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Had a feeling

Is surgery an option for Koji? Sounds as if this thing is not going to heal properly w/o it.

I'd like to see him as the closer, or at least try him there. He was money the first time through the lineup.

Roch, The bullpen may sound right to you, but will it sound right to Koji? If the Orioles renege on letting him start and he's not happy in a relief role, then from a baseball standpoint it's an international incident, since this is the O's first foray into the Asian free agent market.

Not necessarily as easy as you make it sound, unless, of course, you know for sure that Koji's signed off on the plan as how things will be in 2010. Can the O's force him into the 'pen? Yes. Is it a move without potential repercussions? Not so sure about that.

It looked like a good signing at first.

September swoons no one has any experience goin this long in a season they usally done by now :(

roch.........Poor signings-Koji,wigginton,eaton Good-Isturis,Moeller....Wigginton is a joke he needs to diet so he can run around the bases.Free agent off season-Thirdbase,Starting pitcher(capable of 14-16 wins)Utility infield(upgrade)and decent lhp for bullpen.2010 homemade improvements-snyder 1b-dh,Turner-inf,Matusz,Berken,Bergensen,Tillman,Berken and Arieta.Maybe Waring,Britton and Erbe will be ready by the all-star break.

9ca

Lets hope he shows up next season healthy and in shape. I can not help but think he had conditioning issues this season given his lack of endurence even when healthy.

WAY TO GO ANDREW!

WAY TO GO MACFAIL!

Way to sign another oft injured ineffective retread. The guy was a reliever in Japan but Captain ANDREW through his own arrogance thought that Koji could return to being a starter and in the process the O's would catch lightning in a bottle.

I guess you were wrong again Dandy Andy! This was a disatorous signing from the outset. Now we are seeing the end result.

this is one one of the few mistakes andy has made. 10 mil for 2 years to a guy whose best days as a starter were behind him. and to say that koji's signing was important to the orioles to get them involved in the japanese market is stupid. had they signed him as a relief pitcher..fine. but to think this guy who is used to pitching once a week as a starter and has not started in a couple of years as a starter. poor. bad move. i'm sure they could have signed any number of japanese players who could have done more for the team than koji. give credit to koji and his agent. they basically have stolen 5 mil so far and my guess is next year he won't last long. as another japanese star, fuji, once said. oye vey mchale.

Let's take a trip down memory lane.

Andrew's starters/potential starters in 2009.

Simon: Out for the year.
Hill: Ineffective and out for the year.
Eaton: PAINFUL!
Koji: Ineffective and now out for the year
Hendrickson: Ineffective and relegated to mop up duty in the bullpen
Hennessey: Who?

What you see above is evidence of a GM who has let the game pass him by. He does not know how to sign or trade for decent veterans who can fill a void and help the team in the W/L column. Dandy Andy only wants veterans who help out in the Profit/Loss column.

Andrew is out of touch. He thinks he can bring in retreads and beer league players and right the ship. Instead it is sinking the team, creating despair among the veterans, showing the rest of baseball that Andrew's idea of a rotation is one that comes CHEAP, and telling the fans that winning is NOT a priority here.

Andrew should be fired. End of story.

WAY TO GO ANDREW MACFAIL!

Yeah, AM doesn't know how to trade. I think he's proved he can't evaluate talent. Dumba$$. Yeah, the games passed him by. After all signing Nick to a contract extention 3 years before free agency, what kind of out of touch FO does that? Jacka$$. Who scouts and signs players from the Pacific Rim? No one does that. Oh and by the way, AM is the President of baseball operations. Not GM, dumba$$.

Thanks for reminding us what a D-bag you are Brummie, I almost forgot.

Brummie,

You can't really be as ignorant as some of your posts suggest. WAY TO GO ANDREW MACFAIL. How does a 12 year old get a work permit over seas? Because that's what you come across as.

OK, let's dissect your above starters/potential starters list for 2009 brought to you by: ANDREW. Clever isn't it!

1) Simon - out for year, yeah that's ANDREW's fault. ANDREW propbably took Jobu's rum thus causing the injury to Simon. It's very bad to take Jobu's rum!!

2) Hill - ineffective and out for year. Agree. But a low cost investment. With little risk. It didn't work out. Guess that sort of move has never happend in sports.

3) Eaton - PAINFUL. Agree. The idea was to buy some time, and that idea never materilized. Given Eaton's record, we'll give you that one.

4) Koji - ineffective and now out for year. Ineffective? Really! Please explain. On second thought don't. Granted the guy did not go very deep into games, but for 5-6 innings, he kept the O's in the game. Durability was a question with him, but he was worth the risk nonetheless. Might be a real good bullpen guy. In case you haven't noticed lately, we need a few of them.

5) Hendrickson - ineffective and relagated to mop up duty in the bullpen. Yeah, this guy's strength is long relief, a role he generally fills adequately. There is a reason this guy has a job every year. But putting him in the rotation, well OK that's a stretch.

6) Hennessey - Who? Injured. Wildcard. Who knows what he might have brought if healthy.

So, if Koji could have stayed healthy enough to go as a #5 starter, and Simon makes the transition and stays healthy. Then along with Guthrie we have 3 starters to kick off the season. Going into ST, no one really knew which Hill we were getting. Oh, wait that's right, you knew all along. Because MACFAIL brought him in. However, if those 3 would have worked out at the beginning of the season, then along with Guthrie, you have 4/5th's of the rotation.

That's not an ideal rotation, but short of signing CC, none of the other FA arms were of much interest. Penny was terrible in Boston, Looper? Who??? And Pedro or Lowe? Too old and too much investment for a franchise in total rebuild.

See Brummie, what you fail to grasp (Brummie McFail) is that over paying for aging free agents is what got this franchise where it's at. When you throw out desperate money to sign an over the hill player, it looks just that. Desperate. And most players know this. That's why few players want to sign here right now. However, if you build a solid farm system and add young FA's with potential, then down road you'll attract bigger fish. Tampa looks more attractive now then they did 2 years ago.

The problem with you Brummie is you don't see the big picture, and just go on spreading the same manure. Most of us are not saying that ANDREW is the best GM in the game. However, what he's accomplished is this:

1) he's gained the owner's trust to make moves without worrying whether ole pete will interfere.

2) restored organization and stability to the farm system and stocked it with athletic players and promising young arms.

3) created a more desireable franchise for the next GM to come in and complete the process.

See, point number 3! That's what you really don't get. Get past your obsession with ANDREW. He'll be the next Comish before long, and the new guy will be a legit baseball man as well. Not another Syd or Flanniquette.

Brummie,

If you think well of it, I would like to know a little bit about you that I probably missed earlier.

- Were you born here, or did your family emigrate to the US?
- For what organization do you write, and is there a link to an article you are willing to provide?
- It appears that you use UK spelling for many words -- is it because of your schooling and/or is it required for your writing?

Thanks. jdb