I've had the great pleasure of listening to the Royals broadcasts in the last two nights. First of all, it's fun to listen to a team's commentators talk about their boys not winning against the Birds since 2006.

But my favorite thing about the Royals broadcasts are the commentators themselves, play-by-play man Ryan Lefebvre (right, son of Jim Lefebvre) and color commentator Frank White (left), Royals Hall of Famer.

The two of them are gold. Not only are they terribly unfamiliar with the Orioles and bat-dung crazy, but they're also seriously easy to listen to and seem like a couple of nice damned guys.

A quality start to Frank White is a complete game. Denny Leonard threw twenty complete games. Now that's quality. White also claimed to have been following Brian Roberts since his first day in the Major Leagues, thinking of him like he does Marcus Giles (?), a small stature guy with pop in his bat. White would be the world's only person who saw pop in the bat of Brian Roberts prior to 2005.

Lefebvre spent an entire, long half-inning talking to some dude from American Idol who's from the area. I'm not even being elitist. He seemed like a nice kid, genuinely excited to be there (White said he used to work at the park when he was a child), and he threw out a nice first pitch. Lefebvre and this dude just went on and on and on while a game was happening. Tremendous, totally uninteresting stuff. Lefebvre then decided that this American Idol dude was a good human being. Just had a feeling. Freddie Bynum hits a double, Melvin Mora hits a two-run homer, they talk about this dude going to the mall.

But the best part of that segment was Lefebvre recalling another reality TV star at the park who threw out a terrible first pitch and was booed off the field. "It was, uh...I don't remember his name. Anyway..." Must've made that kid feel good about his future.

Lefebvre later wanted to invent a new statistic, the Quality At-Bat. After tinkering with it out loud, he settled on this: the hitter is down in the count at some point, he sees eight pitches or more, and he hits it hard somewhere. Doesn't matter if he gets a hit. Also, walks are out of the question for the Quality At-Bat. Fantastic.

Jose Guillen appeared to have hurt himself a little bit running to first base later in the game, and Frank White said he had a "nice grimace" on in the dugout. Lefebvre took issue with the idea of a "nice grimace." This followed (I don't have exact quotes here, but this is very close):

Lefebvre: "Nice grimace. That's like jumbo shrimp. Those two don't go together! Or, uh, slight groin injury."

White: "Or tweaked hamstring."

Moments later, White recalled a young Jay Payton, as he and Lefebvre talked about Payton coming out of Georgia Tech at the same time as Nomar Garciaparra and Jason Varitek, and some expected him to be the prize of the bunch.

"Jay Payton had great speed when he came out (of Georgia Tech). Playing center field for the Red Sox."

Payton, of course, did play for the Red Sox, at age 32, in his eighth Major League season. In total, Payton (who had really lost his speed to injuries well before that) played 16 games in center field for the Red Sox. He was a member of the 2000 Mets team that went to the World Series, and had played for three other teams (Mets, Rockies, Padres) by the time he got to Boston.

Just all-around tremendous stuff. I love you, Ryan and Frank. Never change. Continue to think that Melvin Mora is a great player and that Daniel Cabrera throws 98-99 with his fastball. It's OK to be stuck in 2004.

A few quick talking points about the game:

• Trachsel didn't kill us.
• The bullpen nearly did through every pitcher brought in.
• Freddie Bynum is quickly winning me over.
• Nick Markakis is finding his stroke again.
• Brian Roberts is not.
• Aubrey Huff! DONG.
• Melvin Mora! DONG.
• Even Kevbo had a couple hits.
• The Royals are still terrible.

Poor Royals. They just can't beat us. They are unable to handle the ferocity that is Orioles Magic.

Good to see Freddie Bynum in the lineup. Yeah, I said it.

Daniel Cabrera is my daddy, your daddy, everyone's daddy. Yeah, I said it.

Winning a game after losing a bunch is always fun. And to be fair, the O's were losing tight games, sometimes because they couldn't hit, and sometimes because they just didn't win. (Like if Steve Trachsel pitched. Which is, sadly, coming up tomorrow.)

But remember: TONY PENA IS WATCHING YOU.

via d.yimg.com

I've said this before, and I'll say it again, I'm sure. It's one thing to come into this season with low expectations, and knowing the team is going to compete for Worst Team in Baseball, and knowing how rocky and downright bad it's going to be, but it's another thing to actually sit and watch it happen.

The O's came out for 2008 with another surprisingly fast start, ending April in contention. We're a week into May, 16-16, and now we're in fourth place. And brothers and sisters, it's only going to get worse.

We're a half-game up on Toronto, and the Jays are riding a five-game win streak. It's only a matter of time before we get settled in the cellar.

I'm not being negative, I'm being realistic. Think about some of the guys starting for this team. Luis Hernandez and his .542 OPS, weak arm, and frequent boneheaded baserunning mistakes. Ramon Hernandez and his .581 OPS, detrimental alleged defense behind the plate, and frequent boneheaded baserunning mistakes. Luke Scott (.778 and nosediving) and Jay Payton (.642 and steady) are in a left field platoon.

Our starting first baseman is OPSing .672. Nick Markakis is in a massive slump right now. Our number three hitter is Melvin Mora -- .729 OPS.

This offense is offensive.

And it kind of makes you feel bad for a starting pitching crew that is performing a lot better than most would have expected. Jeremy Guthrie (4.06/1.24) is doing his thing again. Daniel Cabrera (4.06/1.35) seems to have found a balance between power pitching and trusting his stuff enough to let people try to hit it. Brian Burres (2.87/1.28) has been terrific. Garrett Olson (2.08/1.08) has been great in two starts since being called up. Steve Trachsel is a waste of time, so let's not even bother talking about him right now.

The bullpen has been a little inconsistent, but they've held their own for the most part. There's not much more you could ask of this pitching staff than what they've given us, to be totally fair.

And then there's the boneheaded baserunning and fielding and other assorted screwery. It's hard to watch a team make so many fundamental little mistakes that wind up costing them games. The A's had no business winning last night. They shouldn't have scored a run.

But then the Orioles shouldn't be making two outs on every hit-and-run they attempt and gloriously fail to execute. The Orioles shouldn't run into so many outs. But Dave has them running, despite their constant presentation of evidence that they don't know how to run the bases. Roberts is a fantastic baserunner. Markakis is a really good, savvy baserunner, last night's boner notwithstanding. But guys like Luis and Adam Jones, while they have speed, aren't good baserunners. It's one of the few times I'll go out of my way to praise Derek Jeter, but that guy is a magnificent baserunner. It's not just speed, and we all know that. Markakis isn't terribly fast, but, like Jeter, he has good instincts and rarely screws himself over.

And it's not just on the bases. It's in the field, too. Melvin Mora, God bless him, makes more idiotic mistakes than anyone I can think of. He also makes a lot of highlight reel plays. His tendency to look to get a glory out and wind up getting nobody out is a little high. Luis Hernandez? I can't really blame him. He's not really a Major League shortstop. He does not have the arm for the position.

I'm not mad about them being bad, and I'm not upset about it, and it doesn't depress me or anything. But it's hard to watch a team so bad on so many levels. They try hard, there's a lot of moxy, and there's plenty of grit. They've got some gamers. That's super.

They stink, though. We all knew they would.

(And Aubrey Huff has been fine.)

Taking two out of three from a team that is expected, at season's end, to be 25-30 games better than the O's is quite OK by me. I just can't bring myself to get negative about today. The Yankees have five or six times the amount of pure talent and ability on their 25-man roster. It's going to happen.

If it continued to happen one out of every three times, we're probably going to the playoffs.

Steve Trachsel, following what will probably end up being one of his best starts of the season (one that resulted in a loss), summed it up best: "We took the series from them. We're happy with that."

Amen, brother. I firmly subscribe to the belief that you're going to win about 60 and lose about 60, and you have 40 or so games that define how good you really are.

One thing that does concern me is George Sherrill's second crappy outing in three appearances. I'm not big on early season ERAs for relievers (or for anyone in most cases), but he's up over six now. "Shutdown" Sherrill may be a mirage. Like, look:

1. Giambi (LH) strikes out
2. Cabrera (SH-R) walks
3. Moeller (RH) singles
4. Damon (LH) walks
5. Jeter (RH) plates everyone with a double
6. Abreu (LH) strikes out
7. Hey, go get Sarfate.

 via d.yimg.com 

NO.

Not a good day, tater. What a total debacle.

Trachsel: 2 1/3 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
Aquino: 3 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
Bierd: 2 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 K
Sarfate: 1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 K

Sarfate's ERA is now juuuust under eight, at 7.94.

Luuuuuke and Markickass had two hits apiece. Markakis and Melvin Mora had solo homers.

The other run came from Adam Jones, who crushed his first Oriole home run, right down the left field line and barely fair. But man, he smoked it off of Jesse Carlson. First of many to come. It was his mom's birthday, his t-shirt night at the park (15,000 attendance! Great success!), and Jackie Robinson Day for MLB, with Jones wearing No. 42 for the O's.

Other than that, just horrible.

"Above anything else, I hate to lose."

-- Jackie Robinson, 1919-1972

Once a year or so, it's good to update these. Players come and players go, much like the asinine nicknames that generally spring out of the game threads. So here's a quick primer for anyone who's new and might not know what in God's name we're talking about during certain points of a game.

Albers, Matt

• Fat Albers

This is not in any way intended to be mean. Honest. I know the dude's a little pudgy, maybe still carrying some baby fat, or maybe he's just like most of the rest of us and likes to reward himself for a fine day's work of breathing air and being a cool dude by wolfing down a Baconator or six. I'm not here to judge Matt Albers. It's just something that happened in my head and then I put it on a blog. Hey, hey, hey!

You gotta do it right though. Listen for yourself, if you're unfamiliar. It starts loud, so be prepared. That site is long faded as far as being funny goes, but whatever. RAN-DOOOOOR!

Bradford, Chad

• ChadBrad
• Chadwick
• Chadstache

Ain't found a way to kill me yet

Eyes burn with stingin' sweat

Seems every path leads me to nowhere

Wife and kids, household pet

Army green was no safe bet

The bullets scream to me from somewhere

Yeah, they come to snuff The Rooster

Yeah, here come The Rooster

You know he ain't gonna die

Walkin' tall, machine gun man

They spit on me in my homeland

Mora, Melvin 

• MelMo
• Melly Mel
• Melvin Moron
• Playoff Hero Melvin Mora

Did Babe Ruth ever slap at someone's glove while they tried to tag him? Did Mickey Mantle? Did Hank Aaron? Did Cal Ripken? Did Dane Iorg? Did Kiko Garcia? Seriously. He's a player to admire, but a total weiner.

That's why I prefer "Brian Bob."

Sarfate, Dennis

• Dennis the Menace

So I get bored sometimes, which leads me to think of music, the Orioles, and the combination of the two.

Since we've got a few hours until the double header at Texas, part of which I'll have to miss, I decided to kill some time by coming up with theme songs for all of the O's in their current states.

DISCLAIMER: Not all of these songs are safe for work or for your kids' ears. Play with discretion.

The team gets four songs on this playlist: "Orioles Magic," of course; Saliva's "Click Click Boom" because that is, somewhat sadly, what they come out onto the field with these days; "Thank God I'm a Country Boy," of course; and "Right Back to Where We Started From" by Maxine Nightingale. In addition to having some parallels to Major League, the team is also sort of Slap Shot-y, which is a natural since Major League is just a baseball version of Slap Shot in many ways. Whenever I think of improbable, goofy winning streaks for bad teams, I think of Maxine Nightingale and the Charlestown Chiefs bus.

Luis Hernandez kicks off the player set with the timeless "Theme From Greatest American Hero (Believe it or Not)" by the beloved Joey Scarbury. Believe it or not, he's starting at short. I never thought he would ever be-he-he. (It should've been somebody else.)

Up next is Luke Scott's at-bat music, "I Wanna Be Your Dog" by The Stooges. What Luke says goes right now. The man is slugging .800 and getting a hit every other at-bat.

We dip into the somewhat melancholy for Brian Roberts. The title of this Dylan track says it all: "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go." Odds are, Brian's still going to get dealt this season. This is one of those guys who is definably our player. Remember when he was a slap-hitting little guy? Now he drives the ball with authority to the gaps, steals bags, has become one of the team's leaders, and man, THAT'S OUR BOY. This ain't free agent Tejada or too-frequently-hurt Bedard. This is Brian Roberts. OUR player.

Brenda Lee's "I'm Sorry" could only represent one man: Aubrey Huff. God bless the guy, he's trying really hard to do and say all the right things, including pounding the crap out of the ball. He has won a couple of games for us already, and went 4-for-4 the other night in Texas. He made a mistake. He's sorry. He's playing his ass off. He's part of the team. He's sorry. So sorry. Please accept. His apology.

Ain't no joke, whenever I think of Bocephus' "A Country Boy Can Survive," the first thing that pops into my mind is Jamie Walker. His entire career is proof that a country boy can survive, really. He throws slop, gets people out, and does his damn job, damn it. Jamie Walker rules just as hard as Hank, Jr. I think he might take that as a fine compliment, and I mean it as such.

Razor Ramon gets "I Feel Good" by James Brown. The only nice thing we've heard about Hernandez lately is he's in good shape. He's certainly not hitting. Maybe, like the song, Ramon will start kicking ass quickly.

Bruuuuuuuce! Melvin Mora's "Glory Days" may be behind him, but it's not all bad. He can still play a little bit, still can have a good time, still can remember hitting .340 or the wink of a young girl's eye.

Daniel Cabrera gets two songs. Good Daniel Cabrera gets the classic Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs hit "Stay," which is a song I frequently sing when I get bad drunk, because I remember being a kid, reading a Lewis Grizzard book, and he said he did that. It's just something that pops in my head. And yes, I was reading Lewis Grizzard books when I was a kid. I was a weird kid.

Bad Daniel Cabrera gets Ray Charles' "Hit the Road, Jack." Because seriously.

In the late 1980s, Public Enemy was awesome and I bet Jay Payton was a hell of a high school ballplayer. In the 1990s and beyond, Public Enemy had moments of greatness among their overall mediocrity and inconsistency, and that's pretty much Jay Payton as a pro player at his peak. Last year, Public Enemy released another album, and it had only one great song -- actually, it had only one good song, which also happened to be great. "Harder Than You Think" is the sound of a group that was phenomenal 20 years ago throwing all their eggs into one basket. Jay Payton also stinks now, but he's making the best of his chances so far this season.

Scott Moore is willing to play "Whenever, Wherever." That is also a song by Shakira. Also, it's lucky that Moore's breasts are small and humble, so we don't confuse them with mountains.

I didn't want to leave Frederick Keys catcher Matt Wieters out of the party, so he gets "Get Ready" by The Temptations, which was quite excellently sampled by Fergie, too. Sorry, Fergie's great. It's the law.

Another future star, Adam Jones, is already starting in Baltimore's center field, but man, "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet." Ha! I love this shit. I feel like Tom Verducci or Roch or Jeff Passan. But it's true. Jones might hack away a little in the earlygoing, but so did another current Orioles outfielder before he found his groove. I'm not worried about Dr. Jones.

Blue Öyster Cult's most awesome song is, in fact, "Godzilla," about the movie monster that has a habit of destroying cities and scaring the piss out of everyone in Japan. Greg Aquino thus far has a habit of scaring the piss out of me when he trots in from the bullpen.

This one isn't a real song, at least not in the traditional sense. But comedian Jon Lajoie struck gold with "Everyday Normal Guy," a hit on Funny or Die. Steve Trachsel is just a regular, everday, normal guy. If ya got a pet cat, put your hands up. (I'm not saying the things in this song are true of Steve Trachsel -- not all of them, anyway. He surely has more than $600 in the bank, for instance.)

Kevin Millar has always been really big on "Faith," plus he wore very George Michael-ish jeans when he threw out that controversial first pitch. Sometimes I hear the Limp Bizkit cover of "Faith" and hate it, and sometimes I see Red Sox Millar and hate him. But then I hear George sing the song, and it rules. And I watch Kevin be Kevin as an Oriole, and I forget all that B.S. and remember that I love the guy. Faith-a-faith-a-faith-ah! Baaaaaaa-beh!

New closer George Sherrill gets Semisonic's "Closing Time," which I admit is hardly creative. I don't believe in "guilty pleasures," because you either like something or you don't and you should own the fact either way, but this song would be a "guilty pleasure" for me if I did believe in the concept. I especially enjoy the "ba-chicka-chick-BOW BOW" guitar that is just so absolutely 1990s. We miss you, Everclear, but never come back.

Every time I think of Randor Bierd, I think of that story of him going out and buying a new suit to get on the plane before he even got official word that he'd made the team out of spring training. And every time I listen to Dean Martin, I want to put on a suit, myself, and have a Dewar's on the rocks or fifteen. So Randor gets "Ain't That a Kick in the Head," arguably the swinginest of all Dino's truly swingin' numbers.

Matt Albers and Brian Burres get to share a song, the Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard version of Townes Van Zandt's "Pancho & Lefty," one of my absolute favorite songs. Long story short, Lefty caps Pancho. He only did what he had to do.

I know Brandon Fahey really has no business in the Major Leagues, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't get kind of a happy feeling every time I see him in the field or on the bench, in his uniform that still looks too big for him and his NASCAR sunglasses. At the plate is a different story. I try not to focus on him batting. Brandon always looks so hopeful and happy in the field. "Here Comes the Sun" is for him.

Nick Markakis gets Dire Straits' "Walk of Life." Something about the song just makes me happy. I don't know what it is. It can turn a frown upside down. Make grey skies blue-ah. And oh yeah, the boy can play.

As hard as I tried, I couldn't think of anything too appropriate for Jeremy Guthrie, the staff ace. "Ace of Spades"? Too aggressive, doesn't fit his nature. Nelly's "Number One"? Too braggadocios. So he dedicates a song to Markakis.

Queen's "You're My Best Friend."

Guillermo Quiroz gets Wu-Tang Clan's "Wolves." That's just a good song. You think of a song for Guillermo Quiroz, genius.

Cracker's "Low" represents Adam Loewen, partly because that's part of his last name, and partly because that's where he should try to keep the damn ball, for the love of God. Cracker was a really good band lost in the shuffle thanks to bands like Seven Mary Three and Toadies. That has nothing to do with Adam Loewen.

I hate The Vines, but the manic and sloppy energy of "Outtathaway!" fits Dennis Sarfate's pitching style. He seems like a guy who would be uncomfortable to bat against with that mid-90s heat that comes in like a rocket, and the Vines are rather uncomfortable to listen to.

The skipper, Dave Trembley, gets his own tune, too. He's a native New Yorker. He's also an outsider in the managerial ranks, as he's the only manager in the bigs that never played pro ball. "Outsider" was a good Ramones song, but doesn't fit Diamond Dave's personality. Joey Ramone's cover of "What a Wonderful World" does, though -- Dave is genuinely optimistic all the time, always looking for the best thing to say. And he seems like he actually means it. He doesn't sugarcoat garbage like Perlozzo, Mazzilli and even Leo Mazzone used to. No stuff about "puttin' it all together" in a bullpen session. Just pure hope. He's just happy to be here, and doing his best.

60 percent chance of rain, wind blowing, according to WBAL. The radar is showing a hell of a good storm coming in. Saturday has rain in the morning and a chance in the afternoon, so we should be good tomorrow night.

I'm kind of anticipating another rainout, but God I hope not. Spring baseball can cram it sideways.

But, I believe this does serve as indisputable proof that God does not want Steve Trachsel to pitch.

What do you want Melvin to do? Dive for it?

"I've never heard of half these guys. And the ones I do know are way past their prime."

"Most of these guys never had a prime."

Adam Jones is Pedro Cerrano. Straightball, he hit it very much. Curveball...bats are afraid.

Daniel Cabrera is Rick Vaughn. ...duh. Wild Thing! You make my heart sing! You walk everything!

Steve Trachsel is Eddie Harris. He hasn't got an arm like you, kid.

Kevin Millar is Jake Taylor. Bad back, bad knees. Inspirational leader. Here's to one more good year in the sun.

Peter Angelos is Rachel Phelps. Continually in the way of his team performing well.

"Ya know, Dorn, I liked you so much better when you were just a ballplayer."

"Vaughn's been looking good out there today!"

"Don't worry, he'll blow it."

Continue reading this post »

This isn't pretty. But when's the last time it was?

Let's get started.

BRIAN BURRES, LH

   IP   W   L    K   BB   ERA   WHIP

  103   4   9   71   44   5.66  1.62

Burres might win the fifth starter's job; he might not. Trembley is high on him thanks to his "impressive" 2007, which was impressive to the tune of a 5.95 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP. Burres helped the team out in ways that have nothing to do with actual results, serving as a starter when needed, a mop-up man when needed, a long man when needed, an actual bullpen lefty (of sorts) when needed. He got knocked around, but maybe you can blame a lack of any role on that. How did he even know when he was going to pitch?

He was much better on the road (5.12/1.66 in 65 IP) than he was at Camden Yards (6.91/1.75 in 56 IP). He was hit hard by everyone, lefties teeing off at a .306 clip, and righties coming in at .281. His K-rate is OK; his BB-rate does not help him at all.

Burres' first three months were tolerable. It was the second half where he was ripped to shreds, posting a 7.92 ERA after the All-Star break.

I'd say something in Burres' favor, but there really isn't much. I actually think that projection is fairly optimistic.

DANIEL CABRERA, RH

   IP   W   L    K   BB   ERA   WHIP

  194  10  13   179  96   4.49  1.46

Talk about optimistic.

How many years in a row can one team and one fanbase be burned by a single player? Cabrera never really earned all the hopes and projections of potential stardom. He was brought up too early because the Orioles of 2004 had nothing better to do, and he's remained in the rotation save for a brief journey to the minors in 2006. He's walked 100 plus two straight years, his strikeout rate has gone down, and he just plain stunk up the jernt in 2007.

He was a replacement-level pitcher last year. He was no damn good at all.

That said, hey, electric arm, great size, he says stuff about using a changeup, and that's all well and good. When he proves it, start believing it. He's yet to come close to doing so on any consistent basis whatsoever. If he put up that line, I'd be happy with it. And I hope he blows it out of the water. If he produced, he's exactly the type of guy you can really get behind.

JEREMY GUTHRIE, RH

   IP   W   L    K   BB   ERA   WHIP

  184  10  11   137  57   4.28  1.35

St. Guts was one of the few enjoyable parts of the hapless 2007 Orioles, as he and Bedard actually had a period where they were giving us a fair chance at winning two out of five games.

His 2007 numbers would've been even better were it not for a very rough August (6.23 ERA), but his line was helped out by a pretty fair amount of luck on balls in play, too. Like Cabrera, if he puts up the line we're projecting, that'd be a success. He doesn't have ace stuff, though he's expected to carry the front end of this rotation. Should his success sustain on even that level, he could be a cog in the Baltimore rotation for a good while, though he is 29, which is a lot older than you'd guess given he was eligible for Rookie of the Year last season.

Most projections I've seen on Guthrie are not so kind, but it seems everyone is rooting for him to continue his success. It's been a bumpy road for Guthrie to get here, and when he got his shot with us, he made it a good one. The man still has a posse. Believe it!

ADAM LOEWEN, LH

   IP   W   L    K   BB   ERA   WHIP

  132   6  10   100  72   4.85 1.58

Looks like we're expecting the injury bug to bite Loewen again. He's long had durability issues, and while he's always had command problems, he was exceptionally wild during his 30 innings in 2007. There were starts where it seemed like he couldn't hit the strike zone if his life depended on it at times.

Unlike Burres and Guthrie, who are older than you would think at first glance, Loewen might actually be younger, as he's just now turning 24, and will be the youngest member of the Opening Day rotation no matter if Matt Albers beats Burres out or not.

That means there's still plenty of time for him to mature. Fellow Canuck southpaw Erik Bedard took a while himself, and was another guy that just couldn't shake nagging injuries that would disrupt his seasons. It's probably asking way too much of Loewenbrau to become another Erik Bedard, but like I always said about Bedard, lefties with Loewen's strikeout ability don't fall out of the sky. He's worth being patient with for the next couple of seasons.

STEVE TRACHSEL, RH

   IP   W   L    K   BB   ERA   WHIP

  112   4   9   41   50   5.48  1.63

Every possible sign there is points to this being a final, disastrous season in the sun for the 37-year old crafty righty. While he was competent as an Oriole (4.48/1.56 despite a hideous K-to-BB rate of 45-to-69), he flamed out bad in his return to his original team, the Chicago Cubs, going 1-3 with an 8.32 ERA over four starts.

He came back this spring as a non-roster invitee, with pretty much a guaranteed ticket to head north from Fort Lauderdale. Trax is a good guy and as a low-cost, no-risk piece of a rotation that's destined to be disastrously bad through some growing pains, he's not a bad pickup. Again, the O's went with the devil they know. Someone has to pitch those innings, and you have to accept facts sometimes, this one being that any manager, GM, owner, and team would be scared to death going out there with a rotation as volatile and inexperienced as Cabrera, Loewen, Guthrie and then two choices between Burres, Penn, Olson and Albers. Trachsel is comfort food, in a sense.

That doesn't make him any less likely to have to be pulled after two and a third innings while he's getting hammered, but it is what it is. But you do have to wonder, if they were going to just go get Steve Trachsel, why the O's didn't offer Kris Benson a minor league deal coming off of injury.

There really is a very good chance that this could be Trachsel's last season. Through trials with the Cubs, D-Rays, Blue Jays, Mets and O's, Steve Trachsel only got to pitch in two postseason games, for the 2006 Mets. And in one of those, you may recall, he went one inning and into the second without recording an out -- along the way, he walked five, gave up five hits, and five runs were scored by the Cardinals, who would grab a 2-1 series lead en route to their unlikely World Series championship. Trachsel probably would like to forget that October night, but it's almost certain that that was his final playoff game.

WHAT IT ALL MEANS!

Just among these five, we project a 34-52 record. We also project low innings pitched totals for three of the five, meaning we'd be seeing a lot of Garrett Olson, Hayden Penn, Matt Albers, Radhames Liz, maybe Jon Leicester, and potentially a couple of scrub pick-ups just to keep the chains moving from day-to-day.

But I'd rather watch this group than some of the bums that have started games for the Orioles over the last five seasons. Check this list: Victor Zambrano, Victor Santos, Jaret Wright, Kurt Birkins, John Halama, Eric DuBose, Dave Borkowski, Rick Bauer, Matt Riley, Kurt Ainsworth, Jason Johnson, Pat Hentgen, Sidney Ponson, Omar Daal (because we HAD to have a lefty, ANY LEFTY!), Damian Moss...

No longer are we trading this guy for this guy. It's a brave new world, one where there's a legitimate stockpile of actual pitching talent within the Orioles system. The only guys in that above list that had any were Riley, who was a flameout of massive proportions; Hentgen, who was long, long, long past his prime; Ponson, who is a story for another day; and Ainsworth, who was just another injury case.

They'll be bad. Most likely, really bad. But there's some hope.

Continue reading this post »