Rockbird

The Pirates entered the talks, a source said, when the Orioles attempted to make the Marlins take starter Sidney Ponson and the $10 million remaining on his contract. ho ho! some good comedy there. 864451[/snapback] Awww c'mon! Won't ya take Sir Sid? Please? He's not so bad! He eats innings! 864459[/snapback] That's not all he eats! :lol

Enlighten me...why do the Pirates want Lowell? What do they gain out of this?

It's a fair deal even more so since we're throwing in 2 batting practice pitchers too! What more do you want, grounds crew members?

I read an article today saying how so many teams are after bullpen help. Maybe 1-2 of those is to trade away??? 863807[/snapback] Hell, you can do whatever you want with them. Make them race around the warning track in the middle of the 6th inning for all I care, just take them!!! :o 863833[/snapback] They could dress up like bratwursts sausages like they do in Pittsburgh. 863853[/snapback] Hmmm, and there could be a contest to whack them with a bat like Randall Simon a couple years ago. We might be getting somewhere here! (oh and it's Milwaukee that does the sausage race, Pittsburgh has its own offshoot called The Perogie race, though). 863868[/snapback] Oh yeah, I think it was Randall Simon being on the Pirates that made me think that. But if there is any hitting with bats than that should be there farewell tour in Camden yards. 863914[/snapback] We'd be more than happy to supply the first 25,000 fans with bats and parade them around the field like Cal Ripken making his victory lap, allowing the fans to "personally say goodbye". Ok, now we're just being mean.

I read an article today saying how so many teams are after bullpen help. Maybe 1-2 of those is to trade away??? 863807[/snapback] Hell, you can do whatever you want with them. Make them race around the warning track in the middle of the 6th inning for all I care, just take them!!! :o 863833[/snapback] They could dress up like bratwursts sausages like they do in Pittsburgh. 863853[/snapback] Hmmm, and there could be a contest to whack them with a bat like Randall Simon a couple years ago. We might be getting somewhere here! (oh and it's Milwaukee that does the sausage race, Pittsburgh has its own offshoot called The Perogie race, though).

When someone reports that the O's are asking for Billy the Marlin for a macot to be named later as part of this, I'll know it's time to go to sleep!

I read an article today saying how so many teams are after bullpen help. Maybe 1-2 of those is to trade away??? 863807[/snapback] Hell, you can do whatever you want with them. Make them race around the warning track in the middle of the 6th inning for all I care, just take them!!! :o

Hey Rock. Don't they JUST take their good ole time! :blink: 863701[/snapback] The Washington Post story I just posted is way more encouraging. I still wouldn't mind if Peter would just get lost though.

Well this is new. If it's true, thanks for taking on The Terrible Steves for us. Hopefully AJ signs an extension with us afterall: washingtonpost.com Bedard, Sosa Lift O's Over Twins Trade for Burnett Might Come Today: Orioles 3, Twins 2 By Jorge Arangure Jr. Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, July 19, 2005; E01 MINNEAPOLIS, July 18 -- They welcomed back Erik Bedard, who had been on the disabled list since May 26, and Sammy Sosa, whose bat had been on hiatus for a month, and readied themselves for an impending roster crush that figures to happen on Tuesday. The Baltimore Orioles, 3-2 winners over the Minnesota Twins, were a team on the eve of a drastic makeover with the acquisition of Florida Marlins pitcher A.J. Burnett and infielder Mike Lowell likely to be finalized Tuesday, according to several baseball sources. The Orioles will send outfielder Admin Bigbie, pitcher Hayden Penn and relievers Jorge Julio, Steve Reed and Steve Kline to the Marlins. Baltimore also will receive minor league outfielder Eric Reed. The Boston Red Sox, one of the teams actively pursuing Burnett, believed they were no longer in the running for the pitcher. "We have not heard anything official, but we do not get the sense that the Marlins are engaging us with much urgency," a Red Sox official said. "In other words, they seem more inclined to go in another direction." If, as expected, the Orioles face a drastic roster haul, the current version of the team did quite well on its final night. Bedard pitched six scoreless innings, striking out seven, after missing almost two months with a sprained knee, and Sosa hit his first home run since June 18, a 420-foot two-run blast in the seventh inning. Miguel Tejada won the game with a home run in the 11th inning. As of late Monday night, according to several sources close to the Orioles, Baltimore had all but decided not to sign Burnett to a contract extension prior to making the deal. The Orioles hoped Burnett, a free agent after this season whose wife is from the Baltimore area, would sign a new contract after the trade was made. "My preference would be to sign everyone to one-year contracts," Orioles Executive Vice President Jim Beattie said in general terms and not specifically about the impending trade. "But you have to do what you have to do to get players signed. Sometimes it's worth the risk." Previously, agent Darek Braunecker, who represents Burnett, had said the pitcher would not negotiate during the season, but he softened his stance on Monday. "If they were to present something to us that we could resolve quickly, I wouldn't say we wouldn't do that," Braunecker said. Part of the reason the Orioles have decided to acquire Burnett without a new contract is so they could rid themselves of the salaries of Kline and Reed in the deal. With an extension for Burnett signed prior to a trade it's unlikely Florida would have accepted either relief pitcher, whom the Orioles are trading as a salary dump. Kline was signed to a two-year, $5.6 million deal in the offseason. Reed is making $900,000 on a one-year deal. Bigbie, Kline and Julio had all but conceded they would be traded. Bigbie and Julio joked about needing to buy sunscreen to protect themselves from the Florida sun. Kline began to say goodbye to reporters. Bigbie, who conspicuously was not in the lineup Monday, admitted, while it pained him to leave, perhaps the trade would mean a better opportunity for him with the Marlins. The team had been so uncertain about the status of the roster that it did not announce which player would be taken off the team in order to activate Bedard from the disabled list until minutes prior to the game. Long reliever James Baldwin was designated for assignment, further fueling the thought that a deal for Burnett was near. Acquiring Burnett means the Orioles will have to demote a starter, meaning there would be no need for Baldwin as a long reliever. The team had asked Kline to accept a demotion to Class AA Bowie in order to work on his mechanics. The reliever, 2-3 with a 5.61 ERA, declined to go to Bowie, so the Orioles made the move with Baldwin. At this point, the most likely candidate to fill Baldwin's spot in the bullpen is Sidney Ponson, who has a 6.04 ERA and is 2-7 in his past 12 games. He would be an $8.5 million long reliever. "I'm acknowledging that there are talks going on that might impact the roster," Beattie said. "That's all. That's fair. That's why we waited [to make the Baldwin move], otherwise we would have tried to do something earlier. But with respect to the information coming in and the timing of it, we tried not to make a move that would" hurt the roster. One move that won't be made is shifting Melvin Mora from third base to accommodate Lowell, who will be owed $21.25 million through 2007. "I wouldn't move Melvin out of third base unless Brooks Robinson came back," Beattie said.

Sorry you guys have to be strung along with our notoriously slow front office. It's always something... So, since it looks like he's not getting traded by tommorow afterall, does Burnett just make his start with the Marlins as scheduled?

Strikout of Cuddyer on a breaking ball that FELL OFF THE TABLE. Julio bringing the good stuff tonight. 2 outs.

1-2 pop up of Bret Boone on a slider to the second baseman. 1 out. Julio is amazingly not sucking. Maybe the sunny beaches you guys have down there is motivating him

Folks, buckle your seatbelts. Miguel Tejada just blasted a homerun, to give the O's a 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the 11th...and Julio is apparently going to try to close it. Updates again forthcoming.

Talk amongst yourselves or something now.

I bring good news! Strikeout on a nice slider! We survive another inning! Good luck with him.

Intentional walk to Morneau. Torrie Hunter coming up. You guys might want to get perscriptions for heavy duty blood pressure medicine when Julio pitches.

Shannon Stewart grounds out on 3-2 pitch to 3B. 2 outs now. Winning run on Second. Morneau is up. I have heartburn.

Neat, I'm in "rumor central" now. The Os Hangout could use this. Joe Mauer slices a 1-2 pitch into left field for a single. And it begins...

Well, if you guys can start Lowell.... Like I said, it's a 2-2 game in the 10th. I fully expect Julio to blow it in spectacular fashion. I'll keep you guys updated. 1 out on one pitch groundout by Lew Ford.

From www.theorioles.com : MINNEAPOLIS -- The Orioles and Florida Marlins are feverishly working on a deal to bring A.J. Burnett to Baltimore and the deal could be announced Tuesday, depending on if the Orioles can entice Burnett to sign an extension. Club sources said the only holdup from a six-player deal -- that would also include outfielder Admin Bigbie, reliever Jorge Julio, prospect Hayden Penn and Florida's Mike Lowell and prospect Eric Reed -- is Burnett agreeing to an extension. Executive vice president Jim Beattie acknowledged Monday night at the Metrodome that talks are continuing, but would not specify a team or a player. Those talks also affected an imminent roster move because Erik Bedard was activated from the disabled list. The club eventually designated right-hander James Baldwin for assignment. "We've been having ongoing discussions," Beattie said. "We've been holding off [on roster moves]. There's been a couple of ways this could have gone. And rather than leave the team short ... it looks like it's going to take a little while." When asked whether the talks are involving the Marlins, Beattie said: "I'm acknowledging that there are talks going on that might impact the roster. That's all. That's fair. That's why we waited, otherwise we would have tried to do something earlier. But with respect to the information coming in and the timing of it, we tried not to make a move that would [hurt the roster]." When it became apparent that the trade would not be consummated Monday, the club designated Baldwin, a tough break for the oft-traveled veteran who pitched well in the long relief role. He compiled a 1.61 ERA in 22 1/2 innings and allowed opponents a .218 batting average. But that move could be a shape of things to come. If the Orioles do acquire Burnett, then they could move the struggling Sidney Ponson to the long relief role. Ponson is 2-7 with a 6.78 ERA in his past 12 starts and his spot in the rotation would seem to be the most tenuous. Daniel Cabrera has been dominant of late, Bruce Chen has been the most consistent starter on the staff and Rodrigo Lopez is the team leader in wins. According to the club source, the Orioles are trying to negotiate a three-year extension with Burnett, who is apparently demanding $9 million per season and four years. But his wife is from Columbia, Md., and he is said to be open to signing an extension. Meanwhile, the Orioles appear open to taking on the remaining $18 million and two years left on Lowell's contract. But Beattie indicated that Lowell would not be playing third base for the Orioles. When asked if he had any plans to move Melvin Mora from third base, Beattie said: "I wouldn't move Melvin out of third base, not unless Brooks Robinson is coming back." Lowell has never played the outfield or third base, but manager Lee Mazzilli could move Jay Gibbons to left field and make Lowell the designated hitter. Bigbie was not in the lineup Monday and may have played his final game as an Oriole. Bigbie usually starts against right-handers such as Minnesota's Carlos Silva, but B.J. Surhoff got the nod in left field Monday. Burnett is scheduled to start Tuesday at Arizona and there is no word whether he will pitch in that game.

Yes, we do like the deal. Yes, we do like Bigbie but understand he's a tradeable commodity. We don't feel we're "ripping you off", as mentioned we're just pleased our front office has found away to aquire a top of the line pitcher without having to deal Cabrera or Bedard. At the same time there are many questioning whether we should be so quick to trade Penn either. Kline sucks with us, yes, but he's had a phenomenal career in the NL and we think a change of scenary to the NL will help him. Yeah, Sid does suck. True. He's a workhorse but he sucks. Please take him. Please.

Oh and Daryl Ward is aweful, we don't want him. Lowell could be worth his salary if he hits like he has his last few years at least.

much better dont see why we cant get daniel now since O's dont have to take lowell 862473[/snapback] Good point, as I feel much better about Cabrera then Hyden Penn 862503[/snapback] Folks, we'd like to get Dontrelle too...they have something in common: THEY'RE NOT AVALIABLE. The Orioles will not trade Daniel Cabrera. A few weeks ago it was considered but after his last few starts we realised, why trade young major league ready pitching for young major league ready pitching? Penn is tradeable because he's not going to be ready for another year or 2. He has all the potential in the world though and is highly valued and projected to be outstanding. But again, Cabrera is not avaliable. We laugh at the Orioles Hangout everytime Marlins fans start theorizing we'll trade him.

It doesn't look good but every player goes through bad stretches. If you had seen some of Cabrera's early inning blowouts this year you wouldn't want him either.

Hey Fish Fans, another voice from the O's contigent visiting here. I, personally hope the deal goes through since I think Burnett is the top of the rotation guy we need to secure our rotation for a playoff run. This all depends on him signing an extension though (and our often incompetent management getting it done). While some want to just wait until the offseason to sign him, many of us realise we might not get that chance. Why many of us want to wait is because we DO think the package being offered is pretty good. Penn is really beloved here. It was rumored we had a deal done in the offseason for Tim Hudson and it was pulled because we would not trade Penn without an extension in place. He's only 20 years old and looked pretty good against ML hitting. He very well could have won his first 2 games with a little run support. He seemed to really fool some hitter badly. Of course, along with being 20 is an inexperience that lead to fatigue and a little overmatching. He's not ready now, but the potential is there. He's no doubt our highest regarded prospect. When the debate was whether to send Cabrera or Penn, the board was very much split in either direction. I think with Cabrera's recent performances more have come over to the trade Penn side, but not because of a lack of confidence in Penn, but more just realising how good Cabrera can be. Many still don't want to trade either. Julio is a good piece for you guys, especially if you need bullpen help. It's feast or famine with him. He's either lights out or bombs away! That's why he lost the closer's job. He wouldn't just give up 1 run, he'd give up 5. But he can still be a strikeout machine when he's on. He's very similar to Armando Benitez when we had him. We let him go and he became a top closer. Maybe that will happen here. We just got Jason Grimsely back from the DL and a youngster named Chris Ray up from AAA who has looked real good, that makes Julio expendable, not his talent which he has. You are also selling Bigbie very short which is very sad to see for most O's fans, I think. This may sound silly but when you look at Bigbie he LOOKS like a baseball player. He's tall, lean, has deceptive speed, good defense, can hit linedrives and has some untapped power too (15 homers last year). He has had some injury trouble that has stunted him though. But he came back this year on a tear and hit all 4 of his homeruns within a couple weeks. To say he's our "worst" outfielder is simply wrong. Sosa has been a complete failure to the point that he is now a full time DH, Luis Matos is a defensive wiz but has no bat while Surhoff and Marrero are part timers and off the bench types. Gibbons has been a better hitter than Bigbie, but defense, hands down Bigbie. He has the most "tools" of any of our outfielders, I think you'd be pleasently suprised and many of us have been trying to cook up trades that wouldn't involve Bigbie. Kline...oh boy. Well, you know his track record, his season has been a real enigma. He's been terrible, no way around it. He's done himself no favors with the comments he's made to the media that some interpreted as anti-Baltimore. Maybe he just needs a change of scenario. If he plays like his career he's a top lefty setup guy, which is what we THOUGHT we were getting. I don't give much credence to Ponson being included but if he is, all I'll say is as terrible as he's been in the first half, Ponson had an equally bad first half last year and really turned it on in the second half with something like 8 wins and a low ERA. Even when he stinks, Ponson is a workhorse and will get better as the game goes on and will give you 8 innings. Plus he's Aruban, so that's cool. So, I hope I helped give a little perspective from a Baltimore fan. Now for you guys, I think I know Burnett a little, from what I've heard and read he sounds like a strikeout machine with real ace potential, but many of us were thinking Pavano was the answer last year and see how he turned out. Would you mind giving some depth to AJ, and how you would rate him? Also, Mike Lowell is a really mystery too. What's the common perspective on him? Is this just an off year like Burrel or Konerko had and he'll turn it around? Can he play 1st base for us (since Mora is solidy there. Seriously to the guy who suggested we trade Mora, without being rude, I can say you're delusional)? How about the outfield since Bigbie's departure creates a hole? Thanks and hope you guys are enjoying Niner, he was a popular Bird while he played here. Let's get this deal done!