Orioles Continue Flurry of Offseason Moves

Baltimore, sit down and ask yourself this question;

"ARE YOU READY FOR SOME BASEBALL?!?!?"

Only a day after trading for Rich Hill of the Chicago Cubs, Baltimore's front office lands a two year deal with uber-utilityman Ty Wigginton.

Someone in Baltimore is clearing off shelf space for the 2009 Baseball Executive of the Year Award.

According to ESPN.com:

The deal, pending a physical, is worth a total of $6 million, according to the Baltimore Sun. Foxsports.com was the first to report the story.

Wigginton, 31, is a right-handed hitter who mostly plays third base, but also has played first, second, and all three outfield positions.

Wigginton, who played for the Houston Astros last season, hit .285 with 23 homers and 58 RBIs. He is a career .270 hitter in seven seasons; the Orioles will be his fifth team.

O's and Cubs Continue Wheeling and Dealing

The Chicago Cubs sent former fourth round draft pick Rich Hill to the Baltimore Orioles for a player (or cash) to be named at a latter date.

The Orioles are reworking their rotation. The addition of the left hander Hill starts to mold the O-Birds rotation in a better shape than it was at the beginning of the offseason;

1.Jeremy Guthrie
2.Koji Uehara
3. Rich Hill
4. ???
5. ???

The 28-year-old Hill is 18-17 with a 4.37 ERA in 64 appearances during four seasons with the Cubs, including 11-8 with a 3.92 ERA in a career-high 32 starts during 2007.

Orioles Trade Hernandez to Reds; Wieters Set to Assume Catching Duties

In a move that was designed to free up playing time for prospect Matt Wieters, the Baltimore Orioles sent catcher Ramon Hernandez to the Reds for Ryan Freel and two prospects.

According to ESPN.com the Orioles will also "receive infield prospects Justin Turner and Brandon Waring. As part of the deal, Baltimore will give Cincinnati cash to offset part of Hernandez's contract. He is owed $8.5 million next year."

Apparently the Orioles were comfortable enough in Wieters ability to handle their erratic pitching staff to send Hernandez packing. Adding Freel is a nice short term move, and he'll most likely win over Baltimore fans with his hustle and "run through the fence" attitude.

Failure Dynasties: ESPN Page 2

ESPN's Page 2 writer Johan Keri wrote a brilliant article over the weekend, detailing baseball's worst dynasties.
We here at 108 Red Stitches love to argue the oddities of baseball (stats/physical/emotional) and we overjoyed to see Keri's article. Here is a brief excerpt from his writings, with links and photos to accompany what we consider the best article on baseball so far this year:

BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Length of streak: 10 straight losing seasons
Last winning season: 98-64, 1997
General managers: Pat Gillick (1998), Frank Wren (1999), Syd Thrift (2000-2002), Jim Beattie/Mike Flanagan (2003-05), Flanagan (2006-07), Andy MacPhail (2007-)

Lowest moment: Facing the Texas Rangers at Camden Yards on Aug. 22 of last year, the Orioles gave up 30 runs, setting a modern-era record for a single game. The O's actually led 3-0 early in the game before allowing 30 straight runs in the 30-3 loss.

Favorite whipping boys: Peter Angelos. Every player, manager, GM and hot dog vendor who failed to do the job in the past 10 years is an extension of Angelos' reign of error.

Hope for the future? The 15-13 start is nice, but the Orioles probably won't see a winning season for a while. Nick Markakis and Adam Jones are great building blocks in the outfield, Luke Scott is an above-average player as the third outfielder, Brian Roberts and George Sherrill should fetch some interesting loot in a trade, and Matt Wieters is a potential franchise player a year away from taking over at catcher. After that, the closet is nearly bare, with a severe lack of pitching the biggest problem.

ETA for next winning season: 2012.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Length of streak: 12 out of 13 losing seasons, no playoff berths in 22 years
Last winning season: 83-79, 2003
Last winning season before that: 64-51, 1994
General managers: Herk Robinson (1995-2000), Allard Baird (2001-06), Dayton Moore (2006-)

Lowest moment: Following the first 100-loss season in franchise history in 2002, new manager Tony Pena improbably guided the team to an 83-win season in '03, dramatically raising expectations. The Royals responded with a 7-14 April in 2004 on their way to 104 losses.

Favorite whipping boys: Tony Muser, Buddy Bell, Allard Baird, David Glass, Angel Berroa, Neifi Perez, Lima Time!

Notable quotable: "We got the best high school arm in the country, and we got probably the best athlete in the draft. If somebody would have told me before the draft we were going to get Mr. Griffin and Mr. Crosby, I would have said 'You're nuts.'" --GM Allard Baird

Hope for the future? Plenty, actually. A top three of Zack Greinke, Gil Meche and Brian Bannister in the rotation suddenly looks really promising. Billy Butler hits like Ichiro, even if it also looks he ate Ichiro. Alex Gordon's a future star. Joakim Soria is a young, cheap, lights-out closer and the key man in a very good bullpen.

ETA for next winning season: 2009.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Length of streak: 15 straight losing seasons
Last winning season: 96-66, 1992
General managers: Cam Bonifay (1993-2001), Dave Littlefield (2001-07), Neal Huntington (2008-)

Lowest moment: Facing the Cubs on the second-to-last day of the 2001 season, the Pirates got crushed by a score of 13-2, their 100th loss of the season. It was the first time the Bucs dropped 100 games in 16 years.

Favorite whipping boys: Derek Bell, Kevin Young, Pat Meares, Mike Benjamin, Lloyd McClendon, Jim Tracy, Cam Bonifay, Dave Littlefield, Kevin McClatchy.

Notable quotable: "Nobody told me I was in competition. If there is competition, somebody better let me know. If there is competition, they better eliminate me out of the race and go ahead and do what they're going to do with me. I ain't never hit in spring training, and I never will. If it ain't settled with me out there, then they can trade me. I ain't going out there to hurt myself in spring training battling for a job. If it is [a competition], then I'm going into 'Operation Shutdown.'" --Pirates outfielder Derek Bell's reaction to competing for a starting job with the Pirates in spring training 2002, after hitting .173 the year before. True to his word, Operation Shutdown never played another game in the big leagues.

Hope for the future? Ian Snell's a keeper in the rotation. Nate McLouth may be in the early stages of a breakout season. Ryan Doumit should be a solid run producer at catcher. Andrew McCutchen is a five-tool prospect in center field. But the biggest hope resides in the front office, where new GM Neal Huntington has surrounded himself with a top-rate staff of baseball minds who should help the Bucs get back on the winning track. It won't happen right away, though -- the Pirates have a terrible farm system for a team that has had so many high draft picks.

ETA for next winning season: 2010.

There's another two teams that Keri picks apart, but if you want to keep reading about it, you'll have to click here.

Casualty of the Mitchell Report?

ESPN.com is reporting that the Baltimore Orioles have released outfielder Jay Gibbons, noting this move has nothing to do with his impending suspension due to his involvement with receiving a shipment of HGH (Human Growth Hormone).

Yep, and the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause both exist, Barry Bonds is the rightful Home Run King, and JFK was killed by only one shooter.

According to ESPN.com:

Gibbons batted .189 with no homers and four RBIs in 16 games this spring training after playing in only 84 games last season. Baltimore owes him $11.9 million for the next two seasons as part of a $21.1 million, four-year contract he agreed to in January 2006.

You don't think that the Orioles could have gotten something for him, even if it was a low level prospect or two? The Mets are badly in need of a healthy outfielder, and the Orioles could have taken advantage of that situation.

Time and time again this spring, we've seen the same old line of "Don't worry about his spring training numbers, they don't translate into regular season success/underperformance". Why would the Orioles be so quick to pull the trigger on Gibbons?

The AP broke the initial story, with team president Andy MacPhail leading the propaganda machine:

The team didn't see him getting much time as a reserve outfielder and left-handed designated hitter, and keeping the more versatile Scott Moore as a utility player made far more sense.

"The decision was essentially down to two players, and we made a baseball decision," said club president Andy MacPhail, who delivered the news to Gibbons.

"We laid it out pretty clearly," MacPhail said. "For you to be a productive player you need to play, and that opportunity just doesn't exist here absent some horrific injury. His words were, 'I agree completely.'"

Spencer Fordin, from MLB.com, writes:

Excising Gibbons from the roster means a little more of a clear substitution pattern for Trembley. Huff and Kevin Millar will rotate at first base and designated hitter, and Moore will pick up playing time from them and from third baseman Melvin Mora. Gibbons will likely end up elsewhere within the next few weeks, but his former teammates will keep him in mind.

"When you hear something like that, its always emotional," said Millar. "It's like one of your family members, [but] you understand where it's coming from. You understand when you look around at the roster and there's a lot of left-handed hitters. ... It was going to be tough for Jay to get at-bats, and obviously, it's been a dogfight for the last couple years for him."

Fetch an Old Dog New Digs

Some of baseball's ageless wonders seem to have found themselves in new uniforms for the upcoming season. And we're glad that the names Clemens or Bonds will be stitched on any of them.

Kenny Lofton has been talking with the Cincinnati Reds as of late. According to rotowire.com, if this move happens, Reds outfielder Jay Bruce will likely start the season in the minors.

Tony Armas signed a minor league deal with the Mets, leaving him with a very outside chance to crack the team's rotation.

Baseball's slowest pitcher Steve Traschel, signed a minor league contract with the Baltimore Orioles and received a spring training invite. Traschel started last season with the O's, before being traded to the Cubs in late August.

The Pirates signed defensive wiz Doug Mientkiewicz to a minor league deal. Mientkiewicz
will be competing for the backup first base job/pinch hitter role left open by Josh Phelps departure to St. Louis.

The Royals fan favorite Mike Sweeney agreed to join the Oakland Athletics, accepting a minor league deal and an invite to spring training.

Trade Between O's and Space Needles Imminent

According to ESPN.com News Services "The Seattle Mariners have asked talented young outfielder Adam Jones to leave his Venezuelan Winter League team and return to the United States amid reports he's about to be included in a trade for Baltimore Orioles left-hander Erik Bedard."

Jones, the centerpiece (besides Bedard) in the deal makes for an interesting situation in Baltimore. If the deal goes through, the O's would have a younger center fielder with a greater upside than they did coming into the off season. Last season, Corey Patterson manned center field for the Birds. But, according to a January 8 posting on MLB.com's website, "The Orioles, who did not offer Patterson arbitration in December, may bring him back if they do not trade for a center fielder, the Baltimore Sun reported. Team president Andy MacPhail acknowledged that he spoke with Patterson's agent to confirm the team's interest and the two sides will keep in touch."

If the trade goes through, Patterson's future with the club will most likely be in doubt. It would be interesting to see, this late in the off season which clubs are in the market for Patterson's services.