On the last day for trades, Peter Angelos has reportedly rejected a few trade proposes from the Beattie/Flanny team. It was reported on ESPN's Baseball Tonight 12:00pm special that the Orioles are going to stand pat today. There is still 2 1/2 hours until the deadline, but I wouldn't expect to much from the O's. The Larry Bigbie/Eric Byrnes trade looks like all that is going to happen.
Eric Byrnes was traded to the O's for Larry Bigbie on Friday. Byrnes was in the 2 hole for the Orioles line-up on Saturday. Even though the Orioles lost another heartbreaker( haven't they all been), Byrnes was an immediate impact in the 4th inning by plating Brian Roberts in the 4 run inning. He went 1-5 in the game with a RBI.
But the O's couldn't stop their woes in the losing department, their relief pitching fell apart yet again. Now it is Chris Ray who is the new struggling pitcher. Going into Thursday against Texas in which the O's lost the game 2-1 because of a homer against Ray, he had an ERA under 1.00. Ray has now given up 4 runs in 2 games, three of which was yesterday.
The Orioles should have had plenty of offense with a 6-4 lead going into the 8th inning, but they couldn't finish the game off. Nothing is going their way. When the O's have good pitching, the batters can't hit. When they have the run support, the pitching lets the team down. On of these days, they will figure it out. Hopefully.
One last note: For the first time since April 7th when they were 1-2, the Orioles are under .500 and now 7 games out of first place.
The Orioles are digging themselves into a deep hole in the AL East. They dropped 3 out of 4 games against the Texas Rangers, and they continued their losing ways in the series opener against the Chicago White Sox.
With a little over 24 hours until the trade deadline, the Orioles are the most desperate team looking for help. By losing to the White Sox last night, the Orioles are now at a season high 6 games behind the AL East leading Red Sox. The O's swapped outfielders with the Rockies last night to get Eric Byrnes for Larry Bigbie. They both have about the same numbers for the season, so the trade wasn't a real help for the O's.
The Orioles need only two players to get themselves back on track. The first a clutch hitter. The major difference between the first half of the season and the second half is the lack of timely hits. During one game of the Texas series, the Orioles stranded 16 base runners and had the bases loaded 4 times without a run. The front office really cannot blame the starting pitching in any of the games, for they lost because of lack of run support. There is no reason why Tampa Bay and Texas should have shut down the O's hitters. Javy Lopez has tried to add a spark to the team, but the other batters don't seem to reacting.
The other player the Orioles need is a solid pitcher. They really don't need a #1 starter, just one that can eat inning and keep the O's close in the game. The Orioles pitching has gotten back on track, and they need someone to replace the ineffective Ponson in the rotation.
On the other hand, the Orioles have gone into the second half struggling over the last couple of years, only to surge in August and September. Is this going to be the pattern this year? I have no idea, but it would be nice.
I need some help with my blog. I do some freelance writing for other websites and I have a lot of personal things going on right now. I could really use some help from fans that want their voice heard. If anyone is interested in writing on this blog about all or one of the local sports, please send me an email.
One of my readers asked me to give an opinion on the Nats coming to Washington. Adam Karlin wrote a great article on the effects of the Nats in Washington and on the Orioles. If you want to read it, follow this link: http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0719/p03s01-ussc.html
What if all the trades went through for the Orioles by the 1st of August. What would the Orioles team look like? Very different from the start of the season. They have been in contention since the beginning of the year with their current line-ups and pitchers. Here is what it would all look like:
Line-Up
1B Phil Nevin/Raffy Palmeiro
2B Brian Roberts
SS Miggy Tejada
3B Mike Lowell
LF Melvin Mora
CF Luis Matos
RF Jay Gibbons/Sammy Sosa
C Javy Lopez
DH Palmeiro/Nevin/Gibbons
Starting Pitching
A.J Burnett
Rodrigo Lopez
Bruce Chen
Erik Bedard
John Maine
Relievers
Chris Ray
Tim Byrdak
Jason Grimsley
B.J. Ryan
Todd Williams
Daniel Cabrera
My question to all of you is whether or not you want this team? Are they contenders with this team?
I finally got some time to write. I am going to look at what the O's have and what they need. What happened in the first half, and what needs to happen in the second half?
The O's are off to their best start in 7 or so years. They are 7 games above .500 and 2 games behind the Red Sox. The Yankees are biting at the Orioles heals, 1/2 games behind the O's. Until the last series with the Red Sox, the Orioles have been struggling badly. The pitchers couldn't last past the 3rd inning, and the hitters couldn't pull through in a clutch. The O's have suffered so many injuries that every time Lee Mazzilli sent someone down to the minors, the Orioles had to reactivate them within days. Through all of this, the Orioles are in contention at the start of the second half. They will be getting Javy Lopez and Erik Bedard within the next week or two. The both of them will be able to give the Orioles a much need shot in the arm. With only one or two moves before the trade deadline, the Orioles could give the Red Sox and the Yankees a run for their money.
The outfield and pitching staff are the most need of overhauling. Sammy Sosa has been a bust thus far, and Larry Bigbie is just now starting to hit in the last couple of days. Bigbie was supposed to be a savior for the Orioles, and he has come short over the last two years. The pitching staff has also needed some work once the O's entered June. Erik Bedard was placed on the DL in late May, and the starting pitching staff hasn't recovered. The O's tried to fill the void with young Hayden Penn, but with no run support, Penn lost his confidence. He was shortly sent back down to the minors. Mazz tried to go into a 4 man rotation, which really didn't work because the starters couldn't last.
So what do the O's have to do? They need some pitchers and outfielders that are worth a crap. The best suitors for the O’s so far are the Marlins. They are trying to unload Juan Encarnation and A.J. Burnett for a young starter, reliever, and a left handed outfielder. I would say bye-bye to Bigbie and Jorge Jolio. The next part of the deal is up in the air for me. I like Cabrera and Penn very much, but I think Penn is more of a trade bait than Cabrera. Daniel Cabrera has already proven that he could be dominating, and Hayden Penn has not. Sure, Penn has a ton of potential, but the Orioles need to make a move for now.
Oh, and I have a plan for the relief pitching too. Trade Julio is the first and foremost action. Take the Steve brothers out of the set-up job. Bring in Kline against righties and send Reed to triple A. Make Chris Ray and Todd Williams the primary set-up men. Demote Ponson from starter to long reliever, and start James Baldwin (he can't do any worse). Sir Sidney "I can't pitch" Ponson hasn't been able to pitch a game without giving up at least 4 runs (usually more).
I am preparing for my wedding on Saturday, and I can't keep up with the news this week. All I can really say is how great the O's played in the All-Star game and congrats to Miggy for the MVP. I hope I can write more next week.
The Orioles finished the first half 2 games behind the 'Sox. They finished strong and hope to continue their good luck into the second half. So here is my question to you:
I put a poll up yesterday about an A.J. Burnett deal by the Orioles. Thus far, 1 out of 7 believes that it will happen. The rest think that it will fall through. Well, I was reading an article from Ken Rosenthal of Sportingnews.com. According to Rosenthal, talks between the Orioles and the Marlins have cooled off because the Orioles don't want to deal Daniel Cabrera. Is this a good thing or bad thing?
It could be a great move for the O's to trade for A.J. Burnett because he is in his prime at 28 years old and a dominate pitcher that pitches strikes. In the last game Burnett started, he struck out 14 batters in 6 innings. He is toting a 3.33 ERA and a 111 strikeouts with a 5-5 record. Currently, A.J. Burnett has pitched in 113 innings so far this year. He is on pace to pitch over 200 innings this season, barring any injuries. The Orioles would also be sending Jorge Julio to the Marlins in the proposed deal. I have never liked Julio because he doesn't seem to miss a bat when the game is on the line. Julio gets frustrated to fast and loses concentration when in a jam, and he doesn't have the killer instinct that is needed coming off the bench.
On the other hand, the Orioles would have to give up either Hayden Penn or Daniel Cabrera and Larry Bigbie with Jorge Julio. Larry Bigbie wouldn't be that much of a lose because the Orioles would get Juan Encarnacion in the deal. They are comparable with the only real difference being that Bigbie hits left and Encarnacion hits right. But is Cabrera or Penn worth giving up for Burnett? Pitching coach Ray Miller loves Daniel Cabrera as a pitcher. He has commented that Cabrera is a sponge when it comes to learning. This is a good quality coming from a 24 year old. He is pitching tonight, so these stats aren't totally accurate. But thus far, Cabrera has pitched in 93 innings with a 5.05 ERA. He does have 81 strike outs (20 less than Burnett) and 45 walks (5 more than Burnett). The biggest factor in this deal is the age and injury comparisions. Cabrera is 4 years younger than Burnett, and Burnett hasn't pitched a full season since 2002. Cabrera is still a wild card because of his age, and the O's don't know what it is his future, whereas Burnett is in his prime and pitching like it. Another bad hit against A.J. Burnett in my opinion, is that he pitches in the National League. The NL's batting lineups are much easier to pitch against because of the lack of a DH and the rotating of pinch hitters. NL teams doen't always put their best batters in the lineup because the need to pinch hit for the pitchers. AL's lineups are more potent throughout. So, can a National League pitcher be successful in the AL? If the Yankees are any indication, then NO. Carl Pavano and Randy Johnson both came from the NL, and both are struggling in New York (Pavano just got put on the DL today).
To be honest, I still can't decide what the O's should do. Part of me just want the Orioles to make a move that can improve their team and add another spark to a slumping team. But the other part of me says to stand pat and wait for the players to fix themselves.
The biggest rumor going around right now is whether or not the Orioles are going to trade for A.J. Burnett. The O's would have to give up Daniel Cabrera or Hayden Penn and Larry Bigbie. Their are some other players involved but they keep changing from day-to-day.
The Poll is closed