At first I was excited. I thought it was a hostage video.

At one time i thought that Erick Bedaard was a sure fire CY Young type of a pitcher. Because of his injury prone years he is probably less than that. However, he is still an excellent lefty to have on the staff. Much better than anything we presently have . I don"t understand not trying to sign him.

Can you imagine a die hard Oriole fan in a coma for 12 years suddenly waking up, checking the Orioles performance since 1998 and then watching this riveting video of the Orioles major offseason moves?

"Nurse, can you just go ahead and pull the plug?"

Great video Pete. Between that and the raised walk-up prices, I'm ready to buy an 81-game season ticket package!

Reading about Curt Motton should remind us all of what it takes to develop a winning club.

If you look back at the 50's, the O's were around .400. Then Paul Richards got them to just under .500 during a time when the younger O's were starting to come of age.

Hank Bauer and Earl took them to the high .500 and sometimes .600 as more talent, like Motton, was added.

In each case, the new manager took the team to a better record in Year 2 of his management. The last manager to do that for the O's was Davey Johnson.

The point is the O's record improved over time with talent and a good manager. The talent is here now, so it's time the O's start delivering on 'the plan'. I think most of us would be fine with a .500 record this season, and no excuses as to why they couldn't.

stan hyatt, I agree that Erik Bedard could still be an excellent addition to the Orioles, but it's not a question of them being unwilling to sign him, just them wanting to know if and when he'll be ready to pitch this year.

No, the O's have a definite interest and maybe strong interest in bringing back Bedard. Andy MacPhail has already gotten a copy of his medical records, if that tells you anything.

The sticking point is how long Bedard is going to take to be ready to pitch in the majors again. It's now less than a month from when pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota, and to date there has no report to my knowledge that Bedard's even begun throwing again, much less from a mound.

The Orioles would definitely be interested in getting him back , but would want him to be available probably no later than sometime in May. Right now that's beginning to look iffy.

Agree, agree, agree with the above Bedard comments. I like the guy, I'd love to see him back here, etc., BUT: Given that the main reason we're suppose to be drinking the Kool-Aid is because of our young, developing talent, why would we bring in a guy who's projected to help us later in the season? Sentiment aside, I say let's not sign any starter who's not going to take the ball in early April, and every fifth day after that. If things go according to fantasy, a starter coming online mid-season would only complicate the logjam of minor-leaguers who've earned their shot.

Oriole Shills anyone?

Cowherd does get major props for showing displeasure over raising ticket pricing the other day.... Surprised he still has a gig, although it is only Saturday.... I wouldn't want to be him at FanFarce today when the O's give him the cold shoulder...... May get ugly!

Thanks for the good work. You are my main source for whats going on. Living in NC is great except for all the Braves fans telling me how sorry they are for me when I wear my Orioles warm up. Some days I'm patient and say All these young guys are going to be good. Other days I'm tempted to pull my hair out cuz we're probably going to lose 90+ games this year because we didn't sign a proven BIG bat at first and a stud ace pitcher. Do those shirts help you to maintain balanced emotions?

This was actually a pretty good piece.....

Because this is what you do though guys, I felt bad that you have to talk about yet another bad team.

You can see it in your faces. It's painful talking about the offseason, and it's painful knowing they've made up zero ground in the division.

While you didn't come right out and say they stink, you went as far as you could, for now.

Hopefully, sometime in the future, they'll give you something that allows for proud content.