Britton for Wright and $4M

[2632]

So, I just got home and found out about this deal and...I'm being punk'd, right? I mean, our bullpen is such great shape that we can afford to give up a promising young reliever for an injury-prone, medicore starter? Because clearly, when Britton continues to improve after his very solid rookie season, we're definitely going to want him pitching for a division rival. But, I guess it's no big deal because hey, Leo's gonna work his magic again with his old buddy, Wright. Because that plan worked out SO WELL with Brower and Ortiz....

Sorry for the sarcasm but... wow. It's not like this is the worst trade imaginable, considering it's the Orioles and all, but... it ain't good, either.

[mattman0182]

So, I just got home and found out about this deal and...I'm being punk'd, right? I mean, our bullpen is such great shape that we can afford to give up a promising young reliever for an injury-prone, medicore starter? Because clearly, when Britton continues to improve after his very solid rookie season, we're definitely going to want him pitching for a division rival. But, I guess it's no big deal because hey, Leo's gonna work his magic again with his old buddy, Wright. Because that plan worked out SO WELL with Brower and Ortiz....

Sorry for the sarcasm but... wow. It's not like this is the worst trade imaginable, considering it's the Orioles and all, but... it ain't good, either.

You read my mind.

[Baltimoron]

Yes, he can be replaced. The problem is that while they probably needed to replace 3 or 4 relievers by next season, they now need to replace 4 or 5 relievers. Based on recent history, that concerns me.

That issue also extends into the future, which is the crux of the analysis of the deal, as Britton would have been cheaply under the team's control for 4 more seasons after next year, while Wright is a free agent after next year.

This reeks of trading the future for tommorow when they are not calling for good weather anytime soon.

[2632]

Possibly the biggest upside to this deal for me is that Britton's going to make for a pretty easy heckling target for the next 4 years.

6'3"..."280"...steel plate in his head...pitches for the MFY.

It's on.

[isestrex]

Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the front office has in store. If Jaret Wright is indeed the first domino in a dramatic, win-now roster restructuring, maybe I’ll have a different opinion on this trade. But right now, I just don’t think the O’s have the Wright idea.

Exactly my opinion!!! If I had your eloquence I would have phrased this word for word myself!

Great article Paul

[Ruzious]

[quote name=GlennGulliver

A terrible move for an organization that still has to be considered one of the worst run in baseball. Britton, whom the Orioles were never especially fond of in part because of his conditioninign issues, had a 3.35 ERA in 53 2/3 innings as a rookie and he's under control for six more years. Wright, on the other hand, is under control by the Yankees for one more day. After that, he'd become a free agent, at which point the Orioles very likely could have signed him for right around the $3 million they're set to spend. Oh yeah, and he's not any good at all. Forget salaries and service time: we'd take Britton over him for 2007 alone.

That's EXACTLY right - including the insults.

I'm surprised there are people who actually think this is a good deal for the O's. If the O's were a 5th starter away from challenging for... something... then I could understand it. But they're NOT, because they stink. They have stunk, they do stink, and they're apparently very content to continue stinking!

Britton was easily the O's 2nd best reliever - and he absolutely dominated the minors. So, the O's trade him for a 1 year rental over 30 year old 5 inning pitcher. Guess what - 5 inning pitchers when you don't have a bullpen... are USELESS! I'm at a loss for words to explain how stupid the O's organization remains.

[TonySoprano]

Flanagan had a mantra about how we weren't looking for one-year fixes, we're looking to build something that we could sustain. Then we traded for Benson (who could have opted out after a year) and Wright.

[DrungoHazewood]

Alright, what you describe is a worse case scenario that could, but probably won't, happen, granted. But if the worst case is that the Yankees have a so-so reliever and our risk on a 4th starter doesn't pan out, that's not exactly doomsday in my book. And, in my view, the likelyhood is that Wright is a solid 3, 4, or 5 guy for the Birds in 2007 and that Britton is pitching for whomever the Yankee's new AAA affiliate is in 2007 with little big league success on a long-term basis in the years following. We could all be wrong, but I don't see anyone saying that Britton has any serious chance to be a good closer someday or anything like that -- it's not like we traded away Daniel Cabera (Now, *that* I'd be upset about).

I think he well undershot worst case. Wright has had FIVE real live major league seasons with ERAs of 6.00 or more. He's had five real live major league seasons where he's failed to pitch 70 innings. The worst (reasonably likely) case is Wright has a 7.50 ERA in 41 innings, and Britton improves just a bit and he throws 65 innings to a 3.00.

Bill James once said that most guys who just make it to the majors could be pretty successful if they could stay healthy. But most don't - so the majority of pitchers struggle. Staying healthy is a skill. I just don't know many pitchers who've acquired that skill after 10 years of being constantly hurt. No matter how good Wright is for the O's, I'll be crossing my fingers every start hoping his shoulder doesn't implode.

[Ruzious]

The bottom line is this. I am scratching my head a bit right now, but if it leads to bigger and better trades down the line, then fine. But when we are told that the plan is to win with homegrown pitching -- and then trade away our #2 bullpen arm for a mediocre journeyman pitcher, I have to wonder what the FO is thinking.

If we use O's history to predict what this leads to, it's an extra acquisition of a veteran mediocre to less reliever - in his 30's - on the downside of his career. Bet the mortgage and the kids on it.

[Pushmonkey]

Yes, he can be replaced. The problem is that while they probably needed to replace 3 or 4 relievers by next season, they now need to replace 4 or 5 relievers. Based on recent history, that concerns me.

I will agree with that. The bullpen is a mess, and needs a lot of new arms to fill possitions. Last year at this time no one was throwing Brittons name as a arm in the pen. Hopefully, During the spring they find an arm, or gasp they spend money on it and not look for the "cheep" option that many people are mad about in this trade.

[rosekeister]

I think he well undershot worst case. Wright has had FIVE real live major league seasons with ERAs of 6.00 or more. He's had five real live major league seasons where he's failed to pitch 70 innings. The worst (reasonably likely) case is Wright has a 7.50 ERA in 41 innings, and Britton improves just a bit and he throws 65 innings to a 3.00.

No matter how I look at it, I just don't like this trade. Normally trading a reliever for a starter is a good thing but when the bullpen is as bad as the Orioles' pen last year, I don't think getting rid of one of the better relievers is going to lead to good results. But the bottom line is I don't want Jaret Wright in the starting rotation. He's 31. He's as good as he's ever going to get and that equals an injury prone mediocre pitcher who's as likely to give you a 6.00 ERA as a 4.50 ERA.

However having got that out of my system, I see the possibility of a master plan at work here. I think that what may happen is that in February when teams are getting desperate to add starters, the Orioles will be in position to trade Lopez, Fiorentino and a pitching prospect for a left fielder. Should the O's make that Wright, Fiorentino and a pitching prospect for a left fielder I will salute them for their foresight.

The downside is I don't like the idea of giving up our pitching prospects. We earned them with many years of sub-.500 ball and I don't want to give them away. I'm conflicted. Yes, by God, conflicted! The deal for Wright is done however. It's in the books and the only thing to do now is see where it leads.

[DrungoHazewood]

I will agree with that. The bullpen is a mess, and needs a lot of new arms to fill possitions. Last year at this time no one was throwing Brittons name as a arm in the pen. Hopefully, During the spring they find an arm, or gasp they spend money on it and not look for the "cheep" option that many people are mad about in this trade.

The problem with throwing money at the pen is that none of the free agent relievers are anything like sure bets. Every single free agent setup guy/middle reliever/LOOGY has a significant downside. I'm very reluctant to endorse any of them, but since they just sent their 2nd-best reliever packing they're going to have to get help somewhere.

More than ever I think the solution involves several young starters and/or converted scrapheap starters in the pen.

[66-70-83-??]

Flanagan had a mantra about how we weren't looking for one-year fixes, we're looking to build something that we could sustain. Then we traded for Benson (who could have opted out after a year) and Wright.

And in both cases traded away pitchers (Maine, Britton) who were younger, less expensive, under our control for 4-5 more years, and arguably better than the veterans obtained.

Go figure.

[66-70-83-??]

However having got that out of my system, I see the possibility of a master plan at work here. I think that what may happen is that in February when teams are getting desperate to add starters, the Orioles will be in position to trade Lopez, Fiorentino and a pitching prospect for a left fielder. Should the O's make that Wright, Fiorentino and a pitching prospect for a left fielder I will salute them for their foresight.

What kind of a left fielder can we get for Fio and Wright ? The prospect would have to be an Erbe or Reimold to land anything decent, let alone a great hitter.

I just had a horrible vision flash inside my head: Fio,Wright, Erbe for Garret Anderson

[NewMarketSean]

I agree that Britton can be replaced by Liz, but can he? Can Liz pitch to a sub 4.00 ERA in the bullpen? Doesn't Liz have only one pitch?

Yes, Britton is a tad overweight and only has one pitch... but there are even more question marks surrounding Wright.