3/6 O's vs. Nationals (on MASN!)

[Palmoripken]

Tillman looks good with his fastball but can't locate his curve worth a hill of beans. I definately think he needs to start the season in the minors. He's also throwing a ton of pitch's per inning, small sample size, but minors for him IMO.

I would put him in the minors anyhow. He doesn't turn 21 until after opening day. So he has a lot of time to develop and work on his stuff.

[El Gordo]

Except our prospects haven't had the time to turn into suspects yet.

So who has impressed today? Who has disappointed?

Pauley looked good, AJ with 2 hits and 3 SB, Pie and Wieters. Markakis and Scott disappointed with some lame strike outs in game situations.

[nemO821]

Nice win. 6 in a row.

[PaulFolk]

The O's are now 6-2 in Grapefruit League play...and that doesn't even include the exhibitions against WBC teams, which would make them 8-2.

[Palmoripken]

Good game today.

[BaltimoreTerp]

OK, I apologize for passing on bad info. I went back and found the e-mail from Tripp and I was wrong, not him. Here's what I got:

If he accumulates 172 days of service, then he has earned one year of service (the ML season is, on average, 182 days long). If he starts the season at the ML level, he will earn six years of service at the end of his sixth year at the ML level (ex. Nick Markakis). If he is called up during the season, he would earn six years of service during his seventh year at the ML level (ex. Evan Longoria).

It is all based on service time. It could take a player six years or it could take a player ten years (if he had breaks in service). Look at the following examples:

Erik Bedard

2002 8 days

2003 172 days (1 yr, 8 days)

2004 163 days (1 yr, 171 days – 1 day short of 2 years)

2005 172 days (2 yr, 171 days – 1 day short of 3 years, 1st year of salary arb)

2006 172 days (3 yr, 171 days – 1 day short of 4 years, 2nd year of salary arb)

2007 172 days (4 yr, 171 days – 1 day short of 5 years, 3rd year of salary arb)

2008 172 days (5 yr, 171 days – 1 day short of 6 years and 1 day short of being a free agent, will have 4th year of salary arb)

2009 Will earn 172 days giving him 6 yr, 171 days and eligible for free agency

It will take Bedard parts of eight seasons to gain his free agency

Man, no wonder he's so grumpy all the time. ONE DAY away!