A lot of little moves = a significantly better team?

[Frobby]

I actually started a post exactly like this one and deleted it because I didn't think anyone would respond due to my lack of posts here...

I hear remarks like this from time to time. Personally, I will respond to any post that makes a good point, whether it is made by an infrequent poster or someone who posts all the time. So don't think people will ignore you, I certainly won't.

[DrungoHazewood]

I'm still frustrated that based on the market and that we got absolutely nothing for him, that we did not bring Cabrera back for $2.6 million. We got nobody in trade or no draft pick compensation. He only cost $1 million more than Hendrickson. For years we wondered if Cabrera could be a dominant closer or set up guy. Based on the fact that only Guthrie is a "certainty" and Uehera and Olson are unknowns somewhat and 4 and 5 may end up being Hendrickson and/or Baez, why did we not keep Cabrera?

Even if we trade Olson for Pie, sign Ben Sheets and trade for Rich Hill and even say sign Oliver Perez, all of which are unlikely, there still would have been room in the bullpen for Cabrera over Hendrickson. So why did we do it?

For whatever reason the O's never seemed to have the slightest interest in trying Cabrera in the pen.

[TakebackOPACY]

I'm still frustrated that based on the market and that we got absolutely nothing for him, that we did not bring Cabrera back for $2.6 million. We got nobody in trade or no draft pick compensation. He only cost $1 million more than Hendrickson. For years we wondered if Cabrera could be a dominant closer or set up guy. Based on the fact that only Guthrie is a "certainty" and Uehera and Olson are unknowns somewhat and 4 and 5 may end up being Hendrickson and/or Baez, why did we not keep Cabrera?

Even if we trade Olson for Pie, sign Ben Sheets and trade for Rich Hill and even say sign Oliver Perez, all of which are unlikely, there still would have been room in the bullpen for Cabrera over Hendrickson. So why did we do it?

I'm not disagreeing with the point of your post; just correcting one small piece of it. To prevent Cabrera from reaching free agency, it would've cost the O's more than $2.6m. He would've needed to be offered arbitration, and would've gotten a raise despite his not so great numbers.

This is a very important point. With the emergence of Wieters and the signing of Zaun I think our rotation will really improve. I just think Hernandez was that bad. With zaun and Wieters support I look for significant improvements in both Liz and Olsen. I also think that there will be one or two surprixes from among the hoards of pitchers we're bringing i to camp. I wouldn't be surprised if Tillman pushed his way on to the rotation.

I hope you're right. To be fair, though, some amongst the hoards of pitchers are bound to be given quite a few innings and prove that they are not the surprise we are looking for.

[maudibjr]

And which one of these are you counting on????

I don't want to count on any of them. But at least they exist and we can be somewhat sure of not seeing Victor Santos in Sept.

I'm pretty reasonable, but if I see Santos, I want AM's head on a stick.

[Wingman]

Don't forget who we didn't sign... We didn't sign alot of middle of the road FA's (to multiyear contracts) that were on the downside of their careers, who would block prospects, waste money, be untradeable and only get us 5-10 more wins this year. This for me is the best thing about this offseason.

[Omega]

I'm still frustrated that based on the market and that we got absolutely nothing for him, that we did not bring Cabrera back for $2.6 million. We got nobody in trade or no draft pick compensation. He only cost $1 million more than Hendrickson. For years we wondered if Cabrera could be a dominant closer or set up guy. Based on the fact that only Guthrie is a "certainty" and Uehera and Olson are unknowns somewhat and 4 and 5 may end up being Hendrickson and/or Baez, why did we not keep Cabrera?

Even if we trade Olson for Pie, sign Ben Sheets and trade for Rich Hill and even say sign Oliver Perez, all of which are unlikely, there still would have been room in the bullpen for Cabrera over Hendrickson. So why did we do it?

Cabrera is water under the bridge. He has had, arguably, three of the best pitching coaches in baseball trying unsuccessfully to get IT to sink in to his head. We have 25 or 26 pitchers on the 40 man roster. Take your pick as to his replacement. The argument to keep him is that he's an innings eater. I think that the innings have eaten his arm to the extent that he will falter after his first 100 innings, maybe sooner. And then there's the question mark as to what you get in those first 100. Good luck Daniel. If you pitch well enough to make me eat my words, I will gladly post my retraction on the OH.

[Frobby]

To be fair, though, some amongst the hoards of pitchers are bound to be given quite a few innings and prove that they are not the surprise we are looking for.

True. It's just an observation, but it does seem like once every 2 years or so some pitcher unexpectedly has at least one very good season. Rodrigo Lopez came out of nowhere in 2002, Bruce Chen in 2005, Jeremy Guthrie in 2007. It's therefore not too much of a stretch to hope we get a similar unexpected performance from someone in 2009. We just can't bank on it.

[Enjoy Terror]

True. It's just an observation, but it does seem like once every 2 years or so some pitcher unexpectedly has at least one very good season. Rodrigo Lopez came out of nowhere in 2002, Bruce Chen in 2005, Jeremy Guthrie in 2007. It's therefore not too much of a stretch to hope we get a similar unexpected performance from someone in 2009. We just can't bank on it.

Jim Johnson, Matt Albers, and George Sherrill went beyond expectations last year.

I don't think anyone saw Jim Johnson being an absolutely shutdown setup man, no one predicted George Sherrill as a 30-save all star, and no saw Albers as a trustworthy bullpen anchor in the swing man role. I think with someone other than Ramon calling games next year, several pitchers will have better pitch selection and an overall positive increase in stats; we are very likely to see someone completely unassuming have an inexplicably good year.

[El Gordo]

Olson, Liz, Penn, Waters, Hennessy, Bass, Simon, Albers, Patton, Bergeson, Hernandez, Miller, Tillman, Albers . I certainly don't think all these guys will pan out. But I certainly don't think none of them will either. If two or three of these guys emerge, like Albers did last year, that would be what this season is supposed to be about.

[bigbird]

I don't want to count on any of them. But at least they exist and we can be somewhat sure of not seeing Victor Santos in Sept.

I'm pretty reasonable, but if I see Santos, I want AM's head on a stick.

Me either... I want a better option up frone so we don't have to plan on failure.

[Sports Guy]

Me either... I want a better option up frone so we don't have to plan on failure.

Who do you want us to go after and for what contract?

[Omega]

Jim Johnson, Matt Albers, and George Sherrill went beyond expectations last year.

I don't think anyone saw Jim Johnson being an absolutely shutdown setup man, no one predicted George Sherrill as a 30-save all star, and no saw Albers as a trustworthy bullpen anchor in the swing man role. I think with someone other than Ramon calling games next year, several pitchers will have better pitch selection and an overall positive increase in stats; we are very likely to see someone completely unassuming have an inexplicably good year.

It's difficult to think of Greg Zaun as an elder statesman, however, he'll be 38 on April 14th. But he does have high regard around MLB for his signal calling. With his expertise, he should be immensely helpful to Matt Wieters in his rookie season. I think that somewhere, Elrod is smiling over the prospects of Mr. Wieters.

[clapdiddy]

Who do you want us to go after and for what contract?

I'd take Garland on a 1/7 deal. It will give him a year to build some value, and give us innings.

[JTrea81]

Who do you want us to go after and for what contract?

Randy Wolf should be a target.

Offer him 2/16. He could be our #2 starter and is a decent arm to have to plug a hole in the rotation next year if need be...

[33rdst]

Who do you want us to go after and for what contract?

I think there is agreement that guys like Garland and Wolf have value but not for the money they want. Over the past few days we have seen a number of one year deals throughout the game. For some of these guys that want multi- year, high end deals, like, garland, looper and wolf, the reality may be that they need to sign for one year and see what happens in next years market. This plays into the Orioles plans in that it gives them veteran innings eaters for the upcoming year and allows time for their prospects to develop. This market is working out perfectly for a guy like Macphails temperment and philosophy.