Britton and Arrieta on Trading Block?

[Mayor McCheese]

Honestly what could we get for Britton or Jake, I don't think it would be that much.

Some people still think if we add Flaherty or Schoop with those 2 AAAA pitchers we could land Headley.

[Bradysburns]

Just saw MLB news that Jake was one of 17 players that signed a one year deal with the O's.

That's interesting. I'm not sure how significant it is in terms of trading him... But I suppose if it sends a signal one way or the other, it seems to lean toward not trading him. Or perhaps it's sending signals that we value him and others should, too.

As someone pointed out earlier, nobody is stepping up and grabbing that fifth starter spot yet, apparently. The longer the fifth-starter spot fails to clarify, the longer we must keep these guys around, IMO. If Jurrjens or McFarland were killing it this spring, I could see the urgency going way up to move some "surplus" pitching. But getting back to my original point, I don't think we have surplus pitching - not yet.

[luismatos4prez]

Some people still think if we add Flaherty or Schoop with those 2 AAAA pitchers we could land Headley.

AAAA pitchers is not a term that signifies struggling, young pitchers. It's used to describe pitchers that at their best can give you a spot start or two but will never get beyond that.

Jojo Reyes and Dana Eveland are examples. Not Jake Arrieta and Zach Britton.

[oriole]

AAAA pitchers is not a term that signifies struggling, young pitchers. It's used to describe pitchers that at their best can give you a spot start or two but will never get beyond that.

Jojo Reyes and Dana Eveland are examples. Not Jake Arrieta and Zach Britton.

Not yet they're not

I'm kidding, I think they'll both be fine.

[Frobby]

Well, that's what a rival exec is saying he"expects," not what the Orioles are saying. And, it says "later in the spring." So, I think a lot hinges on how guys pitch and whether our perceived depth as of Feb. 22 looks like real depth on March 22. I don't think we're trading anyone until we're very sure we have solid options for all five rotation spots and a couple of good back-up plans. If we have 8 good options, we can probably afford to make it 7, if the return is good and adds something else we don't have.

Bump....this possibility looks much more real to me now. Every team in MLB must be scouting our 5th starter candidates, they're all getting a ton of innings and showing what they can do. It seems almost criminal to send three of Matusz, Britton, Arrieta and Johnson to Norfolk, knowing that we have Wada likely ready by June and Bundy and Gausman not far behind. I wonder what we could pry away from some other team?

[sfosfan]

We all know somebody needs to be traded this year, and not just because we have such a huge surplus competing for spots, but because Bundy, Gausmann and Wada could all be ready soon. So why not Britton and Arrieta? Yes the each have potential and if traded soon they would be selling low. But if they don't make the team out of ST, then why wait? Norfolk is going to get really crowded very soon as Bundy and Gausmann are in Bowie and on the fast track. These two make a lot of sense to be traded. Jason Hammel? No, there's nobody else ready to take that #1 spot. Chen? No way. Tillman? Hurt a little bit now and probably not as many takers for him (which is a good thing, we should keep Chris). Matusz? No way, too valuable in the pen and doing well enough to be a starter. Steve Johnson? Same as Matusz. Britton and Jake are doing ok, not lights out fantastic, but well enough to think they can be effective starters somewhere. That may be good enough to bring back some value so I'm all for shopping them.

[Il BuonO]

Bump....this possibility looks much more real to me now. Every team in MLB must be scouting our 5th starter candidates, they're all getting a ton of innings and showing what they can do. It seems almost criminal to send three of Matusz, Britton, Arrieta and Johnson to Norfolk, knowing that we have Wada likely ready by June and Bundy and Gausman not far behind. I wonder what we could pry away from some other team?

I agree and I was thinking small potatoes with the likes of Hunter before, but if all of them keep tossing up great numbers as ST draws to a close then we may have something there. Maybe Jake? He's looked good but I think Buck likes both Britton and Matusz as options to start better. However, I can't help but think back to last summer when the trading deadline came around and he supposedly had more value than did Matusz according to scouts.

[El Gordo]

We could trade a package of Britton, Patton, Hoes, and Pearce, and still be covered. What could that bring?

[24fps]

I get the feeling that after a certain amount of time DD is perfectly content to let someone else pay for unrealized potential. It's a warm and fuzzy feeling, one that I sense I could easily get used to...

[scOtt]

I agree and I was thinking small potatoes with the likes of Hunter before, but if all of them keep tossing up great numbers as ST draws to a close then we may have something there. Maybe Jake? He's looked good but I think Buck likes both Britton and Matusz as options to start better. However, I can't help but think back to last summer when the trading deadline came around and he supposedly had more value than did Matusz according to scouts.

I ONLY see Hunter possibly being traded. Worst case losing McFarland. Worst comes to worst (EVERYone pitching well... ) everyone has options. We aren't losing anyone.

And I don't think Dan is looking for a trade. This team is set with the options we have, at every position on both sides of the ball. Altho I'm sure Duquette is ALWAYS looking looking looking for a deal.

[Norfolk orioles]

At this point id rather keep them all and maybe go with a 6 man rotation to keep Chen, Hammel and Gonzalez fresh.

At any point, Arrieta, Matusz or Britton could fall completely apart as starters, they've done it before. Hammel's knee is still kind of a question mark and Chen is facing his second full season in MLB. Jurrjens is a complete question mark as is Wada.

Gausman and Bundy both look very promising but I wouldn't want to count on them in a potential playoff game late in the season. I'd rather have more experienced pitchers, even if they might not be as talented.

Lets keep our depth for at least half a season or longer and make sure we don't find ourselves in a position of need later in the season because we traded away our depth. I doubt we could get a high impact offensive player anyways for any of the Calvary at this point, so give them a chance to prove these spring training performances aren't a fluke, allow them to provide depth if needed all season long and then re-examine trading them for a more quality player somewhere near the deadline.

We could trade a young arm like arrieta or Britton, provided they are still pitching solidly, near the deadline to a non-contender for much more value than we could probably get at this point in the season.

Considering the wealth of pitching talent we currently have, I see no reason at all we shouldn't be contenders at the deadline and looking to make a deal or two for offensive upgrades.

[DrungoHazewood]

Bump....this possibility looks much more real to me now. Every team in MLB must be scouting our 5th starter candidates, they're all getting a ton of innings and showing what they can do. It seems almost criminal to send three of Matusz, Britton, Arrieta and Johnson to Norfolk, knowing that we have Wada likely ready by June and Bundy and Gausman not far behind. I wonder what we could pry away from some other team?

Is it criminal, or is it what a lot of good teams do when they have depth and options? What's good for the Orioles isn't necessarily the best for individual players.

My concern is that there's really nothing they can do to upgrade the team substantially at this point. Not using a couple of 5th starter candidates with three pretty good weeks of spring numbers as bait. You're not going to trade for a marginal upgrade of 2nd base at this point, it's almost a given that Roberts begins the year as the starter. You're not going to get a game-breaking trade done for a mythical Headley, not unless you throw in Schoop and maybe some other pieces along with a Britton or an Arrieta. And do you really trade one of those guys for outfield depth, just to upgrade the Dickerson/Trayvon/Jackson guys a bit?

I think they probably stand pat unless something like the Markakis injury ends up being much worse.

[El Gordo]

The O's shouldn't sacrifice SP depth for marginal upgrades.

[webbrick2010]

I would target a stud OF prospect A/AA level that is blocked in his organization. Don't see Arietta/Britton/Johnson/Huner netting anyone that can really help this year at the ML level. We need to increase our OF options for the 2014 and beyond frame when we will likely be looking to replace Markakis and still looking for a full time LF'er.

Don't know who that OF prospect is but that's what I think the O's should be doing with there SP depth.

Of course if you combine Jim Johnson with a couple of the starters maybe you can get a more can' miss ML ready OF'er. This may be the plan if/when Markakis and Reimold miss a significant amount of games.

[Il BuonO]

I ONLY see Hunter possibly being traded. Worst case losing McFarland. Worst comes to worst (EVERYone pitching well... ) everyone has options. We aren't losing anyone.

And I don't think Dan is looking for a trade. This team is set with the options we have, at every position on both sides of the ball. Altho I'm sure Duquette is ALWAYS looking looking looking for a deal.

That struck me as quite the contradiction, scOtt. I think if the right deal were available DD would be all over it. I'm inclined to agree with Drungo to a degree, in the sense that only marginal upgrades would be made to the ML team. However, if we could grab somebody to shore up the farm then I'm for that, too.

As webbrick noted lower level prospect would be nice to keep building up our system.