Anyone have a compass ??? Need direction

[CrimsonTribe]

A couple of unsolicited suggestions if I may William to help you get in the green..

-spell check

-paragraphs

-less commas

-English

[StunninSteve]

Although it would have been nice to get a little more offense back in the deal..

[Mackus]

Have you not been paying attention all offseason?

Bedard absolutely had to be traded. This is an inarguable fact, IMO.

It certainly hurts that we couldn't build a winner around him and extend him, but given the current situation of the team, keeping Bedard would be the worst move the franchise has made in the last 5 years.

[centralpaosfan]

Have you not been paying attention all offseason?

Bedard absolutely had to be traded. This is an inarguable fact, IMO.

It certainly hurts that we couldn't build a winner around him and extend him, but given the current situation of the team, keeping Bedard would be the worst move the franchise has made in the last 5 years.

Now THAT is saying something!!

[StunninSteve]

Have you not been paying attention all offseason?

Bedard absolutely had to be traded. This is an inarguable fact, IMO.

It certainly hurts that we couldn't build a winner around him and extend him, but given the current situation of the team, keeping Bedard would be the worst move the franchise has made in the last 5 years.

Even worse than hiring Duquette? Or even worse than letting Duquette sign Baez to a 3 year 19 mil deal?

[WilliamGoode]

Not all gloomy about a rebuilding , and actually support it , but you have to keep some stability . We lose Miggy , Bedard , and possibly Roberts . That's alot to give up . Granted , we will have a better , more stable outfield with Scott , Markakis , Jones , but where's the pitching ? It's gonna be a long 3 seasons waiting for the likes of Liz , Olson , Lowen to develop . We need a shortstop , probably a 2nd baseman , and stick a fork in Mora , he's done . Gibbons is a needle freak , Millar can only hit a fastball (sometimes !) , Cabrera will never be , and we seem to only be producing 'Tommy John ' future surgery type pitchers from the minor league levels .

[ironponies]

The only thing that makes me laugh is that Bedard is young , and was willing to work out a long term deal , but the O's brass flinched as usual . They talk about direction , and they're moving another way , but how can your plans not include a young , proven quality starter that is easily capable of 18-20 wins ????? He was , in all probability , gonna make the Cy Young race a battle to say the least . Not crying , but "Where is the loyaly" ??? Bedard has paid his dues to this organization , and has earned his long term contract . For a player that is coveted as much as Erik is , you would think the O's would have more desire to sign him . All I see , and I am only one person , is the Orioles only saving money (Bedard / Miggy contracts) , and not putting anything back into the team . I , as other O's fans will have to do , wil be expected to pay even HIGHER ticket prices , to see Angelos put another rag - tag bunch of 'Maybe One Day ' players one the field , and call it a rebuilding stage. "Hey Petie , are you saving it for a rainy day ? Any rebuilding process , requires some major league talent with experince , to bring butts in the seats , as well as bring the youth along (And "No" , I'm not talking about Millar") . Angelos , here's your newsflash """ IT'S POURING """

I do not post very often but this opinion just made me so angry I had to post. Eric is a great player and I would love to have him be the Ace on this team for years to come. However, he and his agent have made it clear that, 1 They want to test the free agent market. 2 That Eric wants to play for a contending team. The only way that we can get the talent to be a contending team is to trade the Ace while he has value.

[The Wedge]

Not all gloomy about a rebuilding , and actually support it , but you have to keep some stability . We lose Miggy , Bedard , and possibly Roberts . That's alot to give up . Granted , we will have a better , more stable outfield with Scott , Markakis , Jones , but where's the pitching ? It's gonna be a long 3 seasons waiting for the likes of Liz , Olson , Lowen to develop . We need a shortstop , probably a 2nd baseman , and stick a fork in Mora , he's done . Gibbons is a needle freak , Millar can only hit a fastball (sometimes !) , Cabrera will never be , and we seem to only be producing 'Tommy John ' future surgery type pitchers from the minor league levels .

Why do you keep stability on a team that sucks?

[Mackus]

The only way there is any hope of Erik Bedard being an Oriole in 2010 is to trade him right now. Same goes for Brian Roberts.

I don't think either will come back, but the odds of that happening are much higher than the odds of them extending if we don't trade them.

[CrimsonTribe]

Why do you keep stability on a team that sucks?

Exactly, stability is the last thing we need at this point. We're one of the most consistent teams in all of baseball.

[Baroquen131]

Not all gloomy about a rebuilding , and actually support it , but you have to keep some stability . We lose Miggy , Bedard , and possibly Roberts . That's alot to give up .

Exactly how do you go about rebuilding via trades without trading anything of value? We were losing with these guys, they are the only ones valuable enough to net viable prospects in return. The rest of our major league roster wasn't going to net anything valuable. And trading prospects for prospects is a lateral move. Bedard, Tejada and Roberts unfortunately are the ones to be moved.

While the "stockpiling young pitching" plan has been in effect for a number of years now, the rebuilding has truly started now. A unified direction is one thing they seem to finally be achieving.

Now if they could fill a couple more of the position holes, we might be onto something.

[NewMarketSean]

Not all gloomy about a rebuilding , and actually support it , but you have to keep some stability . We lose Miggy , Bedard , and possibly Roberts . That's alot to give up . Granted , we will have a better , more stable outfield with Scott , Markakis , Jones , but where's the pitching ? It's gonna be a long 3 seasons waiting for the likes of Liz , Olson , Lowen to develop . We need a shortstop , probably a 2nd baseman , and stick a fork in Mora , he's done . Gibbons is a needle freak , Millar can only hit a fastball (sometimes !) , Cabrera will never be , and we seem to only be producing 'Tommy John ' future surgery type pitchers from the minor league levels .

OK, so you have Bedard, Roberts and Tejada who should all be gone come opening day. Three players who helped this team to 69 wins last year. If you keep them, you still have the "3 years" waiting for Liz, Loewen, Olson and Penn. Those are all pitchers we already have in the system, not including the pitchers we get back in trades. So by your logic we'd be no better than we are now because we'd still be waiting. So why not rebuild?

You don't make any sense.

[Bosibus]

Au Revoir, Erik.

[WilliamGoode]

a couple simple points , then I'll close my opinion on this . 1. I thought the purpose of this hangout , was to voice a variety of opinions on the Orioles , and not to play English teacher to every keystroke of a person's type ? 2. All I'm saying is , the next thing the brass will tell you is that they need starter quality pitching , and they just p'd one away . 3. 6 years $100 million for a ace starter like Bedard is fair market price going by the numbers . Now if anyone can argue with me on those 3 points , then I must be overmatched intelligence wise on here , and will conceed

[Rocky1983]

This, unfortunatly, is what you will hear from the out of touch fan- no offense WG. Bedard was not going to sign an extension- period! It is not like we are giving him away, like we would in 2 years when he becomes a free agent. Here is what most journalists are saying:

"Jones, who hit .314 with 25 homers in Class AAA last season, will become the Orioles' 2008 starter in center field -- a position in which the Orioles have started 22 different players since Brady Anderson last played there in 2001"

"Bedard's agent was contacted mutiple times since November about a contract extension. His agent did not pursue further discussions stating they wanted to see what the market would bring."

We will now get a guy who is only 22 patrolling CF next to NM, a solid reliever, a 20 year old pitcher who was drafted in the second round and is rated the 2nd best prospect in the Mariners organization, and 2 other guys who will develop in our farm system.

By the time Bedard's contract expires he will be 31. Do you want to give a 31 year old pitcher, who had never pitched 200 innings, could possibly have 55 wins (estimated win total at the end of 2009 season), and has never pitched a full season, a 6 year deal worth $90 million?