Are we trying to get too much pitching?

[longflyball]

In this division I think its pretty clear that if you are going to survive you have to have strong pitching.

I don't think that's at all clear. To survive in any division you have to score more runs than you allow. Whether you do it with strong pitching and defense, a strong lineup, or some combination of the two is immaterial.

If anything, I believe it is more difficult to assemble a strong staff than it is to build a strong lineup. Pitchers are difficult to project, inconsistent and prone to debilitating injuries.

[Scribo]

I have no major issue with your views though I would ask you about are offense? I mean, at present, it is far from even being quote capable unquote. We need more positional talent as well!!!

We are not just stockpiling for our own use. You would be surprised at what positional talent we can get in 09 with surplus quality young starters.

[UMterp08]

To say that pitching wins or hitting wins is a ridiculous simplification. It's a balance. It seems almost too obvious to have to say.

Right now we have pitching depth. Now we need to get some young hitting that can help us in 09-10. Pretty simple.

[El Gordo]

I have no major issue with your views though I would ask you about are offense? I mean, at present, it is far from even being quote capable unquote. We need more positional talent as well!!!

Last year our inept offense scored 4 more runs than the Cubs who made the playoffs. If we add another bat in a Bedard or Brob trade to Scott we will have improved our offense over last year even with the loss of Tejada.

[ON BASE %]

In this division I think its pretty clear that if you are going to survive you have to have strong pitching.

The jays have it, the sox and yanks have it and believe it or not, the Rays just might have more of it than we do.

The Rays are going to be scary in a year or so, they already have Kazmir/Shields/Garza and waiting in the wings they have Jacob McGee, Wade Davis, David Price in the top 20 mlb prospects, plus Longoria at 3b, they are going to be nasty.

Our last trade netted us 3 arms, 2 being good possible rotation candidates. We can build an elite pitching staff off of the arms we acquire in these trades plus what we already have.

The proposed Reds trades have us getting Bailey, Dodgers, Kershaw, these are the types of players we are going to build a playoff contender around.

Our bullpen already has the making of some fantastic arms and we may acquire a few more.

Our best chance at becoming a powerhouse is building an elite pitching staff and surrounding it with superb defense and clutch hitting. In this division I think thats our best chance.

Even before more trades spring training looks to be exciting, you have a group of guys:

Guthrie

Loewen

Cabrera

Olson

Liz

Patton

Albers

Maybe Penn

All of them going at it for rotation spots, with Guthrie/Loewen maybe being the only true guarantees.

Throw in a Bailey or Kershaw and you have some strong potential and not to mention the most young pitching depth we have had in a long time.

Our offense has to be capable, but it doesnt have to be murderers row, when playoff time comes as we all see, pitching rules the game.

Pitching and defense folks, hard nosed gritty play, thats how I envision an excellent O's team in this division.

We need to take the best players available and not overcommit ourselves to pitching. I do agree with AM that it is wise to stockpile a quantity of arms. But when push comes to shove position players are less volatile statistically and have a reduced injury risk.

The two hitters acquired in the Tejada trade both have patience and extra base power. This is a good sign of AM's offensive preferences. I never again want to see a Brendan Fahey type player start in a corner outfield spot for the Orioles. To think that Fahey started over 1/3 of 2006 in LF is almost enough to make me want to gag.

The Orioles Farm system still has a lot of room for improvement. As an organization we can not afford to forego the best player available simply just to prioritize pitching. All things being equal the top draft picks and majority of payroll dollars should be allocated towards the lesser risk. And in many (not all) cases, that will be for a positional player who is a disciplined hitter.

I'm sorry but I agree to disagree.

OBP

[Lucky Jim]

Last year our inept offense scored 4 more runs than the Cubs who made the playoffs. If we add another bat in a Bedard or Brob trade to Scott we will have improved our offense over last year even with the loss of Tejada.

There are two problems with this:

1. We're in a better league.

2. We have a DH. The differential should be much greater (probably something like 11% greater) than any NL team.

[El Gordo]

There are two problems with this:

1. We're in a better league.

2. We have a DH. The differential should be much greater (probably something like 11% greater) than any NL team.

If we were to add Hamilton and Votto to our offense to go with Scott we could be increasing it by up to .400 OPS. How many more runs would that result in?