Orioles offical denies report

[bigbird]

Let me first say that even though I'm on the staff, I'm not in the loop on the sources...

Having said that, I want to point out that a source doesn't have to be an O's employee. It could be a player, family, a friend of a player, an attorney, someone in the commissioner's office, an agent, the doctor doing the physicals, Mr. Angelos' maid, etc.

I'm not debating ethics with you, as some of the above could be under non-disclosures, etc. I'm just saying that a source could be any number of people in the know.

Bingo....and that is what's occuring right now. People inside the Warehouse (including my contact) is saying there's no done deal. People outside the organization with lose ties to the happenings are saying it is a done deal. Knowing the outside sources and the lack if flowing info inside I tend to believe the deal is done.

"the waiting is the hardest part"

[The Rick]

Bingo....and that is what's occuring right now. People inside the Warehouse (including my contact) is saying there's no done deal. People outside the organization with lose ties to the happenings are saying it is a done deal. Knowing the outside sources and the lack if flowing info inside I tend to believe the deal is done.

"the waiting is the hardest part"

This should be your signature

Thanks as always for everything you've shared with us the past few days which appears to be coming to fruition.

[neveradoubt]

Bingo....and that is what's occuring right now. People inside the Warehouse (including my contact) is saying there's no done deal. People outside the organization with lose ties to the happenings are saying it is a done deal. Knowing the outside sources and the lack if flowing info inside I tend to believe the deal is done.

"the waiting is the hardest part"

By going public that your information comes from inside the Warehouse are you not putting that person in danger of losing his/her position?

[oriolediehard]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/

[byrdz]

"the waiting is the hardest part"

Yeah, like waiting on a roller coaster just before it makes the steep drop. Not that thats hard but it definitely gets the blood moving.

[Roll Tide]

The question is, how many do we actually have, with at least one season as a solid MLB starter?

Assuming Bedard is gone:

Guthrie, Cabrera, and...

and...

... and that's it, actually. They're the only pitchers on the roster who have had a reasonably successful MLB season as starters. Apart from Guthrie (and Bedard), no other pitcher on the roster has ever had a year comparable to what Marshall put up in 07.

I see a lot of players who hope can be reliable MLB starters, but in terms of those who have actually shown they can do it, there's not exactly a huge glut.

First I dont disagree with the Gallagher part .. ( i dont like teh Marshall part)

3-5 Starter candidates

Patton

Albers

Olson

Burres

Penn

Liz

Johnson

Leicester

Sarfate (he relieved in 2007 ..previous he 21 in 06,26 in 05,25 in 04,26 in 03)

Lowen

10 Guys for 3 spots (This is only considering guys on the 40 Man)

My Rotation

Guthrie

Cabrera

Patton

Lowen

And the best of above!

[blueberryale77]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/

That's been floating around here for awhile. I did finally read it though and found this part interesting:

It would also be possible to look at Roberts at shortstop in spring training -- he hasn't played there much since his rookie season in 2001 -- with the possibility of DeRosa remaining the second baseman and Theriot becoming the top sub.

Obviously just speculation on the part of the writer but it would seem to make sense to me for the Cubs to explore that. All three of Roberts, Theriot and DeRosa are better suited to 2B but unless Theriot shows more marked improvement this year than is likely at his age, it might be in their best interest either to shuffle things and make him the super-ute instead of DeRosa or to have the flexibility to shift Roberts over to SS so DeRosa can get some time at 2B. I know Roberts didn't want to move from SS originally, but I don't know how he'd feel about moving back at this point or having to move back and forth.

[byrdz]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/

Reading that article it seems like the deal would be for Gallagher, Cedeno, Marshall and Murton. It sounds like AM is being hard nosed at least and the Cubs are excited enough about getting Roberts that they would do this.

[AgentOrange]

Reading that article it seems like the deal would be for Gallagher, Cedeno, Marshall and Murton. It sounds like AM is being hard nosed at least and the Cubs are excited enough about getting Roberts that they would do this.

That would be some haul for BRob. That would make everyone happy here at least. I don't think BRob is worth that much, IMO.

[byrdz]

That would be some haul for BRob. That would make everyone happy here at least. I don't think BRob is worth that much, IMO.

Yeah, it also sounds like they are worried about giving up their pitching depth so maybe it's possible to swap Marshall for Patterson but that's a lot without including someone else on the O's side.

[bird watcher]

That's been floating around here for awhile. I did finally read it though and found this part interesting:

Obviously just speculation on the part of the writer but it would seem to make sense to me for the Cubs to explore that. All three of Roberts, Theriot and DeRosa are better suited to 2B but unless Theriot shows more marked improvement this year than is likely at his age, it might be in their best interest either to shuffle things and make him the super-ute instead of DeRosa or to have the flexibility to shift Roberts over to SS so DeRosa can get some time at 2B. I know Roberts didn't want to move from SS originally, but I don't know how he'd feel about moving back at this point or having to move back and forth.

The only knock on BRob moving to short stop is arm strength. Some seem to believe that he can't make the throws from shallow left. I personally have no idea. He seems to hurl the ball pretty good on double plays but that is a different throw.

[AgentOrange]

Yeah, it also sounds like they are worried about giving up their pitching depth so maybe it's possible to swap Marshall for Patterson but that's a lot without including someone else on the O's side.

Yeah, and we don't match up well with them for that. We are not in a place to give up any pitching talent to them. It doesn't make sense. Maybe Payton? But they should just keep Murton, he seems like the better player.

Strange indeed. I am not sure what we could offer to get Cedeno, Patterson, Murton and Gallagher.

A lot more than Brob I feel.

[blueberryale77]

The only knock on BRob moving to short stop is arm strength. Some seem to believe that he can't make the throws from shallow left. I personally have no idea. He seems to hurl the ball pretty good on double plays but that is a different throw.

Exactly. The only reason the Cubs should consider moving him back is because Theriot has that issue plus pretty limited range and seems to need more rest than he got last year and DeRosa doesn't have the range and is at an age where that's only going to get worse, plus he already plays so many different positions, it might be best if the team if Roberts and Theriot could both play either 2B or SS while he covers just 3B, LF, RF, and 2B. Assuming they're trading Cedeno in the Roberts deal it seems like a better option than having an extra no-hit infielder on the roster just to fill in at SS and having days where that guy who can't hit plays and DeRosa sits just because they don't want to plug him in at SS.

[JTrea81]

I hope when this is finally announced we can get the inside dirt on why they completed the deal yesterday, submitted it to MLB, denied it all of today saying they were still working on it and the Cubs were upping the ante. That just doesn't make sense to me. How can you work on a deal that has already been submitted? All they had to do was say we can't comment on ongoing negotiations, but to deny anything is happening makes them look foolish. They've been exposed.

[melankfo]

We can only hope. The players in the reported deal trouble me.

You said it! Giving up Roberts --excellent table setter, base stealer, defensive player and face of the franchise -- for a young "prospect" who has failed to star at regular A (his level last year), and two marginal major leaguers: a 25 year old who was 7-9 last year with a WHIP of around 150 and maybe projects as a middle reliever and another good field no hit shortstop -- I thought we already had Fahay and Hernandez for that.