Orioles News - 11/29/07 - Bedard Contract Talks Cool

Baltimore Orioles ace Erik Bedard's contract extension talks have stalled. For the moment, at least. The O's have been having recent contract talks with Bedard and his agent, Mark Pieper. The talks really haven't gotten serious, because it has been said that the O's and Pieper haven't even discussed figures. But, any start is a good start I guess. Anyway, it is unlikely that the O's will sign Bedard anytime soon. The O's just want to know what it would take to re-sign him first. Bedard is locked in a contract until 2009, and it's doubtful that the O's will continue contract talks anytime before or during the winter meetings for GM's. There is a lot of interest in Bedard, though. The New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, Los Angeles Angels, and Los Angeles Dodgers are all reported to have interest in Erik. That's good news. Unfortunately, that's about the only good news the O's have had this off season... - John T.

Orioles News - 11/19/07 - Champions! - Miggi Finally Moving?

Champions! A championship has been successfully defended for the 4th straight time in a row. Who? What? For who, it is the Phoenix Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League. They are a team under the Baltimore Orioles. For what, it is the Arizona Fall League Championship, which has now been successfully defended by the Desert Dogs for their 4th title in as many years. The O's definitely have some real prospects on the Phoenix team. Congratulations to them on their big win. Here's to a championship in Baltimore, just for the O's next time.

Is Miggi finally moving? It seems to be likely. The Los Angeles Angels have pulled off a trade sending their Shortstop, Orlando Cabrera, to the Chicago White Sox for pitcher Jon Garland. This now leaves a vacancy at Shortstop. The Angels have gone after Miguel Tejada in the past, and they have offered some pretty good deals for Miggi before. The O's won't get a deal that even comes close to those they used to receive for Miggi, but they could still pick up a prospect. Everyone knows the O's could use a few... But, different story. Anyway, Miggi is a option for the Angels. If the Angels can't get 3rd baseman Miguel Cabrera, they could go after Tejada. Since A-Rod and Mike Lowell are off the market, teams that need 3rd baseman could be forced to go with options they didn't want coming into the off season, like Tejada. Tejada has said he will play 3rd base, but only for a winning team. The O's definitely don't qualify in that category... - John T.

Orioles News - 11/14/07 - How The Team Is Dealing With Huff's Comments - A Trade For Bedard?

Baltimore Orioles officials are looking into a pretty big issue. The issue is Aubrey Huff. After several comments by Huff on a radio show called Bubba The Love Sponge, including when he called Baltimore a horses--t city, O's officials are upset. The officials are looking into possible disciplinary action against Huff for his comments. That's just a shame that another O's player has ran his mouth. But unlike most other players who run their mouth, Huff won't go back on his comments. (Sigh.)

Baltimore Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail might be lying when he claimed that no Oriole player was "untouchable." Meaning no player was off limits to a trade. Left hander Erik Bedard could soon be off limits if he is signed to a contract extension. The O's are prepared to begin conversations with Bedard's agent sometime before next month's Winter Meetings begin. There is a lot of interest in Bedard via trade, but the O's don't want to trade him without at least trying to resign him first. (Bedard will be a free agent in 2009.) The Yankees, Angels, Mets, and the Dodgers all are reported to have interest in Erik. The Dodgers are considered to be the most aggressive team going for Bedard. The Dodgers could be offering outfielder Matt Kemp, reliever Jonathan Broxton, and minor leaguer Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw is a starting pitcher and is considered to be one of the best young starting pitching prospects in the league. Broxton and Kemp have had some success over the last two years in the Major League. That deal looks as if it would be pretty sweet. But, that would leave the O's without a real Ace for next year. It wouldn't help the O's win a lot of games in the short term, but it could pay off in the long run. I'm tired of the rebuilding that has lasted what seems like forever, but this deal seems to good to pass up. - John T.

Orioles News - 9/13/07 - O's win - Trembley suspended 3 games, Cabrera suspended 6

Baltimore Orioles manager Dave Trembley was suspended for 3 games for his actions on Wednesday night, including pretending to eject the umpire who had blown a call. Orioles pitcher Daniel Cabrera was also suspended, but he was suspended for throwing a pitch at Boston Red Sox 2nd baseman Dustin Pedroia. The ball just missed Pedroia's neck. Cabrera got 6 games for that pitch. But yesterday, the Orioles finally won!! They have now won 4 of their last 22!!! Do you feel a comeback?!?!?!? Me neither. They won the game 3-0 over the Los Angeles Angels. The main story of the game didn't come on the field though. The main story was Miguel Tejada, who didn't play and was clearly upset about it. The Orioles didn't play him so that they could look at some of their younger talent at shortstop. Tejada was clearly frustrated. But, lets face it. Miggi isn't going to last forever, so why not look at the young talent they have at shortstop? It's not like the game even meant anything anyway, because the O's have already assured themselves of a 10th straight losing season. So why not? Brian Roberts, Ramon Hernandez, and Melvin Mora were also benched, as most of the players in the game were back-ups. They did good though, as shortstop Luis Hernandez went 3-4 and 3rd baseman Scott Moore drove in 2 runs. Tike Redman also drove in a run. This win came against 16-game winner John Lackey. Lackey is a Cy Young canidate too. Now if only we could do this everyday... - John T.

Orioles News - 9/12/07 - A Loss Again... - Trembley Tossed

The score of last night's Baltimore Orioles-Los Angeles Angels game was 18-6. I bet you can guess what team had 18 runs... In case you can't, it was the Angels who scored the 18 runs. The O's main excitement was manager Dave Trembley getting ejected, as the Orioles were never really in this game. The ejection, by the way, was hilarious. Trembley drew a line in the dirt with his cleats several times, as if to show where 2nd baseman Howie Kendrick of the Angels was when runner Scott Moore was called out. It was a force out, but Kendrick's foot was still very far off the bag. It was so far off, he was actually standing in Virginia. Just kidding, but you get the point. Trembley also pretended to eject the umpire who had blown the call, a move that almost certainly will result in him getting suspended by Major League Baseball. At least then he won't have to watch the O's for the next few games... Pitcher Daniel Cabrera was horrible for the O's, giving up 10 runs on 9 hits as he also walked 4 batters. Yes, you heard right, 10 runs. He threw 105 pitches. All of this came on a whopping 4 1/3 innings pitched by Cabrera. And now, I leave you with that. - John T.

Orioles News - 9/11/07 - O's drop 17 of 20

Baltimore lost again last night, 10-5, but this time to the Los Angeles Angels. They have now lost 17 of their last 20 games. If they go .500 or 9-9 for the rest of the season (18 games), then Baltimore would finish with a whopping 70 wins. Also, the Orioles have now used 25 different pitchers this year, after using 2 more new pitchers last night. That is now a team record. One of those new pitchers was starter Victor Santos. He did bad, as the O's gave him a lead in the 2nd inning on Ramon Hernandez's RBI double play. The lead was soon lost for the game after a 5 run Angels 3rd inning, in which they knocked Santos out of the game. From there, the Angels never looked back, keeping the lead for the rest of the game. They got a run in the 4th inning, 3 more in the 7th inning, and another run in the 9th inning. Santos' line was terrible, allowing 5 earned runs and 7 hits in 2 2/3 innings. Kevin Millar went 3-4 for the O's, with a 2 RBI homer. But it wasn't enough, as the Orioles pitching couldn't hold the lead. Baltimore left a total of 8 men on base in that game. That's poor. - John T.