Per the Sun, O's looking at Izturis

[ChaosLex]

Who would the A's want for Crosby? Judging by the article, it looks like we're interested in him as well.

[Hank Scorpio]

Izturis better be good defensivily because he is an offensive disaster. In fact he is so bad I don't know how he is still in baseball. My god we have to able to do better than this.

Good lord, man... it's not like he's Luis Hernandez / Castro / Cintron bad. If he's as good defensively as advertised, whatever.

He only K'd 26 times in 414 at bats last year...

[BaltimoreTerp]

I think it's really sad that at least a few people seem so excited to give up a 24-year-old first-round pick with these numbers:

 Year  Age Tm  Lg  Lvl Aff  W   L   W-L%   G   GS  CG SHO  GF  SV   IP     H    R   ER   HR  BB   SO  HBP  WP  BFP  IBB  BK   ERA   WHIP+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+------+-----+2005   21 TOT               2   1  .667   14   9   0   0   2   1   54.1   32   12   12   1   20   59   4   2   214   0   0   1.99  0.96           ABD NYP A-  BAL   2   1  .667   11   6   0   0   2   1   40     22    7    7   1   13   40   2   1   153   0   0   1.57  0.88           FRE CAR A+  BAL   0   0          3   3   0   0   0   0   14.1   10    5    5   0    7   19   2   1    61   0   0   3.14  1.19 2006   22 TOT                             28  28   0   0   0   0  165    159   65   57  12   50  162  16   6   699       2   3.11  1.27           FRE CAR A+  BAL                 14  14   0   0   0   0   81     81   32   25   7   19   77  10   2   342       1   2.78  1.23           BOW EAS AA  BAL                 14  14   0   0   0   0   84     78   33   32   5   31   85   6   4   357       1   3.43  1.30 2007   23 NOR INT AAA BAL   9   7  .563   22  22   1   0   0   0  128     95   49   45  13   39  120   5   1   510   0   0   3.16  1.05 2008   24 NOR INT AAA BAL   1   2  .333    7   7   0   0   0   0   36.1   35   14   12   1   16   39   1   1   159   0   2   2.97  1.40 +----+----+---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+------+-----+1 Season          A-        2   1  .667   11   6   0   0   2   1   40     22    7    7   1   13   40   2   1   153   0   0   1.57  0.88 2 Seasons         A+        0   0         17  17   0   0   0   0   95.1   91   37   30   7   26   96  12   3   403   0   1   2.83  1.23 1 Season          AA                      14  14   0   0   0   0   84     78   33   32   5   31   85   6   4   357       1   3.43  1.30 2 Seasons         AAA      10   9  .526   29  29   1   0   0   0  164.1  130   63   57  14   55  159   6   2   669   0   2   3.12  1.13 +-----------------+---+-------+---+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+------+-----+4 Seasons                  12  10  .545   71  66   1   0   2   1  383.2  321  140  126  27  125  380  26  10  1582   0   4   2.96  1.16 +-----------------+-----------+---+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+------+-----+

If Tillman or Matuz struggle in their first full major-league season, are we going to look to trade them away at the first opportunity, too?

And bringing up John Maine is a good point, whomever did that.

Now, if we are able to extend Greene as part of the deal, that's a different story, but as of now no way that deal should be made.

As for Izturis, I am about as ambivalent as I could be. I don't really want him specifically, and I wouldn't want to pay him more than someone like Luis Hernandez (just an example...keep the can of worms closed, please). If he came in on that kind of barely-major-league deal, though, I'd be alright.

[33rdst]

Good lord, man... it's not like he's Luis Hernandez / Castro / Cintron bad. If he's as good defensively as advertised, whatever.

He only K'd 26 times in 414 at bats last year...

He is certainly in their class. Actually, I don't think he is as good as Castro. He also had a whopping 28 walks last year. His career OBP both at the major league and minor league level are below .300. Why would you defend getting this guy? Please.

[PaulBako]

Who would the A's want for Crosby? Judging by the article, it looks like we're interested in him as well.

I don't like Crosby. He can't hit.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/crosbbo01.shtml

[Aberdeener]

Izturis better be good defensivily because he is an offensive disaster. In fact he is so bad I don't know how he is still in baseball. My god we have to able to do better than this.

But, but, he's an All-Star and Gold Glover!

Seriously, they probably look at that as perfect justification to present this as a viable move.

[Mackus]

Count me as someone who thinks Olson for Greene would have been a very stupid trade on our part. I seriously don't know what some of you guys are thinking.

Izturis is probably the best FA option for SS considering contract. I'd rather work out something else for Greene or a couple other trade targets before going down that road though. Although it wouldn't hurt to sign Izturis for cheap then move him to util if you acquire a better SS option.

[33rdst]

Count me as someone who thinks Olson for Greene would have been a very stupid trade on our part. I seriously don't know what some of you guys are thinking.

Izturis is probably the best FA option for SS considering contract. I'd rather work out something else for Greene or a couple other trade targets before going down that road though. Although it wouldn't hurt to sign Izturis for cheap then move him to util if you acquire a better SS option.

What is the appeal of Izturis? Seriously what are the redeeming qualities that you see in him? I'm not trying to be smart or argumentative. I'm just curious.

[Sports Guy]

What is the appeal of Izturis? Seriously what are the redeeming qualities that you see in him? I'm not trying to be smart or argumentative. I'm just curious.

He is very good defensively.

The Orioles obviously value defense at SS and don't want to give up a lot to acquire one.

[SilentJames]

Count me as someone who thinks Olson for Greene would have been a very stupid trade on our part. I seriously don't know what some of you guys are thinking.

Izturis is probably the best FA option for SS considering contract. I'd rather work out something else for Greene or a couple other trade targets before going down that road though. Although it wouldn't hurt to sign Izturis for cheap then move him to util if you acquire a better SS option.

Yeah, a young pitcher with the skills, but needs work, under cheap control for a while, for one year of Khalil Greene. I mean, really guys? REALLY?

<img src=http://paxholley.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/snl_really.jpg></img>

[33rdst]

He is very good defensively.

The Orioles obviously value defense at SS and don't want to give up a lot to acquire one.

And he did have one good offensive year in 2004. I just think they could do better. hopefully they'll continue to look at Furcal.

[JTrea81]

Yeah, a young pitcher with the skills, but needs work, under cheap control for a while, for one year of Khalil Greene. I mean, really guys? REALLY?

<img src=http://paxholley.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/snl_really.jpg></img>

Would you trade Hayden Penn for Greene? Olson could very easily turn into Penn...

I know we are afraid of Olson becoming Maine, but the fact is he's not a hard thrower and has to rely on his control. And right now his control is off and he may never shake off the stage fright to get it better.

Had Greene had his 2007 #'s, there's no way you could get him for just Olson.

And when you have Liz, Bergesen, Hernandez, Berken and Penn as well as the Big Three behind him, you can afford to take that risk. Olson's upside is likely a #4-5 starter or swingman. Greene while he's 29 is a year removed from being one of the top SS's in baseball.

[Hank Scorpio]

What is the appeal of Izturis? Seriously what are the redeeming qualities that you see in him? I'm not trying to be smart or argumentative. I'm just curious.

He puts the ball in play?

I'm not saying he's some offensive juggernaut, but if you think he is Castro's equal, you're not looking hard enough.

Izturis K% is 6.3%. Unfortunately, his BB% is about the same. He puts the ball in play and he plays good defense. He's basically what Trembley & MacPhail wish they had last year.

Looks like he's a decent stopgappy guy to me if he can continue to play very good defense.

If you want to trade Arrieta and company for Jason Donald or J.J. Hardy, or throw $10MM per year at Rafael Furcal, we'll have to agree to disagree.

I could live with Izturis at shortstop for now. It'd be real special if we could pull off Grant Green in the upcoming draft...

[SilentJames]

And he did have one good offensive year in 2004. I just think they could do better. hopefully they'll continue to look at Furcal.

I think the Orioles are looking at the SS market and not seeing a long-term solution out there right now. SO they want a cheap defensive minded guy who will be better than the carousel of horrors that we trotted out last year.

Compared to what we had even Caesar would be an upgrade.

[Sports Guy]

Would you trade Hayden Penn for Greene? Olson could very easily turn into Penn...

I know we are afraid of Olson becoming Maine, but the fact is he's not a hard thrower and has to rely on his control. And right now his control is off and he may never shake off the stage fright to get it better.

Had Greene had his 2007 #'s, there's no way you could get him for just Olson.

But he didn't...He was awful and is due a lot of money.

There is a reason Greene hasn't been dealt yet, even though the Pads want to trade him...it is obvious they want too much right now.

The #1 commodity in the sport is young pitching...Teams aren't going to give up talented young pitching for 7.5 million dollar SS coming off of a sub 600 OPS.

Its just not a smart move at all, especially on a team that is going no where in 2009.