Will there soon be a new pitcher under the O's tree?

Merry Christmas and happy holidays, Birdland!

Here's a hope that this is your best ever and that you get to spend it with family and friends. Enjoy the season even if you are in the warm Baltimore area, where this weather would be fully conducive for a doubleheader this afternoon.

As for a quick baseball thought today, how about comparing two pitchers the Orioles have been linked to in left-hander Scott Kazmir and right-hander Yovani Gallardo? Both were projected to get four-year deals worth $52 million by MLBTradeRumors.com.

Of the two, Kazmir seems a better fit for the Orioles right now. He could replace lefty Wei-Yin Chen in the rotation and the club would not lose a draft pick for signing him. They would have to give up the No. 14 pick for signing Gallardo.

Kazmir, who will be 32 on opening day, went 7-11 with a 3.10 ERA last year for Oakland and Houston over 183 innings with a 1.208 WHIP. Over the last two years, he is 22-20 with a 3.33 ERA in 373 innings.

But he pitched better in the first half of those seasons. In 2014, his ERA and WHIP were 2.38 and 0.98 before the break and 5.42 and 1.452 after. Last season, he posted numbers of 2.49 and 1.115 before the break and 3.86 and 1.322 after.

Gallardo will be 30 on opening day. He went 13-11 with an ERA of 3.42 in 184 innings for Texas, but his WHIP of 1.416 was quite high and he yielded 9.4 hits per every nine innings. In his career, Gallardo has an ERA of 3.66 and WHIP of 1.317. He has averaged 194 innings the last five seasons.

What is your take on the two pitchers and what plan should the O's have for the rest of the offseason?