Would this team get you excited heading into 2009?

[IamtheSkip]

1st- Tex

2nd- BRob

SS- Greene

3rd- Mora

LF- Scott

CF- Jones

RF- Markakis

DH- Huff

C- Wieters

Guthrie

Garland

DCab

2 of Olson, Penn, Liz, Bergesen

Sherrill

Ray

JJ

Walker

Sarfate/FCab

2 of the guys who don't make the rotation(if Bergesen doesn't make it, he goes to AAA)

Reimold gets 400ish at bats off the bench as a DH/LFer

Be nice to trade Walker.

I assume Ramon is traded..Quiroz brought back as back up catcher.

Perhaps Constanzo on the bench and then a super UTI type guy that can play the MI positions and the OF...In other words, a better Bynum.

Like this team? What would you expect this to do, record wise?

I'd be quite excited, but would still be hard pressed to expect it to really pass two of NYY, BOS, and TB.

[clapdiddy]

I suggested a scenario like this a while ago. I thought that Greene would wind up being one of our targets, and he makes a lot of sense. Especially if we're holding onto Roberts and getting Teixiera.

Along with starting pitching and Greene, I'd like to see us focus on getting a close to ready third base prospect that can take over in 2010. We'll also need to look for a replacement for Huff for 2010.

[McNulty]

With the lineup described in the OP, Juan Castro would do just fine in place of Greene. Or a healthy Alex Gonzalez.

I still think we should go after Derek Lowe over Garland. Garland over Burnett.

And lets not forget that we've been really healthy this year. Its got to balance out at some point.

[Sports Guy]

Garland has a BAA of around .300

that's not good

His BABIP is a little high but not too bad.

Mackus is right...its the idea of him being "safe" that could make him AM's target.

He has 4 straight years of 208+ IP...The 2 years before that he was in the low 190s.

This year, he is right on pace for around that 200 mark again.

That is a lot of durability and consistency there.

Since he became a full time starter, his ERA has been between 4-4.6 5 times in 7 years, including this one.

He had an ERA of 3.5 and 4.9 in the other 2 seasons...So, he is basically going to be around a 4.5 ERA and 210 IP.

Now, there are some huge problems with Garland and they are why I don't think we should go after him:

1) His K rate is very very low and has declined for 3 straigh years now.

2) His BB rate, while still good, has gone up for 3 straight years.

3) Because of 1 and 2, his K/bb ratio has dropped the last 3 years.

4) He also has a high HR rate this year, which figures to get worse.

One encouraging sign this year is his GB/FB ratio is much higher..not sure if he developed a new pitch or not.

But anyway, i think AM will see him as a sure bet to pitch 200+ innings and keep his team in the game most nights and he is still relatively young.

Personally, i disagree with that based off of his peripherals but again, this is based off of what i could see the Orioles doing.

[ledzepp8]

With the lineup described in the OP, Juan Castro would do just fine in place of Greene. Or a healthy Alex Gonzalez.

I still think we should go after Derek Lowe over Garland. Garland over Burnett.

And lets not forget that we've been really healthy this year. Its got to balance out at some point.

Have we really though? I suppose it's not as bad as last year, but we've had a few pieces miss extended periods of time.

[Sports Guy]

One thing about Garland and all those innings he has thrown is that they are piling up at a young age...You have to wonder if that will effect him long term.

The durability is great but at what cost for the future?

[clapdiddy]

With the lineup described in the OP, Juan Castro would do just fine in place of Greene. Or a healthy Alex Gonzalez.

I still think we should go after Derek Lowe over Garland. Garland over Burnett.

And lets not forget that we've been really healthy this year. Its got to balance out at some point.

We have? I would think losing just Loewen would go against this line of thinking by himself.

Not to mention that we've lost Jones and haven't had Ray at all this season...and I know there are some others I'm missing...

[McNulty]

Have we really though?

I think so. Losing Albers was a big blow, and Jones recently. Loewen sure hurt. Other than that I'm blanking on other injuries that have cost us this year. I suppose Chris Ray counts. Bierd was out for a bit, but he's a Rule fiver. Walker missed 3 weeks.

I think this is pretty good with respect to injuries. Our lineup has been intact completely until Jones went down.

[VeveJones007]

His BABIP is a little high but not too bad.

Mackus is right...its the idea of him being "safe" that could make him AM's target.

He has 4 straight years of 208+ IP...The 2 years before that he was in the low 190s.

This year, he is right on pace for around that 200 mark again.

That is a lot of durability and consistency there.

Since he became a full time starter, his ERA has been between 4-4.6 5 times in 7 years, including this one.

He had an ERA of 3.5 and 4.9 in the other 2 seasons...So, he is basically going to be around a 4.5 ERA and 210 IP.

Now, there are some huge problems with Garland and they are why I don't think we should go after him:

1) His K rate is very very low and has declined for 3 straigh years now.

2) His BB rate, while still good, has gone up for 3 straight years.

3) Because of 1 and 2, his K/bb ratio has dropped the last 3 years.

4) He also has a high HR rate this year, which figures to get worse.

One encouraging sign this year is his GB/FB ratio is much higher..not sure if he developed a new pitch or not.

But anyway, i think AM will see him as a sure bet to pitch 200+ innings and keep his team in the game most nights and he is still relatively young.

Personally, i disagree with that based off of his peripherals but again, this is based off of what i could see the Orioles doing.

With that lineup we'd be putting out there, Garland could have another 18 win season with career-average stats.

It'll be interesting to see how much the Yankees will be willing to spend on Tex after they break the bank on C.C. If they pay a ransom for Sabathia, I really think we'd have a nice shot at Tex.

[DrungoHazewood]

1st- Tex

2nd- BRob

SS- Greene

3rd- Mora

LF- Scott

CF- Jones

RF- Markakis

DH- Huff

C- Wieters

Guthrie

Garland

DCab

2 of Olson, Penn, Liz, Bergesen

Sherrill

Ray

JJ

Walker

Sarfate/FCab

2 of the guys who don't make the rotation(if Bergesen doesn't make it, he goes to AAA)

Reimold gets 400ish at bats off the bench as a DH/LFer

Be nice to trade Walker.

I assume Ramon is traded..Quiroz brought back as back up catcher.

Perhaps Constanzo on the bench and then a super UTI type guy that can play the MI positions and the OF...In other words, a better Bynum.

Like this team? What would you expect this to do, record wise?

Interesting, probably a step in the right direction.

I've been thinking a little about Jon Garland, and he's basically Daniel Cabrera. Maybe not in how he pitches, but in his results. And how likely is his to be much better than average going forward.

I don't see how Reimold gets 400 PAs on that roster.

You'd have to consider the situation that all of Olson, Liz, Penn, and Bergesen fail to establish themselves as adequate starters.

[DrungoHazewood]

One thing about Garland and all those innings he has thrown is that they are piling up at a young age...You have to wonder if that will effect him long term.

The durability is great but at what cost for the future?

I think that just shows that he has the ability to pitch 220 innings. He's 28, his arm is mature. I'd have no problem penciling him in for 120 pitches every five days.

[Sanfran327]

This team would be great, but it would really only be the Yankees until Tillman, Matusz, and Arrieta are here to help the pitching staff at the level we think they can. But by that time (2010ish?), you'll have to see what's going on with Roberts, Mora, Huff, and Greene. I think we'd all want to resign Roberts, but what about Mora and Huff? Their 2010 probably wont look like their 2008, and who knows what Greene's story could be. I like him though, and he's still young.

In 2010, is D-Cab even still on our team? Walker is gone by then, so that's good. Lots of questions, but only because the pitching won't be there, if it ever truly gets there, until at least '10...

[ledzepp8]

I'm still missing what's so great about Khalil Greene and why the O's should go after him?

[hammer310]

I'm still missing what's so great about Khalil Greene and why the O's should go after him?

Fahey, Bynum, Luis, and Castro.

Thats all you need to know.

[NJOriolesFan]

How do you think Oliver Perez stacks up years and $-wise to what Jon Garland will get.

Any chance that we trade for Khalil Greene and sign Oliver Perez, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira?

Does Baez figure in next year in relief? Is Johnson going to make a move to the rotation. Is Penn the 5th starter or bullpen? Does Penn and Reimold get Greene? Does Hernandez bring back a starting 3rd baseman and Mora becomes our super-sub?

This would be sweet and not much different from SG.

C-Wieters

1b-Teixiera

2b-Roberts

3b-Mora

ss-Greene

lf-Scott

cf-Jones

rf-Markakis

dh-Huff

Quiroz. I shudder to think but if we are close to contending and we need a strong bench do we bring Millar and Payton back for one year as bench players?

Guthrie

O.Perez

Burnett

Cabrera

Penn/Olson

Ray

Sherrill

Johnson

Sarfate

Walker

Baez/Hoey/McCrory/Mickolio

Albers/Penn

I don't know about you guys but that is a good team. With Mora, Huff, Hernandez, Walker, Bradford, Baez, Millar, Payton being off the books after 2009, we can afford to make these additions now. If Tillman, Arrieta, Matusz all make serious strides next year then Cabrera can be very good trade bait for a 3rd baseman or DH for when Mora and Huff leave. By 2010 maybe Snider can contribute at the major league level.