Find MASN on your cable or satellite provider.

Ohman,,,he fits by name alone

Nah, this guy was solid in the past before he got hurt. Hopefully he can return to form for us. You can never have too much pitching, keep adding

Wow...if you look at the roster of 2-3 years ago, and compare it to what we will break ST with, it makes you happy to be an O's fan again. If we can stay relatively injury free this year...I believe we can hit .500 or a little better.

Ohhh-mannnn!

OK Brummie, please don't say that Ohman being a former Cub is why MacPhail wanted to sign him. It will just start an argument in here. We already know what your thinking. Please refrain!

Nice.....this needed to get done.

When Gabino clears waivers (and he will if Sarfate did), are the O's able to outright him to AAA? I doubt he ever has a huge impact with the O's, but he makes a nice arm to have on standby at Norfolk if needed.
----------------------------------------------------------
I believe so. - Roch

Let me get this out of the way before I have to sort through all of the terminally ILL people on here.

Good signing by MacPhail. Hopefully he bounces back from injury and can earn a spot in the pen as a specialist. As I've always stated, can't have enough guys in the pen with this many young starters.

Roch,

I couldn't help it but:

When There's a Will There's a...Will (Way)?

Roch don't this the worng way but... How the bleep do the O's sign Will Ohman that fast, and Mark Hendrickson is going on 2 weeks before its "official"? Is it just me or is that stange? And I'm sorry I know you didn't want his name mentioned again until it became official...
-----------------------------------------------------------
Hendrickson had to come in for a physical and the weather caused some delays, plus they apparently wanted to repeat a test. Something along those lines. Ohman's situation wasn't as complicated. They watched him throw and offered him a minor league deal. - Roch

A nice little pick up for the O's! I really like what Andy has done this offseason. I hope Mr. Angelos is looking into a nice long contract extension for Andy.

Roch, I know, at one time, you thought that Joe Crede would wind up here. I'm very surprised he's still available. Have you heard any reasons as to why he hasn't been signed by anyone? Is he looking for too much $$$, too man years?

Also, have you bought a pair of gloves yet?
----------------------------------------
Not sure how many teams are still looking for a third baseman. Must be concerns about his back. And still no gloves. I'll never learn. - Roch

Not sure if anybody else asked this - but do Berken and Hernandez have options left? I'm guessing neither make the rotation. And if one or both of them make the bullpen it leads me to question 2...

And also what about Kam? Has he fallen out of the O's good graces? I think I read during the Bedard trade days that he literally started pitching a few years ago. And as good as he looks now - this guy could be a lights out closer if he gets adequate exposure.
---------------------------------------------------
They both have options. And Kam is a strong candidate to win a spot in the bullpen. - Roch

Note to the terminally negative: I guess that Will Startup signing didn't stop MacPhail from pursuing Ohman. Go figure.
----------------
ZIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING, well played Roch!

Former Cub.....CHECK
NL Reject.........Check
Injury ridden......Check
Still available.......Check
Terrible career stats....Check
Willing to take a CHEAP contract........CHECK

Budget Baseball at its best!
-------------------------------------
Brummie ignoring that lefties are batting .204 against Ohman - Check. - Roch

Brummie, I'm still waiting to hear who your choice is for Orioles GM! I know you read every comment on hear-c'mon man, I would figure that such a bright baseball mind would have a hidden gem in mind, maybe some obscure assistant Gm that just needs that one big break to prove himself. If you can't give me that then tell me please which current GM in baseball does the best job? You must have an opinion on that one.

Injury ridden? Idiot!!

Brummie_Oriole said:
Former Cub.....CHECK
NL Reject.........Check
Injury ridden......Check
Still available.......Check
Terrible career stats....Check
Willing to take a CHEAP contract........CHECK

Budget Baseball at its best!
-------------------------------------
Brummie ignoring that lefties are batting .204 against Ohman - Check. - Roch
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ah, I love it when the blogger strikes back.

B.O.,

So I guess in your warped world, it would have been better to ooffer Ohman a multi year & multi million dollar deal. You might want to take a basic business 101 course, so you understand this thing called economics. Brummie clueless? CHECK!

haha brummie...as russ says in mighty ducks 2....

"ROCH DISSED YOU BADDDDDDDDD KID!!!!"
----------------------------------
Just making sure all the facts are out there. One of the many services that I provide. - Roch

Am I the only one that thinks so or did our FO have a pretty good winter?

I have come to accept that we have attracted THE BEST PLAYERS THAT WERE WILLING TO COME HERE. AM has addressed 1B, 3B, a veteran starting pitcher that actually has some talent, and some quality in the bullpen.

I wanted to see us add Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Johnson, and Dan Uggla; however, I have come to accept that we never had a chance to acquire any of those players for these reasons:

• Gonzalez – SD won’t trade him until at least June because they didn’t want to lose the 20M in ticket sales he’s good for in that market
• Johnson – the fish really (no, really) did plan on keeping him)
• Uggla – apparently, the fish were asking more than anyone in the league were willing to pay

None of these players, by themselves, would have put us over the top this year; however, if Weiters, Matusz, and Reimold take the next step it would certainly be worth the investment of players and contract extension to add Gonzalez by the trading deadline.

http://www.thedialectdictionary.com/view/letter/Brummie/

This is the link to the Brummie Dictionary, if anyone cares. I like "arf soaked" for stupid.

Brumie is the pits... CHECK!

Sorry class...I've been absent for a couple days due to unforseen circumstances. It seems like my 'blizzard check list' wasn't quite so complete.

For #1 I left out ELECTRICITY, which I was w/out for 30 hours (thank you very much PEPCO!)
For #2 I left out INTERNET SERVICE (AND TV, which meant I missed the MD/UNC game and would have missed the SB except for nice neighbors who had power and cable and my 4x4 Chevy truck to plow me through), which I have been w/out for for over 100 hours (thank you very much COMCAST!)

OY!

It's good to be back in class.
Did I miss anything teach?
Can I make it up?
Can I borrow someone's notes?
--------------------------------------------
You missed four questions about Washburn in about a 10-minute span yesterday. Or was it Wang? Maybe both. Good to have you back. - Roch

I hope this is a good Ohman for the upcoming season.
-------------------------------------
I see what you did there. Very good. - Roch

Hey Roch,

I was rooting for this move LAST year, but I was wondering if this totally rules out the Orioles in their run for Joe Beimel, and if this at all reminds you of the Jamie Walker signing a few years ago?

Thanks!

Danny
-------------------------------------------------
I'm assuming that the Orioles are done now. I don't really see a similarity with Walker, beyond that they're both lefties. Walker signed a major league deal and cost a lot more than Ohman. - Roch

I don't know if it's a good thing Roch that the class is becoming more aggressive with the puns though we do have a really good Professor.

Jeff B. said:

I hope this is a good Ohman for the upcoming season. (Nice one Jeff B.)
----------------------

ravenos said:

haha brummie...as russ says in mighty ducks 2....

"ROCH DISSED YOU BADDDDDDDDD KID!!!!" (Quoting MD2 gets a thumbs up in my book)
--------------------------------------

Roch,

At this point you have to laugh at Brummie and/or Paul right? Or do you just feel bad for people who look at the world as a glass half empty?

I love that come back 100% fact answer from you to Brummie Roch...geez Brummie is nerve racking...good sign by the O's and smart of Olhman to choose them. It is starting to look like players are more WILL-ing to come to the Orioles this year..good sign of the times. We are an up and coming team. I hope Gabino clears waivers so we can get a decent look at the kid this year.

Hey, if we sign Johnny Damon, then we will have Damon Ohman. Kinda scary! ( I know it was Damien)

Well, that should do it for the roster then correct? That fills out the list. Bring on the warm weather!

Please.....

If he can hold lefties to a .204 batting avg in the A.L., then I say amen to Ohman!

Is his last name pronounced by placing a strong emphasis on the first syllable?
-----------------------------------
Correct. - Roch

I personally think the Hendrickson delay was planned. The closer we get to Spring Training the harder it would be for a team to add some new player that they have to put on their 40. The longer the delay the easier to clear waivers.

Wow, Ole Roch sure put me in my place. LOL

Since we all love to toss around "stats", here are a few more about Ohman you won't see the Warehouse boasting about anytime soon.

4 The number of teams including this year that he has played on in the last 4 years. Hmmmm, sure seems like he is well travelled. Is Ohman that good? Or do three GMs know something our incoherent leader does not??

5 The number out of seven major league seasons when Ohman had an ERA OVER 4.

5.84 Ohman's ERA last year in the NL. Wow, I can't wait to see how this translates when he faces the Yanks and Red Sox. LOL

4.25 Ohman's career ERA

4 The number of homeruns Ohman gave up in 12.1 innings last year. WOW.

12.4 Career average of hits and walks per 9 innings

INFINITE: The number of additional clever blog post titles Roch can now use when this guy is getting lit up in the AL East. Here are a few suggestions: "Oh Man" "The Ohman wasn't good"
-----------------------------------------------
3 - Number of teams Matt Holliday has played on since 2008. Guy must suck, too. - Roch

Roch, I read everyday-first thing I do when I get into work. Why do you let brummie highjack your blog every post? I have asked before, but it has become absurd. If he wants to express his views thats fine, just find somewhere else to do it, I think almost all of your readers are tired of his act.

Thank God it was his destiny to be an Ohman rather than a Jayman. We already have enough trouble against lefties in this division

Sorry, Roch, I was obviously being way too subtle. I was thinking like how O's fans shout out "Oh" during the National Anthem.

Wow! Ohman's a lifetime 400 hitter. Stick him in the field and let him bat!

Brummmie, you posted again and did not respond to my question--who is your choice to be the Orioles GM?

Sorry Roch, I have tried to ignore him but I just can't resist today.

No more from me about him, we all know what he really is. i am going back to simply laughing at his stupidity.

And, since I have not said so before, thanks so much for all your hard work and dedication to getting the Orioles news out to all of us in an insightful and often humorous way. You should know you are really appreciated.

Hmmmm Roch,
Sounds like I was right with Ohman. He was signed to be in the ML rotation as a "chirp chirp" option. Andy took the cheap route instead of signing a proven reliever, instead he signed another project or "has been"

I was surprised you came to Andy's defense so quickly with calling out the "terminally negative" in your prior post.

If you are the teacher of this school, Andy is the principal!
----------------------------------------------------
How were you right, Paul? You insinuated that MacPhail was done signing relievers after signing Startup. A few minutes later, they announced Ohman. And he isn't going in the rotation. So it looks like you're STILL wrong. And now you're going to insult my blog? Really? You think that's going to end well for you, Paul? It didn't end well for Jack or Chris, did it? - Roch

Roch,

Apparently some of the whiners here think the Orioles will carry 50 on the active roster. What good does it do to complain about guys who may never make the team? Just because they signed someone to a minor league deal doesn't mean squat. The daily headlines at MLB Trade Rumors are filled with teams signing fringe players. If every team was throwing their wallets wide open, then players like Dye and Damon wouldn't be unemployed.

Finally; let's please stop the tirade about the Orioles not having a "true cleanup hitter". Here's a little fact: The Angels won 33 more games than the Orioles last year and they did so despite the fact they hit ONLY 13 more home runs! It's all about pitching folks.

Jim Carter

If we ever Startup Will, will he ever stop? Will he make grown men cry? Will he show us things we've never ever seen? Or maybe he will just make us blow our tops?

Brummie_Oriole said:
Wow, Ole Roch sure put me in my place. LOL

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey Brummie, have you sent Roch those "articles" you "wrote" yet? Because, you know, you're a "journalist". LOL

Roch, please go back to only allowing this guy one "rant" post a day (or kick him out entirely). He and Paul are hijacking the blog again.

Stay warm Roch.

Brummie thrives on being the subject of a comment. Don't feed the gorilla. Just read his comments, but do not respond. He does present a certain view in the most irratating manner.

It is great to be an Orioles fan. This season is going to be execiting!

Jerry: Bob Flemming or Dan Jennings of the Flordia Marlins.

THey have experience working with bad ownership, and a tight budget. AND they put a winner on the field every year.

And while we're at it: Dave Madagen for manager.

Dave A: I am not trying to hijack anything. If no one responded to me I wouldn't mind at all. People choose to respond to my comments. I don't make them.

Pssst. It's called depth.

Brummie, can you STFU already? We get it--you're slow.

I noticed in Ohman's stats that he has 226 strikeouts over 231 career innings. Roch, any idea what his stuff is like?
-----------------------------------------
Not really. I haven't paid much attention to him, but I'll get caught up in Sarasota. - Roch

Roch,
just wanted to pass on info...I just read on fanball.com that will ohman has signed a minor league deal with the o's... Well done Andy.. We got the low risk high reward lefty specialist we wanted.....

Now from my fan perspective.... I am super excited about our season coming up. We will win more than 81 games... We will compete late in the season, although I am not predicting a playoff run( that will be a reality In 2011). This core of up and coming young players mixed older talented veterans, we are poised for a long term success... So as a fan, I am ready to,as miggy said in 03, the losing stops here....

Btw.. Still waiting to get u drunk at my bar.... Shots shots shot shot shots

I would love to see Mr.MacPhail get a contract extension. He really is the man and I cant wait for the terminally negative parent basement dwellers to see the Orioles play good this year. Roch, I'm wondering why Kiko Calero has not signed with anyone? He would be a nice fit for any team.

Olman's a bum and a head case. A friend of mine is a cubs fan and he said when he was there all he did was goof off. got on 2 mgrs.nerves,they finally shipped him off the Atl and he didn't fit there either. I've been saying over a month they should have signed a closer and made Gonzo the lefty sit guy. But noooooo.

Orioles Have Some Interest In Jarrod Washburn
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [February 9 at 3:49pm CST]
The Orioles have some interest in Jarrod Washburn, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. However, Morosi's source says that Scott Boras would have to lower his client's price "pretty far" for the Orioles to become serious bidders for Washburn.

We've been hearing for a while that Washburn would prefer to pitch for the Twins or Mariners. Playing in the AL East would be a difficult way for the lefty to re-establish his value.

The Orioles are unlikely to add Todd Wellemeyer, Braden Looper or John Smoltz, according to Morosi's source. Two clubs who are looking for bargain starters: the pitching-deep Blue Jays and the Mets.

If we have to have a LOOGY, Ohman is a good option. As long as he doesn't give up too many "rocketships," he should be OK.

Ah, Jamie Walker... still quotable even after he's gone.

Regarding Wang and Washburn: Wang is definitely the better option. Washburn is a flyball pitcher. Pitching in Safeco helped him; pitching in OPACY would only hurt him (and us). Wang is a sinkerballer, so playing in a smaller park wouldn't hurt him as much.

Plus, imagine the headlines here if the Orioles signed a guy named "Wang." :) "Wang roughed up by Sox" is just one of many. If the O's do sign Wang and he makes a short start, a national paper could go with a headline of "O's Wang not Long Enough." The possibilities are endless!

When they bring Ohman in from the pen his intro song can be a version of "Soul Man" and we can dub in; I'm an O's man... I'm an O's man.....Got what I got the hard way, and I make it better each and every day...

That and a couple of good early outings will get the crowd singing along.

Hey Roch,
I just read this On MLB TRADE RUMORS

Wang Has Offers, Could Sign Soon
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [February 9, 2010 at 4:02pm CST]

Chien-Ming Wang has received offers from two clubs and could sign soon, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The Mets and Dodgers are not among the teams to offer Wang a contract. Rosenthal hears that the 29-year-old Wang would like to play for Joe Torre again, but Torre's Dodgers are lagging behind in their pursuit of the right-hander. As for the Mets, they're even further behind than the Dodgers.

The Orioles have discussed Wang and the Cardinals, Nationals and Phillies have all been connected to him this offseason. Rosenthal says the Blue Jays were in on Erik Bedard and wonders if they could pursue Wang, too.

Wang, who is recovering from arthroscopic shoulder surgery, will likely make a decision within a week or ten days.

This was also on MLB TRADE RUMORS

Orioles Have Some Interest In Jarrod Washburn
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [February 9, 2010 at 3:49pm CST]
The Orioles have some interest in Jarrod Washburn, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. However, Morosi's source says that Scott Boras would have to lower his client's price "pretty far" for the Orioles to become serious bidders for Washburn.

We've been hearing for a while that Washburn would prefer to pitch for the Twins or Mariners. Playing in the AL East would be a difficult way for the lefty to re-establish his value.

The Orioles are unlikely to add Todd Wellemeyer, Braden Looper or John Smoltz, according to Morosi's source. Two clubs who are looking for bargain starters: the pitching-deep Blue Jays and the Mets.

Do you think there's any validity to either of these?
----------------------------------
I've seen both reports. Says the Orioles "discussed" Wang. I'm sure they did, as he remained on the market. And there's "some" interest in Washburn, but his price would have go come way down. Of course it would. I've written that MacPhail is only interested in minor league deals now unless something changes drastically - like Washburn's price coming way down. - Roch

When Will comes through with a clutch pitching performance, he'll be hailed as the O's Man.

I would love to see the Birds sign Wang. There's a lot of back class in the past performance charts.

Brummie: You might not being trying to 'hijack' the blog, but people have to respond to you when all you spout are lies and misconceptions. Misconceptions like you wanting the Florida management team but are unhappy with McPhail. Not to take anything away from the Marlins staff because they do a great job with no budget but make some sense would you please.

Your main issues with McPhail's stewardship of the O's seems to be as follows, won't spend money in the draft or international free agents (untrue esp. in terms of the draft), won't spend money on big name free agents, waits for the market to play out, and doesn't communicate with the fans.

-In the three years since McPhail has been running the team the O's have spent an additional $10 million in the draft than the Marlins spent. The O's have been one of the top spenders year in year out while the Marlins are in the middle of the pack. Baltimore has consistently gone over slot for multiple players in their draft class, while the Marlins may give to one or two, but never a high priced one. In fact the Marlins have refused to offer Arb. to players essentially giving up draft picks. The Marlins despite having major ties in the international markets haven't signed any major International Fa's in the last three years. The O's on the hand haven't signed any big names (which is a whole other debate considering that Guzman who you made fun of yesterday is one of the biggest all time International Fa's and he didn't pan out), but have started developing a scouting presence which was lacking prior to McPhail's arrival. In addition the O's are scouting the Pacific Rim, which the Marlins don't even do.

-The Marlins never take on any money in a trade, where the O's have shown they are willing to in the right circumstances. They took on Freel and some of Hernandez's contract so they could get Turner and Waring (two solid pieces). Obviously the O's took on a good chunk of change by adding Millwood (a valuable starting pitcher and not a retread like you call him).

-The Marlins never sign any 7 figure free agents, in the likes of Wiggington, Hendrickson (this season, last season he was too much for the Marlins), Gonzalez, Atkins, and Tejada. Instead signing guys like Wes Helms and Luis Gonzalez, by 'letting the market play out'.

So outside of winning (which is due to their trading) what have the Marlins front office done so much better than the Orioles? The O's have built up in every area of development, depth, drafting, international FA's, opening up new markets, and sound baseball trades (including possibly the best trade in the last 10 years), all under McPhail's stewardship. His style is the same of the Marlins, but with money.

Dear Lord, how I hate to do it, but this shall be the first and last time I dignify Brummie's irascible inanity with comment.

Brummie, we all know you wouldn't be remotely satisfied with anyone who didn't fire the payroll up to NYY or BoSox levels (and maybe not even them). Before MacPhail got here, the organization was past the point of turmoil, it was just stagnant. His first order of business was to get a bumper crop of youngsters to rebuild the organization from the ground up. Unfortunately, rookies and prospects tend to be unproven. But he's put together a group of guys who are happy to be a part of what he's doing, and I'm definitely glad to see organizational depth. It's been 13 years, about 10 of which were completely hopeless (regardless of how much money the FO spent). All the guys that are there now WANT to be there, and they all feel like they have something to prove (not least to people like you).

The Marlins? Seriously? That's your earth-shattering, world-view altering pipe dream for change? What exactly have they proven that Andy's even had a chance to show here? They've been there 5 years, and have back-to-back 80+ win seasons to show for it. Someone alert Cooperstown. And it's Jim Fleming, by the way.

Not too crazy about Chien-Ming Wang. I think we already have a younger healthier version in Bergesen. Then again, another groundball machine like him when healthy isn't a bad thing. I would rather see Tillman earn the 5th spot though coming out of ST.

Not to be negative about Ohman but I just don't see it as being particularly news-worthy or as big a deal as people are making it out to be. We all know that McPhail has man crushes on a lot of his former Cubbies and Ohman just seems to be the lastest in a long line. Hey it looks Pie might work out alright so for a minor league contract who cares? I just don't like the guys era, over 4 is not good. That means he's not only giving up a lot of runs but also a lot of inherited runners are scoring that are being charged to other pitchers. Also his K/9 went down drastically from his career average last year. I just don't want to see a guy like him being givin anything like Eaton and Rich Hill were last year. If he works his way through the minors for a while and proves he can do the job than fine. I'd rather see Wilfredo Perez win the job personally.

For everyone who's been dumbfounded by how long it took to make the Hendrickson signing official it's not rocket science. Of course they wanted to wait til closer to spring training so it would give whoever (Gabino) being dropped from the 40 man, a better chance of clearing waivers. I think Hendrickson wasn't supposed to have "spilled the beans" about his re-signing at that local sports banquet in York county.

Thanks Steveospeak.. Great points..

Thanks steveospeak, now he'll be coming back for more, and more, and more, and more. Way to go!

wats up Roch. I love this signing of Ohman, great move Andy. This is exactly what the pen needed a lefty specialist. when is the last time we had one of them that got lefties out ??? Hopefully Ohman is fully healthy and back to old form, but if he sucks in the spring it isnt a big cut , money wise. How much is he gettin by the way ???? havent heard .
I like this bull-pen(if we have to keep Koji)
Hendrickson
Uehara
Meredith
Ohman
Mickolio
Johnson
Gonzalez
Start Hernandez and Berken at AAA, first injury or player under preforming call them up 1st.
---------------------------------------
Not sure about money. Probably a split contract of some sort. Depends if he's in the majors or minors. I'm assuming, anyway. - Roch

To Brummie:

Yesterday you attempted to call me out for something regarding my verson of THE PLAN. I asked you to ask me a specific question (or questions) and I would be happy to answer you. As of this posting, you have not done so. Please do so. I really am interested in answering your questions. Please make them specific so that I know what I am answering to. Thanks.

Just making sure all the facts are out there. One of the many services that I provide. - Roch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FACTS? on a Brummie post? lol you crack me up Roch . . . not even SHE said that.

Roch,

I read your blog every day and I keep wondering why the fans think they have to respond to Brummie or Paul They need to ignore them because responding to them on a daily basis is what they live for. They love to stir things up and then they sit back and wait for fans to respond to their negativity.

I guarantee you that I never feel the urge to respond to either one of their negativity. They love to pull people's chain.

Just ignore them everybody. They will either go away or Roch will get tired of them hijacking his blog and make them disappear. (Poof!)

Roch,
just wanted to pass on info...I just read on fanball.com that will ohman has signed a minor league deal with the o's... Well done Andy.. We got the low risk high reward lefty specialist we wanted.....

Now from my fan perspective.... I am super excited about our season coming up. We will win more than 81 games... We will compete late in the season, although I am not predicting a playoff run( that will be a reality In 2011). This core of up and coming young players mixed older talented veterans, we are poised for a long term success... So as a fan, I am ready to,as miggy said in 03, the losing stops here....

Btw.. Still waiting to get u drunk at my bar.... Shots shots shot shot shots

I thought all along that the Orioles and Hendrickson knew he would be an Oriole this season. They wanted him and he wanted to be here. The Orioles needed some play in their 40 man roster and by not signing Hendrickson right away they had that flexibility. As it gets closer to ST, other teams 40 man roster are settled and the players we put on weavers has a better chance of not being claimed and staying with the Orioles. Not a bad move from the warehouse.
Roch I enjoy reading your blogs. There are a couple on here who need to take their negativity else ware. I don't mind hearing all opinions about the Orioles, good or bad, but a couple of the bloggers need to just go away, they are ridiculous.
Ray

"Then I gave up another rockidshib to Ahbray-who..."

Good ol' Jamie Walker. Why are lefties so corny?