thundercleetz

I don't think working out is the problem with Cody, it is the diet and appetite problem. When you are that big it is extremely difficult to eat less.

I think David Reed will make the team pretty easily. He is going to compete as a return man and will be a special teams contributor. Guys like Clayton and D-Will do not play special teams. So that leaves one spot left. I would like to see Justin Harper continue to progress from where he was last training camp. Even though the guy had bad hands, his route running and deep speed were very impressive and much improved from his rookie season (he was always open all camp and preseason). If his game can take another similar jump, he will stand out. He was gave us great looks on the practice squad last season and I hear he has been working very hard on his hands and in the weight room. I am pulling for Harper. Everyone knocks Mark Clayton, but the guy just simply is not a #1, or even #2 receiver. But as a #3 receiver in the slot he could give us mismatches with his quickness and elusive ability. He understands the offense and is a good route runner. He just does not have the speed to play on the outside and still has problems getting off the press. He could be valuable as a slot receiver though. However, he does not play special teams. He has a great attitude, is a hard worker, and is a team player. The is also a durability question with Clayton. So, I think it will be either Clayton or Harper. D-Will we just have no idea what to expect out of him.

I wouldn't be too concerned just yet. Cody is a big guy, we paying him to be a big guy, a first and second down player. Harbaugh in his quotes did not sound too concerned. Here is the deal with Cody. We drafted him as a 360+ pound project. Cody is still very much a work in progress as regards to his weight. Just because he failed a conditioning test does not mean he has not been working out, it just means he might not be quite where he needs to be or that our training staff thinks he has a little more while to go. That is what I got out of what Harbaugh said. Cody needs a little more work before he is ready for training camp. For a guy who was 370+ pounds in February, we knew then that it would take a lot of work for him to be ready for an NFL training camp in August. The same goes for Walt Harris coming off of an knee injury. Because he failed his conditioning test does not mean he has not been working out, just that his knee is not quite where it needs to be in order to compete at the highest level. Our training staff is just making sure that Cody and Harris are ready to compete. They do not want guys who are not physically ready to go out there and overwork themselves to keep up with everyone else risking injury.

The story now is that Kindle woke up in the middle of the night at a friends house, couldn't see in the dark, took a wrong turn and fell down the steps.

So much for Kindle's prediction for being defensive rookie of the year. Like everyone else has said, missing training camp for a rookie is critical. I would not expect Kindle to make much of an impact, if any, this season. We really needed him for depth and pass rushing situations too. So this injury definitely hurts. If we are hit by injuries later in the year, Kindle could get an opportunity to step in. However, now we really need a guy like Barnes or Kruger to step up.

I would hardly call this guy a thug. And calling the guy a total screw-up is too rough on the guy. Yes, DWI is a terrible thing. However, this is a type of crime every sort of person is found guilty for daily, it is not a thuggish crime. The same goes with texting and driving. The guy is not a thug, he has just exercised poor judgement in these cases. There is nothing criminally wrong with getting drunk at a friend's house, it is just unfortunate that he fell down the steps. He was at a friend's party, many people drink at friends parties. We should all be thankful that the guy does not have brain damage. I am a little scared about the lack of details in this story. How serious was this injury? Aaron Wilson reported that Kindle should make a full recovery, but when? Next week? Month? A year?

This news is a little old, but with all the frustration about the Orioles not getting involved in the international market, here is some encouraging news. One $300,000 deal and two other $100,000-plus deals? You have to love this, even if Veloz tested positive for steriods. Here is an article that ranked Veloz as the fourth best prospect this year from the DR: This article was obviously written before Veloz tested positive for steroids, so I guess we got a "discount". Nevertheless, we still got a good talent into the system. He is big kid and has a solid swing. Here are two YouTube videos on Veloz: http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=lSZKUOq3bec&feature=related

I think you hit the nail on the head, dc. Showalter is a notorious no non-sense guy. Like you said, he is going to have a short "shelf-life" because he does ruffle feathers. For as many people who have said Showalter "hasn't done anything" or is a "bad coach", there are just as many (or more) people who rave about his managerial and organizational skills. Showalter is very well respected around the league and is the type of guy we need. He is going to do whatever he can to win, and if that means benching veterans or demoting young guys, he will do it. I have heard rumors that Showalter in that first interview outlined his plan for the organization. He said he wants his own staff (with Flannigan as the pitching coach), and he wants to establish a certain style of play from the top all the way to the bottom of the organization. If you ask me, this is what the Orioles have been lacking. To me, our AAA, AA, A, etc. teams are isolated. There is terrible communication between the teams, such as guys having no idea if they are being promoted or demoted and players being giving different hitting instructions at different levels. We have had too many guys hit absolute brick walls going from Bowie to Norfolk, or from Aberdeen to Frederick. That should not happen. It is a complete joke that we only have had only two homegrown hitters in the past decade that have achieved any sort of success (Markakis and Roberts). You always hear the "next man up" analogy in football, well teams like the Red Sox, Yankees, and Angels do that in baseball. The Sox sign an average hitter like Adrian Beltre and he comes in and hits at an .907 OPS. Heck, Orioles-reject Darnell McDonald can come in there for 70 games and post an .740 OPS in CF for the Sox. Not much worse than what Adam Jones is giving us. The Yankees lose Soriano and then Robinson Cano comes out of nowhere and becomes one of the best hitters in the AL. Freakin' Nick Swisher can come in there on a cheap two-year deal and post a .900+ OPS. And then a nobody Brett Gardner fills in for Johnny Damon and hits over .300, a near .400 OBP, steals 40+ bases, scores 100 runs, and plays excellent defense. Why can't we get players like this? I have a friend who played in the Angels organization and he said from day one of Spring Training Mike Scioscia introduced himself to every player and told everyone that the Angels are a family and there is a certain way you play as an Angel. AAA guys interacted and worked with A guys, it is a very competitive atmosphere. That is why the Angels win, there is very good communication between their minor league teams. Every player is given a road map of what they need to do to advance, and what to expect at the next level. I think this is what Showalter wants to do with our minor league system. How will Andy McPhail work with Showalter? McPhail is just as much of a control freak and doesn't like to be told what to do.

I wonder what this means? I like it!

Showalter seems to be the guy: It is about time we do something right.

And putting Vlad in that lineup hitting between Young and Hamilton at that historically hitter's ballpark in Arlington is recipe for disaster for opposing pitchers. I saw this All Star production coming from a mile away, I had to have Vlad on my fantasy team this season. He has been tearing it up for my team. As good as Vlad is as a bad pitch hitter, anytime you're hitting between Young and Hamilton, you are going to get good pitches to hit. There is really nothing teams can do to pitch around Vlad in that lineup. Tillman went right at him last night. Sometimes that's just what you have to do and hope you get him to pop-up or lineup, because the guy simply does not strike out. The guy is a scary good hitter, and if he stays in Texas he could very well approach 500 homeruns and possibly the Hall of Fame.

I got that same sense too. I was never much of a Trent Dilfer fan, but he did what he needed to do. And max, the Jermaine Lewis part was really moving, I had completely forgotten about that aspect of the game.

That Rangers lineup is insane: Young (.838 OPS), Kinsler (.823 OPS), Hamilton (1.014 OPS), Vlad (.930 OPS), Nelson Cruz (.940 OPS), these guys can all hit and hit for power. What Tillman did last night was great. He threw his cutter a lot more and the velocity on his fastball was sitting in the 92 MPH range which is really good for Chris. Tillman knew this was a statement game: Chris Tillman sensed teammates didn't think he belonged

I heard Kruger is close to 280 now.

This team has been good with dealing with hype under Harbaugh. It was a problem under Billick, Harbaugh seems to have a good grip on the team. I am not worried, as long as we stay relatively healthy we should be fine.

Haha, that's funny! No, I completely agree. Loewen had a chance to play for his favorite team growing up and I cannot hate him for that.

I had this episode downloaded on iTunes then my hard drive got erased and I lost it. I will probably repurchase it again sometime. Really good production!

I think his best chance to win a championship would actually be with Chicago. Miami would be filled with a bunch of minimum salary role players if James went there with Wade and Bosh. Plus, Bosh does not have a center next to him, which means he will get abused again in the playoffs by the much thicker Dwight Howard. And can Wade and James share the ball? With Chicago, James has an elite point guard, an All-Star power forward, and a center to do the dirty work. Chicago can also easily trade Luol Deng to get some outside shooters. Sure, LeBron would be playing under MJ's legacy, but if that is his best opportunity to win multiple titles, then why not? As for the presentation, LeBron is supposedly announcing his decision within the first ten minutes and I am guessing the rest of the time will be for questions? I am not really that much of a basketball fan, but this has been the only thing on ESPN the past week so the first ten minutes of the broadcast should be exciting to watch.

I would love to have Loewen in our system, and it is pretty incredible that he has been able to make it to AA so quickly. Loewen is having a very similar season to our AA left fielder Tyler Henson: Loewen is batting: .275/.366/.475/.841 with 10 HR, 49 RBI, 10 SB, 35 BB, and 77 SO in 79 games Henson is batting: .299/.355/.475/.829 with 9 HR, 42 RBI, 5 SB, 27 BB, and 88 SO in 82 games Henson is an interesting prospect, he has always put up good, but never great numbers in the minors as he has steadily progressed through the minors (OPS of .763, .703, and .725 the past three years). Henson is having a career year this season in Bowie as he has finally found a permanent defensive position in the outfield (he has been shifted from SS early in his career to 3B the past couple of seasons to LF part of last season and this season). Henson is a very athletic 6'1", 190 pounds, with a good arm, and has usually stolen a lot of bases in his minor league career. The guy is only 22-years old (days older than our top prospect Zach Britton), he is a guy to keep your eye on, he could be a late bloomer.

Well, he is donating all the proceeds to charity, so I cannot say anything bad about the event. There was never been a free agent of his calibur in any sport before, even when Kobe was a free agents at only 27-years old, it all ended in a whimper as he was choosing between returning to the Lakers or going to the horid Clippers (who granted had a lot of young, promising talent at the time, but never turned into anything). As for where LeBron is going. All the sources say it is between returning to Cleveland or joining Wade and Bosh in Miami. However, I agree with your 52, I think New York makes the most sense. Outside of playing in the biggest market in the world in MSG (which by the way is getting an $800 million facelift) and giving LeBron an unmatched chance of expanding his brand, I see it as the best place to make his own basketball legacy. If he joined Miami, he is joining Wade's team, it will never be LeBron's team. That automatically takes him out of any potential conversation as the greatest ever. Returning to Cleveland would give him a great opportunity to achieve greatness, but that team is cap-strapped and does not have the flexibility to get better. With Orlando, Boston, and now Miami and Chicago much improved, LeBron cannot win with Cleveland anytime soon. Not to mention he would have to get through the Lakers in the West, simply not happening with that Cavs team. Chicago is an interesting situation and I am curious why Chicago is not getting more hype. LeBron would join a stud point guard in Derrick Rose, a scrappy center in Joakin Noah who can matchup against the big centers such as Dwight Howard, Kendrick Perkin, Yao Ming, and Andrew Bynum, and an All-Star power forward in Carlos Boozer who can rebound, score downlow, and hit the outside jumper. I have heard Derrick Rose doesn't want to share the ball with LeBron, who knows? Maybe LeBron isn't considering Chicago for the same unknown reasons why Bosh and Wade didn't join up in Chicago instead of the barren roster in Miami. Chicago does not have any consistent three-point shooters either. But if LeBron is considering joining the star power in Miami, why not join the lesser star power but much deeper team in Chicago? So this brings us to New York, which to me makes the most sense basketball wise. From everything I have seen about LeBron he seems very competitive. Why not forge an intense, friendly rivarly with Wade by joining the Knicks? Wade has Bosh, James would have Stoudamire, and both teams are essentially starting from scratch outside of that. These guys would go at it for the next five seasons. That's what MJ would have done, that's what Magic would have done, that's what Bird would have done. Instead of joining the best, play against the best. First, the Knicks have an excellent training staff, an elite coach, and a few athletic, outside shooters that can stretch the floor for LeBron to pass out to when he drives. Then he has Amare' to clean every thing up and throw alley-oops too. And unlike the Cavs, the Knicks have much more flexibility to get better not just this offseason, but next. Eddy Curry's $11+ million contract comes off the books next offseason. They could wait that out and sign a guy like Tony Parker, or they could trade him this offseason and possibly get a couple more solid players to put around LeBron and Amare'. I see it this way: The favorites: Miami and Cleveland The choice that would make the most sense all things considered: New York The dark horse: Chicago I hope he chooses New York, the rivarly with Miami would be exciting.

The Oriole Way was in full effect last night, blown save leading to a loss! That's the only Oriole Way I have known growing up.

I think Reed is basically saying his injuries are serious and after this season the Ravens are going to have to make it worth-while for him to play and risk injury.

I definitely see your point. You always want your best players on the field. You don't want to hold on to old players whose performance hinders the team on the field. My point is there is a fine line between holding on to a player too long and knowing when to get rid of them. Getting rid of Reed five years ago? It would have definitely been a risk. Reed is still at the top of his game when he is on the field, he is still an asset to this team. But like you say, you get rid of him five years ago and maybe he doesn't get to the point where he is so influencial in the lockerroom. It is hard to know exactly when to get rid of a player. It is easy with 20-20 vision. Reed has a lot of pull in that lockerroom right now. You get rid of him now and there is an immediate backlash. Players start to undermind the coach and it does affect performance on the field. Get rid of Reed five years ago and maybe it isn't so bad. But the guy was (and still is) an elite safety, so how do you replace that? The Patriots are really good with knowing who to keep around and when to get rid of certain players. Other teams, such as the Broncos and Eagles, have in recent years had lockerrooms that aren't as strong because of the way they have treated their players. I guess the bottom line is just like you say, you put the best players on the field and you win, there are no problems. However if you get rid of your most popular players and you lose, that is the first thing people start to question. That is the risk you take. So if you are going to get rid of Reed, you better be darn sure you can replace him and still continue to win without him. FYI, we were 1-5 without him in 2005 and 2-2 without him last season. 2005 was a very bad year for us team chemistry-wise.

It is not that simple. I have heard that Reed is very well liked in the lockerroom. What I have heard is that the younger guys, and even vets, look up to him a lot for leadership. Reed is very silent, but is respected and a very hard worker who puts lots of time in the film room and invites other members of the secondary over to his house. To a lot of the younger guys is has been their idol growing up (like Webb). He has a very strong voice in the lockerroom and keeps a lot of the team chemistry together. You trade a guy like Reed, players start to get upset and very paranoid. Word then gets out around the league very quickly that we are not a loyal organization as players talk to other players. Guys will then start to undermine the coaching staff and not trust the front office. You don't want an organization like that.

Here is an alternative view from an insider over on the Orioles Hangout Ravens message board. This guy is legit with his information. Even if it is not accurate, it is a potential angle to keep your eye on: