Short of the Yankees, Sox and Phillies, most teams do grow there own pitchers. The Rays, Rangers, Pirates, Reds etal all did it that way. Basically, AM's plan is like theirs but he just didn't do as good a job as they did in getting and developing the propsects.

Very few high priced FA pitchers earn their money over the life of the contract. Most of them crap out after the first 2 years of a long deal. CC is definitely an exception to the rule. AJ is not. Not that the O's shouldn't do something fairly significant but those deals are rarely the panacea that the teams hope for.

BTW, long term hitter deals also tend to be a burden after the first few years but they seem to "work" more than the pticher deals.

I'd like to know the difference between the training regimen of O's pitchers, from lowest minor league team to the big club, now as compared to the team's glory years (besides the obvious pitching every fifth day vs. every fourth day.) Pitchers are babied more these days with regard to pitches and innings, but that's true all over baseball. What about building leg and arm strength?

Pete, it's amzaing that you have been bringing all these problems up now. My question to you WHAT HAS TAKEN SO LONG.???

Heh Pete:
Since you question whether O's shd trade Guthrie, Koji et al for prospects, why not do a piece on the complete failure of our mid-season trades?? We've been dumping vets mid-season for 12+ years now & have absolutley NOTHING to show for it - NO one on current ML roster, NO top prospects (pls don't say Josh Bell!!). With yet another dismal season I'd have NO problem with anyone being up for trade -- but we seriously have to question WHY we never get anything in return. Is our minor league scouting that inept OR were these trades actually disguised salary dumps? Would be an interesting article as we've moved some decent players (Conine, Sherrill, Tejeda, Hupp etc) with NOTHING to show for it.

Pete,

If you are right(Timing is everything) then maybe all is not yet lost this season. The team could still set a realistic goal of playing .500 ball from the time Buck took the helm of the team in August of 2010 until the end of this season. Still time to convince the skipper and management that this is a winning team.

I understand that we need pitching, but we also need to take advantage of trade situations that arise. Im reading everywhere that the cardinals want Guthrie. They also are talking about trading colby rasmus to the white sox for Edwin Jackson and Matt Thorton. We should offer Koji and Jeremy for Rasmus. This would give us another young bat. Even though our pitching has been horrible-I dont see alot of offense either.

Pete- How ironic that two individuals from the last success the Orioles had, and were driven out by Peter Angelos, entered the Hall of Fame together.

Peter. Can't disagree with you on the shortage of starting pitching but the Orioles are pretty weak in many areas.
When you analyze the team objectively, we really only have solid players in 2 OF spots and at SS and catcher. Our only dependable relievers are Koji and JJ and in the rotation, I'd say that right now, Guthrie and Arieta might be 4 or 5 guys at best on any half decent team.
Beyond that our roster is filled with mediocre players like the Andinos, Lees, Scott etc, not to mention the horrible pitchers like Gonzalez/Jakubasus/Hendrickson who aren't even AAA calibre.
So once again, there is almost a complete rebuild in order so adding another starter is kind of like throwing a coat of paint on a rotting/falling down house!

The Orioles are having such serious problems with the starting rotation that they may need to pull an usher out of the stands to pitch against the Yankees this weekend. They need a veteran starter, but the free agent market looks thin and they don't have the minor league depth to trade for one. Yet Guthrie is on the trading block?? I hope not! I can't remember the last time a midseason trade gave the Orioles any players who contributed at the major league level. They keep trading veterans and getting minor league "propects" who never pan out. They should keep Guthrie (and Koji) and try to win some games for a change!

I am cheered up! Thank you for that. Any chance we will see Bobby Bundy in Baltimore come September? He is only 21 and he is playing A ball at the moment but looks like he has a chance to be the real deal.

Thanks for the downer of a note, Pete, but I guess we need a bit of rain to cut the heat. I agree with your point that we will need to buy some arms to go with the ones we are growing (reed-thin as they seem at the moment). The problem is not just that the free-agent market is thin; it is also that this franchise has consistently failed to be able to identify pitching talent, either starters or relievers. Buck Showalter for GM! Hey, at least its a change!

I would hate to see Guthrie go in a trade because he seems a class act and the O's best starter for the last few seasons. However, if Andy can loot someones minor league system in return I would approve. The problem is they are flat out of pitching the way it stands. Maybe Buck is thinking if Guthrie goes, JJ steps in rotation. If Koji goes, JJ stays put. If Guthrie and Koji go, I will call this season done and move on to football.

Nice column Pete,

Been Joe orsalak said 'it's not true' when he heard the replay of Andy saying pitchers don't want to come here because it's the AL East. And Andy actually gets some people to believe this bs.

it's not about the Yankees and red sox Pete. This team is 9 games behind Toronto. This has been true each tear Andy has been here. What size market is Toronto? Anyone want to guess? Anyone want to guess where their cable deal ranks compared to the orioles.

Originally, I thought Andy was a good guy. Now though, I believe he lies to the fans at every turn. Either that, or he things we're all as stupid as the fans who kiss his you know what at the park.

We are again the worst team in the AL. And this hardly seems to bother anyone.

And to top it all off..... There is no light at the end of this very dark tunnel. People are actually walking around town with PIRATE hats Pete....... If that isn't rock bottom, I can't imagine what is