Trade winds abrewin’?

From the Sun:

Another possibility beyond Stern and Bynum is Kansas City Royals outfielder Reggie Sanders. The Orioles and Royals have had several discussions about the veteran right-handed hitter in recent days, according to an industry source. Kansas City is seeking a reliever, but any deal most likely would hinge on the team’s picking up most of Sanders’ $5 million contract for 2007. The Orioles, in turn, would have to make sure they could provide enough at-bats for Sanders to keep him happy.

Early estimates have Payton missing one to three weeks.

It appears Todd Williams is the name being mentioned in the Sanders talk. I really don’t care for this. Sanders is 39 years old and would just be another one of the Conine-esque veteran presence things. I don’t think he’d get enough at bats when Payton gets back to keep him happy either. I say we just suck it up and have Gibbons play left for 1-3 weeks, have a 5 player bench with Stern and Knott and let these guys show they can or can’t play at the major league level before we trade for someone who won’t have much use in a couple weeks. It’s not so much giving up Todd Williams, it’s just making moves that make more sense over the course of the season.

Also from the same article:

Meanwhile, the Orioles optioned pitcher Sean Tracey to Triple-A Norfolk and reassigned outfielder Jon Knott and catcher Eli Whiteside to minor league camp. They also announced that outfielder Ruddy Yan, infielders Cesar Crespo, Mike Cervenak and Terry Tiffee, catcher J.R. House and pitchers Andy Mitchell and Steve Green will remain with the club through the rest of the exhibition schedule before being reassigned.

Here’s the full article.

 

Payton hurt

In today’s against the Twins, Jay Payton strained a hammie running to third base. Good news that it’s the lowest level of strain. Bad news? It may help Freddie Bynum’s chances of making the 25 man.

The Sun says that he could miss one to three weeks, meaning that he’s likely missing opening day. I’m sure there’s way I could blame this on Sidney Ponson.

Spencer Fordin has plenty of notes today.

– Sean Tracey is happy to an O.

-Rob Bell wasn’t stunned at getting sent to minors, despite a stellar spring.

– The opening rotation looks to be

against the Twins: Bedard, Cabrera, and Wright

against the Yankees: Loewen, Trachsel, and back to Bedard.

Trachsel against the Yankees is scary. Spring training numbers or not, that’s going to be a game that will scare me to watch. But maybe he gets together when the season starts.

-Adam Donachie was sent back to the Royals, after clearing waivers and the O’s not able to work out a deal with KC. I’m not crying over this one.

The O’s are not very happy with their opening schedule, says Peter Schmuck.

The Sun has a cool thing going where fans at spring training write pieces.

Sloppy Saturday

Miguel Tejada and Ramon Hernandez had two errors apiece in yesterday’s split squad loss to the Dodgers.

Says Sam:

“We were awfully sloppy today,” manager Sam Perlozzo said. “I know it’s late and guys are kind of anxious. They’ve had a tough schedule. So we’ll write it off to the schedule and see if we can get them on track tomorrow.”

More cuts were made today.

Brandon Fahey, Hayden Penn and Kurt Birkins will be starting the season in Norfolk. Interestingly, Birkins will go back to being a starting pitcher since the Jamie Walker signing fills the void of bullpen lefty.

Rob Bell and Jon Leceister were also given assignments to minor league camp.  Sendy Rleal was also sent to minor league camp so he can continue rehab on his shoulder.

The Bell assignment looks to clear the way for Jeremy Guthrie to be the long reliever.

The question remains about the bench, will we see a 12 or 13 man pitching staff? I looks now that Freddie Bynum, Adam Stern, and Jason Dubois are the remaining fighters for that spot.

Bynum has 18 strikeouts in 37 at bats this season with 5 hits and .137 average. I’d much rather have Stern or Dubois.

Another Long Reliever in the mix

The Orioles signed Sean Tracey, strike that…rather, they CLAIMED him off waivers today from the Chicago White Sox.

I’m assuming that Tracey will thrown in the mix to compete with my boy Jeremy Guthrie, the Phoenix known as Todd Williams, and the rebound trail bounded, Rob Bell.

Judging by his stats (I love thebaseballcube.com for minor league stats), up until he got his major league call-up last season, he was used as a starter. I’m just guessing here, but I’m wondering if he’s going to be looked at as Trachsel insurance. Todd Williams certainly can’t be used as a 5th starter, likewise Rob Bell. You can make a strong case for Guthrie. I’m guessing they want Hayden Penn to get more time in the minors (or they’re shopping him), because he’d seem like a fit as long relief until/if Trachsel gets the hook.

I don’ t think this is bad move. It could be one of those under the radar moves that works. Or it could mean absolutely nothing and Tracey is nothing more than a warm body. I just find this surprising with pieces like this on the O’s website saying how crowded and heated the competition is this last season.

Here’s what I’m guessing:

Todd Williams- makes the team. Perlozzo’s familiar with him and that’s going to count for A LOT.

Jeremy Guthrie- makes the team, his spring has been too good.

Rob Bell- Norfolk bound, if he has that option…and I’m not sure he does.

Kurt Birkins- I’ve forotten all about you, but he’ll be in Norfolk.

Sean Tracey- Him and Guthrie are interchangeable here. Only one of them will make the 25 man and I’m guessing Guthrie because he has to be on it, otherwise he’s waived. I’m not sure of Tracey’s status with that…but I’m guessing if he has any stuff, we’ll see him Baltimore soon enough.

To make room for Tracey, Kris Benson was put on the 60 DL. Thus making his season look more and more over.

What a swell Birthday present

I’m over at the folks and saw today’s recap and figured I’d throw a quickie up here.  

It’s not just Spring Training anymore… 

The O’s took down what was basically the Dodgers opening day roster 8-0

Nick Markakis had a monster day going 4 for 4 with 2 HR and 4 RBI. Tell me this kid is not going to have a monster season.

Corey Patterson batted lead-off (scary as it is, I know), went 1 for 2 and managed to get a WALK.

Miguel Tejada went 2 for 4, driving in 2.

Freddie Bynum went 0 for 1, striking out again, bringing his total to 12 strike outs in 25 plate appearences this spring. I will be massive upset if this stiff makes the 25 man.

Steve Trachsel defied my recent resentment and wenta very respectable 6 innings and allowed no runs and gave up 2 hits, 2 walks, and struck out one. So maybe it won’t be complete debacle I thought it would be.

Jeremy Guthrie went 2 scoreless frames and struck out three…

BUT Todd Williams will not be denied, although he allowed one hit….he struck the other 3 Dodgers he faced, showing that Todd Williams is a phoenix rising from last season’s ashes just to spite me and that 1.23 ERA of his proof. I’m not a believer yet, Todd…last season hurt.

Here’s your MLB.com recap.

By the way, I got a kick out of the Orioles.com headline for the recap. ‘Mark of the Beast.’ Thanks Spencer, but I think you might be trying a little too hard on that one. Does that Mean Nick Markakis is the anti-Christ?

Happy Birthday to ME

March 22nd is my birthday (may the downside of my 20’s officially begin), so I’m gonna do a late post tonight because chances the next two days will be busy.

Here’s my BOLD predictions for the season

Steve Trachsel will not be in the O’s rotation all season

Jaret Wright will have a decent season

Sam Perlozzo will make it through the season and not the next

Jay Gibbons will be traded

Hayden Penn will make it the big club before the break and he will ultimately traded

Nick Markakis will have no sophomore slump and cement his status as a cornerstone for the franchise

The bullpen will be among the best in baseball

From SI’s Jon Heyman:

The moral of this story is that maybe the Orioles were the smart ones by stockpiling relief pitchers. Chad Bradford for $10.5 million over three years looks like the steal of the winter right now.

Melvin Mora will have a slight rebound, but the effects of aging will still show.

Aubery Huff and Jay Payton both will prove to be good signings. But Huff will have the better year.

Corey Patterson and Brian Roberts will reek havoc on the bathpaths

Corey Patterson will have yet another uneven season at the plate

The bench will consist of Payton, Bako, Gomez, and Millar/Gibbons… because we all know Perlozzo is going with that 4 man bench.

Tejada will regain his old form.

We will see a big trade

Erik Bedard will have a big, big year.

Loewen and Cabrera will have great years.

The Orioles will finish at .500 or better

That’s what I see in my crystal ball.

Thanks to Anthony, Ian, and Jason for having me on their radio show ‘The Hits Keep on Coming.’ Go over to Oriole Post for download options.

My sympathies to Rob after my Tigers nearly blew what was a 17 point lead and managed to squeeze by Syracuse. Clemson makes the trip to New York where they’ll hopefully win the NIT and cement their status as the 66th best team in college basketball.

Happy Birthday to the Central

I completely forgot about this, but I ventured back to the old blogspot  site today and apparently this is the site’s 1st birthday. The archives only go back to March 31st, but it’s not the first post. So March 2oth is the site’s birthday.

I never really intented to do this, but my friend Chris told me I should. The idea actually came about on a smokey Tuesday night at Dougal Maguire’s, the Irish Bar in town. I’m not Irish, but it’s a swell spot for a drink or four. And no, I’m not a fan of Guiness. But it’s something he said I should try. I figured I’d give it a shot, but I didn’t think that I would have enough to talk about. Some days I have absolutely nothing to say so I either don’t post or I do something like I did today, but it’s been fun to do. There’s been a few times where I let things go to hell and not post for a week or three, but in the end this is my little space where I show my loyalty to my beloved Orioles, win or lose.

I remember trying to figure out a name for the blog. I’ve actually never actually been fond of ‘Oriole Central.’ But thinking of a name isn’t as easy as it seems. My first thought was O’s-gasm. That would probably get me plenty of hits, but not the kind of traffic I like. But the name is here and it works.

I still get excited when I check out the site traffic and see that I got linked to a different. Last night I got in and saw that I linked to Oriole Magic and I was a giddy as a mouse in a cheese factory. Maybe that makes me a geek, but I don’t care.

So it’s been a year.

Thanks to everyone who drops by here on a regular basis and check things out. Thanks to those all of those who’ve left comments (comments are swell), Thanks to all of the other great blogs who’ve linked to me. Thanks to everyone I didn’t thank.

And of course, Thanks to me…otherwise this moment wouldn’t be possible.

Hopefully this year will be a better year than last to blog. I hope there’ll be plenty of great games and wins to talk about. Maybe this year Bedard, Cabrera, and Loewen have amazing years. Maybe this year Tejada will blast 40 homers and have improved range. Maybe this year Corey Patterson gets that ellusive patience at the plate and makes him complete player. Maybe this year Jay Gibbons will be completely healthy. You get my point. Last season was rough, but we made it through it…and by God, we’ll do it again.

Thanks again everyone, you’re the best. Here’s to the first, to the second, and many many more.   

Fictious Headlines

I scanned the headlines today and there’s nothing really notable to talk about. I said my bit about Steve Trachsel yesterday and I am going to try and keep quiet about that for awhile, in fear that I may sound like a broken record. Bedard’s starting the opener…but I think we all knew that since last season. But since I’ve got more time at my disposal this week, I’m trying to give the blog a little more attentio, (I disabled the SNAP preview for everything on the site. I thought it was annoying and you probably did too. If you’re upset…you’re going having to stay that way because they’re never coming back. UPDATE: Forgot to save it earlier…now they really are gone.) especially after the last couple weeks. So I figured, what the hell…with Spring Training we all get our hopes up and down, so here’s the first FICTIOUS SPRING TRAINING HEADLINES

Trachsel upset he’s not starting season opener

Angelos: What? You mean I actually own the Orioles? No one ever told me about this.

Kevin Millar says something funny

Jamie Walker’s excuse for being late: “I was out hunting gators.” 

O’s players use off day to egg, tp Legends Field

Benson goes for 23rd opinion on arm, backtracks on surgery

Perlozzo: “We may carry 16 pitchers”

O’s bring Javy Lopez in for workout

Paul Bako hits 545 ft. homerun, destroys fruit stand.

Corey Patterson: I need to more aggressive at the plate

Gibbons strains eyes watching game, out for season.

Kevin Millar is a witty man

Tejada wishes O’s would have stuck with Sosa

Cabrera grows 2 feet over night, may bolt for NBA

Wright reflects on Yanks vs. Red Sox; Upset that rivalry was basically ignored by media and fans.

Tom Trebblehorn releases own brand of lawn windmills, featuring his likeness

Daddy of rich girl plays Brian Roberts $500,000 to appear at Sweet 16 Party.

Kevin Millar laughs at own joke.

A little flashback knowledge

Vacation is great….

Here’s some trivia to impress your friends and family with…

While going this morning to the front end of my car aligned, I was listening to XM’s great Baseball this Morning. I caught the tale end of this, but Buck Martinez, who also moonlights doing TV games for the O’s and ESPN, was talking about Rick Dempsey. I didn’t know this, but he’s caught for 18 Cy Young winners. Being that I have a little free time now, I did a little research and I think  know….I found them all.

Dempsey played 1969-72 with the Twins, 73-part of 76 with the Yanks, the rest of 76-86 with the O’s, 87 with Cleveland, 88-90 with the Dodgers, 91 with the Brewers, and finally in 1992 he wrapped it with the Orioles.

In Minnesota, he caught for Dean Chance (’69),Jim Perry (’70). There’s 2.

While in New York, Dempsey caught Catfish Hunter (1974 winner with the A’s), Ron Guidry (’78) and Sparky Lyle (’77). That makes 5.

In Baltimore, he caught Mike Cuellar (’69), Jim Palmer (’73, 75, ’76), Mike Flanagan (’79), and Steve Stone (’80) in his first stint and in his last year he caught Rick Sutcliffe (’82). Now it’s up to 12.

While in Cleveland, he caught Steve Carlton (’72,’77,’80,’83) Wham, bam 16, m’am.

In LA, he caught for Fernando Valenzuela (’81) and Orel Herischer (’88). And there’s 18.

He pretty much caught the cream of the crop of pitchers during the 70’s and 80’s with a few exceptions, of course.

This makes the segway from great pitching, to bad pitching.

Steve Trachsel…

Spring Training stats usually don’t matter. I glow when I see something like Bedard’s 0.64 ERA (same as Santana’s, by the way) and discount them when they’re weak, like Tejada’s .257 battting average (It’s only Spring Training…he’s pacing himself, he’s got his spot on the team already).

But when I see Trachsel’s numbers, I worry.

In 4 starts, 11 innings, he’s given up 22 hits and 11 runs (10 earned). On top of that he’s given 5 walks and only struck out 4 thus far. Jeremy Guthrie has struck out 9 in ten innings and the forgotten John Parrish has struck out 10 in 6.2 innings. I just threw those in for compare and contrast.

I know there’s all this talk from Trachsel about working things. He’s not worried, he’s pacing himself. Well, I hope so. I hope he’s just throwing BP out there and getting his arm in shape, because if this is what I see during the regular season, it’ll be deja vu 2006 all over again. See Lopez, Rodrigo; Chen, Bruce; ORTIZ, RUSS for further reference.

If this is what Trachsel actually has, then I’d rather see Hayden Penn out there. But I’ll try to keep positive. Try is the word.

Daniel Cabrera has a flashback Sunday with 5 walks in 5 innings against the Red Sox. Good news is he only gave up 1 run. I think we’ll always see walks out of Cabrera, sometimes alot, sometimes not so much, but if he can win 20 games….I won’t care so much about 110-120 walks.

Spring Progress Report

Sorry about the MIA week, but it’s all good now that I’ve got nine days off of work and nowhere to go, which is great.

I’ve been keeping an eye on the spring training boxscores and here’s several guys who’ve stood out thus far at the mid-way of the Spring.

Jeremy Guthrie 

This is one who I hope makes the team. He’s a had good spring and he can be that long relief guy/occasional starter. Having that 6th stater in the pen is going to be important with Steve Trachsel having a rotten spring (more on that later). Thus far in Spring Training he’s sporting a 1.80 ERA, which I believe is a result of Miguel Cabrera hitting a 2 run shot off him today…and I think that’s the only runs he’s allowed thus far. In two innings today, he gave up 2 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, and struck out 4. I’ll be upset if they keep Todd Williams and waive this guy.

Here’s a good write-up about him on the O’s site.

Rudy Yan

What do I know about Rudy Yan? I know his name, that he plays outfield, and that’s about it. He could walk up to me, pick my pockets, and punch me in the face and I’d have no idea who he is. So far he’s batting .400 and he’s swiped 5 bases. I found him MiLB page, it’s right here. Scroll down to the 2005 season at the bottom of the page and he had a good season at FRI (I’m not looking it up. It could be Fries…I dunno) of the Texas League. If I had to bet, he’ll proly be starting centerfield in Norfolk on Opening Day.

 Jason Dubois

I think this guy will be with the O’s to start the season. He can’t be designated, since he was a Rule 5 draft guy from the Royals. He’s versitale. He can catch, play first base, or the outfield. So far he’s batting .423 in Florida. I’d rather have him than Freddie Bynum.

Compare and Contrast 

At the top of the rotation, Erik Bedard has a spring ERA of…..0.64.

And, at the bottom, Steve Trachsel has a spring ERA of….8.18. But he’s got an excuse for

Nick Markakis has a spring Batting Average of…….389

Jay Gibbons has a spring Batting Average of……217 (which is about 100 pts. better than last week)

Aubrey Huff has a spring Batting Average of…….367

His competition for 1st base, Kevin Millar is batting….300 pts lower…..067.

Believe or not, Todd Williams has a Spring ERA of 1.69.

Chad Bradford has a hellish inning yesterday. He gave up 2 homers and hit three batters to ravage his ERA to 13.50.

Other Stats of Notability

Daniel Cabrera has walked only 3 batters (in nine total innings)

Freddie Bynum has struck out in 11 of his 21 at bats.

Although we’ve all know this for awhile, Kris Benson has finally realized it. He’s going under the knife. I’m sure this concludes Benson’s Oriole career.

A few confusing words from Kris Benson:

“I want to play for another six or seven years. I want to make a lot more money in this game,” Benson said earlier this spring. “I want to accomplish a lot more things in this game. I think the decision I make is going to be the right one for the future. … I think they know that I want to come back and pitch at this level. The people that know me and know what I want to do in this game [know] the money is not the issue. I want to be in this game for the long haul.”

I’m confused.