Gofannon

I guess we could look at this a different way. The O's are now 0-14 this year with Stevie Wilkerson on the roster.

Replace Terry Kennedy with Mickey Tettleton and add Boddicker to the starting rotation. Probably Jose Bautista as well.

On May 18th, the Orioles designated Rio Ruiz for assignment. Since that time, they've lost 13 in a row by a combined score of 90-46. Have the past two weeks been the curse of Rio Ruiz? Because for most of the past 25 months, I've thought the curse of Rio Ruiz was, well, Rio Ruiz.

On a side note, Clay Carroll is currently 79 years old. I would still rather see him on the mound in an O's uniform than I would Cody Carroll.

Two others, and then we can return to Santander (address unknown): Chito Martinez - .321/.361/.599 through his first 40 games in 1991; Curtis Goodwin - .363 BA, .408 OBP and 16 stolen bases in his first 37 games in 1995. Reality took a little longer with Chito than with Curtis Goodwin.

I was just typing it! .342/.400/.632 through his first month in 1986 while Eddie Murray was hurt. Really good just long enough for the owner and some of the fans to turn on Eddie. The "Eddie vs. Whammer" debates were ridiculous in '86 and are way dumber now.

Guys in the top 30 who we drafted (20 total): 12 step forward, 4 step back, 1 inconclusive, 3 neutral Guys in the top 30 who we traded for at last year's deadline (10 total): 7 step back, 1 inconclusive, 2 neutral

What was the likelihood of getting Mesa before this trade? What about now? If we don't get Mesa, is this trade a lot worse than it is now? Genuinely want to know thoughts about this. I think most people saw this haul this morning, they wouldn't be pleased. We had to trade Machado and Britton, and we didn't have to trade Gausman and Schoop. These trades had to be clear-cut wins, and they just aren't. In part, it's because the prospects we got today are less finished or polished, and will be lower on our prospect list than the guys we got for rentals (admittedly, Machado's sort of the ultimate rental, so it's tough to compare these packages with what we got for him).

I don't like the fact that this trade package is contingent on our ability to get Mesa, and for me it is. We are dependent on MLB (which has no interest in doing us any favors) to make Mesa available this year, and we are hoping we can outspend the Yankees with the new slot money. After a trade, I'd much rather look at what we've received and say "I like what we've got" instead of "This is good as long as..."

I feel like I spent this morning and afternoon hearing how good Gausman is (better than Archer) and have spent the past three hours hearing how he isn't really that good.

I mean, it's obvious that we received a lesser package because of O'Day's inclusion, isn't it? Do we really think the package got better once O'Day was included?

I am glad for the O's fans at the game who were sitting there a half hour ago, watching their team lose and uncertain when they could leave the stadium. Now they've been cleared to head out and hopefully have a safe trip home with a win to enjoy.

If you look back at the Moneyball heyday, for all of the credit Beane received about emphasizing OBP and utilizing the Scott Hattebergs of the world, the one constant was Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito. This doesn't seem like a 180 to me at all. It seems like Beane trying to get a Hudson/Mulder/Zito-like rotation for the rest of the season and the playoffs and letting the chips fall from there.