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ESPN: "O's must trade for a starter"


AlbionHero

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Also if we do trade for another starter it will mean that Hammel in the playoffs can be a reliever and that would be a huge boost to our pen.

Hammel is the guy that I worry about most for some reason, and I like the scenario where our 4 man rotation in the post season does not include him. Don't know why I feel that way, just do.

I actually wonder (without having any insight into his contract) if he has trade value. Not old, can contribute while the other pieces of our package get to develop more. Dunno.

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Most of that damage was done by guys now at Norfolk. The pitching bottomed out last month, so don't let the numbers cloud your vision today.

Yes but I don't know if we want to assume that the guys that were in Norfolk are definitely going to be a big enough improvement over the guys that are currently in Norfolk.

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I think we can get to the playoffs but I lose sleep worrying about getting bounced again without a better starter in the rotation.

But seriously, who is going to stop this insane offense? I have never seen anything like it.

The offense has flaws. It does not have a strong OBP. I think the O's need to get a hitter (or hope that a guy like Reimold, Roberts or Betemit can be effective). I think Chase Utley could be a really great fit.

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I've long been in the camp advocating patience with the development and improvement of our pitching staff. But thinking it over today, thinking about what we have and what we don't, I came to the conclusion that I think the Orioles should go for it.

That means we should trade for a legitimate ace. Cliff Lee seems like a good possibility. What would it take to get him? How about Gausman as the main piece, with a couple other top-10 prospects thrown in? Would that do it?

I think Lee is going to remain effective for a long time, but this is a risk. But it's increasingly one that I think we need to make. We need to see if our offensive core and defense and bullpen can win us a World Series. It might not work. But for the first time I feel strongly that we ought to try.

If we could go into the playoffs with a starting rotation of:

Cliff Lee

Wei-Yin Chen

Chris Tillman

Miguel Gonzalez

I think we could compete and win a world series.

Our starting pitching is good enough to get us to our bullpen were we overexpose them and eventually start losing close games if they are not perfect. What we need are pitchers that can go more than 5 innings every outing. We need an innings eater. We need a workhorse. A TOR starter would certainly would qualify as a solution but at what price? Imagine that we could get Lee. What then? Have we mortgaged the future for a shot at the brass ring? Do we resign Mclouth? What about Davis? What happens to our cheap replacement parts? I can see us adding a pitcher to absorb innings but not Ace we hope for.

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Doesn't mean he wouldn't waive it. Not the same Phillies and Orioles anymore. That said, I doubt we'll be making a play for Cliff Lee.

20 teams are on it, which tells you one of two things:

He wants his option guaranteed, which means the Orioles pay him $75MM for 2.5 years

Or

He really wants to stay in Philly

13:$25M, 14:$25M, 15:$25M, 16:$27.5M club option ($12.5M buyout)

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20 teams are on it, which tells you one of two things:

He wants his option guaranteed, which means the Orioles pay him $75MM for 2.5 years

Or

He really wants to stay in Philly

13:$25M, 14:$25M, 15:$25M, 16:$27.5M club option ($12.5M buyout)

He may want his option guaranteed, but the Phillies aren't going to do it and trading him doesn't change the terms of the contract. I suppose the Dodgers may do something that stupid, but that's about the only team I can think of.

Maybe he does love Philly even though they aren't good anymore. I don't know.

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I am fine with our current pitching staff.

I think Chen and Tillman are 2/3, Hammel/MGon are 3/4 and Britton/Gausman can handle the 5. We are short an ace, but the price for one is too expensive and I am fine with the upside of all six names above plus Wada.

If our FO can parlay Britton/Schoop/Delmonico into something special (or at least another 2/3), it could be worth listening too, but that's highly unlike to be enough and I am fine with that.

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