thundercleetz

That really hasn't helped the Mets any... Haha JK Anyways, my point is that the Angels are a model of how you want to run your minor league organizations. We might not be able to make the splashes in free agency or the international market (although the money we have dished out to old, questionable talent makes me question that) they do, but we could take notes on how they run their minors. I don't think the Angels would have "ruined" Matusz, Tillman, or Arrieta like we have.

The Angels are an awesome organization. They are really the model of how a team should be run: They have a single, concise ideology of how their players should be coached through all levels of the organization; they draft well, they sign international players, and they make big, but smart, splashes in free agency. That team is stacked this year and I bet they will be in the ALCS against Texas.

Really? Keep the cap in order? The same Steelers that were $20 million over the cap and had to restructure multiple contracts in order to get under the cap? I can count on one hand the amount of contracts Ozzie has had to restructure to stay under the cap. By the way, when have you seen the Steelers sign a player two years early in a deal like you are clamoring the Ravens to do? Or when have you seen the Steelers trade a star player for two first round picks in one of those fantasy deals you typically propose? Papa, why are the Ravens nearly undefeated against the Steelers without Ben, but have a terrible record against them with Ben? It's no coincidence...

Ugh hopefully they can fix Arrieta in Norfolk too

Yeah their names are Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger. There is a lot more room for error when you have elite QBs.

There are whisperings that Manny Machado could be called up later in the year to shore up 3B. Having Manny at 3B, Markakis back in RF, Roberts back at 2B and Avery full time in LF will solve a lot of problems defensively.

Wow, did anyone see Tillman last night? I bet he would have had a complete game, one-hitter shutout if it was not for the Andino throwing error in the ninth inning. Nonetheless, Tillman was no less than spectacular! Anyone see him throwing 97 in the NINTH innings? Fastball had late movement too, which is great because Tillman has always been criticized for having a flat fastball. Most importantly Tillman looks a lot more confident on the mound than he ever has. If the coaches at Norfolk were able to fix Tillman and give him confidence, hopefully they can do the same with Matusz.

Ugh, I don't care about acquiring pitching or hitting, could we just get some DEFENSE? Our corner infield and outfield spots are MISERABLE right now. There have to be some cheap guys out there that are solid defenders. Honestly, I do not care if they can't hit a lick at this point. Our defense looks like an elementary school team out there. It's one thing to lose because you are simply outmatched by another team. It is another thing to lose because of sloppy play and terrible fundamentals. It is embarassing.

Exactly my point every situation is different. But I think we agree, Ozzie needs to do a better job of identifying players who could be good prospects for signing early. Every young star won't want to do it, but Ozzie can definitely do a better job.

There is certainly a degree of risk, but there are a lot of players that are willing to risk it and wait until free agency. And who knows what the agent is telling his players. Anyways, my point is we have no way of knowing if Haloti, or any other young player for that matter, would be receptive to signing early. We also have no way of knowing whether or not we have approached players about such a deal. I would be willing to bet it happens more than you think. I believe agents are very willing to say "well we could get this on the market" and that's why deals do not get done. You hit the nail on the head though, Webb was definitely a good candidate to sign a deal early. He had a major injury in the past, and we is a guy who loved playing here.

Not all agents and players are receptive to such deals. If fans are able to realize that you can sign a player for a cheaper contract earlier in a rookie deal, don't you think players and agents realize that as well? I know it is a different sport, but Scott Boras famously said it is a rookie mistake for an agent of a big time to allow his client to sign a contact early to give up a free agent opportunity. Don't get me wrong, I loved that we signed Webby to a contract a year before he hit free agency. Honestly though if I was Webb, I would have waited a year and made a boat load more in the open market.

I don't think the situation is as dire with Birk as everyone says it is. 75% of a center's value is his ability to make the proper calls and get everyone else on the same page. Birk will be fine IMO, pointless to argue bout Gino. I don't even think the Ravens expect Gino to be ready this year.

Like I said, I sincerely hope you guys are right. I just do not have a good gut feeling about this season. I have a hard time seeing the offense break out with how weak our offensive line is.

The Bengals ponied up money to buy iPads for the team!?!?!

I think Ozzie and Harbaugh both understand to just let Ed be Ed. Fans should just let it go as well.

I hate to play negative Nancy, but I am just not feeling it this season. Extremely tough schedule, for us to be great the offense has to take off. Defense will be as good as last year IMO, but the quality of offenses we are going against this year will be a lot more difficult. I hope I am wrong, but I am feeling an 8-8, 9-7 year

I was listening to Vinnie and Rob at lunch today on the Fan and they said Ngata looked about twenty pounds overweight at camp. I know Ngata was really banged up after this past season and took some time off, but I hope he is ready to go this season. Ngata's play really tailed off toward the end of the year.

By the way, Dickey was unreal last night. I have never seen anything like that before. A pitcher that dominant throwing 80% offspeed pitches. Crazy...

Here you go dc: There are several factors that suggests the Baltimore Orioles will not trade second baseman Brian Roberts. Among them include the fact that the 34-year-old has a full no-trade clause, is owed $13 million guaranteed in 2013 after earning a total of $10 million this season, and has just come off the disabled list. Another factor is that the club is just a game and a half out of first place entering Sunday's games and could actually assist the club in staying in the race. There are, however, a few reason why dealing Roberts makes sense for both the team and the player. Roberts could be dealt to a contending team -- assuming the Orioles fade over the next six weeks -- perhaps allotting him a postseason appearance for the first time in his career. In addition, the O's can use all the young talent they can gather and any decent offer, especially pitching, would have to be considered. Roberts will have to stay healthy and perform to have any value, however, and there is always the chance he'd rather just finish out his contract with the Orioles and would turn down any trade scenario brought to him by the team. He's off to a solid start in his return, collecting seven hits in 22 at-bats in five games. The idea is something to keep an eye on, though, as the O's move forward with younger players and Roberts is running out of time to see October baseball. If he's open to a deal, has enough value to warrant being shopped, the Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers,and the Philadelphia Phillies could be among the interested clubs. - Jason A. Churchill

I like the approach we are taking with McKinney. It's either you're playing at the weight we want you at or you're out of here. If he truly gets down to 345, he has a chance to be a VERY good player for us. Remember how good he was week one against the Steelers? That's what the Ravens want out of him.

I am not worried about Reed. He does not have an agent, so we do not have the ability to negotiate with him. I have a feeling we'll either sign him to a CAP friendly deal (win-win, upfront money for Reed) or he will retire. If his demands are too outrageous, then let him walk. Some other team might get two great years out of him, but it's not an enormous loss in the long-run. Flacco wants top five QB money, but unless he wins the Super Bowl this coming year or has an absolutely off the wall year, I think he will settle into top ten money. Not worried there either. The Rice situation is delicate. On one hand you have a guy who might be the most popular Raven, is a Pro Bowl player, is huge in the community, and is the offensive leader well liked by his teammates. On the other hand he plays the most dispensable position in the league, and it makes financial sense to tag him for the next two years then let him walk. This is the toughest negotiation IMO. The market is already set with the McCoy and Foster deals, so Rice does not have a lot of leverage here. I am not sure where we go with this one...

Man what a season so far! I don't want to get my hopes up, but it is hard not to with the way this team is playing. The lineup is hitting for power, the bullpen is awesome, and Buck is coaching his butt off. And we are still missing Markakis, Britton and Lindstrom to injury. It is all going to come down to how the starting pitching can hold up. Hammel, Chen, and Arrieta are all projected to go 200 innings this year? Can we rely on these guys to pitch that many innings?

And to add to this, for such a bad team the last 15 years the O's get A LOT of national pub. Whether good or bad Rosenthal, Heyman, and Olney always seem to write something on the O's. And Kurkjian is from the area and seems to have a soft spot for the O's throwing us some good pub every once and awhile.

Two things that are really concerning me, one a lot more than the other. Starting pitching is really starting to get scary. If these guys can't go into the sixth or seventh inning, the excellent bullpen we see now will quickly wear down (we've already seen this with Lindstrom going down to injury). These starters really need to step up or it will be 2005 all over again. Prospects aren't too bad though. Arrieta is certainly a guy with the endurance to go deep, he just needs to be consistent. Matusz looks like he is finally coming around to at least be a solid 4th/5th starter. Chen and Hammel have been excellent and Britton will be back in June. This team is striking out way too much. However, two positives one could derive from this. A strikeout prevents a double play, and with the amount of homers this team is hitting, we have big inning potential in any game. In the past we would just strike out a lot, now we strike out but we hit a lot of homers. And to our credit, guys like Markakis, Reynolds, Hardy, Wieters, and even Betimit and Jones are walking a good amount. You can thank the Twilight actor, Rob Pattinson for that. He wears an O's cap wherever he goes. 50 Cent also wears an O's cap a lot. It's getting popular.

Love this pic max. I will never forget that Thursday night Cowboys game. True guts on Mason's part.