...absolutely must give it more than one off-season.  If it gets done in a single off-season it's less "rebuilding" and more like "firesale".

This is a very good start.

isn't too bad a tradeoff and I don't know if I buy Tejada being trading for next to nothing.

As for getting rid of Roberts, Mora, et al, they seem to be putting a concerted effort into getting a good deal for Roberts and other teams just aren't going to be interested in trading for worthless players like Gibbons, Huff, and company.

Even when it comes to good players like Roberts, other teams know the Orioles aren't in a good bargaining position and are going to lowball for him.  It's probably good that any deal for him is taking a long time because that makes it more likely they're holding out for something of worth.  There is no point in a 1999-style giveaway.

The Orioles haven't had an overseas presence since the 1970's, so that's something that is going to take time no matter what.  It would be great if they could go to Asia and the Caribbean and be players with the talent that is from there, but the fact of the matter is that almost all of the teams in the Major Leagues have been camped out there for a decade or more and have a better infrastructure for getting local talent.

I'm very cynical about the Orioles, but MacPhail hasn't even been on the job for a year.  Give him some time.

Ok saying that we traded Tejada for next to nothing is a little bit of an overstatement.  We didnt get the top tier talent because his value didnt warrent a Brandon Wood type talent in a trade anymore, but we still got some good pieces.  Also Mora has a no trade and no other team wants or should want Millar, Huff, Gibbons or Payton.  Roberts, Bradford and Walker have value but the offers have been underwhelming and its good to have bullpen arms to give young starters confidence.  

Remember we dont want to rush into anything, and it takes time to find the right places to look overseas and to make sure we invest the money wisely and not just spend money.  

The most important detail you forgot was that we drafted and signed the best available talent in the draft.  Matt Wieters should be a stud and we went above slot for Jake Arrieta.  That hopefully is a telling sign of things getting better for us here in Charm City.

Some of our rebuilding effort is going to be furthered via the old "addition by subtraction" method.

See those jerseys in my sig?  You're looking at a cut player, a contract that may or may not see it's conclusion, and a throw-in to a trade.

Not getting much (anything?) back for any of them - but those roster spots and lack of DH/1B/OF clutter sure do go a long way, IMO.

Dude, I've said it a million times -- this year has little to do with rebuilding. 2008 is the audition for a youth movement throughout this system, and the lessening of Baltimore time left for these crappy veterans.

This is a forfeit season.

And as far as trading Bedard goes, too, that was not obvious. That was a ballsy move by Andy MacPhail. Bedard wasn't overpaid, wasn't HIGHLY paid, wasn't rising losing trade value like Tejada was, isn't clearly on a downward trend like Tejada, etc. He wasn't even raising holy hell like Johan Santana was.

I think a lot of us tend to overstate that "Well you gotta trade him and get SOMETHING!" idea. You do get something when free agents like Bedard leave. You get draft picks. And I know it doesn't seem like it, but believe it or not some teams make good players out of those things.

Bedard didn't need to be traded. Given the talent they got back from doing it, I think it was worth it.

Overseas talent is super when it works out, and Akinori Iwamura was a fine pickup by the Rays. That said there are plenty of guys as good as Iwamura. Seriously. A lot of the Japanese guys that come over (not the Ichiro, Hideki Matsui, Fuk U Do Me types) could easily be replaced by someone that isn't a Japanese star and you'd hardly know the difference. In '07 there wasn't a lot of difference in the value of Iwamura and Melvin Mora.

Rather then replying comment by comment:

If Bedard wasn't going to extend (and who knows if there was a real effort), then it made sense to trade him.  While he was my fave Oriole, he was a risk of injury, so in a sense we had to trade him (well, we didn't have to, but to a point the reward outweighed the risk).

Kevin Millar still OBPs decently and at his salary he does some value.  Plus he has all those bullshit intangibles.  When Pedro Feliz is getting $21MM, I have to believe that Millar could get us a B-ish prospect.

My concern is that the Orioles are not trading high.  Given the volatility of relievers, doesn't it make the most sense to package cash along with Walker and Bradford for prospects now, before they could either get hurt or be ineffective?  Especially given that Sherrill is the closer?

2008 is a forfeit season.  But that doesn't mean that we should wasting at bats on guys who won't be part of winning team.  Could Scott Moore be an every day thirdbaseman on a competitive team?  Maybe, I'd sure like to know.  And letting him play everyday this year would go along way to finding that out.  But we have to have team player MelMo wasting those at bats.  And what about first?  Can't we find somebody who could be good rather then a bunch of guys with marginal value down the road?  (Note: Given Huff's fairly respectable finish, I would think he would also have value, especially if we covered half his salary.)

I'll believe the Tejada deal sucked until the end.  I've come around a bit on Luke Scott, but I would've rather worked with a team with a better farm system.  Patton's hurt (which was known apparently), Albers has control issues (heh, we're not the only team with these types of pitchers), Costanza is hacktastic, Sarfate is a middle reliever and Scott is 30.

And sure, we shouldn't trade just to trade, but I wonder if MacPhail is being creative enough with some of these players that aren't doing a lot for us.  How will Millar be any more valuable then he is today?

Having said that, I'm definitely being a impatient.  I just don't want to forfeit opportunity cost which is what we are doing (i.e., why isn't Hayden Penn in the rotation?).

MacPhail traded Miggy the day before the Mitchell Report dropped. Wait 24 more hours and do we get ANYTHING for Miggy?

Well, yeah, we probably do, after you wait another 2 months for the fallout to fade away. But I don't think you get even what the O's got for him.

Timing and context are important to consider in the Tejada trade.