do not believe that violates "the plan". But signing a one year rental that sits a Reimold down after he has proven he is ready to contribute at the major league level is counterproductive IMO.There is too much short term micro analysis and fantasy GM type of thinking here. Even if Damon adds five wins to our season, it is not the right thing to do for us organizationally.

Horseshoe -

How does signing Damon block Reimold?

1. Sign Damon
2. Trade Scott
3. Damn and Reimold split time at LF/DH
4. Pie is the 4th outfielder

Willing to trade 25 hrs for a #2 hitter who'll cost you 3m more for one year. Who cannot play the outfield.
Hmmm, if you're willing to trade Scott, maybe make a better deal than paying for Damon and package Scott and somebody else and see what you can get.
That reasonable?

Sounds good to me, jim, but I don't think Scott has a whole lot of trade value.

At 32, he is what he is: an incredibly streaky hitter who doesn't hit lefties all that well and isn't much of a factor in the outfield or at first base. If he was 26 or 27, I'd be much more excited about the possibility of the guy breaking his trend of hitting .210 two or three months out of the season. But he's not going to do that, and this team can't afford a month or two of automatic outs from it's #5 or 6 hitter.

I'd expect that Scott could be traded for a good bullpen arm or a couple of prospects, but I highly doubt he would net much more than that.

Either way, you bet I'm willing to trade 25 homers for a #2 hitter. As someone else mentioned earlier (I believe it was Gil), the lack of a powerful middle of the order means that, in order to win ballgames, this team is going to need to manufacture runs. A 1-2-3 of Roberts, Damon and Markakis would go a long way in that respect.

Horseshoe -

How does signing Damon block Reimold?

1. Sign Damon
2. Trade Scott
3. Damn and Reimold split time at LF/DH
4. Pie is the 4th outfielder
~~~~~~~~~~~
first if Damon and Nolan are splitting time as the starting LF, doesn't that make Pie the 5th OF? Nitpicking on that so forgive me. IMO Nolan is further advanced as a hitter than LF, largely because he was a RF most of his minor league career if I recall correctly. So having him DH half the time is retarding his advancement as a LF. Additionally, are you willing to just dump Scott for a bucket of bolts? I don't know what his value is on the trade market but feel it would be limited to a mid level prospect or semi useful spare part. So in addition to retarding Reimold's advancement, you force a trade of Scott for a return likely less useful than he is as a DH. This would make signing Damon LESS attractive in my eyes, not more attractive. Again, I question whether he makes us better in 2010 than just playing Reimold and Scott and definitely feel that his signing does nothing for us after 2010.

NB, well said!

If the O's were able to get some BP help for Scott or perhaps a prospect, Damon would basically cost the O's 3 mil because Luke makes 4 mil. I don't know if people hate Damon because of his ties to the Sox or Yanks, but the guy is a winner.

I don't know if people hate Damon because of his ties to the Sox or Yanks, but the guy is a winner.

Posted by: Birdland Todd
~~~~~~~~~~
You can turn that around. Maybe he is a winner simply because he played for those two teams???

Horseshoe -

I probably should have elaborated...

I would have Damon and Reimold split time in left until it's clear that Reimold's achilles is 100%.

Then, you put Reimold in left full time, with Damon at DH, making Pie the 4th outfielder.

Either that or you could just have Damon start the season as the full time DH and have Pie and Reimold split time in left, but then you lost Reimold's bat when Pie's playing.

I guess I'm just not that big of a Luke Scott fan. He's got pop, that's for sure. But there are far too many holes in his swing for him to be a full time player. As it stands, Scott should be a part time player and he should certainly sit against most lefties as well as guys with dominant breaking stuff.

Lucky, we could devalue just about any player and say if he didn't play with the type of telnet that he played with, he wouldn't be that good. Damon is a good player and has been his whole career.

I also wanted to make it clear that I am not saying Damon and Reimold should split LF because Damon should strictly be a DH at this stage of his career.

Looking back at last season, the O's lost so many games by 1 or 2 runs that I truly believe if they didn't have so many easy out guys like Luke, Wiggy and Izzy, the team would have put up a lot more W's.

I know Luke can hit 25+ HRs, but when he is cold, he is terrible and swings at everything. I don't see how at his age that he is going to become a different type of hitter.

Damon played some 1b at the end of 2008 too

He could be insurance in case Atkins' 2010 is the same as Atkins' 2009 ..226 9 48 .650ops

BTW, we couldve signed pretty much any combo of 1 of Holliday or Bay AND 1 of Lackey or Sheets and still had a payroll aprrox the same as we did in 2007, but hey, they did raise ticket prices for us. Even if we got the most expensive combo, it would only be an increase of around 7% compared to 2007

We'd even have legit aces and legit clean-up hitters. We might even have a legit chance to compete rather than the silly goal of 4th place or better than the previous yr's lousy 64 wins team

The outhousers are glad we didnt spend the money though.They like their baseball team CHEAP

"To give him (Trembley) every chance going forward and to win as many games as we can and show meaningful improvement in the standings, which I think we need to do starting in 2010, it's our job in the front office -- mine specifically and in particular -- to augment, to give him as much help as we possibly can going towards that goal." Andy MacPhail 10/03/09

hey, i don't hate Damon. He's a decent offensive player. He cannot play the outfield any longer. Let's face it, playing in the Yankee lineup,and then in that new park, didn't hurt a guy like that. I live in CT, so I get to watch a lot of the Yanks and Sox. I don't hate either one of those teams. Until recently, the Orioles have been their own worst enemy.
I just think that adding the guy for one year does nothing for the long term prospects of the org. If the team were that close to making a run, hey, maybe a flyer on the guy gets you there.
I think it's funny that the year after a championship, the Yanks decide they need to tighten their belt. Just like on here, the fans want to know what the big deal is over 6m bucks or so(2 yr 14 or 20)...

the Texas Rangers spent 1m more than the O's last yr, and won 87 games with a nice group of mostly home grown position players,a flyer on Hamilton that worked out, and the emergence of some young arms along with some imported arms.Maybe we can talk about how they did that so cheaply.

Thanks for the respective clarifications. I still dont think Damon is an improvement. And that is without even getting into what kind of attitude he will have coming to a young, losing team in his latter years after playing on vet laden contenders for so long.

Also while I don't disagree with everything you say about Luke, I can't shake the feeling he has that one monster year in him, much like Brady or Dave Johnson, 45 HRs and 125 RBI. Do we hold on to him on that longshot hope? Probably not but we will all groan if he has it for someone else.

The Orioles can spend much more and still make a profit. They choose higher profits, I prefer winning. Im sick and tired of the losing. Im sick and tired of shopping at goodwill with untold and unspent millions. The Os ahve about 300 million left on the table that they've been "saving for the right player" the past 10 yrs

A winning player is nothing more than a player on a winning team. A losing player is a guy who played on a losing team that year. Baseball is so elementary, and people want to make it so complicated. Teams with the most ability will wind up as winners. Those without the talent will get beaten.

- Earl Weaver

Horseshoe -

Scott's got the raw power to hit 35-40 home runs without a doubt. But unless pitchers start grooving him belt high fastballs all year, I doubt that's going to happen.

Fun Fact: Excluding Scott's May of Mashing, the guy hit .240 with 17 home runs and 59 rbi in 2009

In 2008, he combined to hit .329 with 12 home runs and 25 rbi in June and August, but in the other four months of the season, he hit .218 with 12 home runs and 40 rbi.

Damon in the #2 hole makes the lineup better...period. I'm still not sold on Pie. Didn't he get his average up around .280 then end up in teh .268 range? He had a nice hot streak, but his obp is crap. The Os were 2nd in the AL hitting with RISP. Problem is, they were tied for 10th in # of at bats with RISP. Damon increases that # and if the Os are #2 in ave with RISP, they win a lot more close games. I understand the reasons to NOT sign him, I just want to see the best possible team on the field opening day even if that means limiting Pie's ABs. If the guy proves me wrong (respectfully NB) AWESOME!

Gotta friend here in FLA who is best friends with JD's brohter and says he pissed about boras screwing up the yankees deal.

Unreal, all this banter on here about Johnny gimp along Damon. He's one more hamstring pull from the trash heap! Have ya'll lost your minds? Don't answer that, your posts already have detailed the answer for me quite well. 1st and foremost, w Tejada back in the fold and the addition of Atkins, Adam Jones will get back in his number 2 slot and continue to light up fastballs on his way to another All-Star appearance. Number 2 slot is his, he's earned it, and he ain't ready for the 3 hole, which is Nick Markakis's slot who ain't ready, nor designed for the 4 hole. I imagine the 4 hole will rotate Miggy, Atkins, and Scott depending on matchups and how Atkins rebounds. BRob has the top slot, Weiters's 2nd half indicates his .300 capabilities so he and Reimold will vie for the 5th and 6th slots, so really, ya'll want to sign Damon for what ? the 7th or 8th slot? while putting Reimold or Scott on the bench? Not realisitic, not gonna happen. Damon wouldn't want it, and we don't need him. Offense was not the downfall last yr, as someone actually pointed out. O's are moving w prudence and a plan, finally, and I for one, appreciate AM's jurisprudence to this point.

Sizemo, I like the way you looked at it and agree. While I'm not as high on Scott as some because of his straky nature and the disaster he was the last 3 months of last year, he's a better fit than Damon, who would not be willing to bat in the 7 or 8 hole and isn't capable of matching his previous success in the 2 hole because of his legs. Why did the Yanks let him go? Because they see what you see Sizemo.

Sizemo -

Damon's started 140+ games every year since 1996.

Sure, he'll miss a game or two here and there, but, aside from the exceptions that there are to every rule, name me a 35-year-old who doesn't.

And how did Adam Jones earn the #2 spot? First off, he hasn't been able to stay on the field. Second, he's got a .323 OBP as an Oriole, topping out at .335 last season. Third, as evidenced by his low OBP, his patience is the part of his game that needs the most work. Fourth, his power is the most developed part of his game.

As it stands, Jones probably will end up in the two hole, but he certainly doesn't belong there.

The O's should sign Damon, and the line up should look more or less like this:

1. Roberts, 2b
2. Damon, dh
3. Markakis, rf
4. Tejada, 3b
5. Jones, cf
6. Reimold, lf
7. Wieters, c
8. Atkins, 1b
9. Izturis, ss

Pete...

do not become a lumberjack!!! 200th worst job in the US!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123119236117055127.html