Pete- more a comment about the Guthrie article than the blog. Read your thoughts with a bit of head-shaking. Primarily, I'm surprised by this notion that someone's "at fault" for hard-luck pitching. Your mark Connor quote seems to put the blame, so to speak, on Guthrie himself, suggesting that a pitcher has to be responsible for whether or not there are wins in the W-L column next to his name. A spectacularly ridiculous notion. A pitcher is responsible for his performances pitch by pitch and inning by inning and NOT by the offensive performance in his team. If the way we perceive the pitcher's stats is skewed to weigh in favor of won/loss than by ERA and quality starts, that's a perception problem only. There isn't anyone who follows the O's that doesn't appreciate Guthrie's worth based on his performance, and his consistency AND the fact that he has remained a work-horse, largely injury free.

As Buck says over and over again: you can only control the things you can control.

Also, these things tend to even out over time and his lack of run support in the first half may turn into the opposite in the second half.

I hope you're intent wasn't to say that, because Guthrie isn't a "winning" O's pitcher, he oughta be traded away for prospects. Such a move would have a huge domino affect on the rest of the staff, thin as it currently is, and bullpen, ditto. That we were able to weather the Matusz injury and remain at 500 is something that never would happen if Guthrie were traded away.

And it's not as though 2012 is his walk year, is it?

But then if a club came calling desparate for a front line pitcher and made the O's an offer for a cornerstone position player and gold-plated prospects, I'm sure AM would be happy to pick up the phone. But I don;t see the O's getting a Halladay-type haul for Jeremy Guthrie.

As for Guthrie's "best interests," i.e. his reaching his potential with a better or contending team or team not in the brutal AL East, really? (and by "potential" you mean the simple stat of the W-L record) Is that a business or baseball argument? We should feel bad for him for his rotten luck and be willing to make it up to him by sending him somewhere where he can be more "successful?"

What was the number you mentioned for him next year? $7 million? Even at $12 million, for one year, who are the O's gonna pick up that has his consistency and numbers and health and intangibles to replace him? Kevin Millwood?

Question: how many no-decision starts has Guthrie pitched this year where the O's actually won? And how many were they winning before he was taken out that the bullpen frittered away?

Finally, on the personal and emotional argument, Guthrie, having held the torch through the garbage years, may actually want to stick around for the turn-around years and beyond.

No, unless some huge franchise changing all-star player is dangled in a trade (and does anyone believe that will happen?) you can't just trade away your best quality and "hope" some prospect will come along AND REMAIN HEALTHY to take his place.

Here's to 500 tonite, run support for Guts, and a change of fortune in his all-important W-L record.

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I believe in luck when you're talking about one season or a certain span of games. We're talking about 4 1/2 years and he's got a lower winning percentage than the team.

if the orioles want to trade gughtie when july 31st comes,lets hope it is not in the american league. to me they have not made very good decisions for several years. as for kevin gregg not being worried about all the walks he gives up, someone had better start worring about them.

if the orioles want to trade gughtie when july 31st comes,lets hope it is not in the american league. to me they have not made very good decisions for several years. as for kevin gregg not being worried about all the walks he gives up, someone had better start worring about them.