MacPhail stays the course

It's obvious BRob wants to stay now so why trade him? The O's should atleast get a SS before the deadline. They could do that with Bradford or Walker.. I'd still like to see DCab traded while his value is relatively high.The problem I see here is McPhail speaking out of both sides ofhis mouth so you don't know what to think really. On one hand keep an eye on rebuilding for the future but on the other hand not pull the rug out.Which is it? There's only 2 weeks till the deadline and nothings cooking?

Yeh, I'd actually hate to see Roberts go. He's been an Oriole since the beginning of his career and it would be hard to see him traded.

Trade,release or send Bynum any where.Don't let him cost us another game.

While I'd hate to see him go too, Brian Roberts is our biggest trading chip. If a good deal comes along for him that will bolster the club moving forward, then you have to pull the trigger. the majority of O's fans didn;t want Tejada and/or Bedard traded either, but look how those trades have turned out. Those trades have turned this club in the right direction, and AM must continue to improve the club long-term. You're not going to get high prospects for likes of Payton, Bradford, Walker, or Millar. You'll get them with guys like BRob, Sherrill, and Huff. Their value could not be any higher right now. Stay the course, and rebuild this team the right way.

Report: Baltimore Orioles to review tape for evidence of on-field gang signs

ESPN.com news services

Updated: July 17, 2008, 12:42 AM ET

MLB has hired experts to study game footage to determine whether players are displaying street-gang hand signals as part of their on-field celebrations against the Baltimore Orioles, the Washington Post reports.

"There have been some suspected things we've seen," said Milt Ahlerich, the league's vice president of security, according to the Post report. "When we see it, we quietly jump on it immediately, directly with the team and the player or employee involved to cease and desist."

There have been some suspected things we've seen. When we see it, we quietly jump on it immediately, directly with the team and the player or employee involved to cease and desist. Period.

The most common hand signal has involved the thumb and index finger of Orioles' opponents. Players use their right hands, extending the thumb and index finger in a perpendicular fashion, sometimes laying their right hand across their forehead. They aim this "sign" at the Orioles' dugout after Baltimore strikeouts or double plays.

The next couple of weeks should be interesting,but I would hate to lose Brian Roberts

The Orioles have offensive holes at third, shortstop,first base, and catcher. The starting pitching is terrible. MacPhail must do what is needed to fill as many of these holes as possible before the trading deadline and before this team drops 20 games out of first place. Its too bad we can't trade Mora now.

Were you actually trying to be funny with that nonsense Ghost Oriole?

Well, you failed, miserably.

You are nothing more than a troll.

I don't see any of these quotes listing Mora as a keeper.

Is Bynum back at Bowie yet? Best to find a stating pitcher or two and a big bat for the second half or that 20GB could be a reality.

Is Bynum back at Bowie yet? Best to find a starting pitcher or two and a big bat for the second half or that 20GB could be a reality.

Jeff, why are you adopting the government's military terminology? It's interesting when government propaganda becomes language!

If we can get a strong return for Roberts I think we should do it. If we can't Roberts and Markakis need extensions. I'm talking 6 yrs/48 mil that would follow the model of the Longoria 8 yrs/ 45 mil and Braun same dea. For Roberts i'm talking 3 yrs/ 27 mil because he is making 6.5 mil now. Sherrill should be traded but only for the right return. We have some pitchers that are coming back next year. Patton is major league ready and so is Albers who could move in the rotation however I like him in the bullpen. I like our pitching prospects. Tillman, Arrieta, Matsuz, Beato, Bergesen, David Hernandez, Erbe, Noel, Gleason, Marrioti are likely to turn out.

6 yrs/ 48 mil is for Markakis. It's definitly resonable but I would go 5 or 10 mil up to get this deal done. Roberts I would go up maybe about five mil. Less if we had any infield prospects.

Trading Huff, Roberts and Sherrill is just plain stupid and a flat out panic move. There is no reason any one of three of them couldn't be part of our rebuilding effort.

Sorry, but I didn't see anything over the past 2 weeks that couldn't be corrected. Sherrill lost his concentration because he was selected as an All-Star and no one had the foresight to help him deal with this effectively. He is sturdy, makes good pitches and has a terrific mental attitude for a closer. He could do this for another 5 or 6 years easily. Huff is a fine athlete who has many years left as a run producer as well as excellent fielder. His average is pretty decent for a power guy also. Roberts is just an outstanding ballplayer and individual. Who wouldn't want to build around him?

We need to win this year AND build for the future. Trading Huff, Roberts and Sherrill doesn't even begin to compare to trading the Bedard and Tejada malcontents. Tejada looked good during the All-Star game, but, didn't look that great when we played them a short while ago.

Find Chris Gomez, can Bynum, play Mora a little less and work with Liz and Olson. Win this year and establish a REAL base for making Baltimore a place Markakis wants to stay in as well as Roberts and other fan favorites.

MacPhail did indeed make 2 good trades. However, his approach to the psychology of winning doesn't show me anything yet. He set Trembley up for failure last summer and has not properly evaluated the problems of the past couple of weeks. Many of folks would counter that neither have I. However, I have watched the dumb decisions made over the past 10 losing seasons. MacPhail has not.

Ben wrote:

Trading Huff, Roberts and Sherrill is just plain stupid and a flat out panic move. There is no reason any one of three of them couldn't be part of our rebuilding effort.

Sorry, but I could not disagree more. It's not a panic move to trade those guys at peak value, it's called building for the future. Now I'm not saying trade those guys for junk but in case you haven't noticed, the Orioles deeply lack positional depth. We have gaping holes at 3B, SS, and 1B. We have to trade to fill those holes, or hope we become buyers in FA at the end of the year for guys like Tex, JJ Hardy, et al.

You cannot halt the rebuilding due to some pipe dream that we're currently built to win because that is FALSE.

Part of the rebuilding process is educating the local media about how to build a winning baseball team. Jeff Zrebiec, in writing about adding players, uses the adjective "proven." The Sun has always approved of adding "proven run producers" like David Segui, and has led the public in calling for more "proven" veterans. Time to learn a better way, Jeff Zrebiec: Be part of the solution, not the problem.

I think that if the Orioles show a decent chance of winning, Roberts will sign an extension. That is all he has ever wanted- even through the minors he has never been on a winning team. And from experience (not professional) losing most games really gets you down no matter how well you do individually. He is a team player who does what his team asks. Now he is just asking for more positives and more pieces to be put into the puzzle. Roberts really wants to win- but he also really wants Baltimore to win.

Ben wrote:

Trading Huff, Roberts and Sherrill is just plain stupid and a flat out panic move. There is no reason any one of three of them couldn't be part of our rebuilding effort.
Sorry, but I didn't see anything over the past 2 weeks that couldn't be corrected. Sherrill lost his concentration because he was selected as an All-Star and no one had the foresight to help him deal with this effectively. He is sturdy, makes good pitches and has a terrific mental attitude for a closer. He could do this for another 5 or 6 years easily. Huff is a fine athlete who has many years left as a run producer as well as excellent fielder. His average is pretty decent for a power guy also. Roberts is just an outstanding ballplayer and individual. Who wouldn't want to build around him?
We need to win this year AND build for the future. Trading Huff, Roberts and Sherrill doesn't even begin to compare to trading the Bedard and Tejada malcontents. Tejada looked good during the All-Star game, but, didn't look that great when we played them a short while ago.
Find Chris Gomez, can Bynum, play Mora a little less and work with Liz and Olson. Win this year and establish a REAL base for making Baltimore a place Markakis wants to stay in as well as Roberts and other fan favorites.
MacPhail did indeed make 2 good trades. However, his approach to the psychology of winning doesn't show me anything yet. He set Trembley up for failure last summer and has not properly evaluated the problems of the past couple of weeks. Many of folks would counter that neither have I. However, I have watched the dumb decisions made over the past 10 losing seasons. MacPhail has not.

You almost had me until you said Huff was an excellent defender. He may be an average fielder.

All this team needs to contend is a league average SS, some shuffling at 3B and especially an improvement to the pitching with an experienced top of the rotation starter