The Orioles get these two trades done and we are contenders in the AL East...

[mdbdotcom]

Anyone who didn't see something like this coming was wearing the blinders. The front office should have addressed the team needs in the offseason but they were too cheap. It was foolish to count on Chris Davis bouncing back, Steve Pearce not regressing, Travis Snider being an everyday player, Matt Wieters being healthy and not having a reasonable leadoff hitter. The front office could have addressed some of the issues in the offseason but they chose to be cheap. It's a shame

Herman, you crack me up.

[markakis8]

The FanGraphs article suggests a 28 year old non-prospect for Howard AND the Phillies eating the entire contract. And you want to give up 2 major league caliber prospects who both have 6 years of team control left.

That makes me laugh of loud - and shows an astounding amount of ignorance on your part.

Well I was called worse for suggesting to trade CD in the 2013-2014 offseason when he had the most value. So I'll take it.

Here's what I see....offense is minimal all across the board. We have Harper, Goldschmidt, and Trout. Those are the only 3 I can see sustaining a 1.000 OPS. That's not what baseball is used to. We are in an era of a crap-ton of strikeouts and a flurry of home runs. Zobrist offers us solid defense at many positions and getting on base, Howard offers more power that we need.

Making trades NOW is essential, especially in an extremely vulnerable division. The MF-ing Yankees are making the statement for the AL East and they SUCK. They don't have the pitching. They have one legit starter (Pineda) and two legit bullpen arms (oh man how I wish we spent $40 mil on Miller).

Two simple trades. We could easily find a way to get these two players without "breaking the farm." Would not take much.

[Herman]

Herman, you crack me up.

Thanks! Making you smile is the reason I post

[mdbdotcom]

Thanks! Making you smile is the reason I post

As it should be.

[markakis8]

Or just get Reddick instead of Howard.

DH Zobrist

3B Machado

RF Reddick

CF Jones

1B Davis

LF Pearce/Snider

C Wieters

SS Hardy

2B Schoop

Shuffle Zobrist between LF/2B/SS/DH

Stellar idea. I just don't think the A's are coughing up both Reddick and Zobrist without Bundy, Gausman, or Harvey.

I would totally do it for Bundy or Harvey and a couple prospects.

You tell me we get Reddick/Zobrist for Harvey, Marin, and Givens - I snap accept that deal.

[ReclaimTheCrown]

It's much more likely that we're selling than buying. We're fresh off a 20 game stretch, 17 of which were at home and many of which were against pretty mediocre competition, and we only went 10-10. That was our opportunity to really make some hay, and we only muddled through it. Now June is off to a terrible start, against an admittedly tough team. If we aren't back to .500 by late June, and that certainly won't be an easy task, we shouldn't even dream of being buyers. Let's not be foolish and reach at something that isn't there. Where we are in a month will be the determining factor, for me at least, but it certainly isn't looking good now.

Pretty stark take, but my apologies for being grumpy after watching this team all week.

[Herman]

Stellar idea. I just don't think the A's are coughing up both Reddick and Zobrist without Bundy, Gausman, or Harvey.

I would totally do it for Bundy or Harvey and a couple prospects.

You tell me we get Reddick/Zobrist for Harvey, Marin, and Givens - I snap accept that deal.

I don't think that trading Bundy or Harvey for either of those guys is the right thing to do

[PaulFolk]

I have to shake my head at how O's fan wouldn't cough up a couple mediocre prospects for an OPS of .750-.800 with 30 HR power and have to only shell out $5 million - the same amount we pay De Aza,. I literally laugh out loud at "massive overpay." We would be getting Chris Davis at 2/5 the price.

Ryan Howard hasn't hit 30 HRs in a year since 2011. His last three years, he's had an OPS of .718, .784, and .690. He's had injury problems. He's 35 years old.

I might take a chance on Howard if the Phillies were just giving him away (and eating almost all of his salary), but I wouldn't trade Wilson and Walker for him. I'd rather save those two as potential trade chips for a better player.

[SteveO]

Ryan Howard hasn't hit 30 HRs in a year since 2011. His last three years, he's had an OPS of .718, .784, and .690. He's had injury problems. He's 35 years old.

I might take a chance on Howard if the Phillies were just giving him away (and eating almost all of his salary), but I wouldn't trade Wilson and Walker for him. I'd rather save those two as potential trade chips for a better player.

The time to add a guy like that was the offseason. Not now when it will cost you real talent and when your a little more than half a season from watching close to half your 25 man roster walk off to free agency. I am ok with moving something of value last season to make run because that team demonstrated it was capable of making a run. This one has shown no such ability to date. Unless we can show some turn around and ability win consistently, adding to this mix seems like doubling down a bet your highly unlikely to win.

If anything unless we show some improvement the better question is what can we get for some of the guys in a walk year

[Going Underground]

The Yankees lost 10 of 11 a few weeks ago and everyone said they were finished, The Orioles are playing like crap but you never know. They play like crap on the road. The next homestand against the Red Sox,Yankees and Phillies are real important. They then go on the road against the Phillies,Blue Jays and Red Sox. If by the 25th of June they are still playing bad then I think they are done. The Cleveland series at home may only be remembered for the gnome.

[DrungoHazewood]

None of you are going to agree with these trades and I'm okay with it. But I think if the Orioles make these two trades, we can win the godawful, pathetic AL East.

We need another power bat. Who the hell is out there that is trade bait? Tulo? Doesn't make sense, what do we do with Hardy? Let's go with Ryan Howard. The Phillies have agreed to take on all but $10 mil of his remaining contract. The only way we get him is if the Amaro honors this agreement.

Orioles get:

Ryan Howard at $10 mil next 1 3/4 years.

Phillies get:

Tyler Wilson

Christian Walker

Howard is Chris Davis part deux (or vice versa)...but we are in an era where it is all power and strikeouts with above average pitching (Houston Astros 2015 anyone? How about the Orioles of 2014?) Howard will easily hit 20 HR for us in the DH/occasional 1B role. We won't need Walker. I think the Phillies take 2 quasi-MLB ready players to dump Howard.

I said this in the offseason when the Rays were shopping him, but we NEED Ben Zobrist. I was crucified for offering up Schoop for him (maybe rightfully so) but we now need him and I think now is the best time to get him. The Cubs want him. He can play 2B, fill in at SS, play the corner OF and easily get us OBP (which we desperately need) and has some pop. I'm willing to cough up some decent, yet not top-tier prospects to get him. I don't think it would take much as he would be a 3/4 rental.

Orioles get:

Ben Zobrist

Athletics get:

Adrian Marin

Mychel Givens

We just traded De Aza, got rid of Wilson...so we designate freaking Everth Cabrera...add Zobrist and Howard. Our most frequent lineup:

2B Zobrist

3B Machado

CF Jones

1B Davis

LF Young

DH Howard

RF Pearce/Snider

SS Hardy

C Joseph

And it all gets sweeter when Wieters gets back.

We'll have Flaherty, Lough, Paredes (starting somewhere depending on how hot he is), and Clevenger on the bench.

Either Pearce or Paredes is DFA eventually (let's face it, Paredes is just another David Newhan, don't get attached).

Combine that with the health of Hardy and Schoop, and the resurgence of Tillman and Norris and you have something. Howard and Zobrist probably don't add 2-3 wins over the rest of the season, essentially all of that Zobrist. Zobrist so far has been hurt and sub-replacement, although should bounce back I guess. Howard is 35-year-old wildly overpaid platoon DH who's been worth 2 wins over the last six years combined. I'm not a big Paredes optimist, but I'd rather have him than Howard.

[DrungoHazewood]

Ryan Howard hasn't hit 30 HRs in a year since 2011. His last three years, he's had an OPS of .718, .784, and .690. He's had injury problems. He's 35 years old.

I might take a chance on Howard if the Phillies were just giving him away (and eating almost all of his salary), but I wouldn't trade Wilson and Walker for him. I'd rather save those two as potential trade chips for a better player.

It's astonishing that people still think Howard is good. His contract will go down as one of the least productive extensions/free agent deals ever. Literally getting Russ Canzler-, Tony Batista-type production for $125M.

[Crazysilver03]

The time to add a guy like that was the offseason. Not now when it will cost you real talent and when your a little more than half a season from watching close to half your 25 man roster walk off to free agency. I am ok with moving something of value last season to make run because that team demonstrated it was capable of making a run. This one has shown no such ability to date. Unless we can show some turn around and ability win consistently, adding to this mix seems like doubling down a bet your highly unlikely to win.

If anything unless we show some improvement the better question is what can we get for some of the guys in a walk year

You would have traded for Howard after the abysmal year He had last year? I would rather see that he still has a pulse this year than traded for him when he was almost done. Not that I want him anyway.

[DrungoHazewood]

You would have traded for Howard after the abysmal year He had last year? I would rather see that he still has a pulse this year than traded for him when he was almost done. Not that I want him anyway.

If you squint hard enough you can convince yourself that Howard would make for an okay platoon DH on a 1/3 kind of contract. If the Phils had eaten all but a few $million of his deal and ask for a fungo bat in return I'd have been alright with a Delmon/Howard platoon at DH. If Buck was good with two pure DHs on the roster.

[weams]

Sorry but I disagree with trades.

Me too!