The Update: Teixeira, Dunn, Kawakami

We all no by now our hometown boy is not coming home but going to the rival Yankees what is more interesting is that the Nationals offered 5 million more than the Yankees and were willing to go higher, but they kind of got shut out. This goes to show that even if the O's would of stopped low balling
Teixiera he is as i have heard to be a mercenary and does not believe in hometown discounts you can't really blame him for not wanting to go to the Nationals but he did almost shut them out when they were willing to outbid the Yankees of all teams to get him. The Yankees have already spent 420+million on three players and they still have a ways to go to be my World Series favorites(though i still hold out hope for the O's) for all that they are worth there additions probably won't help them in the playoffs, if they get their, with Sabathia having a track record of being terrible in the playoffs, Teixiera never being on a team that has one a postseason series, and Burnett probably being hurt and if he is not hurt it probably won't be a contract year so his numbers will not be as good as last years.

It has been rumored that now that the O's have lost out on Teixiera the will go after free agent Adam Dunn who it a perennial 40 home run hitter and can fill the DH slot and be a presence in the middle of the lineup. I know he strikes out a lot but he should be a god addition to the O's and Camden Yards should help that home run count. I have heard on the message boards that the O's should give him 3 years at 45 million, while i think that is a bit much they need to do something big and make a splash so that they can communicate their plans to the fans.

The O's are in serious contention for Japanese Starter Kenshin Kawakame, which is good because they need pitching. If they do get him it will plant an Orioles flag in an emerging baseball market that the O's should of been in several years ago. He is a veteran that can help some of the young pitchers(once they get over the language barrier) develop along with help give stability for a few years in the rotation that has been one of the worst in baseball consistently. He is 33 but he has good control having a 4.48 k/BB ratio last season playing for the Chunichi Dragons. Also he did miss time last season with a strained back and we will have to see how well he makes the move to the U.S. and 5 man rotations. He is projected to have a 4.13 ERA next season in the Chone Projections. It is rumored that he wants around 3 years 35.3 million such as in Hiroki Kuroda's contract, but that should be lowered significantly while he should still cost a lot with teams like the Mets, Cardinals,Braves, Twins, and Red Sox all being major players.

In addition the Giants have signed Randy Johnson to a one year deal worth 8 million plus another 5 million in incentives and bonuses

The Cabrera Expirament is over

The O's non-tendered Daniel Cabrera last night officially putting an end to his stay as a Baltimore Oriole. Cabrera has spent his entire major league career here in Baltimore and it is sad to see him go, but he just was not performing up to his potential and that is why he got released.

Lets face it Cabrera was not that good he had a career ERA of 5.05 and you can always count on him to be near the top of the list for walks and in several other categories that pitchers don't want to be near the top of the list in.

I think a change of scenery would do him some good because he had a 6.28 ERA at Camden Yards while having a 4.47 ERA on the road. Over the past three years he has had a 5.91 ERA at home compared to a 4.51 ERA on the road. It might just be that he needs to go to pitch in a pitchers ballpark where he can build up his confidence and his stats.

The bigger question to me is why they non-tendered Lance Cormier? For a team that needs pitching he had a 4.02 ERA last season in 71+ innings. The only reason I can think of as to why the Orioles would release him is that his career numbers are not good at all with a career ERA of 5.53 over 5 seasons. He is only 28, would not cost much, and would add depth to the bullpen if the kept him. The O's instead will probably look to go after a free agent relief pitcher like Will Ohman.

The Final Four, Four Teams Enter Onley One Will Leave

It is now down to four teams in the bidding for Mark Teexeira those teams are the Orioles, the Red Sox, the Angels, and the Nationals.

The O's have supposedly made an offer of 7 years at 140 to 150 million(20 to 22 mill a year). The Nationals have offered him 8 years at 160 million and the other two teams are also reported to have made offers.

The O's do have a great chance at getting Mark and believe they will as long as he wants to play here over playing with the Nationals, who are our closets competitor for him.

The Hot Stove

There have been numerous Orioles trade and free agent rumors circulating and I have listed a few:

Mark Texiera- His agent has stated that he has recieved offers from every team that is interested(including the O's) and it is also expected for him to get at least 20 mill a year for 8+ years. It is expected that the O's will be among the Angels, Red Sox, and Nationals in the Texiera sweepstakes. It is rumored that Tex wants to play on the East Coast which is a bonus for the O's and it is also rumored that they are willing to go nine years at 20 mill+ a season.

Micheal Barret-With the trade of Hernandez the O's have jumped into contention for Barret to fill the catcher slot until Weiters is ready. The O's are among the Astros, Blue Jays, and Marlins. Greg Zaun also has been rumored that the Orioles are interested in him and Barret.

The O's have or will meet with the agents of John Garland and the two Japanese pitchers Koji Uehara and Kenshin Kawakami this week. The O's are still keeping a lot of options open for their starting rotation and have interest in several free agent pitchers( probably all of them). Also the O's have interest in free agent reliever Will Ohman.

There almost an infinite amount of rumors out there about the O's and this is just a selection of some of the most recent

Hola Cesar Izturis

As you probably have heard the Orioles just sign free agent shortstop Cesar Izturis to a two year deal worth 6 million.

Izturis is a very good defensive shortstop that won a gold glove back in 04. He is not bad with the bat either with a career average of .260 and has some speed averaging 15 stolen bases a season. He has almost no power though with only 12 homers in 903 major league games.

With the acquisition of Izturis the O's can now have a major league caliber short stop to put an end to the black hole that has become the shortstop position post Miguel Tejada. This gives the O's more flexibility when it comes to trading Brian Roberts because now with the addition of utility man Ryan Freel and SS Cesar Izturis they now have suitable replacements for Miguel Tejada and Roberts if he does get traded or gets injured(knock on wood). Overall this is a good move for the O's to pick up a relatively young SS(he's 28) that could be with the team for many years to come.

Hernandez to the Reds

It is now official that the Orioles have completed the first trade of the winter meetings with the trade of Ramon Hernandez and cash to the Reds for 32 year old utility man Ryan Freel along with two prospects Brandon Waring and Justin Turner.

Freel can add to the O's depth because he can play all three outfield positions along with second and third base. Do not look for him to play shortstop though, because he has not played there at all in his major league career. It also opens up the possibility for the Brian Roberts to be traded because Freel can fill in as an adequate major league second baseman.

He could be another Luke Scott type player that has not started every day but once he gets a starting job he could perform very well. Given the chance he should be a legitimate stolen base threat that could steal 30+ bags a season, he stole 35 bases in three straight seasons from 04 to 06. If he gets a starting job and is healthy you could probably pencil him in hitting .270 with 30+ steals.

The two prospects the Orioles got in the deal were 22 year old Brandon Waring who in 119 games at class A Dayton hit .270 with 20 home runs and 71 RBI's and 24 year old Justin Turner who split games at Class A Sarasota and Double-AA Chattonooga could force his way up to the big leagues quickly at 2B.

This trade also ends Ramon Hernandez's stay as a Baltimore Oriole and I say good rittens. If you watched him play last year you know what I mean his defense is terrible and his hitting last year was sub par with a .257 average. This is probably another good Andy MacPhail trade just like the trades of Miguel Tejada and Erik Bedard who just after less than one year post trade i have heard rumours of the possibility of those players being traded again.

Furthermore MacPhail said that more trades could happen very quickly in this qoute from Orioles.com:
"The phone could ring and something could happen right away,...We've had enough preliminary discussions at the [General Manager] Meetings and getting here where that could happen on a variety of different patterns. But there's nothing right now that I'm thinking, 'Gee, when you guys leave this room, we're this close to doing something.'"

Jon Garland?

According to rotoworld.com the Orioles have shown interest in Jon Garland here is there take on Garland and the O's:
Baltimore makes plenty of sense as a destination for Garland. The Orioles don't want to pay top dollar for starters, but they do need an innings eater or two. Garland has quickly gone from overvalued to undervalued after a disappointing 2009 season. He's not great, but he's just 29 and he's never been hurt. He might be better off going the Kyle Lohse route and taking a one-year contract this winter.
I agree that Garland and the O's would go together well with the O's have one of the worst rotations in all of baseball for the past couple of years. Garland is an innings eater he has pitched over 190 innings the past eight years and the only year he threw under 190 innings was his rookie year. He fits what the O's need, which is players to hold spots until their prospects are ready we cannot have a repeat of last year with the orioles forced to bring up their prospects because they simply do not have anyone that can pitch.

He also makes sense because he is not an injury risk like A.J. Burnett is and is on the younger side of 30 which fits MacPhails plans to bring in guys that can be here long term not just stop-gaps or mercenaries. Also did I mention he will be cheap too when you compare him to the possible cost of Burnett it will probably be at least ten million less then the price of A.J. Burnett. I think that he should be a part of the rotation(back end) next year and will be a solid innings eater and if nothing else put up a sub 5.00 ERA next season.

John Garlands Career Stats:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=4235