The Orioles have acquired Francisco Rodriguez for Nick Delmonico.

[DrungoHazewood]

Great trade! They needed a righty in the pen. Delmenico is PERHAPS a major leaguer.

Reasonable trade. But Rodriguez' contract is perhaps up in November. And by perhaps I mean completely and totally. The O's gave up six years of a pretty fair prospect for several months of a reliever. Maybe they needed the help, but this isn't a risk-free trade.

[pdiddy]

I assume I'm one of those people "throwing their arms up." Not really. I thought the price was high for a RP. Having a thought about it doesn't mean there is an all encompassing doctrine of no prospects shall be traded. Just an initial reaction to discuss.......on a message board.

It's natural to have a little buyer's remorse...imagine the knots in DD stomach as it was going down.

I love the trade...Delmonico was lauded as a very nice pick when we drafted him, has developed OK but appears to be blocked at the ML level, and now has been dealt to help make a run at the WS. Good teams do this. Draft well and build a farm that gives you options, and then show some stones and make a deal to win.

This bully is going to be lethal, particularly if the starters keep improving and get into the 6-7th.

[Ommaculate]

Just a stupid comment. Hammel wasn't throwing harder! Here's a hint Hammel had a knee problem that affected his delivery (ability to push off) the result was movement downward. Now that the injury is repaired and healed he's lost the movement.

Now that you mentioned it, I remember he WAS throwing harder last year. 94-95mph consistently with movement. Now he is 92 consistently. So maybe you should review the tapes.

[pdiddy]

Now that you mentioned it, I remember he WAS throwing harder last year. 94-95mph consistently with movement. Now he is 92 consistently. So maybe you should review the tapes.

Probably not the thread for this. I'm sure the game thread is full of Hammel hate right now!

[DrungoHazewood]

Because I don't have an ounce of the experience of knowledge that Dan Duquette has. It would be pompous of me to act like I knew better than him. He has made move after move to put this team where they are today. He has completely revamped our farm system into something respectable. Do you really think he would ship out someone who he thinks would win this team ballgames in the near future for someone we could lose in a couple months?

Yes, if he thought the short term gain would outweigh the long term loss. Flags fly forever, abd they have years to replace Delmonico.

[weams]

Yes, if he thought the short term gain would outweigh the long term loss. Flags fly forever, abd they have years to replace Delmonico.

Flags Fly Forever.

[DrungoHazewood]

Now that you mentioned it, I remember he WAS throwing harder last year. 94-95mph consistently with movement. Now he is 92 consistently. So maybe you should review the tapes.

The good thing about roid accusations is that you don't need evidence. You can just make stuff up.

Last year Hammel's fastball was 0.8 mph faster than this. And over his whole career his fastball velocity has stayed between 92 and 93.6. Oh yeaaa... that's rock solid evidence of PED use.

[isestrex]

Buck loves DoD... I think he likes Hunter too... he definitely has some strong loyalty towards Johnson. He cares about the health of these guys going forward and has voiced concerns about the overwork his bullpen has experienced so far.

Enter Francisco Rodriguez. Here comes a veteran arm having a great season whose contract is up after the postseason. Buck isn't going to care how much K-Rod pitches. Clutch situations, garbage time, 1 quick out in the 8th following a lefty... K-Rod will see them all... and frequently.

I very much applaud this trade. As others have said, it signals that this team is trying to win now and not unreasonably attached to a mediocre prospect.

[Rene88]

I really love this trade, sends a message we are in this thing! LOVE LOVE LOVE it! You da man DD!

[luismatos4prez]

Did we really need a right-handed reliever that badly?

[J.D.]

Get Gausman in there. Replace Hammel with him. Hammel is the opposite of what he was last year. Maybe he was on the roids.

Irresponsible post is irresponsible. I would hope that you're better than that.

I like the trade on the surface. I don't like K-Rod as a human being. At all. But as a right-handed reliever, which we needed ever since Strop went haywire, you can't do a whole lot better than what K-Rod was putting up this year. I imagine he'll regress a BIT because of that whole switching leagues thing (Yes, I realize he has pitched a chunk of his career in the AL, but he's been an NL guy since 2009) and the "My ERA was 3 runs a game higher last year" thing, but yeah. He was probably the best righty reliever out there that wasn't going to cost you an arm AND a leg. He just cost an arm, worst case, and more than likely something in the range of ring finger.

[isestrex]

Did we really need a right-handed reliever that badly?

Every little bit helps. You think the cost was really too much?

[weams]

Did we really need a right-handed reliever that badly?

A guy who in his prime saved 62 games. A guy with a 1 ERA and a 1 WHIP throwing 94 mph. I don't know. I guess a team could use him. Tommy and Jim have certainly had their hiccups. He fills the Strop role.

[JayThomas]

Reimold to 60 Day. Wonder who is optioned? Maybe Matusz?

Maybe they're going to package Matusz? He seems to be low man on the totem pole out there for Buck right now.

[Crazysilver03]

Did we really need a right-handed reliever that badly?

And the other part, of keeping him away from teams that really could use him.