A disturbing trend in the FO

[El Gordo]

I read your post, and last off season I said the same thing.

Hence why in my post it notes Mora as a free agent to be.

I remember bigbird coming onto this board, and saying "They are trying to get rid of Javy, but no takers"

Which was bombarded by "This team needs to eat salary, trade him to the Angels, trade him for Hee Seop Choi"

No one wanted Javy last off-season.

Look how long it took for Molina to sign, and he only got 5 milliong dollars for one year.

I knew what you meant.

How much better off would we be now paying the Dodgers half of Javy's salary and having Hee Sop on the the team. What kind of numbers is he putting up in Boston's farm system and how does he figure in to the grand rebuilding scheme? I hope he's not our 1B of the future.

[Frobby]

All true. I do remember cautioning people that our great position early in the season also had a lot to do with the Yanks and Sox playing so poorly while we got off to a hot start. Clearly after June, things were trending badly for us, regardless of the standings. But again, both last offseason AND at the trade deadline, we were fence-sitters. We weren't buying big and weren't selling big. That's a shame. That's a wasted opportunity no matter which way you think the season was going at that point.

I have to agree with you that the FO waffled. I think what made it sort of hard was that the team had been pretty shaky from the time they were 42-28 to that day in July when they beat the Twins (8-14 in that stretch), but they also had that encouraging series with the Red Sox in that stretch just before the break, and most people (not you) believed that when Bedard and Javy got back the team would play much better. it was hard to get a good read. What people didn't foresee was (1) the Raffy mess, (2) Eli Marrero having a season-ending injury on July 26, (3) Bedard not performing well upon his return, (4) a new DWI problem for Ponson, (5) Byrnes doing less than zero in an Oriole uniform, (6) B-Rob's season-ending injury in mid-September, and (7) Sosa declining even further and then disappearing (he actually had a passable July, .792 OPS for the month). It is really astounding when you sit back and think how many things went wrong. You always expect some adversity and injuries, but last year was unprecedented in my memory as an Oriole fan.

I am hoping that this year, beginning on July 18 (or tonight), the O's will have an amazing string of luck and good fortune. Bedard keeps on trucking; Cabrera joins him; Markakis stays on fire and starts hitting some XBH; Loewen and Penn are brought up and pitch very well; Brian Roberts starts hitting a few HR; Mora heats up; we get something of value for R. and J. Lopez, Millar, Matos and Conine......Hey, a man can dream, can't he?

[ejf1025]

All true. I do remember cautioning people that our great position early in the season also had a lot to do with the Yanks and Sox playing so poorly while we got off to a hot start. Clearly after June, things were trending badly for us, regardless of the standings. But again, both last offseason AND at the trade deadline, we were fence-sitters. We weren't buying big and weren't selling big. That's a shame. That's a wasted opportunity no matter which way you think the season was going at that point.

That leads me to the next question: What we will do before this year's deadline?

That's the 10,000 Dollar Question isn't?

The team SHOULD look very different.

5 Things Definitely Need to Happen:

- Javy Lopez must be traded.

- Jeff Conine must be traded.

- Hayden Penn must be in the rotation.

- Luis Matos must be traded.

- Jay Gibbons must be moved to 1B/DH.

5 Things Should Happen, Circumstances may make them Non-Mandatory:

- Rodrigo Lopez should be traded if he can increase value.

- Bruce Chen should be traded if he can increase value.

- Adam Loewen should be in the rotation.

- Jay Gibbons should be permanent DH.

- Chris Gomez should be traded if he can increase value.

5 Trades Should be Investigated:

- Listen to offers for Tejada

- Listen to offers for Gibbons

- Listen to offers for Hawkins

- Listen to offers for Millar

- Listen to offers for Benson

Now, let's hope the FO is proactive...

[wildcard]

That leads me to the next question: What we will do before this year's deadline?

First the O's are not trading their core talent and they shouldn't trade their good prospects.

Other then that the only thing the O's have that some team might want it Hawkins. So he might go.

There is no market right now for Javy, Millar, Conine, RLo Matos and Chen. The O's might get a non-prospect if they pay their salaries off. What is the point in that. They should only trade if they get something in return.

Maybe things will change in the next 20 days, but that is what I see today.

[bigbird]

That's the 10,000 Dollar Question isn't?

The team SHOULD look very different.

5 Things Definitely Need to Happen:

- Javy Lopez must be traded.

- Jeff Conine must be traded.

- Hayden Penn must be in the rotation.

- Luis Matos must be traded.

- Jay Gibbons must be moved to 1B/DH.

5 Things Should Happen, Circumstances may make them Non-Mandatory:

- Rodrigo Lopez should be traded if he can increase value.

- Bruce Chen should be traded if he can increase value.

- Adam Loewen should be in the rotation.

- Jay Gibbons should be permanent DH.

- Chris Gomez should be traded if he can increase value.

5 Trades Should be Investigated:

- Listen to offers for Tejada

- Listen to offers for Gibbons

- Listen to offers for Hawkins

- Listen to offers for Millar

- Listen to offers for Benson

Now, let's hope the FO is proactive...

Why would anyone trade anything for Luis Matos?????

[davearm]

I'm confused. Are you saying I'm wrong about this organization holding onto some players too long? Or are you just trying to put me on the spot now.

To be honest it's hard to say who we should "sell high" on now, other than Tejada (who is also probably dropping), because we don't have too many players anyone wants anymore. Go back 1 year and that was not the case at all.

I'm not disputing your contention that this organization holds onto some players too long.

I'm putting you on the spot, however, because throughout this thread you've implied that you know better than the O's FO which players ought to be "sold high". In fact in the original post, you made a list of guys you just knew they should have traded.

So instead of looking backward and saying "I told you so", let's look ahead and have you tell us which guys, if not dealt now, in a year the O's will be regretting not trading, after their value has fallen.

Tejada's an obvious one. So who else?

[El Gordo]

That's the 10,000 Dollar Question isn't?

The team SHOULD look very different.

5 Things Definitely Need to Happen:

- Javy Lopez must be traded.

- Jeff Conine must be traded.

- Hayden Penn must be in the rotation.

- Luis Matos must be traded.

- Jay Gibbons must be moved to 1B/DH.

5 Things Should Happen, Circumstances may make them Non-Mandatory:

- Rodrigo Lopez should be traded if he can increase value.

- Bruce Chen should be traded if he can increase value.

- Adam Loewen should be in the rotation.

- Jay Gibbons should be permanent DH.

- Chris Gomez should be traded if he can increase value.

5 Trades Should be Investigated:

- Listen to offers for Tejada

- Listen to offers for Gibbons

- Listen to offers for Hawkins

- Listen to offers for Millar

- Listen to offers for Benson

Now, let's hope the FO is proactive...

I agree with every thing except, Gibbons is DH only if we get a decent power hitting 1B, and I 'd be very wary of trading Benson. The rotation needs some stability while the likes of Loewen Penn AND DCab figure things out.

[El Gordo]

Why would anyone trade anything for Luis Matos?????

Though they are not similar players in their upsides for the same reason you trade for Cory Patterson. Matos could be a serviceable CF for another team. He has no chance on the O's just like Cory could do nothing more on the Cubbies.

[Flosman]

If they wanted to get the fans confidence, they should have tried to improve the team while we were in 1st. Instead we end up with Byrnes for Bigbie and another 2nd half collapse.

And if Byrnes would have played like he has this year we would be talking about how great the FO is.