New Prospect List

Oriole Think Tank has added a top prospect page. Check it out Hopefully, we'll be seeing some of these guys finding success in Baltimore soon.

Mash Unit

It's been a rough weekend for the O's The O's are hurting Miguel Tejada has a "balky left hamstring" Brian Roberts is on the 15 day DL with a strained left groin Kevin Millar got hit in the wrist with a pitch and is day to day Javy Lopez is day to day with back spasms Of course, with all this pain and misery, substitutions have had to been made. *Corey Patterson is the new lead off hitter. This didn't work in Chicago, probably won't work here...but who else can we bat lead off? Once Roberts gets back, he'll be back to lead off and Patterson can drop back in the order. *Brandon Fahey is our temp 2nd baseman. Here's his season numbers from Ottawa *Tejada may be doing some more DHing It's going to be a tough couple of weeks. The bench is very thin without Millar and Lopez. We can only hope for some strong pitching, those who are healthy to stay so and hit, and those who are hurting to get well soon. It's depressing that all this hit at once. Saturday was a grim day, but it started out good. Corey Patterson hit a 3 run homer, that was a MONSTER shot...to put the Orioles up 4-0. Then our friend Jim Brower comes in and gives up the game. I feel bad for Brower because it's not like he's trying to give up walks, throw wild pitches, give up runs....but if he's struggling, then I have more of a problem with Perlozzo putting him in at crucial point in the game. Why not put him in during a blow out win or loss. It's frustrating whenever I see him warming up. I feel bad for the guy, but he has a job to do and he's not doing it. Of course, I can trash Brower for blowing that game or you can look to the fact that Orioles had the bases loaded 3 times, maybe 4 and only got 1 run out it. So if the O's could cash in a couple of runs, then the damage Brower caused wouldn't have mattered. So we got Toronto for a two game set Monday. Ted Lily pitches Monday and last week the O's couldn't really get to him. 5.0 6 2 2 1 2 3 92-59 6-6

Corey Patterson

Last night marked the second straight 3 for 4 performance. During his mini-tear, his average has jumped from .156 to .275. Will this last? Patterson has great speed and defense, but he strikes out so much....is it worth it to keep him in the line up? I have noticed in the past two games that he hasn't been swinging on the first pitch. Which is a good sign. I like the bunting for singles. During last night's telecast, Buck Martinez said that if Patterson successly bunts one game a week, his average will be 50 points better at season's end. Here's Patterson's career numbers Games KO Avg. 153 142 .253 83 77 .298 157 168 .266 126 118 .215 If Patterson can go 2 for 4 consistantly and take some walks, then he'd be the every day Centerfielder no questions asked. But his hacking has made him a liability. Let's hope the past two games can become a habit and not a freak occurance. Daniel Cabrera had a good night. Baltimore IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Cabrera (W, 2-2) 7.0 4 2 2 1 6 1 5.68 If that home run ball had come Corey Patterson's way instead of Nick Markakis I think he would have made that catch and saved Cabrera the only two runs he gave up. Regardless, Cabrera had a good game. Going seven innings was huge. Even though Seattle isn't exactly a murderer's row of bats, He still shut them down. It's something to good to build off of. Rumor has it the Cubs have asked about Jeff Conine. I have my fingers crossed. I'm guessing once Luis Matos comes off the DL, Nick Markakis is going to get some quality time in Ottawa. G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OBP SLG AVG 20 57 8 10 0 0 2 4 16 7 15 0 0 .277 .281 .175 I think it'll do him some good. Last night he went 0 for 4 with 3 K's and did not look good. Naturally, he's going to have some bad games as a rookie. I understand that. But I think he's been a little rushed. Give him a lot of at bats in Ottawa and by the break, Trade Matos and let him play out the year. At the rate he's going now, his confidence will be in the toilet soon. He still has a lot to learn, like last night when him and Patterson were going for the fly and had Patterson not got out the way, there would have been a collison. The Left Fielder yields to Center. Rookie mistakes, yes. But I think a little time at AAA will do worlds of good for him. Welcome back Todd Williams! Goodbye Jim Brower? Bruce Chen gets the start against the Mariners today. It's huge for him today. If he gives up another 7 runs in 4 innings, or something like that....It would not be a good sign. But I'm hoping for the best and he can get that first win today.

.500

Back at .500.... This isn't completely unexpected. As much as I love the O's, there are holes on this team. The rotation is young and with a new pitching coach, results won't be seen right away. The offense is inconsistant. The bullpen is half young and half patchwork. The outfield is an issue *Before he got hurt, Matos has been a disappointment *Markakis may need alittle more time at AAA to get some at bats and to get the defense tweaked. He'll be good, but I think he got rushed a little and if you rush a player, well...look at Corey Patterson. *Corey Patterson? I love his speed and defense, but he's been a guaranteed out thus far at the plate. He needs more at bats though. *Jeff Conine...seeing him in left is not reassuring. *Newhan and Gibbons are the two who I've been happy with. Solutions for the outfield? Wait til Newhan comes back Give Patterson at bats and give him plenty of rope, so he can hang himself (hopefully he'll improve) Trade Matos for an arm in the pen. Luis Terrero, I have no idea. I've only seen him in two games. But I doubt he's the next Brady Anderson Bring up Markakis back up after the break. Carlos Lee. Trade for him and re-sign him or wait til he gets the market. That would solve left field and put a great bat in the offense. This season is going to require patience. We'll win some and then drop some. If things can go right, this team can be .500. But when you have Kevin Millar and Jeff Conine as every starters, that means you have little depth. That'll come back and hurt even more as the season progresses. The season is still young and there's plenty of ball left to be played, anything can happen. I do like the new batting order. B Roberts 2B M Mora 3B M Tejada SS 4 J Gibbons RF R Hernandez C J Lopez DH K Millar 1B (I could handle Conine starting here if he can keep up his "hot streak") J Conine LF *N Markakis L Terrero CF *C Patterson The * is indicating what I'd like tonight's line-up to look like. Mora is better in the 2 spot. Drop Conine towards the bottom and let him find his swing. I think we'll get a win tonight, but even if we don't, just remember Seattle's next and if Seattle out hits us, then it'll be time to call for Terry Crowley's head. I Suzuki RF .263 W Bloomquist CF .286 R Ibanez LF .315 R Sexson 1B .224 C Everett DH .232 K Johjima C .284 A Beltre 3B .175 J Lopez 2B .266 Y Betancourt SS .257 Delmon Young is an idiot. I hope he has to sit out the rest of season. Completely classless. The NFL Draft this is weekend. I don't have the patience or the 15 hours to spare Saturday to watch. Watching the draft is brutal. Here's hoping the Carolina Panthers can snag DeAngelo Williams or get some more help in the secondary.

Day at the Ballpark

Last year we got a new minor league team to replace the AA Greenville Braves, who left to Missisippi after a dispute with the city over a new ballpark. The old ballpark was a dump in the strongest sense of the word. They didn't get their park and left town, so last season the city got the Columbia Bombers up here and they played at the old dump. There were several teams wanting to come here, but the Bombers, a single A Red Sox team were here to stay. They got a new stadium built downtown. Parking is a bit of an issue. The name was changed...to the Greenville Drive, a salute to the auto industry. We have BMW and Michelin down here. It's a lame name, I could have dealt with the Green Sox or the Spinners (which was what the team was called back in the textile days) but the Drive, I'll end up dealing with it. They originally wanted to call them the Greenville Joes, after Greenville's own Shoeless Joe Jackson. Baseball did not allow it. The mascot is lame too, the Reedy Rip-it. The Reedy River runs through downtown. But a group of second graders designed it....and it's just minor league baseball. We had double A teams from the Cubs and I believe the Mets wanting to come to town. I would have preferred Double A baseball. The Met group wanted to built a park way out. I didn't like the idea of cramming a park downtown at first. But after today, I'm fine with it. Parking can be an issue, but that's the way it is. You can catch some Major Leaguers doing rehab assignments and the regular players have a good chance to play in the bigs. Like with the Greenville Braves, Chipper Jones played here awhile. You aren't going to see as much of that with single A ball. But I'll take it over nothing. Wednesday's noon game, so I went with my friend Chris. Parking wasn't an issue since it was a day game. The Drive was playing the Kannapolis Intimidators. It was my first time at the new park. I have to say I was impressed. They built the park to mimic Fenway. For 6 bucks and 50 cents I had a front row seat on the first base line. Perfect view. They have a mini-Green Monster with buildings behind it. It's go a real retro-feel for a minor league park. Here's what the stadium looks like Jackson's actually house is outside of the ballpark where it's being made into a muesuem. It's just a little rickety brick millhouse. Greenville won, Here's the actual game recap. It was a nice day to be at the park, minus the rain delay. For a single A team, the Drive's pitching was good. I think there was problem with the radar gun. There were pitches that went from 73 mph to 53 mph....I think the fastest pitch was at 83. I'll go to some games this summer. I'm always off Wednesdays, so I'll make it down to some day games. Though I thought about it and if the guys on this team pan out, one day I'll be booing them if they ever make it to Boston. It's nice to have a minor league team back in town.

Player of the Game

For Toronto: Jim Brower 1/3 inning pitched 3 Runs 3 Earned Runs 2 Walks and 11.45 ERA For the season... In 10 games and 11 innings 17 Hits 14 Runs, all earned 3 hit batters 11 walks and 8 K's I think it's time that the Orioles quit tormenting and release this guy. He's had two decent outings the last time, but after last night's game I've determined the Jim Brower is the equivalent of Russian Roulet. Only there's one good outing in the gun and the rest are bad bad outings. I don't have the same resentment towards Halama, but I definately want to see a lot less of him than I'm seeing now. It's ironic since I rambled about the bullpen yesterday.

"In New York, I felt good -- just a play away from an easy inning. Then this happened," said Brower, who has also had his share of struggles thus far. "The linescore's going to look real bad. I clearly didn't get the job done, but all I can do is make pitches and try to repeat. I just didn't repeat to Wells on the sixth pitch of the at-bat.

Sigh Rodrigo Lopez had an uneven performance. Much improved...yes. More work to yes. 107 pitches, 58 for strikes over 6 innings is a lot and 58 is a low number for that many pitches. Maybe he's having some growing pains with Mazzone's ways, maybe he's just struggling. Forunately, Lopez' next start comes against weak hitting the Seattle Mariners If he struggles Saturday, then I'll worry a little. Speaking of Seattle, Think they regret this signing now? I like the title of this movie. I would recommmend a sequel called "I hate Rich Garcia." Has Albert Pujols rattled Brad Lidge beyond repair?

The Bullpen and Big Money

The Post has a good article about Chris Ray's big Friday. We're really lucky that Ray looks to be the real deal. Imagine how things would look if he wasn't. That would make LaTroy Hawkins closer by default, and I don't care to see him in the ninth again. Not after the Angels game. Some times you're lucky and some times you're good, in this case I think the O's front office got lucky that a young player could handle being a big league closer without a lot of minor league experience. With Ray closing, Hawkins doing the 8th, Rleal, Williams, Parrish, and Parrish, the Brower of late, and Halama...the bullpen will be good. Not the best in the league, but it would be pretty solid. The bullpen has become a huge part of baseball. Complete games aren't as common anymore. Pitchers usually make it through the 7th. Maybe the 8th. There's set-up guys who'll through the 8th inning. The Closer pitches the ninth. There's your middle relief, who'll pitch the 6th and maybe some of the seventh if you're starter stinks that day. Then there's specialists, who'll just pitch to one righty just to get an out. I went to Baseball Reference.com and looked at some stats. Mariano Rivera made $10,500,000 last season for 78.3 innings worth of work BJ Ryan signed a 5 year 47 million deal pitched 70.3 innings Billy Wagner is making $10.5 million this season pitched 77.7 innings last season Jason Isringhausen made 7 mil for 59 innings Trevor Hoffman made 7 for 57.7 innings Keith Foulke 45.7 innings and 7.5 million Eric Gagne made 8 million, but he was injuried most of last season If I had the time, I would figure out how much that was per inning, but I have neither the time not the math skills. But it would be a lot. You've got starters who pitched 200 innings last season who didn't make that money. If a team has got a top closer in the pen who can get the three outs in the ninth and keep the bags clear, then you have to keep him. The O's tried to low ball Ryan last season and it could have backfired after got a huge deal with the Jays. There's several levels of closers The young generation- Chris Ray,John Papplebon, Huston Street The solid but unsung- Ryan Dempster, BJ Ryan, Brag Lidge The old- Tom Gordon, Jose Mesa, Bob Wickman Top Dogs- Wagner, Rivera, Hoffman *Gagne was...we'll see how he comes back. Though the O's pen isn't the best in the majors right now, I think when Williams and Parrish comes back it'll be better. Over the offseason this should be an top priority. The starting pitching can be top notch, but if the pen can't hold a lead, then it doesn't matter. Isn't it amazing how ESPN and the media has latched onto Papplebon? This kid is going to be a really good closer, but you'd think this kid is Rivera, Lee Smith, Gossage, and Sutter rolled into one. He'll definately be good, I'm not denying that, and I'm going to have really learn to hate him since I'm sure he'll be a Red Sox for a long time. This was from Buster Olney on Monday:

Daniel Cabrera has already issued 22 walks in his first 18.1 innings, but new Baltimore pitching coach Leo Mazzone spoke positively about Cabrera the other day. "I think he's doing fine," said Mazzone, who has talked to Cabrera about not dwelling on previous mistakes during games. Cabrera allowed one run in five innings to Tampa Bay on April 12, with nine walks and 10 strikeouts. After the game, Mazzone walked up to Cabrera and asked, "How many runs did you give up?" One, Cabrera replied. "I rest my case," said Mazzone. The Orioles are also pleased with the early showing of young closer Chris Ray. "He's got a mound presence that's above and beyond that of a first-year closer," said Mazzone.

Fans think MLB still hasn't gotten it right with steriods. The Giants and Rockies played some basebrawl Sunday. Maybe the next book I should read is "Omar!" by Omar Vizquel. Any book that anyone famous writes and uses their first name with an exclaimation mark is usually a book that I won't read. Besides, what really had Omar Vizquel done at that point or this point to require an autobiography? The Yanks want Clemens. I could see this happening....but I still say Houston has the inside track, especially with their strong start to season (which in my opinion, won't last). If he signs with the Yankees or Boston it would make me sick to my stomach. The O's get some love from John Donovan Rodrigo Lopez pitches tonight. Here's hoping that he gets things back on track and the O's get back into the win column.

Bonus Post

Here's a bonus post.... Bruce Chen's performance has been rough to watch thus far this season. 0-3 7.84 ERA 20.2 innings pitched 29 hits 20 runs 18 earned runs 8 homers 8 walks and 13 Ks Rodrigo Lopez's numbers are comparable to Chen's numbers 1 1 7.20 25.0 30 21 20 7 8 14 I'm not really concerned about Lopez. I think he's going to rebound in his next couple of starts. Chen does concern me however. The season is still young though. This is a contract year for Chen, so he has a couple million reasons to pitch hard. I still say give him some more starts. Let Hayden Penn and the other arms in the minors get some starts under their belts and if Chen keeps averaging 4 innings and an 8 spot for an ERA...then maybe the O's should think about sending Chen to the pen and bring up Hayden Penn. But I think it's way too early for this. Give him some time. Though I think he'd make a great middle relief/emergency starter if he does struggle. From the Washington Post: The Orioles have yet to be caught stealing in 15 attempts. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, no team had started a season with that many stolen bases since 1987, when the Chicago Cubs had 19 straight to begin the year. The San Diego Padres have also been successful on their first 15 attempts. Gonna get a little deep here. Had some baseball conversations this weekend and I thought they were worthwhile: Miguel Tejada is the player of the week As well he should be. I've had this discussion with two friends who are Cub fans. "Now that Derek Lee is out, do you wish had swapped Prior for Tejada, straight up?" Both said no. When healthy Prior's as good as any pitcher in the game and they place a priority on pitching. I generally agree. You don't trade good pitching. You lock them up and get your batting through the farm system, free agency, and trades that don't involve the good pitching. But Prior spends as much time on the DL as he does on the field, lately even more time on the DL. Sure there's freak injuries like last season, but at what point do you say "I'll get what I can for him and let the fill in the blanks worry about his arm?" They didn't want Tejada, they wanted prospects and pitching. But with Derek Lee out, Tejada's red hot .425 average would look nice in that line up tucked between Todd Walker and Armais Rameriez. In the end, we all were happy the trade wasn't done. Cubbies hold out hope for Prior and of course, I'm glad we still have Tejada. I'm never opposed to the idea of trading a player. But if we were to trade Tejada, it had better be a deal where we stock up the farm system with some prime talent. I should have asked what about Kerry Wood for Tejada? by the way, I would NEVER trade Tejada for Kerry Wood. In that same conversation, my friend Chris asked me this question. (I had commented how much I hated Jason Giambi. I hate Giambi because of the whole steriods thing *I cheered for him during the derby when he was an A, so I felt cheat* and then he signed with the Yanks.) "If Giambi was an Oriole, would you forgive and forget?" Of course, we had this issue with Raffy last season. I never really forgave Raffy, mainly because he tried to pin it on Tejada and destroyed an otherwise promising season. I'll get over it, but it taints an otherwise fine career. If Giambi was O.....I would probably be more forgiving. Though it does break that bond of trust a fan has with a player. You have doubts whether they're off the juice or whether they moved onto something else. Something that MLB doesn't test for, like HGH. Big contracts put big pressure on players to perform at sky high levels. I'm not justifying steriod use by an means, but I understand why a player would end up doing. It's the pressure.It's either surpass other players or get passed. The new testing policy is a step in the right direction, but it needs to be something that expands as science does. But whether an A, a Yank, or an Oriole, He'll always carry a big scarlet S on his chest and I think all of his career records should be asterisked. His levels of steriod use aren't fully known, though Author Jose Conseco called him "out of control." I have not had the pleasure of reading "Juiced" yet, but a friend told me that one. Adminstering punishment to the violaters from the steriod era will be tricky because there were so many gray areas and so many things weren't banned. I'm going to see what Selig's little committee figures out and see what kind of punishment they deem fit. *Speaking of steriods, Barry Bonds* hit his first home run of the season* I'm not linking to it though. This is a pure fantasy trade I think Wright will be an MVP someday, so I think they were wise not to do it. Though some point in the season the Mets' rotation will bite them hard. Speaking of Mets Keith Hernadez put his foot squarely in his trap Just a tip, the ladies dig the Just for Men more than sexist comments. The Mets are everywhere, I just started reading "The Bad Guys Won" by Jeff Pearlman today. Only 40 pages into it and I'm amazed at what bunch of animals these guys were. I'm catching up on my reading, have about two years worth of reading to catch up on....I finished "3 Nights in August" last night. Awesome book. Tony LaRussa is one stoic man, love him or hate him, but he lives and breathes baseball.

Mora extended?

It appears that the Melvin Mora extension is immenient I don't know what to think on this. Mora's one of my favorite Orioles right up there with Cal, Eddie, Moose, and the one and only BJ Surhoff. I can't say anything bad about Melvin. He was the only active Oriole player to attend Elrod Hendricks funeral this summer. He was the one who bridged the situation with Tejada. Melvin's always been a team guy and has had good numbers to back him up. The problem I have is 3 years and 26 million bucks. I doubt he would get that much on the open market this summer. In fact, I think this could be the first time in a long time the Orioles have overpaid for somebody. Mora's 34 right now. I think it's a lot of money to be paying for an aging player. The Orioles need to get younger, not older. I'm wondering how the wear and tear will hit him as he gets older. I'm not saying that we should not resign Mora. I hope Mora retires an O and can be be their manager one day. How many third baseman can you name? Alex Rodrigez > Chipper Jones < David Wright > Miguel Cabrera > Scott Rolen = Troy Glaus < Aramis Ramirez > That's right off the top of my head. The arrows indicate whether I think Mora's better than, not as good as, or equal to it, in my opinion. Mora's a very good third baseman. Good defense and good offense. Really good third basemen are hard to come by...so I can see why the front office would want to lock him up. I guess the more I think about it, I'm OK with it. I'm glad we can have Melvin for three more seasons. There's just two things I hope happen. 1. We draft or trade for a solid third base prospect and get him ready, so when Melvin's done. We have someone ready to anchor third down for the next decade. 2. That as a result of this, Angelos uses this as an opportunity to spend money. This past offseason, the O's did what they could. The free agent market was weak and you have to be smart with the trades. I hope that by this we see the payroll upped a little and breaking the habit of signing mulitple aging vets. It's a good move PR wise. Having Mora walk would have been a black eye for the team. I'm all for it.....just the money is pretty high. What's your thoughts? Am I too hard on this?

Playing catch-up

Haven't posted much this week, so I'm going to post a few articles that I haven't gotten to this week. How about that game Friday night? If there was any doubt about Chris Ray being able to be the Orioles closer were answered. There's no bigger stage in baseball than Yankee stadium. Bases loaded, full count, 2 outs and a 1 run lead....that's high drama. The Yanks have a line up that from top to bottom can be a pitcher's nightmare. I heard former Yankee and current ESPN guy, Tino Martinez say that Ray's strike three should have been a ball. The call was close, You get some that go your way and some don't. The pitch looked close.....so naturally, I'm very comfortable with that call. On the opposite side though, the O's had some pitches that didn't go their way on 3-2 and 3-1 counts, that's just the nature of the game. Benson pitched good enough not to lose. Rleal and Brower had great outings and Hawkins got me a little worried, but made it through the eighth. Really big win for the O's. I figured we were due for a letdown Saturday and it was. A big soggy mess of a letdown. Daniel Cabrera was medicore....5 walks 5 Ks 5 hits 6 earned runs over 5. I know some people are going to jump on Cabrera over the the following quote: "The people talk about the walks, but I've walked people all my life," Cabrera said. "I don't feel frustrated about it." There's going to be folks who say he should be upset and be concerned. I sure he isn't happy with the walks, but I don't think he has to proclaim it to the press. The ERA of the Orioles' starters is 5.47, though Perlozzo and pitching coach Leo Mazzone maintain that it is too early to be concerned. Again, Wait until the All-Star break until the starters get judged. Bedard has been great. Benson has been OK. Cabrera has been Jekyll and Hyde and Lopez and Chen have been struggling. Give them all some starts and wait. Finally a use for Sammy Sosa jerseys besides burning them, of course. You had to figure there would be Lee Mazilli articles this weekend Though I'm not a fan of his, he did hire his firing in a classy way. If he was anywhere other than New York, I might even wish him well. I like the Kevin Millar signing Even for just the Yankee boos alone. Looks like the O's are making money I'm willing to bet that Jim Bowden will not keep his job when new ownership takes over the Nats. This is pathetic.

Good start to the season

It's been a good few days for Orioles. Tuesday's game was a big downer, but after that....it's been great. I'm pretty optimistic right now. Just look at how the season's gone so far. Won 2 out of 3 against Tampa Ugly sweep against Boston Won 3 out of 4 at Tampa Won 3 out of 4 from the Anaheim Angels Won 2 out of 3 from Cleveland Say what you will about Tampa, whether those wins mean anything or not, but they're wins. Tampa will be a better team, but they're bang up now. The wins against the Angels and Indians mean a lot more to me though. The Angels were a playoff team last year and the Indians were a game away from being one, so those were quality wins. Aside from the 2 loses, the offense looks good. That performance Wednesday night was unreal, every starter getting a hit and cranking out 18 runs. Cleveland's bullpen situation might be worse than ours from what I've seen the past two games. Glad to see Corey Patterson getting on base and not swinging at every first pitch. The good things about the season far: Erik Bedard getting to 4-0. 2.77 ERA Daniel Cabrera's latest outing Chris Ray and his 5 saves in 5 chances and a 0.00 ERA Brian Roberts...healthy again. Hitting .305 and stole 5 bases in the last 3 games The offense in general so far looks good. The clutch hitting that wasn't there in the Boston series is here. Miguel Tejada seems happy and his swing does too Ramon Hernadez looks to be a terrific addition, for his bat and defense Jay Gibbons is earning his contract extension right now Nick Markakis is doing ok The Mora and Lopez contract situations don't seem to be messing up their play or attitude right now David Newhan was having a great season The Kris Benson for Jorge Julio trade looks like getting a nice car for a broken mo-ped Then there's a few things that have not been as good so far this season: Rodrigo Lopez, de facto staff ace...7.20 ERA, 25 innings and 21 runs (20 earned) and he's given up 7 homers Bruce Chen, 0-2 with a hefty ERA of 8.10 Daniel Cabrera's first outing has to be mentioned here as well of half of his Jekyll and Hyde second game The bullpen outside of Ray, Hawkins, and Rleal, has been lacking (though help is on the way) David Newhan's injury Jeff Conine's batting until the past few games Lopez and Chen may just be getting off to bad starts. It happens, so I'm not going to call for their heads until, eh, the All-Star break and if they still have ERAs over 7, then I will. But you have to figure Penn and Loewen will be with the club next season and Lopez and Chen would be the two that be extendable. Cabrera and Bedard are two pitchers that you can build your staff around. Benson has been good thus far and he's a solid 3 starter. Chen's a free agent, I could see him getting dealt before the break and Penn getting a call up. Today marks the first game the Orioles play the Yankees this season. Man, I hate the Yankees and here are there are at least three, but probably a million, new reasons why this season. Lee Mazilli, Yankees bench coach Crazy Larry F. Bowa 3rd base coach Johnny Damon, Center Field Glad to see Lee land on his feet. I really thought after his stint on Cold Pizza, he'd be a tv legend. Benson, Cabrera, and Chen pitch this series. I really think the O's can get 2 out of 3 and that would be huge. I'm really excited about about this series. The season is still very young, but every win counts and at the end of the season, those wins in April matter. I really think the streak dies this season. I'll get back to the links next week, but it's been a busy week, that's why I haven't post as much. Let's go O's and let's all hate the Yankees.

Cabrera delivers

Daniel Cabrera pitched a gem I'm relieved. He looked excellent last night. What was most encouraging was that he was getting a lot 1-2 counts and his pitches looked really good. The fact that he only walked one was great too. I hope this is the Daniel Cabrera we see for the rest season. I'm pretty happy though, the Orioles took 3 out of 4 from the Angels. The injury bug has bitten the O's Losing Newhan will hurt. Brydak hasn't been lights out, so maybe this is why. I guess with Newhan out, Corey Patterson is going to be getting some at bats. At best, Newhan will be out 4-6 weeks. We'll just have to see if Patterson can take advantage of some playing time. I didn't know until last night that he already has 3 stolen bases this season, which is amazing considering how little he plays. An interview with Peter Angelos Most of this revolves around the Nats but several things struck me. *The O's will sell Nat merchandise and tickets and vice versa *Angelos says that he's been a poor owner....in some regards *The whole TV rights thing stinks I've never been a huge supporter of Angelos. I don't have the hatred for his as some fans do. He does keep payroll at a decent level, but in the AL East that's enough for 4th place. I think the problem is more of the people he hires for the front office and his micromanaging. Ever since he ran Johnson and Gillick out of town the front office hasn't been very good and our farm system was a disaster for a long time, but it's getting much better. Peter Smuck questions whether the O's, as Angelos claims, lost 15 million. Last year is not this year And that's a very good thing. Very good, positive article from David Steele John Sickels tries to determine who'll be better: Nick Markakis or Jeremy Hermida Good read. Nick Markakis is having to adapt Of course, I figured he'd having a few growing pains, but so far I think he's done a great job. I can not neglect to give credit where credit is due, Jeff Conine hit his 200 homerun on Sunday. I've definately been hard on Conine during his season starting slump, but it looks like he's starting to get out it. Congrads. Another article on Chris Ray. Buster Olney compares him to Goose Gossage. Jorge Julio is not adored in NY Here's another ode to Jorge Excellent article on the longest game ever I didn't think it was possible but I hate Johnny Damon even more now He's only been a Yankee for 11 games and now he's trying to recruit for them. Joe Torre couldn't say this, so I don't see why Damon should be publicly. Reason 12,893,299 to hate the Yankees. Pedro gets win 200 The Mets looks good right now, but outside of Pedro and Glavine, I think their starting pitching is a disaster waiting to happen. If Pedro or Glavine get injuried....I think that would really hurt this team. I'm never going to right off the Braves from winning the East until the regular season is done, but if the Mets can keep things going like they are now, this year is the best shot they've had in years. Any doubt who the NL MVP will be this year? Greg Maddux gets his first win at age 40 I don't mean this as a knock, but who would have thought a year ago that Maddux would be the Cubs' ace. They have Wood, Prior, and Zambrano and Maddux is the one who can stay healthy and keep his head. He's 3-0 for the season with a 1.33 ERA. Amazing. The Fun Loving White Sox are having to reign it in a little Jim Leyland had his first blow up of the season. I tried to find a clip, but no luck. There's stupid and then there's this Who would have thunk it? I guess someone did, that's why they have waivers.

What a game

Last night was amazing. The game was not supposed to be on extra innings. But I saw a post on Oriole Hangout saying that it was going to be on, sure enough it was. And it was CSN, not the Angels broadcast. I've have to watch the opposing teams broadcast thus far. And all the games except for Saturday's game has been added, so I can watch 3 out of 4 of the Angels series, all of the Indians games, and of course, all of the Yankee games. I don't know if Directv gave into complaints or what. But if its because of complaints, Thank you to all who did. What a game it was last night. Ramon Hernadez is now my favorite O. What is there not to like about him? He's hitting the seams off the ball. He's a great defensive catcher. Amazing There were plenty of homers last night, Rodrigo Lopez got punched up alittle in the first giving up 3 runs, but after that he only gave up 1 run over the last 7 innings. Nick Markakis, Jay Gibbons, and Nick Markakis (the should be everyday outfielder) all homered. Melvin Mora continues to make me struggle with my emotions about resigning by hitting a double in the 8th to bring Brian Roberts for the then go ahead run. Mora's been clutch the past two games. I'd love for him to retire an O, but 27 mil over 3 years is a lot. If it was a 2 year 18 mil, I'd be more prone to support. Who's going to play third if he doesn't? Last night also proved to Oriole fans what Cub fans clearly know. LaTroy Hawkins is a set up guy. Not a closer. Though I think he got a bad call on that ball 3, should have been strike three.. but that's the way the game is. Chris Ray had the night off, which I can support. So far he's been the sure thing in the ninth for the O's and I don't want him overused. I was crushed when Hawkins gave up that homer and then three batters later Ramon ends the game....what a great game. How about Byrdak getting the win and only throwing one pitch. Good to see the O's win their first game of the season against a team not named Tampa. The Angels are a good team and the next three series will decide how good this Oriole team is. The Angels, then the Indians, and then the Yanks. If the Birds can come out these series with a winning record, then this team will have a shot at ending the 8 year skid. John Eisenberg weighs in on the Oriole outfield. Here's the players we have for the outfield... Jay Gibbons- He is and should be the every day right fielder. Nick Markakis- He should be in centerfield every day. He's the future of the team and he should get as much playing time as possible Luis Matos- I think he best helps the team as a fourth outfielder, or as tradebait David Newhan- Hitting the ball great. Should be everyday or pretty much every day. I think he's the best option for the 2 hole. Corey Patterson- He's got the potential..but until he can produce, no way. Jeff Conine- No way. Let him play first when Millar needs a rest, but besides that I don't need Conine striking out with two on and two outs. Newhan in left Markakis in Center Gibbons in right and Matos as the fourth. I think that works Has Kevin Millar found his swing? Good article about Daniel Cabrera. I'm anixous to see Monday's game. I think it'll be a HUGE game for him. Atlanta already misses Leo Chris Ray gets some love I got a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of these articles this season. Even the majority of people in California think Barry Bonds used Steriods. 32 percent don't know.....geez. Have an opinion.

I am confused beyond confusion

That was the prettiest and ugliest pitcing performance I've even seen. I don't know whether to be happy or sad. Was that encouraging or discouraging I am going to start a support group for O's fans who've been abused by Daniel Cabrera's potential. I should do this...Any good names come to mind, send them my way. Daniel Cabrera is an enigma that's wrapped in a riddle and covered with confusion sauce. IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Cabrera 5.0 3 1 1 9 10 0 11.37 Look at this line Ten Strike outs....that's great. 3 hits over 5 innings, that's great 9 walks...geez. Three wild pitches...ugh. Pitches-strikes: Cabrera 117-57 Not half of his pitches were strikes and he threw 117 pitches in only 5 innings I'm scratching my head til it bleeds in confusion over this guy. But he's got a ton of potential and he definately looked a lot better than that Boston game. I say wait til mid-season and see how he looks after plenty of time with Leo. In my opinion, if he gets his control down, he'll be a great pitching. He's still young at 24 and he needs to calm down and slow down a little. It's good to see that ERA down from that 45.something. He had the bases loaded in the third, fourth and fifth innings and only gave up one run on a wild pitch. It's amazing that he didn't get roughed up a little since he kept putting himself in those situations. Just a weird game last night. The O's "clutch" hitting is killing me. It is nice to see Kevin Millar hitting outside of Fenway. One more game at the Trashicana and back to the Camden for the Los Angeles California Angels of Anaheim btw of Orange County. Definately looking forward to this series. I was going to work to this morning and they were replaying the 1996 ALCS game of the Yanks and O's on XM. Seems like a loooong time ago. Scott Erickson for the O's and David Cone for the Yanks. That was went the O's had Raffy (before he came back and got caught), Roberto Alomar, Todd Zeile, Bobby Bonilla Here's the team from 1996 SIGH. Davey Johnson managing. Pat Gillick as GM. and Jon Miller calling the game. Good times.....good times indeed.

Kris Benson gets his win

Kris Benson was a $teal. He had that rough spring where he breaking in the pitches and it looks to have paid off. 1.93 ERA and a 1-1 (should be 2-0 with a little run support). Of course, I'm going to wait to see how he does against Boston and New York before I crown him with the Cy young. Chris Ray is money. Let's all hope Daniel Cabrera rebounds from last week. I bet he does. I was going to post before the game, but blogger went down as I was publishing my post (second time in a week it's done that too). I've got the game on now and Cabrera struck out the first three batters to start the game. That's a very good sign. David Newhan is backing up his strong play in spring and forcing his way into the line up. Aubrey Huff got hurt last night. Hope he's ok. Since we're playing the Rays again, I'm just gonna post some stuff from around the majors... Dick Cheney threw out the first pitch at the Nats home opener. Interesting piece on the political leanings of the Mets. The fiasco may be over in Washington soon. Seriously, the more and more time that passes without the Nats having a real owner is a black eye to Selig. Ben Sheets should be back soon. Dontrelle and Miguel Cabrera are trying to ignore trade rumors. I'm sure if you give up your three best prospects you can have one. Hayden Penn, Adam Loewen, and Val Majewski? I wouldn't do it. Sounds like a Glenn Davis deal to me. Hooray. Coco Crisp will be a Red Sox for 3 more seasons. Maybe he can use the money to fund his brilliant television show ideas. Michael Keaton is a rude guest. Yes the Pirates have been bad for a while, but they're trying to get better. I think Mr. Keaton should focus on not being the Pittsburgh Pirates of Actors. Torii Hunter says if the Twins aren't competive and don't resign him He will sell his soul and might become a Yankee. Ugh. Pat Gillick, my favorite GM of all time, is finding that Phillies aren't that good right now. Before it's all said and done though, he'll make them a winner. Scroll down. Maybe Jeff Conine and Frank Thomas are trading batting tips. MC Hammer loves his Braves. Are the Jays in trouble? Salary floor...great idea. Tom Verducci discusses whether it works for him or not. Back to watching the game. Cabrera has 7 K's in the 3rd. Good stuff so far.

Oriole Rebound against Rays

The O's beat the Rays 6-3 last night. The Good Stuff Eric Bedard pitched 7 scoreless innings allowing no runs and scattering four hits This was the best performance by the O's rotation so far. Kris Benson, who pitches tonight, previously had that honor. Chris Ray steps in strikes out 3 in the ninth to get the save Jay Gibbons homered and Ramon Hernadez is staying hot 40,199 people, the 4th Tampa sell out ever, saw the O's win. Looks like Tampa's new ownership is doing better. Miguel Tejada went 3 for 4 and drove in a run Brian Roberts and David Newhan both had a pair of hits The not as good stuff Melvin Mora's batting .200. Is this contract mess messing up his play? Tim Byrdak gave up 2 hits and 2 earned runs at the top of the ninth to make the game a save opportunity. Jeff Conine went 0-fer and now bats .071 Three more games against the Rays this week. Maybe the O's can leave Tampa 6-4. Didn't get to watch or listen to this game, but glad we rebounded from Boston. Mark Hendrickson is on the DL. He won't get a chance to confound O's batters this series. Ramon Hernadez and his smokin' bat moves up in the order. Former Oriole manager Billy Hitchcock passed away. The Cardinals opened their new park yesterday. Check out the picture gallery, Really nice park. Hooray. David Oritz signed an extension with the Red Sox. Maybe with all that money, He can buy himself a new strike zone. The Cubs resigned Derek Lee. Good deal for them, but I wish we could have had a shot. Then again, if he hit the market, he would have probably have went to Boston if no deal could have gotten done with Chicago.

Random Thoughts

What a weekend, huh? The time the O's get sweep this season. It was a pretty painful weekend. I watched the Friday and Saturday's game. Actually, I only watched the first inning and 2/3rds of Fridays game. I listened to the game yesterday's game. After this series, There's some things that I've noticed. I'm just going to a stream of consciousness thing here on things to this point. *We have no clutch hitting We had the base runners yesterday, but there was no one to bring them in. *Kris Benson and Bruce Chen will probably the O's best pitchers this season. *Tradebait? Rodrigo Lopez, Javy Lopez, Melvin Mora and I wish...Jeff Conine. *If a trade happens, it needs to for good prospects or young players. *It's going to take some time before Leo Mazzone's effect on this pitching staff. Every starter but Kris Benson played in the WBC and missed a lot of Spring Traing. Obviously, Daniel Cabrera didn't show any Leo magic Friday. *Jeff Conine is a certified rally murderer. *David Newhan needs to play more. How about giving him a shot a first and Mr. Conine a shot at the pine? *Chris Ray will get some saves this season, if he gets the opportunies. *Ramon Hernadez is a great addition. He's hitting the ball well. He can throw out runners and he's a pretty good defensive catcher. Though I've liked Javy Lopez since his days with the Braves, he's not a good defensive catcher. He's a good hitter who happens to catch. I don't mean that as a slight, but I'm glad the Orioles have the catcher situation settled for 4 years. *Corey Patterson....ugh. *Sam Perlozzo is going to use a record number of line ups this season. *We need another bat. The Orioles have some good hitters. But I'm talking about someone to protect Tejada. This weekend, we had the runners. But no one drove them in. We have some good hitters with Gibbons, Roberts,Lopez, Mora, Hernadez, but not a hitter that's a big threat to go deep. Roberts, Lopez, and Mora haven't got their swing going yet. Someone like, maybe Carlos Lee? That made me look ahead to next year's free agent market. There's some bats, but will the O's offer the money? Yeah, we had the biggest offer to Paul Konerko, but I think that was more of "we know he's not going to take it, so we'll put it out there" deal. There's my boy,Carlos Lee. An Outfield of Lee, Markakis, and Gibbons would be nice. There's Aubrey Huff. Slightly overrated. But would solve our first base problem. How about Alfonso Soranio? He can hit. Maybe put him in the outfield or maybe first. Though we'd have to get that clear up front and not overpay him. This won't happen. Derek Lee resigned. CURSES! Torii Hunter. Would be a terrific addition. It would make me weep. Barry Bonds? If this were every to happen, I'd become a Yankee fan. I'm serious. Milton Bradley? Depends on which Bradley it is. If he does spaz out and can keep smiling, sure..at the right price. Juan Pierre. I'm betting he doesn't hit the market. Whose going to replace Melvin Mora? Wes Helms...eh..if we have to. Aaron Boone ugh Vinny Castilla...isn't he 50? Probably who we'd resign after we lock up Conine and Millar to multi-year deals. Edgardo Alfonzo..best case scenario? Joe Randa...nice one year band-aid maybe Any chance Andy Marte gets traded again...to us? Of course, Peter Angelos would have to open up his wallet and be committed to making the Orioles contenders again. If this was case... Sign Lee to 6 year deal. Sign Huff (even though I think he's overrated, he's still an massive upgrade for us) or sign Lee and pay the big money to Hunter and move Gibbons to first. Will this happen? Probably only if we change our names to the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees. I won't hold my breath. Anyway, the season is still young so I need to the enjoy it. I still hate Jeffrey Maier What if we draft him? Peter Schmuck opens old wounds. The Glenn Davis deal....I'll save that for another day. Raul Chavez, we hardly knew thee Bullpen rankings We're better than you think. Tim Hudson and Ted Lilly tried to one up Daniel Cabrera with bad pitching performances. Chipper Jones had a nasty injury yesterday. Saw this yesterday. Glad it wasn't serious, it looked nasty. So far, Barry Bonds is in a slump Hope it's a season long one. I had the wisdom teeth cut out 5 days ago and I'm still swollen, not as bad as it was though? Is this normal? I would kill to be able to eat something solid. I've been watching the Nats/Astros game....Astros in 12. Great great game. by the way, There's a new mailbag on the Orioles website. Glad to see us play the Rays again.

Tough Loss

The pitching was a lot better last night but the offense was missing. Bruce Chen had a good night pitching. Which was a welcome relief after Friday's disaster. The only score for the Orioles was Luis Matos' solo shot off Curt Schilling. The O's looked like they had a chance to touch up Schilling in the 7th, but it was ended by, of course, Jeff Conine striking out with two on. Conine's batting .091 for the season. What's wrong with a Matos, Markakis, Gibbons outfield and just start Millar at first until Javy's ever ready. Conine is killing me. On better notes, Sendy Rleal pitched himself out of a jam and LaTroy Hawkins and Chris Ray continue to look great. Eric Dubose is out, John Halama is in. Of course, Dubose would have to clear waivers first. So Friday night could have been his Oriole swan song. The most important part of this article is after this stuff. Adam Loewen pitched a one hitter Friday night. He struck out 12 and walked NONE. It looks likes his getting his control down. The Sun has an article on BJ Ryan. The front office really blew this one last year. Chris Ray looks great and I think he's going to be great closer, but would it hurt to lock up Ryan (to a deal that was a lot less than the deal he signed with the Jays) and have Ray get some more time in at AA or AAA. Then you could have a bullpen of Ryan, Ray, and Hawkins. It boggles my mind sometimes how cheap this team can be. What's the over/under on how many Kevin Millar team chemisty guy articles we'll see this year? I found 3 for just today. But I'm only going to link to one. The Brewers are my pick for this year's version of the White Sox. Will they win the series this year? Who knows. But I wish the Orioles were being built this way. At least the O's record is better than the Yanks. Of course, when A-Rod, Giambi, and Damon go 0-fer, then you'll probably lose. Bartolo Colon never a skinny guy, but... The season's still very young, but here's a line that caught my eye. Jorge Julio 2006 New York Mets 0 1 21.60 2 0 0 0 0 0 1.2 7 7 4 1 0 2 4

OUCH!

I have never seen a pitching performance like the one Daniel Cabrera had last night. I don't mean that in a good way either. Here's the recap with all the gory details. Gory may be too tame to describe it. I was watching this game and he looked rattled. Coco Crisp laid down a perfect bunt and from there he looked lost. Maybe that upset him, it shouldn't. But it was one of the worst pitching performances that I've even seen. He threw 60 pitches in one and one third innings. 38 of those pitches were balls. And a lot of those balls were miles away from being strikes. With his performance in the WBC and Leo Mazzone, I think this is his breakout year. Last night though, wasn't anywhere close. I'm going to give him a mulligan on this one. Remember Barry Zito went about the same distance on opening day against the Yankees. Andy Pettitte got rocked on his first start by the Marlins. I'll get concerned if this happens on his next start. There are some good things that happened in this game. Ramon Hernadez went 3 for 4 last night, and looks like an excellent addition The O's put up 4 runs in the 7th and 8th. Corey Patterson got a hit and a RBI The Oriole Bats seem to be ok, with the exception of the third game of the Tampa series One of the things I think the O's should do is bench Jeff Conine. There's no reason he should be an everyday starter. He had the homerun on opening day but besides that, he hasn't done much else. His outfield defense is rather lacking sometimes too. Last night when Loretta hit a ground double, he took a sideways route and then forward. He could have got to it if he didn't go sideways. That's enough for now. Next week once I'm healed up I have more substance and more links, but right I'm still pretty swollen and sore.

0rioles 0ffense Comes up Empty

Last night was a night to forget. Kris Benson pitched very well. Giving up only 2 earned runs, with 4 hits, 3 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Too bad the Orioles left their bats behind. After putting up 25 runs in the first two games, the O's couldn't get past second base. Truly painful to watch. On the brightside, we did take 2 out 3 from the Rays and proven that we can score runs. Tonight kicks off the Red Sox series. Hopefully, Daniel Cabrera will get some run support. I do have to question Perlozzo on not playing Jay Gibbons last night. It's only the third game of the season and I know fatigue wouldn't be an issue at this point. Conine was in left, Matos was in center, and Markakis was in right. Why would he want to start Matos or Conine over Gibbons? Jeff Conine should not be taking away at bats from players who will be important to the team. Maybe Gibbons isn't the best against Mark Hendrickson. His numbers won't improve if you don't play him against him. I just couldn't disagree with this decision. I'm keeping it short today. The jaw is still swollen and I need another nap. Let's beat the Sox.

O's bats pound the Rays

What a game last night Too bad my Extra Innings didn't carry it. If I'm paying that much money too see the Orioles play, I should be able to see every game. I do have the XM radio, so I can at least listen to games. Still though...it isn't right. Last night it didn't matter, since my wisdom teeth were cut out and I've been drugged. Enough of that Check out this boxscore Baltimore AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG Roberts, 2B 6 1 2 3 0 1 5 .300 Markakis, LF-RF 3 2 1 1 3 0 1 .333 Mora, 3B 5 3 1 1 1 0 3 .333 Tejada, M, SS 5 2 2 0 1 1 3 .400 Gibbons, RF 3 3 3 4 1 0 0 .500 Newhan, LF 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 .500 Millar, 1B 4 2 2 2 1 0 2 .500 Gomez, 1B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Lopez, J, DH 5 2 2 2 0 1 3 .375 Hernandez, R, C 2 0 2 3 2 0 0 1.000 Chavez, C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Patterson, CF 4 1 0 0 0 1 6 .000 Totals 39 16 16 16 9 4 23 MLB.com The thing I was most concerned with was our offense. Last year our bats were unreliable. The first two games have given me hope. I know it's only the Devil Rays, but after reading all this talk about how the Rays will finish ahead of us, well, I think we're better than that. Nick Markakis hit his first major league homerun. I did get up and manage to see it on gamecast. I'm more impressed with his ablity to draw walks. 3 walks in one game. Corey Patterson, who had a wretched debut, could learn from him. I think it's the Washington Post article, but it mentions that Patterson swung at all 5 of his first pitches. I hope Perlozzo will keep Nick as the 2 hitter. He's going to be a great one. Patterson (no surprise) and Miguel Tejada(still had two hits) were the only Orioles starters not to get RBIs. The Blue Jays lost to the Twins, The Yankees did too, but The Red Sox won. I did manage to watch the last half of this game last night and Beckett looked really good. It also looks like Keith Foulke won't be the Sox closer much longer. All of this means, The Orioles have the AL East lead for at least one day. Mora's on hold He's been awesome for the past two games, which makes it hard for me to keep my opinion that we need to trade him. But I still think if we give him a 3 year deal at Ten a year at his age isn't a good move. Especially when we need to get younger, not older. I would love for him to retire an Oriole. But if he's traded, the Phillies look like a team that would be one of the first to call. The farm system is getting better and better The Orioles are interested in Brandon Phillips Who is Brandon Phillips? He plays for the Indians and here's his numbers. Looking at those, I don't think any one needs to worry about losing their jobs. An article about Nick Markakis Doc Gooden goes to jail and finally reaches rock bottom. He'll be celebrating the 86 World Series in jail. Let's close this with... Jorge Julio is doing what he knows best in New York The more things change, the more they stay the same.

More thoughts on Monday and More

Just some more thoughts on Monday's opener -Rodrigo Lopez didn't great out there. Whether it was opening day or WBC hangover, he wasn't great. Still, he went 7 innings. -There was much relief when Miguel Tejada homered. He didn't have a good spring, but that's over now. -Luis Matos...homer and a stolen base. Looks like someone's trying to keep their job. -Nice touch by Perlozzo by clearing the bench in the top of the ninth. Putting Patterson in for Matos, Markakis in for Gibbons, and Gomez in for Millar -Kevin Millar's running scares me. -Brian Roberts' headfirst slide definately scared me. -If Millar and Conine can do what they Monday game in and game out, I have no problem both of their signings. -It was good to see LaTroy Hawkins pitch the 8th. Our bullpen and the Atlanta Braves bullpen were the two talked about this season as being unproven and young. After one game ours looks good, but the Braves...they've got issues with their pen. -Ramon Hernadez looked like he was worth the money. Great day for him. -Nothing like seeing Leo rocking on the bench....in Oriole orange -As much as I like Melvin Mora and hope that he can retire an Oriole, I hope that Monday's homer won't make us think 10 million is reasonable. I think 3/24 is more than fair. Here's today's game preview Nice article on Bedard in the Sun today. Good to see him, Mazzone, and Hernadez form a bond. The Yanks lost and so did the Red Sox. If we win today, we'll be tied with The Blue Jays, who won last night for the AL East lead. As much I wanted us to sign Nomar this offseason I am glad we didn't. When did this guy turn into a china plate? Everytime he's breaking something. The Marlins...THE MARLINS roughed up Andy Pettitte big time. Julio Franco celebrates his 473rd year in the majors. Seriously, his rookie card was from the year I was born... If they would have kept that gum in there, they wouldn't be in this spot. If the Marlins are in Flordia in 2001, I'll eat a spoon. What are going to call the San Antoino Marlins? That would put them in the NL Central and the Pirates in the East.

Orioles lead the AL East

Got to say it while I can. Going to just give my thoughts really quick....The Orioles hammered the ball against the D-Rays. I was really surprised by the offense. Just a great game. Ramon Hernadez surprised me with his bat, as did Kevin Millar. Just hope he can keep doing that all season. The LaTroy Hawkins/Chris Ray combo did a scoreless 8th and 9th, with Ray getting his first career save. Rodrigo Lopez looked a little shaky, but I'll cut him slack and say maybe it was opening day butterflies. Let's hope they can make it two in a row Wednesday. Getting my wisdom teeth cut out tomorrow morning, so working a lot of hours today and I'll be down for the count Wednesday. Be back Thursday.

Happy Opening Day

Opening day is finally here. No more guessing about who makes the team. No more spring training. No more WBC talk. It's time to see what Leo can do. It's time to see what our young arms can do. Time to see if Tejada can rebound and time to see what Nick Markakis and Chris Ray can do. It's time for baseball... Here's what I think the season holds I think Brian Roberts has a solid year I think Daniel Cabrera has an awesome year I think Miguel Tejada has a 100 RBI year I think Leo's pitching staff gives up 79 less runs I think Melvin Mora will not be resigned and traded I think Erik Bedard has a good year I think Javy Lopez will not see another game at first I think Corey Patterson will be same Corey Patterson that was in Chicago I think Kris Benson will struggle early I think if any O's get traded it'll be Javy, Mora, R. Lopez, Matos and Newhan I think if Rodrigo Lopez gets traded, we better get something good for him I think Chris Ray will be lights out I think Nick Markakis will be AL Rookie of the year I think we'll be better than the Devil Rays I think we could reasonably finish third I think we finish 83-81 I did most of the links yesterday so I can watch as much baseball as possible, since I'm a giant human baseball sponge. speaking of hope Scroll down and see who Peter "Red Sox" Gammons likes for AL Rookie of the Year. Speaking of Gammons, here's a few of his thoughts of the O's..

• The most dominating pitcher I saw all spring? Daniel Cabrera of the Orioles. If he ever does maintain his command, he can win 18-20 games. • POSITION PLAYERS OPENING IN THE MINORS WHO WILL MAKE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS IN THE MAJORS THIS SEASON AL: Nick Markakis, CF, Orioles; Delmon Young, OF, Devil Rays; B.J. Upton, SS, Devil Rays; Andy Marte, 3B; Indians; Howie Kendrick, 2B, Angels; Kendry Morales, DH-OF, Angels; Franklin Gutierrez, OF, Indians; Dustin Pedroia, INF, Red Sox EIGHT PLAYERS WHO COULD HAVE BREAKOUT SEASONS AL: Joe Mauer, Twins; Casey Kotchman, Angels; Chris Shelton, Tigers; Dan Johnson, Athletics; Joey Gathright, Devil Rays; Robinson Cano, Yankees; Ervin Santana, Angels; Erik Bedard, Orioles PLAYERS WHOSE SPRING TRAININGS HAVE RAISED CONCERNS ABOUT THEIR FUTURE AL: Jorge Posada, Yankees; Mike Lowell, Red Sox; Miguel Tejada, Orioles; Darin Erstad, Angels; Magglio Ordonez, Tigers; Carlos Guillen, Tigers Baltimore has been written off as a dead issue. The positional players seem OK, not great, especially if Miguel Tejada has aged as he appeared to this spring. The bullpen is a question; Chris Ray has closer stuff, but no career saves, and the bodies in front of LaTroy Hawkins in the eighth inning are eBay specials. But the Orioles could end up with very good starting pitching. Daniel Cabrera and Erik Bedard have top-of-the-rotation stuff and had great springs. As soon as Anna Benson announced her divorce plans, the Mets called asking if they could get Kris back. Bruce Chen has become a solid starter, and Rodrigo Lopez takes on everyone else's No. 1. The Orioles won't duplicate their first two months in 2005, but they should vastly improved their last three.

I agree mostly. Cept for the Tejada thing. Now you can go back to talking about the Red Sox. Turns out NO extension has been worked out for Melvin Mora. For 3 years and 27 mil, I wouldn't have either. He said that he's being reasonable by dropping to 9 a year. There's no way this gets done. I hope it doesn't. I hope Mora can retire an O, don't get me wrong. But I don't want the front office to invest that much money in a declining player. If he becomes an issue, he'll be traded in a heartbeat. This is who I want to be the starting left fielder of the 2007 Baltimore Orioles. I'm starting this personal campaign today. This makes sense in way too many ways for me. Speaking of the outfield... This is good. How long before he's the starter in CF? Worst case I say the break. But I bet it'll be a lot sooner, specially if they find a taker for Matos. The Miguel Tejada we all know and love returned last night. Replacing the one that batted .194 until this weekend. Our clubhouse is definately better, but... That's it. Time to watch some baseball. Let's hope for some good weather and a good season.

Whaaat? Mora resigning?!?

Perhaps I underestimated the saavy of one Peter Angelos. Same topic, only from the Post. I am surprised. It looks like I was wrong. My view was that Mora wouldn't give from his 10 mil a year, a deal didn't get done, and he would be traded before the break. This is good news....so far. I hope the contract is sane. Something like 6 to 7 a year, but put the other 3 to 4 mil in incentive clauses. If he plays like a 10 a year player, then he can be paid like one. Maybe Mora can retire as an Oriole. I want to know what Angelos said. Did he talk about how the O's are going to be contenders again? Do a little talk about we're not going to be the sub .500 team he knows and how there are going to be some big moves made...yada yada yada. I dunno. What ever he said, it must have worked. here's ESPN's Preview More 4th and 5th place predictions, but at least they're kind enough to say something good about every player. The Orioles don't care about ESPN's preview. The Offical Team Breakdown Welcome abroad Raul Chavez It's not determined whether Chavez will be with the Orioles or in Ottawa. If he's with the O's, that means Nick Markakis will likely go to Ottawa. I was hoping he'd stay in the majors, but he'll be in Baltimore soon enough. I am glad to have another defensive catcher on the roster. Trying to coordinate things b/t Javy at DH and Ramon behind the plate just seemed too complicated. Mark Zuckerman says the O's/Nats rivalry needs time and work to work out. The Hardball Times has 5 depressing questions for the Orioles I don't like this article at all. He trashes Angelos for not spending money on the team. You may or may not like Angelos, but he does spend money on the team. We had the biggest offer for Paul Konerko this offseason. It was a weak class this year, so who else were we supposed to sign? Johnny Damon? This is just a lot of the usually knocks. Our outfield, our owner, our clubhouse. I think our outfield will be ok...but we have Nick Markakis, Val Majewski, and some other fine outfielders in our farm system, so that's why our outfield is what it is now. Sosa, Ponson, Raffy, and Kline are gone. Mora looks to be resigned and if that happens Tejada will be happier. Our clubhouse was rotten last year, but they took out the problems. Geez. Why'd I read this article? At least Baseball America gives our Farm System a thumbs up. I didn't know you could buy World Series Trophies I should have bought this and gave it to the team on opening day. If I had that money..... I won't post tomorrow, so that means I will see you all on OPENING DAY!