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Roch,
I know you were a busy man today. Do your fingers get sore from all of the texting or emails on the phone?
It was nice to meet you today at the MASN booth. I tried to come back to talk about some Tejada scoop, but you were way to busy.

I know a lot of fans were FURIOUS with the setup they had for signing autographs. But it is what it is! Keep up the good work and I hope the Tejada signing is not true, we shall see? He wore out his welcome with failing to run out ground balls and asking for a trade before.

How hot is WJZ's Weijia Jiang in person?

Roch,
You mentioned to me that you hope fans speak up when Andy is up in the forum. Well I sat in these hard metal chairs for 30 mins and hmmm they cut the questions off before I could ask. I guess time ran out fortunately for Andy!

You failed to mention how many fans who are pissed about the autograph sessions and screwy lines going everywhere. You cant get around in this place.

One good part was the Crow going thru hitting back in the corner at the small field layout!

Other then that, not much to do here except wait in lines for and hour and half to guess who is going to be next up for signing autographs...not me..LOL

In all reality, Miggy had turned into a singles/doubles hitter well before the O's traded him away. He should've been batting 2nd or 6th back then but, because everybody else completely lacked the ability to hit for power, he was forced to stay in his 3rd/4th spots in the lineup.

I think if he gets a chance to come in and hit in front of Markakis/Wieters/Jones, he's going to score a lot of runs for the O's this time around.

Just to recycle something from one of my posts that got buried after your flurry of entries today Roch... Tejada batted .367 last year in 69 games while batting second in the lineup. I'm thinking that had to figure into the Orioles' decision to reacquire him. The second spot in the order seemed to be the most glaring hole.

Hey Miggy, just promise all of us you'll hustle throughout the year. Nobody really cares if you are the last one to show up at the park. None of us see that, but we do see when you trot down the first-base line on a ground ball. You still have some gas in the tank, an opportunity to set a good example for the young players, and an outside chance of building your career numbers to be seriously considered for the Hall of Fame. If you never believed in second chances, you should now. Make us all proud.

Oh great!!!Roch, I.thought we were building this on pitching and defense.How comfortable are the young pitchers gonna be with his uncertain defense. He doesn't hustle at all.Oh good grief!! !rummie and kpb and paul will have a field day with this. As I say just go out and cheer em on. GO O'S. Roch, what is thought on how it will effect the pitching staff You think they put Wiggy in for late innings.

Roch
Nice to shake your hand @ Fan fest today. Too bad that International Journalist wasnt @. Keep up the great work.

Now we can move on to do we get 1 LH pitcher or 2. Does Luke or someone else (Wiggy?) get traded. If none are traded, the first three on the bench are pretty set with Moeller, Wiggington, and Pie. Do they go with 12 pitcher or 13? If the fromer then the last bench spot goes to (drum roll please) Andino?, Turner?, Montanez?, Aubrey?, someone else?. Which is directly related to: Can Miggy and Wiggy cover SS and 2nd well enough to get another bat on the bench or is a middle infielder type still required. Then we get to start with the makeup of the bullpen! And of course, there is still so much mileage left in the "Where does Miggy hit category"!

Oh to be in such an instant gratification age. Exciting and shamefully self-indulgent at the same time!

orange crayon jesus said:
And one more thing about Tejada: How does signing him, or Bedard, affect Andy's previous trades of these players one way or another? If you think these things are connected, you don't understand the parameters of trading and need to think of the process not as ownership but as rental.

OCJ...Have we rented Tejada long enough yet ? ...If so, then maybe Andy can start putting together another 5 for 1 deal !

O's Fan In Montana said:

great post about Tejada. I remember how relieved everyone was when we traded him just to get him out of Baltimore (in our desperation, how soon we forget). I don't see him re-signing here. That ship is so far sailed from Baltimore it is in the Chesapeake Bay around the mouth of the James river.

O's Fan In Montana.......GREAT CALL......I'm glad you are nowhere near the Chesapeake Bay.....I would not want to go on a boat ride with you !!!

THANK YOU ANDY....for adding another hitter to or lineup !

Tejada's a great pick up.

We can look at history SS-3B moves:
Cal Ripken switched from SS to 3B. His SS FP% was .982 & his 3B FP% .960
A-Rod also switched. SS: .977 3B: .962

I guess we'll see in 2010 how Tejada fares. Unless they slide Izturis over(who has played 3B) - but that's highly unlikely & makes little sense.

O's Pitching Groundball%
70% Meredith, 54.5% J Johnson, 50.1% Bergesen, 48.9% Albers, 44.8% Hendrickson, 43.6% Bedard(Just throwing him in there) 43.1% Millwood, 40.5% Gonzalez, 40.1% Sarfarte, 40.4% Guthrie

1. Roberts 2B (Switch) - 179 H, 285 Total Bases, 56 Dub's, 74 BB, 30 SB
2. Tejada 3B (Right) - .367 (106/289) batting 2nd in '09, 26 out of 46 Dub's. 199 H, 86 RBI, Clutch just 48 k's.
3. Markakis RF (Left) - 188 H, 291 TB, 101 RBI, .302 Career avg vs. AL East, .311 Runners on '09, .299 RISP
4. Reimold LF (Right) - .304 avg, 7HR vs AL East, 24 HR between Majors/Norfolk last year.
5. Wieters C (Switch) - .500 avg batting 5th, .343 career minor avg
6. Jones CF (Right) - Should improve lower in the lineup..hopefully
7. Scott DH (Left) - Should hit 6th from tendencies but he hit .280 in '08 batting 7th. Don't think Reimold/Jones/Wieters will hit behind Scott.
8. Atkins 1B (Right) - .293 career BA w/ RISP, .283 last year.
9. Izturis SS (Switch) - .310 BA at OPACY, Hit .290(38/131) as RHB

This news makes the trip to Sarasota all the more exciting! Just booked my plane tickets last night.
Superb job with today's coverage Roch.

The maddest person in the world right now has to be Wiggy and I'll bet he's asking(begging) for a trade. He's not going to be happy DHing against lefties.Both Tejada and Atkins are duplicate players to Wiggy but it wouldn't be an O's off season without signing duplicate players and making square pegs fit in round holes. The bullpen is still terrible and will cost a lot of games.

Millwood doesn't want to be here and figues he wasting a year of his career. The $9 million will make him untradable at the deadline. Keeping Castillo over Steve Johnson is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen in sports.

Great sign roch do you belive that we have improved enough with Gonzalez,Millwood,Atkins and tejada that we have a shot at the east or do we need to add more.

He can still hit. Like the move for this year. Let's get MIGGY with it.

We just added a guy who batted .313 with 199 hits last year.
Not bad. If we were going to sign a stop gap this is a pretty good hitting one until Bell is ready. We will have a pretty good lineup this year. Better then last. If we are still going to suffer a little more in the rebuilding stage then maybe this year we can enjoy a .500 team while in the process. That has not happened since 1997. Should help ticket sales today too.

I gotta say im really happy about this move, I really did not think this move would happen and im glad i was wrong! Tejada makes this team alot better. Yeah he will be learning how to play 3rd and he may have his moments there where he makes a bad throw or miss plays a ball but i dont think he will be bad playing 3rd either. Tejada was a all-star last year and he can still hit, and i think he will put up better numbers then last year. I also think signing Tejada could help bring Bedard back to Baltimore
if so then watch out, i know no one will be picking the o's to win the division or make the playoffs, But i think the O's are a sleeper team with the young pitchers, adding Millwood, you got Guthrie, and if you add Bedard you got a pretty good starting staff. I like are line up and you got a pretty good bench with Pie, and Wigginton. We'll see Tho

Roch: RBIs are dependent on batting order and teammates. A .180 hitter with 10 HRs could get 80 RBIs batting in the middle of the lineup for a good team.

Let the guessing start now who gets lopped off the 40 man roster now. My guess Craig Tatum.

Hey Roch, Nice addition. Now, let's add Bedard and see what happens.

Well, much to my disappointment, it looks like MacPhail has done it again. I used to believe in MacPhail, but I'm not sure I can going forward.

When he took over a few years ago I thought we were on the right track. He promised us he'd put the cheapest possible team on the field. I was very pleased with the original Bedard and Tejada trades that moved pricey veterans for a handful of unknown prospects we all knew would never amount to anything. But he's been downhill since then.

Extending Markakis and Roberts? Drafting Wieters? I could go on and go, but I think you guys know the failures all too well.

I think this off season has to be the final straw. For once, he had the opportunity to drastically cut payroll and he failed the test.

16 million for a closer? What's wrong with Kam?

Trading for a pitcher NOT making the league minimum? Big mistake.

15 million on stopgaps at the corners? Umm, we have Wiggington and Aubrey? Wait, Wiggington is getting 7 figures to be a backup?

For the love of God, what is he thinking?!? Why Andy, why?!

I am on record as being against this move. So let's see if I have been paying attention to Brummie as how a "realist" acts when he doesnt get his way . . . Andy get off the golf course . . . Andy you are a cheapskate . . . Andy, you sissy, why do you let Mr Angelos tell you what to do . . . Andy, this is a typically lousy move just like every thing you ever did in Minn and Chicago . . . This move will be a BUST . . . Obviously we could have had a sure thing like Crede but Tejada signed for less . . . How could we have not made a REAL offer to Crede . . . I thought we had a PLAN . . .

Did I forget anything? Oh yeah . . . THANKS ANDREW!!!

~~Above tantrum brought to you by The Baltimore Society of Confusing Hissy Fits for Realty . . . the BSCHFR~~~ all rights reserved ~~~ Any resemblance to fictional journalists are intentional

Maybe Tejada could talk to someone like Cal, or even A-Rod, about making the transition from SS to 3B. (I think Cal would be a better choice because he made the move when he was older, he's a lifelong Oriole, and he's retired.) Cal might be too busy to work with Tejada, but I'm sure he could give him insights about making the transition, things to work on in drills, how to train, easy and hard parts, etc.

I love the move...It cant hurt..he is one heck of a stop gap

Roch,

Thanks for all the FanFest updates for those of us stuck in the office today.

I don't mean to feed the trolls, but i came across an interesting article today that is worth a read.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2010/01/16/2010-01-16_selig_targets_smallmarket_teams.html

Roch,
What great day. Fanfest was a blast as my son and I scored brian roberts and Adam Jones autographs. then we went upstairs and for $20.00 got aAn Adam Jones and Aubrey Huff signed photo's. I was very pleased with the turnout as well as the great news about Tejada.

lineup

roberts 2b 110 runs scored
tejada 3b 300 avg 85rbi
markakis Rf 100 rbi
wieters C 100 rbi
Jones cf .300 25 hr 90 rbi
Scott DH maybe trade bait with hot first half
Reimold LF no pressure hitting here
Atkins 1b 275 avg 15-20 hr i would be happy
Izzy SS Just hit 260 and i am happy

You could also change around tejada,reimold and Jones just about anyway.

everyone has to be pumped for opening day

Great acquisition. Forget the past. This guy had the second most hits in the NL last year (199) and is the best third base short-term option available.

Who knows? He could have a great year this year (.300+ BA, 20+ HR, 85+ RBI) and resign for 2011 to be the designated hitter with Bell at third base.

Here is a batting order to ponder...

Brian Roberts - S
Miguel Tejada - R
Nick Markakis - L
Garret Atkins - R
Adam Jones - R
Matt Wieters - S
Nolan Reimold - R
Luke Scott - L
Cesar Izturis - S

Tejada is a CANCER but he's a better option than Crede and the O's got him for the right price. I hope the O's have someone strong enough in the club house to prevent Maggy from what he does best, ruin it!

Guess if Tejada's glove is too bad at 3B we can see Atkins moving from 1B to 3B late in the game and Aubrey taking over a 1B. Then there's Wigginton. Roch you see a possible trade or two down the road? I would think since Wigginton can play all four infield positions Andino might be the guy on the outside looking in. Or Justin Turner? Should be a very interesting spring.

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE LINEUP WILL LOOK LIKE WITH THE ADDITION OF TEJADA. IM THINKING ITS GOING TO LOOK LIKE THIS.

ROBERTS
MARKAKIS
JONES
WIETERS
TEJADA
SCOTT
ATKINS
REIMOLD
IZTURIS

Im not gonna make excuses for Tejada but he always hits the ball with authority or at least he did as an Oriole, so for all the complaints about him not running out ground balls MOST of those where hot shots right at somebody. I understand the point, ball players should run everything out but we all know NOT all players do.

I actually think he would be the perfect number 2 hitter in this lineup. Because Tejada uses the entire field and has great bat control. He also can hit with 2 strikes. All these things are important when Roberts gets on base in front of him.

Like Ive mentioned before there should be a standing order with the Orioles that anytime Roberts gets on base the guy at the plate should hold the bat on his shoulders till he has 2 strikes. Putting a guy like Miggy in the 2 hole allows you to do just that.

Hey Roch, It was great meeting you today. I think that Miggy will be a good addition to the team. If movement is progress then we have moved miles in the off season.
I was not wild about the FanFest autograph procedure today. I stood in a few lines just to be ready for the time that they would open the gate and then hoped that the players would be ones that I wanted/needed.

At least FanFest got my blood pumping for baseball season.

Do you fans realize that once Mr. MacPhail signs Beddard, and the Giants send back Steve Johnson along with $25k, that the entire 2 for 10 trade two years ago will be a 1 for 12 trade that basically saved the O's a minimum $20 Mil. a year in salary in '08 and '09 with the only player being lost as George Sherrill who we wouldn't have had without the trade anyway.

WOW!, If this is truly a part of "THE PLAN" and doesn't involve shear luck in anyway we have a real baseball genius at the helm.

Now if he can still find a way to borrow Derrek Lee for a couple of years by giving up only the few people who would lose their positions this year anyway he could be Canonized instead of canon fodder. Just kidding Mr. MacPhail you're doing beautifully, it's just that I think Derrek and the O's are perfect for each other.

Thanks Roch for all your hard work today, you did almost as well as Mr. MacPhail.

omazing, I appreciate your cut and paste but you should start giving credit to where you are pulling these posts. Cutting and pasting and passing off as your own isn't really cool. I like the stats, I see them way before you post, just saying...

The return of tejada is a shame!!! where are the oriole proud, how do you can comeback a guy who was asking for a change because he was in a looser team, if we ( THE REAL FANS!!) are really loyals for a bunch of years!!!!, send him to the hell!!!, he is only a mercenary