Mike Burke
Cumberland Times-News
February 10, 2008 12:00 am
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In the 10 days or so since reports first surfaced the Orioles were this close to completing their blockbuster trade with the Seattle Mariners, to the time the deal was actually completed:
• The New England Patriots lost a football game for the first time in over a year.
• Shaquille O’Neal was traded from Miami to Phoenix.
• The football programs at both California and Oregon said, “We don’t even know the kid.”
• Mitt Romney dropped out of the presidential race
• The world was continuously subjected to the torturous dronings of Nickelback (Honestly, what is the appeal there?).
• Dan Snyder conducted three 11-hour seances at his home trying to talk Vince Lombardi into coaching the Redskins again, but the late coach turned him down, saying God gives him more organizational control in heaven than Snyder would give him in D.C.
• “Pac Man” Jones thought he was the Adam Jones being traded to Baltimore and stuffed 100,000 dollar bills into a suitcase to conduct a reconnaissance tour of the city’s famous Block.
• Brian McNamee told congressional investigators he injected Babe Ruth’s wife with HGH.
• And, oh yes, the dog had puppies.
Whew.
Yes, the Orioles and the Mariners finally pulled the trigger on the much-discussed and highly-anticipated deal that sent lefthander Erik Bedard to Seattle for young outfielder Adam Jones, relief pitcher George Sherrill and pitching prospects Chris Tillman, Tony Butler and Kam Mickolio.
Highly anticipated in Seattle, many Orioles fans are saying, but certainly not in Baltimore, because it just doesn’t make sense to trade your No. 1 starting pitcher when he’s 29, lefthanded and one of the best pitchers in baseball.
Sorry naysayers, but this is a deal the Orioles had to make, and it’s another deal president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail was able to pull off this winter in order to secure as many young arms in a system that is in dire need of arms, legs, hands, fingers and feet; and when you can get 10 players in return for two (see Miguel Tejada trade), that’s not a very good start, that’s a great start.
Look, the Orioles lost 93 games last year with Bedard. Sure, he’s a guy Leo Mazzone paid his highest compliment to when he said the mysterious (okay, strange) Canadian lefthander could have pitched in any of his old Atlanta Braves rotations. True, Bedard would have won a lot more games last year if he hadn’t missed September with a strained oblique muscle, and no question the Orioles’ anemic offense cost him at least four wins through the month of June.
But that’s the point. The Orioles stink, and with Bedard now pitching for a real team, he’s likely to win 20 games this season, and more power to him. God love him. Despite what he and his agent told the press, he wasn’t going to stay in Baltimore as he all but told somebody you and I both know very well back in the middle of last summer. And nothing against Baltimore, mind you, but Seattle is a city perfectly suited for the lone-wolf lefty. Better still, he brought a great return for the Orioles, whether all five of the players coming to Baltimore make it to the big leagues, or end up being trade chips in eventually making the Orioles a contender.
For the first time in a lifetime, baseball people — general managers, scouts and media — are raving about something the Orioles finally did right. No deal is ever a can’t-miss, but with the position the Orioles have put themselves in over the last 11 years, this is certainly a can’t-lose.
In 22-year-old Adam Jones, the centerpiece of the deal, the Orioles are getting an all-the-tools centerfielder, one of the top 10 prospects in the game, who scouts say is a cross between Mike Cameron and Andruw Jones. Suddenly, with Nick Markakis in right, the Baltimore outfield is shaping up to be a very good one for years to come.
Sherrill, 31, is the hard-throwing lefty any team wants in the bullpen. He has only four career saves, but he could be the Orioles closer next year. Or, he could be traded in another Orioles deal.
Butler, 20, a 6-7 lefthander, tops out at 95, has a wicked curveball and knows how to pitch. Mickolio, 23, is a righthander with a 97 mph sinker, and Tillman is a 19-year-old lefthander who Baseball America rated as Seattle’s No. 3 prospect. Jones, as you might imagine, was No. 1.
Seattle got a lot in Bedard, but it gave up a lot in return, and the Orioles should be congratulated for finally allowing somebody with true baseball vision to orchestrate the complete overhaul of the organization that should have taken place at the turn of the century.
Will the Orioles now trade second baseman Brian Roberts? That’s very possible, but it’s going to have to be an even better deal than MacPhail was able to wrangle from Seattle. Roberts has made it known he’s not interested in being part of a rebuilding plan, and you can’t blame him for that. The guy’s a helluva baseball player, so the Orioles will have to get a helluva return to move him now.
So, are the Orioles going to win in 2008? Absolutely not. But they haven’t won since 1997. And remember, one of the most enjoyable seasons in Orioles history was 1989 when the club undertook a massive rebuilding plan. Who doesn’t enjoy going to the park and watching young, enthusiastic ballplayers play the game everybody loves? The bonus in ’89 was that the Orioles miraculously won.
Don’t look for that to happen in ’08, but if MacPhail is allowed to continue to do that voodoo that he do so well (see two world titles in Minnesota), don’t be surprised if the Orioles are a contender by 2010.
After 10 seasons of colossal mismanagement and losing, two more seasons of losing with young, talented players to build a long-term contender? What was it they used to say in Bawlmer about ’dem O’s, hon?
Why not?
Contact Mike Burke at mburke@times-news.com.
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