Just get better

[Tx Oriole]

Yep SG I sure knew you would find a way to blame Andy M. for something. Izturis is better SS than what the team has had for last season. You are right pitching is a need. But to me there is nothing wrong with a Byrd and Looper or Redding to hold down the fort for a year or two. At least until the pitchers in the minors are up. But given time I am sure Andy M will get thsi team on the right track. IMO

[Fan4Life]

6 IP is your criteria?

Well what about the peripherals? What about those stats that say he is going to get worse, especially in the AL? What happens then?

Do you think if they are barely at 6 IP in the NL that they will come to the AL and do the same thing, especially when their predictors call for them to be worse even if they stay in the NL?

I have to agree. These guys could easily come here and bomb. At that point we've accomplished squat and are on the hook to pay for it. I'd much rather pay Sheets $10-12MM than Byrd/Looper/Hendrickson $5-7.

[JTrea81]

The Orioles need to go with a total youth movement. MacPhail's strength is turning our good players into several prospects, well now is the time to do just that. Deal everybody who has a contract expiring before 2013. Try to extend Markakis but if he refuses deal him too.

We can get a ton of talent for Guthrie, Roberts and Markakis if MacPhail chooses to do so. However if we don't deal Guthrie and Markakis, it's going to be a long slow painful rebuild.

Tex should be about in his mid thirties when we are relevant again...

[Pruke]

The Orioles need to go with a total youth movement. MacPhail's strength is turning our good players into several prospects, well now is the time to do just that. Deal everybody who has a contract expiring before 2013. Try to extend Markakis but if he refuses deal him too.

We can get a ton of talent for Guthrie, Roberts and Markakis if MacPhail chooses to do so. However if we don't deal Guthrie and Markakis, it's going to be a long slow painful rebuild.

Tex should be about in his mid thirties when we are relevant again...

That's a good point - what's Krivsky's track record? Is he better at attracting top talent? When McPhail has gutted the team and established internal hierarchical changes and pushed international scouting forward, should he move on and let someone with a better track record take over GM duties?

Pat Gillick, where have you gone?

[Fan4Life]

That's a good point - what's Krivsky's track record? Is he better at attracting top talent? When McPhail has gutted the team and established internal hierarchical changes and pushed international scouting forward, should he move on and let someone with a better track record take over GM duties?

Pat Gillick, where have you gone?

2012 anyone?

[Enjoy Terror]

Deal everybody who has a contract expiring before 2013.

Aside from Izturis, there isn't a contract on the books extending past 2009.

[Sports Guy]

Well, part of MacPhail's job is to fix any deficiencies in these areas, isn't it? Whatever other criticisms anyone has of his performance before he got to Baltimore, he built excellent minor league and scouting organizations in Minnesota and Chicago. We need to understand that, for those kind of things, Rome wasn't built in a day. Personally, I think there's already been a lot of improvement.

I am not seeing the improvement in scouting and especially development.

[Sports Guy]

You don't know he did nothing.

You mean to tell me you think he just sat there sprawled belly down on his bed, legs kicking in the air with a dog-eared copy of "Superfudge" waiting for his dreamboat Mark to call?

You honestly think he wasn't working the phones on other things? How many other "things" in baseball happened while this Teixeira thing was going on?

I agree that those pitchers named are pretty bad, but we know that any "veteran" pitcher is here for a year, maybe two. They aren't meant to have a future.

What has happened, ever since the Bedard trade, to truly upgrade the talent and depth of the organization, both in the majors and in the minors.

[Enjoy Terror]

I am not seeing the improvement in scouting and especially development.

You didn't notice that the Orioles have four of Joe Jordan's draft picks ranked in the MLB top 50 prospects? When has that happened before?

[trueoriolesfan]

I say deal Roberts is step one. Then figure out step 2 by what the outcome of player we get out of step one

[jcroemer]

I am not seeing the improvement in scouting and especially development.

Those aren't improvements that happen overnight. It takes years to see the full effect. I think we can take some comfort in the fact that national writers have dramatically changed their outlooks for the Orioles farm system. There's no reason not to be optimistic that things like scouting and development are improving.

[Sports Guy]

You didn't notice that the Orioles have four of Joe Jordan's draft picks ranked in the MLB top 50 prospects? When has that happened before?

Who are the 4 DRAFT picks?

[JTrea81]

Aside from Izturis, there isn't a contract on the books extending past 2009.

Guthrie, Roberts, Ray, Sherrill, Huff, Scott, and possibly Markakis

These are the players we should be looking to deal as these are our best trading chips and if Markakis won't extend, then there is no point in keeping him either.

We should be able to get back major pieces for our future starting lineup and pitching with those pieces. All of these players should be traded before the 2010 season.

[geschinger]

I am not seeing the improvement in scouting and especially development.

From my outsiders perspective they still have a long way to go but I can't agree that there hasn't been some improvement, especially in development. We had quite a few players this season who have seemed to be making real progress making their way through the minor league system, moreso than I recall in the past.

[Sports Guy]

Those aren't improvements that happen overnight. It takes years to see the full effect. I think we can take some comfort in the fact that national writers have dramatically changed their outlooks for the Orioles farm system. There's no reason not to be optimistic that things like scouting and development are improving.

Sorry but this is bs and a cop out for the organization.

We need to hire more scouts..better scouts.

We need to totally overhaul the development staff...We need to overhaul the coaches in the minors and things like that.

We haven't done that. They have sat around and tried to get the different results doing things the same way.