Go Figure—Trade deadline passes.

by zknower on Aug 31, 2008 8:49 PM EDT

Kinda disappointing.

We read earlier this month that a bunch of players passed through waivers.

Yet apparently there weren't ANY deals that could make Baltimore a better ballclub in the future. Barring something in the next few hours, our roster will only change with callups.

Not even a deal for Aubrey Huff, who went 2 for 3 today, is hitting .311, and is 4th in the AL with 30 HRs.

I can get why no one wanted, I dunno, Jay Payton, but I'd have thought that Aubrey might garner some interest. Apparently the price was too steep.

(sigh).

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I guess

they think that Aubrey is having a fluke year and there is some truth to that probably

"I have seen the future and his name is Matt Wieters." Keith Law

by Reddrummer9187 on Aug 31, 2008 10:27 PM EDT 0 recs

Fluke year or not

At the very least, he is a LEFTY HOME RUN HITTER, and he should have had some offers.

I remember at the non-waiver deadline, Andy said “We had the oppurtunity to do something stupid and we didn’t take it” and I hope that is true now.

I think that we should have definitely been prepared to give a player or two away for not a lot. I think now that it would have been smarter to just give away Sherrill, soon after the All-Star game, in a “bargain” deal to a team looking at October. Because no matter how little we got in compesation, it would have been better than a slow slide to ineffectiveness and then a placement on the DL.

I hope that Aubrey keeps on hitting just to prove me wrong.

I hope that Andy isn’t trying to out-smart everybody, trying to find suckers for these players. Because the best thing to do is be honest…

The stock market will never recover, our armies will never again be #1, and our children will drink filthy water for the rest of their lives - HST

by the fix is in on Sep 1, 2008 10:02 AM EDT up 0 recs

Sherrill

The thing is he’s under control for a good while and is very cheap. He’d still be an excellent LOOGy and worth his pricetag, and he’s shown he can close in a pinch, though he’s certainly not a dominant stopper.

"Yesterday I was lying, today I am telling the truth." -- Bob Arum

Camden Chat
Bad Left Hook

by SC on Sep 1, 2008 6:05 PM EDT up 0 recs

I didn't really figure anyone would get dealt

If they didn’t go by the official trade deadline it was highly unlikely they would’ve gone by the waiver deadline. I am optimistic that something can get worked out to at least get rid of one of Roberts/Huff/Mora if for nothing else a salary dump.

I cannot stress how useless Huff and Mora are to this team, if we aren’t going to contend until at least 2010 and probably 2011 if all things fall into place, a 38-39 year old 3B and a 34-35 year old DH more than likely aren’t going to be major contributors. I think that Brian will age gracefully, but it is asking too much for that guy to get on base and run the way he is now at age 32-33. Keep in mind that those figures would be the starting ages of these guys in a team that could possibly contend for 4-5 years. Not only would they be fairly useless for the first year or two of O’s contention, but beyond that they would probably be out of the league.

My best game plan is to sit on the bench and call out specific instructions like 'C'mon Boog,' 'Get ahold of one, Frank,' or 'Let's go, Brooks.' -Earl Weaver

by Baltimo on Aug 31, 2008 10:40 PM EDT 0 recs

What happens if we drop a shitload of money to sign Ben Sheets and CC Sabathia next year?

Just sayin’.

by Y Not on Sep 1, 2008 10:37 AM EDT up 0 recs

may god have mercy on Andy's soul if that happens

by pipkin on Sep 1, 2008 1:34 PM EDT up 0 recs

I will quit the team

Not only is that so unlikely to happen, but I just don’t understand why you do that. Put together a good pitching staff with an offense that could completely bomb and hope it all holds together for a single year of contention?

It seems like the majority of people want/think that will happen.

My best game plan is to sit on the bench and call out specific instructions like 'C'mon Boog,' 'Get ahold of one, Frank,' or 'Let's go, Brooks.' -Earl Weaver

by Baltimo on Sep 1, 2008 1:35 PM EDT up 0 recs

wait

You’d quit the team if we signed Ben Sheets and CC Sabathia to team with Jeremy Guthrie for a club that has hit very well this season? That seems bizarre.

"Yesterday I was lying, today I am telling the truth." -- Bob Arum

Camden Chat
Bad Left Hook

by SC on Sep 1, 2008 6:06 PM EDT up 0 recs

thanks

for making me feel not-crazy. I think we would be in pretty good shape if we had a rotation of Sheets, Sabathia, or Guthrie. And I don’t mind Sheets turning 30 next year.. he’s probably still good for another 4-5 years.

These aren’t even in the realm of pipe dreams though.

by Y Not on Sep 1, 2008 6:34 PM EDT up 0 recs

But but

Signing an expensive bullpen, Miguel Tejada, Aubrey Huff, Melvin Mora, Javy Lopez, Ramon Hernandez and Sammy Sosa have worked before!! Plus Vlad has been great for our team too!

Call me crazy for saying this, but expecting Sabathia to have an ERA of around 3.80 for the next 3-4 years isn’t all the unlikely, it cannot be understated how hard the Brewers are working him. Sure, an ERA just under 4 isn’t bad at all but I am not willing to dish out that kind of money that kind of production. Do you really want a 31 year old Ben Sheets and C.C. Sabathia on another losing team? Plus we are not even close to having a back of the rotation, unless you want to call Daniel Cabrera a solid #4. None of this matters anyways because C.C. Sabathia wouldn’t even glance at Baltimore when he is looking for a new home. Melvin Mora is going to be 37. I’m sorry but Aubrey Huff isn’t going to have an OPS around 950. This offense, held together by a guy nearing 40 and Aubrey Huff, is drawing comparisons to the Yankees of Ruth and Gehrig because they have had two good months. Again, call me crazy but lets say that this offense plays the way they did before the all star break. Give me a break. We would pick up Sabathia and Sheets for this team to have no offense and we end up at or 6 games over .500.

By the way, questioning my fanhood…are you serious? You really think that I would be checking a blog multiple times a day about the Orioles in September after watching them lose for 11 years if I wasn’t a true fan of the team? Really?

My best game plan is to sit on the bench and call out specific instructions like 'C'mon Boog,' 'Get ahold of one, Frank,' or 'Let's go, Brooks.' -Earl Weaver

by Baltimo on Sep 2, 2008 4:13 PM EDT up 0 recs

Fanhood

If you weren’t flailing around going “i’ll quit, i’ll quit” than no one would question your devotion and, instead, would focus on your intelligence.

by PWubbs on Sep 3, 2008 1:11 PM EDT up 0 recs

re:

“I will quit the team”
— you, Sept 1, 2008, 1:35 PM

That would be why. I don’t think you’re a fairweather chump or nothin’ but you asked for it, chief. Furthermore:

This offense, held together by a guy nearing 40 and Aubrey Huff, is drawing comparisons to the Yankees of Ruth and Gehrig because they have had two good months.

You’ve asked repeatedly to be called crazy and so I will. You may have slightly overestimated anyone’s excitement about the Orioles offense. Which has been good this season. Also the offense is led by Markakis and Roberts just as much as Huff and hot flash Mora.

“I’d quit the team” seems a goofy thing to do when getting — in this fantasy world we’re discussing — CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets. “We want good teams! Just not this way!” Man Peter Angelos could buy the Red Sox tomorrow and import them to Baltimore and I’d root for them if they won. We are not going to be building exclusively through the draft and “homegrown” talent, so don’t expect us to be Oakland. For all of Angelos’ faults, he’s not a total penny-pincher like the schlubs that own that alleged team, which is turning into the new Montreal Expos and little more than that.

"Yesterday I was lying, today I am telling the truth." -- Bob Arum

Camden Chat
Bad Left Hook

by SC on Sep 3, 2008 2:46 PM EDT up 0 recs

I cannot dispute that I said that

But obviously I was kidding; after tuning in to almost every game in a season highligted by the start studded rotation of Brian Burres, Steve Trachsel, Garrett Olson and Radhames Liz, I think I might just be inclined to see what Guthrie/Sabathia/Sheets could do.

I’d root for the Red Sox in Baltimore too, becuase they have a future. Pedroia, Ellsbury, Okajima, Lester, Anderson, Bowden and even Bucholz are young, ridiculously good kids on an already veteran team. I just think that at this point we don’t need to sign two guys around 30 to 100+ million becuase there are just too many holes to fill. This offense could easily regress into being in the bottom quarter of the league, and then when you do contend in 2011, it is starting to look like 2012, who knows what a 32/33 year old Sheets can give you. Ok sure, your 2009 Orioles have a killer top three, but your still going to have a hole at 3B, 1B, SS, some bullpen spots and possibly catcher. My worst fear is that you sign any free agent and he spends the twilight of his career on yet another losing team. Haven’t we done that before? I realize that we haven’t signed anyone, besides possibly Tejada, who has refined stuff like Sabathia, but it is pretty clear to me that this team could quite easily be worse next year. You don’t have to build like Oakland, but you also don’t have to buy multiple top dog free agents when you have five additional gaping holes

My best game plan is to sit on the bench and call out specific instructions like 'C'mon Boog,' 'Get ahold of one, Frank,' or 'Let's go, Brooks.' -Earl Weaver

by Baltimo on Sep 3, 2008 3:18 PM EDT up 0 recs

This offense could easily regress into being in the bottom quarter of the league,

The offense will regress to the bottom half unless serious changes are made. As far as signing Sheet or CC goes, I’d pass on Sheets given his injury history. CC is the better bet but adding him alone won’t mean much.

Wolf, wolf, wolf.

by birdman on Sep 3, 2008 4:00 PM EDT up 0 recs

Papelbon! Masterson! Lowrie!

Okajima???

by Awesome Mike Awesome on Sep 3, 2008 6:07 PM EDT up 0 recs

Masterson

Forgot him.

My best game plan is to sit on the bench and call out specific instructions like 'C'mon Boog,' 'Get ahold of one, Frank,' or 'Let's go, Brooks.' -Earl Weaver

by Baltimo on Sep 3, 2008 6:43 PM EDT up 0 recs

Eh...

Pedroia, Ellsbury, Okajima, Lester, Anderson, Bowden and even Bucholz are young, ridiculously good kids on an already veteran team.

I’ve been hearing this a lot from Red Sox fans, but I don’t think it’s really true.

Pedroia’s a great player, an emerging star.

Lester is a very promising young pitcher who appears to be the real deal.

Ellsbury, Lowrie, Masterson, Moss, and Masterson are all bit parts, IMO.

Buchholz has struggled, but he’s still an excellent prospect, and there are a couple potential impact players in the minors in Lars and maybe Bowden, but that cupboard is a lot more bare than it has been.

This is still a team that gets 90% of its production out of older players. That’s not a bad thing by any stretch, as this team is built to win now, but I don’t see them as a dynasty built around young players a la the Rays.

They certainly have the resources to compete for the forseeable future either way.

by dkdc on Sep 3, 2008 7:01 PM EDT up 0 recs

Ellsbury, Lowrie, Masterson, Moss, and Masterson are all bit parts, IMO.

Ellsbury and Lowrie, bit parts, really? Sickels rated Lowrie as an A- prospect at the beginning of the season. He’s hitting OPS+ 109 at SS as a rookie. He was having a respectable year at AAA this year. He won’t hit like a young Nomar or anything but he looks like someone who could be among one of the top 3-4 SS year in and out if his defense doesn’t slip into some god awful range. If Ellsbury moves to CF, his bat will play fine. He’s really struggled this year but it could just be growing pains. He’s never shown any history of power so he won’t be a Grady Sizemore type of CF. But he could be like Ichiro: great CF defense, great speed to nab doubles and better plate discipline than Ichiro. Overall though, I would rather have Adam Jones over foolsbury!

Wolf, wolf, wolf.

by birdman on Sep 3, 2008 7:42 PM EDT up 0 recs

Lowrie is a tweener. Doesn’t have the glove for SS and doesn’t have the bat for 3B.

Ellsbury has marginal power and his BB’s have come way down since pitchers started challenging him in the strike zone. He has a good enough glove/speed combo to stick in the majors for years, but I think he’s a below average starter.

by dkdc on Sep 3, 2008 9:41 PM EDT up 0 recs

Lowrie

has managed to play shortstop for the last two months without incident. But keep on believing last year’s conventional wisdom. Which oddly gets thrown out awfully quickly regardin Ellsbury. How convenient!

by Awesome Mike Awesome on Sep 4, 2008 5:48 AM EDT up 0 recs

you'd quit the team?

I second SC here and on top of that, dude, you can’t ever give up on your team

"We might as well just win this game." -Adam Jones

by exitfare on Sep 1, 2008 11:58 PM EDT up 0 recs

I'm just wary of this kind of free-agentness

It hasn’t worked out for like 10+ years now. And the offense could be fluky. It scares me. It reeks of business as usual.

I’d never give up on the team, though. I’ve had plenty of opportunities for that and it never happened.

by pipkin on Sep 2, 2008 12:53 AM EDT up 0 recs

We have never signed pitchers as good as Sheets and Sabathia at the same time. Pat Hentgen does not equate.

"Yesterday I was lying, today I am telling the truth." -- Bob Arum

Camden Chat
Bad Left Hook

by SC on Sep 2, 2008 3:59 AM EDT up 0 recs

seriously, though...

best pitchers i can ever remember the o’s going after and getting in my years of following the o’s are scott erickson and kevin brown. guys like sutt, jimmy key and hentgen were well past their primes.

guess the non-signing of pavano’s turned out okay, though.

here comes the wave and the turn, here come the crash and the burn.

--mathew ryan

by j.q. higgins on Sep 2, 2008 10:49 AM EDT up 0 recs

burnett, too

He really hasn’t been that great. Hurt a lot.

by pipkin on Sep 2, 2008 11:44 AM EDT up 0 recs

i'm gonna go ahead and disagree w/ you, there...

in his time in toronto, he’s pitched about 500 innings, struck out about 500, averaged a 4.07 era and a 1.29 whip. i’d absolutely take that.

here comes the wave and the turn, here come the crash and the burn.

--mathew ryan

by j.q. higgins on Sep 2, 2008 1:54 PM EDT up 0 recs

500 innings in 3 seasons?

That’s an average of ~167 IP/season. Not great for his cost. He put up decent ERA+ numbers the last two years, but this year he’s below average.

by pipkin on Sep 2, 2008 2:06 PM EDT up 0 recs

and for those first two seasons...

the combined cost was 15 million.

"When people ask me what my motivation is, I have a simple answer: Money."

--Jerry Reed, on acting

by j.q. higgins on Sep 2, 2008 4:45 PM EDT up 0 recs

$12 million this year

For a bad year. And $12 million the next two years, unless he were to have a good year, in which case he can opt out and get an even better deal.

I just don’t like that contract. There was also a $6 million signing bonus.

by pipkin on Sep 2, 2008 8:33 PM EDT up 0 recs

I wouldn't be surprised

if the O’s could drum up significant interest in Huff during the Winter Meetings. Given that the return for players flipped after the July deadline is often negligible, I wouldn’t be too upset about this yet. Same goes for some of the other tradable guys, such as Razor. If Wieters really is all that and a bag of honey mustard pretzels on both sides of the ball—and he looks like it—it might be Hernandez’s last year in black and orange (or white and orange, whatevski) as well.

A mind without purpose will walk in dark places.

by NHZ on Sep 1, 2008 6:31 PM EDT 0 recs