A lot of little moves = a significantly better team?

[Omega]

Not VaTech, but I agree with you completely. As a DH, a market-depressed Dunn makes a ton of sense.

Not VaTech either, but signing Dunn and Wigginton for 2/3 yrs would be a tremendous boost to an already good offense IMO. Even throw Dunn a bone by agreeing to put him in LF for a few games. OPACY is one of the easier parks in MLB to play LF. He couldn't hurt the team too badly. Wigginton would be a very good stop-gap until we either trade for or bring up a 3rd baseman. Let the hitting help us win, while the powers that be, hone the pitching staff into a competitive unit. I trust that AM and company, along with Trembley, Kranitz and staff can make this a productive and very interesting season. GO ORIOLES!!!

[Mackus]

Not VaTech either, but signing Dunn and Wigginton for 2/3 yrs would be a tremendous boost to an already good offense IMO. Even throw Dunn a bone by agreeing to put him in LF for a few games. OPACY is one of the easier parks in MLB to play LF. He couldn't hurt the team too badly. Wigginton would be a very good stop-gap until we either trade for or bring up a 3rd baseman. Let the hitting help us win, while the powers that be, hone the pitching staff into a competitive unit. I trust that AM and company, along with Trembley, Kranitz and staff can make this a productive and very interesting season. GO ORIOLES!!!

Wigginton shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as Dunn. I don't want him for more than a 1-year deal and even then I'm lukewarm.

Dunn on the other hand would be a very nice addition for 3-4 years.

[Oriolidae85]

That pitching gap is deeper and more ominous. Last year we began with Guthrie, Loewen, a temporarily effective Cabrera, a very effective Burres(in April) and early on a solid Steve Trachsel...now were talking about giving Danys Baez a shot to start! We have a Japanese pitcher who has never faced big league hitters as our apparent number two man. If Guthrie goes down at all, this could be the worst staff in all of baseball. All the Ryan Freel's in the world wont make us even slightly better then.I still think and hope AM has something up his sleeve.Sheets? Even a one year deal? Garland?Hayden Penn?

Someone who can throw strikes? I hope they dont throw J.J. out there..or Albers. Let then log innings in the pen.

Yet another Dunn reference, though I know it falls on deaf ears.

With another big booming bat, our offense cold make up alot of ground for our horrible pitching...Please consider Adam Dunn.Even a three year deal wouldnt spoil any "rebuilding"plans.

Koji faced an all-star MLB lineup and did very well...grant it this occurred in his prime years...but Koji knows how to pitch and it is going to be very interesting to see how he does the next two years. If he has a 5.00 ERA, in '09? I think he'll settle in to a 4.5ish ERA, which is just over a Perez type translation into the AL East. The O's still need a vet SP to lead this team and the youngsters coming up (3 year deal for a good #2 type is needed, IMO)

[RShack]

BS.

I'm assessing what value the player had, and criticizing MacPhail for not being able to find someone willing to pay enough to match or come close to that value.

So, to review:

You are criticizing AM for not trading Sherrill for the kind of player who you insist *had* to be available, even though you have no knowledge whatsover (none) about who was available for Sherrill at the time.

Like I said, there's nothing wrong with folks playing "What if?"

2nd-guessing both the manager and the GM are basic parts of fandom.

But this idea that you somehow know things better, based on absolutely zero actual information about what his choices were, all based on your laser-like powers of reasoning, is exactly what fantasy jello is made of.

I have zero issues with your particular opinion about Sherill's value. You can evaluate that any way you like.

My only issue is with how convinced you are that you are absolutely right in the absence of any facts whatsoever regarding the matter.

It's not quite JTrea-like... but it's not a long distance call away either.

[RShack]

I'm as surprised as the next guy about what seems to be happening with Dunn. Clearly the guy has a LOT of value as a hitter. I haven't researched him closely. Is he the type that just destroys mediocre pitching, but doesn't hit good pitching at all? There are hitters with very good offensive stats that fit into this category.

Unless there is some attitude issue that would affect the clubhouse or some analysis that shows he'd fail in the AL East due to the plethora of good pitching, I wouldn't hesitate to offer him 2/24 or 3/30 right now.

I agree with all that.

The part I don't understand is why anybody thinks he'd want to come here, given the state of the org and given that we don't want him playing OF, which is what he wants to do.

[ugen64]

So, to review:

You are criticizing AM for not trading Sherrill for the kind of player who you insist *had* to be available, even though you have no knowledge whatsover (none) about who was available for Sherrill at the time.

Like I said, there's nothing wrong with folks playing "What if?"

2nd-guessing both the manager and the GM are basic parts of fandom.

But this idea that you somehow know things better, based on absolutely zero actual information about what his choices were, all based on your laser-like powers of reasoning, is exactly what fantasy jello is made of.

I have zero issues with your particular opinion about Sherill's value. You can evaluate that any way you like.

My only issue is with how convinced you are that you are absolutely right in the absence of any facts whatsoever regarding the matter.

It's not quite JTrea-like... but it's not a long distance call away either.

As far as I see it, MacPhail wanted a shortstop for Sherrill. The following teams were definitely interested in Sherrill: Milwaukee, the Los Angeles Angels, Philly, Florida, St. Louis, and Detroit. So let's look at each team in depth.

Now tell me, which of these teams had a shortstop of comparable value to Sherrill? The closest is probably Anaheim, who had Erick Aybar, Maicer Izturis, and Howie Kendrick clogging up the middle infield - Aybar and Izturis are both shortstops as you know. The only realistic deal out of all of these teams would have been one of Aybar and Izturis for Sherrill + maybe some low level prospect or something.

So why not ask for something other than a shortstop? Well, what needs did we really have (short and long term) at the time? We definitely didn't want a catcher or an outfielder (I'm assuming only realistic bids here). We wouldn't really want a 1B or reliever. Second base? Well, think about it. Either Roberts stays and we don't need a 2B, or we trade Roberts and presumably receive a younger 2B in return (among other players). Also I think we'd drafted L.J. Hoes by this time. 3B? I don't know that the FO has completely given up on Bill Rowell (who is only like 20 years old, don't forget), and we could easily buy ourselves time by extending Mora's contract (I'm sure he wouldn't be worth very much on the free agent market). Also, obviously, 2B/3B/1B were definitely not short term needs by any stretch of the imagination, with Roberts/Mora/Huff signed on through 2009.

So really what's left is SS and maybe starting pitching. But what team is going to be dumb enough to trade a young starting pitcher with upside for essentially a left-handed specialist? I think MacPhail looked around at the potential buyers and saw that the only possible realistic offers he could get were shortstops from Los Angeles and maybe Philadelphia (because all their middle infield prospects were blocked by Utley + Rollins). The only criticism you can make out of this whole mess is that MacPhail maybe overvalued Sherrill - but to say that he "didn't work hard enough" or that "he should have just traded him for whatever he could get" isn't really fair IMO.

[Sports Guy]

I was told that we didn't get offered that much for Sherrill at the deadline.

Now, how that is defined is anyone's guess.

Was it really not enough or not enough for AM to deal him?

[SilentJames]

I was told that we didn't get offered that much for Sherrill at the deadline.

Now, how that is defined is anyone's guess.

Was it really not enough or not enough for AM to deal him?

Well, in this case it is one in the same. He is the guy that calls the shots, and given the trades he has pulled off thus far (major and minor) I am inclined to trust his judgment.

Maybe I am a rube, but I trust the guy he seems to know what he is doing even if that doing is slow.

[Orioles Magic]

The O's starting pitching still sucks. There will be no improvement if the starting pitching has gotten worse. O's won't do jack until they have a dominant starting pitching rotation. We need Arrieta, Matsutz and Tillman to develop into a dominant staff.