After taking a brief hiatus this weekend from the Orioles-Mariners series (and Game 1 of the Angels set), I'm back. And what do I come back to? How about a 27-year old who has spent 9 seasons in the minors and is not even a TOP 30 Orioles prospect throwing an 8-inning one-hit shutout against the best team in baseball? Wow.

I'm sure I wasn't the only one who was disappointed that Hayden Penn or Brad Bergeson didn't get to come up and make this start. Penn was hit by the shard of a broken bat in the first inning of his last start, requring stictches, so they didn't want to bring him up. And Bergeson, who has dominated AA (14-3, ERA under 2.50), was just that, still in AA. Andy MacPhail has said he didn't want to rush young players, so don't count on too many guys jumping from AA right to Baltimore (unless it's Matt Wieters, but that's a whole different issue.)

Continue reading "A Debut to Remember for Chris Waters"

The Orioles dealt right-handed reliever Chad Bradford to the Rays today, for a player to be named later. This is surprising because Bradford has been very effective this year, and the fact that we dealt him to Tampa means that no one with a worse record than the Rays (everyone in the AL except the Angels) claimed Bradford. Really? Nobody thought this guy who gets ground ball after ground ball, doesnt walk anyone, and has an ERA around 2.50 was worth taking? It's not like he has a huge contract (he is signed next year for 3.5 million), so I am surprised he got to Tampa. Good luck to Chad down there, and I hope he helps the Rays fend off Boston and New York.

As for what we got back, who knows. We know a few things, though: I would guess it's a player on Tampa's 40 man roster. If it was someone who wasn't, they could have just made the deal, as only players on the 40-man need to clear waivers. However, one option being mentioned is that Tampa gave the Orioles a list of non-40 man players to choose from, and the O's will now scout those guys for a few weeks and determine which one they like the most.

Continue reading "Chad Bradford traded to Tampa Bay..."

After back to back starts where the starter got through only 4 innings, it's time for the Orioles to make some changes to their rotation/bullpen. While the offense keeps clicking along, the pitching continues to be an issue with this club. Here are the internal options that I would go to to try and help out the staff the rest of the season.

1. Dennis Sarfate back to the bullpen.

It's time to end the Dennis-as-a-starter experiment. He's had 3 shots at it, and while I think he has had some rough luck with bad defense, he simply can't throw enough strikes (or enough good pitches, for that matter). Even though he had a rough July in the pen, he has been solid overall there this season. He should be in a long-relief role for this team.

2- Call up Hayden Penn, DFA Lance Cormier.

Continue reading "Let's See Some Changes"

After the non-waiver trade deadline of July 31st, the next big date in baseball is August 15th. That's the day teams have to have all their amatuer draft picks signed. The Orioles have signed 9 of their Top 10 picks, the only one missing being 1st rounder and 4th overall pick Brian Matusz. Matusz, a left-handed pitcher from the University of San Diego, was thought to be an easy sign when the Orioles drafted him in June. Negotiations stalled, and he remains unsigned. Matusz, a Junior at USD, could return to school in the fall if not signed and re-enter next year's draft.

However, according to the Baltimore Sun, Matusz is in Baltimore today for a physical and is expected to sign well before tomorrow night's midnight deadline. Most scouts predict Matusz as a top of the rotation pitcher, but he doesn't have an overpowering fastball. He sits in the low 90's, but he has outstanding control and very good breaking pitches, according to most scouts. It will be interesting to see what Matusz signs for, as the Orioles went well over slot-price to draft Matt Wieters last year. However, Wieters was the consensus top position player in the draft, one of the most highly rated players in years, and only fell to the Birds at #5 due to signability concerns. This year, the Orioles figured they wouldn't have to go much over the slight price of somewhere around 2.5 or 2.75 million dollars guranteed (They gave Wieters around 6 last year). However, with the talks being dragged out so long, there is some question as to what Matusz will sign for. 

Continue reading "Another Deadline Approaching..."

Since we last talked:

- The Orioles signed Brian Matusz, giving him a bonus of around 3.2 million and a major league contract. He probably won't pitch in the minors this year, but I'd expect him to pitch in the Arizona Fall League later in the year. I still think he will start at Frederick next season, with a promotion to Bowie happening sometime during the season.

- Dennis Sarfate and Garret Olson were moved out of the starting rotation. Sarfate was a no brainer, as he had actually been pretty effective out of the bullpen. I still think he is a guy that can help out from the pen. Olson was a bit of a surprised to me. Yes, he hasn't looked good his last few times out and his control has been awful, but I thought the Orioles would let him finish out the season in the rotation. Olson is now at AAA, but I'd expect him to be back up when the rosters expand in September. Radhames Liz was called up in his place and will start Friday night against the Yankees. We'll see if Liz' short stint back down at AAA did anything to fix his control issues he had while in Baltimore earlier in the season.

Continue reading "While I Was Gone..."

Found this today. The Arizona Fall League will certainly be of interest to Orioles fans. Although we don't know which pitchers will be there yet, I'm sure we will know that sooner rather than later. When it comes to the position players, I have a few thoughts. Matt Wieters, Nolan Reimold, Blake Davis and Brandon Snyder will certainly be worth watching this fall and first off, the good news is that the Orioles guys have the benefit of the doubt when it comes to playing time because Norfolk Tides Manager Gary Allenson will manage the team that features the Orioles players. So the guys should all get a chance to play.

For the most well-known name on the list, I'm not sure that's really a good thing. Matt Wieters has dominated the minors this season. He will most likely be the highest rated positional prospect in the game, and has a shot at being the number one overall prospect in baseball (although that destinction is likely to go to Tampa's LHP David Price.) Anyways, it really makes no sense to me to send Wieters to the AFL. There really should have been two options for Wieters after the minor league season (and hopefully an Eastern League Championship at Bowie) come to an end.

Continue reading "Arizona Fall League Rosters Announced....sort of"