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Our potential closers gets cleared to begin throwing 2 months before they are to report....good teams dont operate without contingencies. If they are planning on going the "cheap" route and not sign an established closer, this season is doomed before it starts. Sort of in the same fashion as last year when they brought in the "safety in numbers" committee.

Good teams dont operate in this fashion. Why are the Orioles so full of rehab or injury prone players? Every year we seem to hinge our season on the health of so many of these types of players. Why is there NO serious effort to sign the players it takes to at least give this team a chance.

Come on Mr. MacPhail!
Look at all the contracts which are off the books. Is it about the money or winning?

My fellow bloggers...
If you want to get ill, go to MLBTR.Com and read the article about MacPhail's offseason plans.

To sum it up, lets go to the meetings and see how the market pans out

: (

if i am the orioles gm the only way Uehara is on this team is as the closer, cause as a set up guy hes blocking Mickolio who has far better talent and potential now and long term.
Personally i would sign Rodney, Soriano, or Gonzalez to be closer and use Ray,Mickolio,JJ in the middle inn and set-up. and release or trade Uehara. i was never really impressed with him.

Wow, would have been nice if the brain trust at the Yard would have thought of that last year.

WATCH OUT FOLKS!

This is great news for Koji. But I fear it will be the only good news for the O's all week.

Expectations have been set incredibly low for this Winter Meetings. I find it pathetic that a 98 loss team that wants to take the next step in 2010 cannot and will not makes the moves necessary to build a winner.

They'll force Feliz or some other NL retread on us and try to hype him as an "upgrade" even though the guy have never played in the AL. Maybe Andy will sign some minor league free agent and spin it to the media.

Roch - have fun chasing the rumors!! Me personally - we have been downtrodden for SO long and so used to being at the bottom looking up with little or NO hope from what we got in the wings/down on the farm, I say do NOT trade our really bright homegrown stars (hopefully) in waiting for a 2 year *star* like Adrian or??? We can wait and lose one more year, see just what WE have in Bell, Snyder, Waring, Brittan, Arrietta etc. and also see ifn maybe that big *star* is right here in say Weiters or Nolan or a smarter Adam Jones etc. This year's crop of "saviors" ain't, so don't waste the big bucks on them, wait one more year and then comes the Mother Load and we will need all our funny $ THEN for say 2 biggies to go with our coming along homegrown stars!! We can suffer for 1 more year and hey - that means TWO more years of HIGH 1st and 2nd round draft picks. Maybe we can add 1 or 3 more bright near stars of our own. DON'T trade 'em when we just finally got 'em!! We ain't ready yet for first place, we NEED to keep and add the good to great YOUNG GUNS and then grab a REAl good big one like "Mauer" etc. Don't panic Andy sign LaRoche and maybe a DH and see how it goes. The REAl fans can wait 'til that Perfect Storm that is coming a year from now.

Hi Roch dont laugh the os finally wake up and join the big show---Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell for Jeremy Guthrie,David Hernandez,Jim Johnson,Zack Britton,Brandon Snyder and Luke Scott. We may have to substitute Tillman for Hernandez and maybe even add a Luis Lebron but i would still do it.Than sign Crede,Wolf or Hardin and we are on our way.wHAT DO YOU THINK
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I can't speak for the Padres. I don't know how much they value those guys. I doubt they'd want to take on much salary (Guthrie, Scott) if they're cutting payroll. And the Orioles aren't going to give up a lot for a guy who can be a free agent in two years. - Roch

Have heard if the Orioles are thinking about unloading Luke Scott to get a bat or starter? Ive Heard that the Braves have been insrested before about Scott and they were looking at a outfield bat. By trading some of their pitching, would Scott and a prospect for Jair Jurrjens package work?
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Scott is a candidate to be dealt. Wouldn't know about your trade proposal without knowing which prospect you'd include. And I can't speak for the Braves. - Roch

Yesterday on the O's radio station, the three hosts discussed the possibility of the O's trading Adam Jones and Josh Bell to the Mets for David Wright. All three agreed that it would be a trade that made sense for both sides.....any thoughts?
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I'm not a big fan of fake trades, but it would be awfully tempting to get David Wright here. You wouldn't know how much you actually gave up until you see whether Bell's the real deal, and if Jones hits better over the second half. That's the gamble. - Roch

No way you trade Jones / Bell for David Wright. You build your team up the middle, we dont need a 3B who cant hit in the clutch. Plus we know what Wright can do, Jones has yet to untap all of his ability.

Glad to hear Koji is OK w/ doing whatever the O's want, I mean he is under contract & all. Whats he going to do, refuse to come out of the bullpen?

I like the idea of Koji working late in games but not as a closer. If you counter his spotty 85mph+ stuff w/ a true burner (Valverde, Soriano?) in the 9th it could be difficult for opposing clubs??

Roch,

Wanted to get your take on this. On MASN they have links to an article where allegedly a bunch of baseball execs said the O's would be big spenders this offseason. Think it was like a NY Post article saying O's and Seattle. Seattle seems to be living up to that in the early days with Figgins and what other sites are reporting to be a hard pursuit of Jason Bay.

Now with you saying we aren't going to seriously go after (obviously I mean biggest offer on the table by seriously) Lackey, Bay, or Holliday and we aren't going to trade any prospects to acquire a legit clean up hitter - that leads to the obvious question - where would this "big spending" come from?

MacPhail isn't going to (nor should he) "big spend" on washed up players like Beltre, Delgado, etc. And we all know there isn't anything left after the 3 names above to spend a big contract on.

You have any thoughts on that Roch? Was the article just off base?
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It's just some executives speculating what the Orioles might do. Nothing more. - Roch

Sheets and Sheets. And Sheets again. Bedard to close in June or so.

No thanks to Jones and Bell for Wright.

If we sign Beltre 3 years and Bell comes up ready to play after a year, couldn't we just trade Beltre? Unless Beltre isn't going to hold value in a year or two... he'd be tradeable. If he isn't going to be worth anything in a year, no sense in signing him.

My head is spinning again. I need to stop thinking so hard about this.

Chris said,
Let's see what happens. But the consensous is...NOTHING except some routine organizational transactions like Moeller. I am starting to question whether MacPhail has the guts to pull off the "Big One"

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The winter meetings haven't even started yet and you are already on MacPhail's back. I think he pulled off 2 "big ones" trading our ace and star SS? I seem to recall he did quite well with these deals. At least get a clue before spewing you anti-oriole garbage on here. Maybe you should change your name to Jack Jr or Brummie the sheep trimmer.

"Maybe Andy will sign some minor league free agent and spin it to the media."

Here's a selection of relief pitchers who were signed as minor league free agents last season:

1) Kiko Calero (2-2, 60 IP, 1.95 ERA)
2) Ronald Belisario (4-3, 70.2 IP, 2.04 ERA)
3) Brandon Medders (5-1, 68.2 IP, 3.01 ERA)
4) Justin Miller (3-3, 56.2 IP, 3.18 ERA)
5) Brian Sanches (4-2, 56.1 IP, 2.56 ERA)

and off waivers:

1) Eric O'Flaherty (2-1, 56.1 IP, 3.04 ERA)

You might recognize Belisario's name - he pitched in the playoffs for the Dodgers, who had the best ERA in baseball. Medders and Miller both pitched for the Giants, who had the 2nd best ERA in baseball. Calero and Sanches pitched for the Marlins - well, they were only 14th best in baseball but that's 16 places ahead of us.

TX O's Fan said:
Folks the big bat acquisition will not make this team competitive in the standings. How did Dunn's bat improve the Nats? In a suspect NL Central, just how did Fielder's bat help that team in a quest to win the division? And they have Braun to boot. The 2 teams left standing, both have solid pitching.............................TX O's Fan......Our starting pitching is coming along nicely, give it time to develop........We have several holes to fill .......I can't believe you don't think a big stick, who will be part of this team for several years, is not a key part of building this team.....Are you trying to tell us Dunn wouldn't look good in the middle of our line-up ?

Roch,mlbtr says 2 more teams are interested in MAtt Lidstrom from Florida?any chance the os are???
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Doesn't appear so. - Roch

Tim Puff said:
Am I the only one here who hears Stewie Griffin's voice whenever Brummie posts?? Just wonderin'.....

WHO is STEWIE GRIFFIN ?????

Good grief. Did Jack change his name to Chris? I was going to provide a counter-argument to the nonsense above and then I caught myself. Different moniker, same old rhetoric. Just another name to scroll.

Doom! Doom, I say! Everything the Orioles do will fail, and everything they don't do would have been amazing, and will end up helping other teams instead. Even MacPhail's attendance at the winter meetings is a useless waste of the team's money, because he hasn't done anything right in his time with the O's. 2010 is already over, there is no need to even play the season. We will again lose close to 100 games, and end up with the #3 pick in the 2011 draft, which we will waste on someone who isn't as good as the person who gets picked #4. Doom! 2011 isn't safe either, because Matusz, Tillman, and Arrieta will all have major injuries, or we'll find out that they really aren't as good as every single professional baseball executive and scout say they are. Doom! The end is nigh! And since the world will end in December 2012, many denizens of Birdland will rue the coming of the end because it will confirm that the Orioles will never be competitive in their lifetime. Doom, I say!

And so it begins...
By Roch Kubatko on December 6, 2009 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (24)
Arriving at your gate at 9:30 a.m. for an 11:45 a.m. flight isn't recommended, but I'm a people-watcher and this is the ideal place for it.

ROCH...wouldn't a better spot be some boardwalk in Florida ?

I'm with BaltJohn on this one. So I have to check one last time before I finish packing... I'm not headed to Indianapolis, Florida, by chance, am I? No?

Crap.

I have a busy night of procrastinating ahead of me.

I dont get all of you AM haters. This free agent class is lame to say the least. We do not need an OF so you can cross Bay and Holliday off the list. Andy has stated since day 1 he will not overpay for a pitcher which I agree with so you can cross off Lackey. By the way, Lackey is not worth the money he will get from any team. The rest of the class is average at best so why make a move that will hold back Bell and Snyder? Sign someone to play 3B with a good glove for a year(Feliz) and a 1B/DH with pop(Blaylock or Huff Daddy) and a veteran pitcher who can give you 200 innings(Garland). That right there will get us through this year and we continue to develop our core group of players. We are not a playoff team this year so let it go people! We have made amazing strides in player development but we can't start trading it away when we do even know if the players we have will be any good. Rome was not built in a day. We have the talent in place to be a playoff contender for 4 or 5 years easy but we need another year or two before we get there.

Dr. Tom said:
*Can we please stop suggesting that Reimold be moved to first so the O's can sign Holliday or Bay?
DR. TOM..........I would move Reimold to first and make him take ground balls in his sleep till he gets it...........Then I would put our best second half hitter in centerfield, where he belongs, that being Pie.......Then move Jones to Left .......I know you like that !!!

Chris said

Why is there NO serious effort to sign the players it takes to at least give this team a chance.

.................................

That is a very good question Chris. I hope someone asks ANDY this when he is holding softball...............err, court with the media every night at 6.

Baron said:
I believe the real jury will continue to deliberate and pass judgement in another two years. By then we will have a better idea of Mr. MacPhail's accomplishments and/or mistakes. If the Orioles are a contending club by then, he's done his job. I'm rooting for him to get the job done and I believe in his approach.
SO BARON..........Are you saying, as an O's fan who wants to compete for a playoff spot, that if Andy signs some stopgap or uses what we have in-house to fill the holes we have,.......that you will be pleased as we go to spring training, knowing from day one, that we have no chance to even get to 500 ???.... I can assure you I won't be !

Sign Jason Bay & Make the David Wright Deal withoy a doubt. As for the other Free Agents, "Build it & They will Come"

Roch,

I'm not sure who Tyler Hissey is, but he had a pretty realistic look at the Orioles and their offseason plans. Here's the link:

http://mvn.com/aroundthemajors/2009/12/baltimore-orioles-offseason-thoughts.html
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I scanned it and didn't see anything different than what's been written. - Roch

MasterCheffy: Did I read correctly??? You think Garland might be a good pickup?

Hmmmm, some of us were saying that last year. But you and a bunch of other "Yes Fans" ripped Garland saying he was a bust and a mediocre player and took joy in rubbing his poor outings in our faces.

Now you want him here?

Are you thinking what we are thinking?

Someone call the police, there is a HUGE U-turn going on at the moment.

LOL

I love how everyone KNOWS exactly what Andy MacPhail is going to do before he does it. I'm glad I KNOW what those people will say if he does/does not do anything... He could sign Babe Ruth and of course you'd have to make sure to point out that that, too is a mistake because he's dead. Come on people. Give the man some time to do his job. If the same team is running out there on opening day, then you have a right to be mad. Until then, quit whining that he hasn't asked your advice and lets really see what shakes out.

Chad Tracy is able to to picked for the draft thursday right if so, wouldnt you be intrested and just keep his bat on the roster for DH, LF, and 1st.

Tollhunter - you are the loner on here.
No I am not Jack Jr or Brummie. I am fan who has been following the O's for more then 40 years. Unfortunately, the statements MacPhail has made is not what the fan base needs or deserves after all the beating down we have taken under the Angelos regime.

Any GM can trade away players, does Andy have th guts to be able to pull off the big acquisitions...to date the answer is NO

Again, another blogger who occassionally talks critical of the FO and you try to gather a possey to run them off the board. Maybe it is you who needs to open your eyes, post with a real name and come to the realization of what the picture looks like when you take the time to clear the fog!

Why Koji at closer? I understand that he lacks the endurance to start, but why not long-man or middle relief? Seems that our closer should be able to hit 90 on the radar gun, no need for a junk baller in the closer role.
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I'd like to introduce you to Trevor Hoffman. And Koji isn't exactly a junkballer. He has a wide assortment of pitches and is extremely tough the first time through the order. And he closed in Japan, so it's not a new role to him. Those are a few reasons. But he could end up in long or middle relief, as I said. - Roch

Brummie_Oriole said:
MasterCheffy: Did I read correctly??? You think Garland might be a good pickup?

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No, you didn't read correctly. In my question to Roch, I asked his opinion on whether the team put Garland into the category of veteran steadying influence. Roch was the one who stated that the Orioles were interested last year and could be again this year.

If you want my opinion on Garland, I'll give it to you. He has some positive attributes. He's durable, he eats innings, he's not afraid to call out his teammates when needed, and he's not as expensive as other pitchers talked about. Unfortunately, NONE of those overshadows the fact that he gives up a million hits every year in lesser divisions than the AL East, and I think he would get hammered on a daily basis here.

So no, there is no u-turn. I'm not changing my mind and siding with you. I think Garland is a younger, less costly, and less talented Derek Lowe, and I don't want him either.

And, BTW, if I'm a "yes fan", I guess that makes you "no fan". Sounds accurate. You have proven time and time again that you are definitely "no fan" of the Orioles. I don't have to defend my fan-dom to you, since unlike you I have been and always will be willing to explain my reasoning behind everything I state, to offer my suggestions as to what I would do, and to be willing to have those suggestions criticized. I'm willing to listen to counter arguments and if they are good enough, to change my mind. I've done so on Jermaine Dye, for example. I was all for signing him to be the DH and spare OF, bringing a RH power bat to the lineup. However, many well respected baseball people have come out saying that he's finished, and the old-looking player you saw wearing his uniform in August and September is all you can expect from him going forward. So, I have changed my mind on him and no longer want the O's to sign him.

Brummie_Oriole said:

WATCH OUT FOLKS!

This is great news for Koji. But I fear it will be the only good news for the O's all week.

Expectations have been set incredibly low for this Winter Meetings. I find it pathetic that a 98 loss team that wants to take the next step in 2010 cannot and will not makes the moves necessary to build a winner.

They'll force Feliz or some other NL retread on us and try to hype him as an "upgrade" even though the guy have never played in the AL. Maybe Andy will sign some minor league free agent and spin it to the media.
December 6, 2009 5:35 PM
_________________________________

*YAWN*

Chris said:
Tollhunter - you are the loner on here.
No I am not Jack Jr or Brummie. I am fan who has been following the O's for more then 40 years. Unfortunately, the statements MacPhail has made is not what the fan base needs or deserves after all the beating down we have taken under the Angelos regime.

Any GM can trade away players, does Andy have th guts to be able to pull off the big acquisitions...to date the answer is NO

Again, another blogger who occassionally talks critical of the FO and you try to gather a possey to run them off the board. Maybe it is you who needs to open your eyes, post with a real name and come to the realization of what the picture looks like when you take the time to clear the fog!

December 7, 2009 7:43 AM

Brummie/Jack/Chris
Give it a rest will you!??! We all know you are the same poster, The problem with you is that your to stupid to post anything other then your constant rants about anything that this team does on does not do. You think your so clever that all you have to do is change your name on here and let it rip again. So Jack/Brummie/Chris you can just keep on spitting out your same old tired message..Just know that you are not folling anyone on here..Your to stupid to out wit all your calls mates..

Sounds better to give Koji the job than losing a 2nd round pick for 60 innings as KLaw would say. Roch any chance you could interview him and get a detailed opinion on the O's?

Koji will be fine as a short relief man, but to have him as your lone closer would be worrisome. Maybe he and Castillo, (R/L combo) could share the two jobs until we get a "Rocket Man" in FA or trade, or Sarfatte shows he's got the stuff.

To Mike;
Thankfully Roch doesn't discount or erase our posts for spelling, grammar, or punctuation mistakes or most of us would never be heard from. Please if you are going to "call out" someone or a group take the time to at least make your post readable and not so disjointed as to obfuscate your true emphasis.