Cabrera's time up

The Daniel Cabrera era in Baltimore is over. The Orioles have decided not to offer the arbitration-eligible starter a contract for 2009, and he's a free agent after nearly 10 years with the organization, club ...

[John]

Wow, I'm pretty surprised by this but it was time to cut DCab loose. Because of his arm DCab will still get a chances omewhere for at least another 5 years. Case in point,Sidney Pontoon.

Guthrie's comments are pretty funny though. When has McPhail ever replaced anyone he's traded or released, I mean with a quality player.

[George Samuels]

So who will the Orioles pay for and how much? With this economy I don't like pro sports' high salaries program. Better people don't make as much for a full year's work. And with tickets so high, sports' not for regular people anymore. Who's got the money now to relate to the Orioles. It's not our sport. I liked it better when players stayed with their team. Now it's for professionals and the employed only. And who can afford a hot dog?
.

[Andrew]

George Samuels wrote:

So who will the Orioles pay for and how much? With this economy I don't like pro sports' high salaries program. Better people don't make as much for a full year's work. And with tickets so high, sports' not for regular people anymore. Who's got the money now to relate to the Orioles. It's not our sport. I liked it better when players stayed with their team. Now it's for professionals and the employed only. And who can afford a hot dog?
.

What did that have to do with this article? You just whined about nothing and wasted space.

[Ghost Oriole]

This was a genius move by MacPhail. Now, if he can coax Steve Trachsel to return in 2009...

The REBUILDING is nearly complete!

Look, it wasn't a smart move or a dumb move. The fact is that Cabrera was going to be the highest paid pitcher in the rotation.

MacPhail is here to cut payroll. End of story.

[Ghost Oriole]

By the way, fans are right when they say the team has few other options.

They've been saying that for years now.

That's an indictment of a very, very lazy front office.

[Joe]

Finally the plug gets pulled. Lets not go down this road again anymore, either the prospect commands the strike zone in the minors or he dosen't get promoted. The teams in this division make you throw it over the plate, if you can't do it we have no use for you. To Daniels defense he was pulled up out of double-A almost totally green in an act of desperation and never really adjusted fully. This is a shining example of what MacPhail wants to avoid in the future, no more rushed prospects. I understand a proper course of development may have made no difference in this case, he may have washed out anyway, but you still have to do things the right way.

[Bob]

Good riddance Daniel. You lasted much longer than you should have.

[Ghost Oriole]

By the end of April, CC Sabathia will have earned more than the entire O's rotation will earn for 2009...combined. Actually, he might hit that mark by the end of three weeks.

MacPhail is doing his best to completely destroy this team. Yes, Cabrera had to go. But the fact is that MacPhail isn't fixing anything.

2010 isn't very far away. I can't wait until MacPhail gets a chance to work his roster magic replacing all the hitters who leave.

Let's have another look at the logic of the "rebuilding" plan. It's based on 4-5 "great" O's pitching prospects. I wonder what great pitching gets you in the AL East:

Halladay 20-11 2.78 ERA
Burnett 18-10 4.07 ERA
Marcum 9-7 3.39 ERA
Litsch 13-9 3.58 ERA
McGowan 6-7 4.37 ERA

CL *B.J. Ryan 32 saves 2.95 ERA
RP *Jesse Carlson 2.25 ERA
RP *Scott Downs 1.78 ERA
RP *Brian Tallet 2.88 ERA
RP Jason Frasor 4.18 ERA

Hey! That was good enough for 4th place !!!

The goofy O's fans onboard with MacPhail's plan don't understand how buried this team is, and how much damage is being done on a weekly basis.

A team with two excellent SP's/several good SP's and a top bullpen finished in 4th place.

The Rays add David Price next year.
The Yanks get Sabathia and Burnett.
The Sox look to be getting Tex.
Only the Jays appear to be getting weaker.

And MacPhail has added......Cesar Izturis?

Seriously????

[Ghost Oriole]

This is a shining example of what MacPhail wants to avoid in the future, no more rushed prospects.
----------
Coming from the guy eager to see Wieters, Matusz and Arrieta in Baltimore next year.

They have combined for a total of two years in the minors.

[MAKA]

DCAB had lost his most important attibute - his high 90's fastball. Not to say he will not get it back, but without it, and with his lack of control, he has nothing to offer as a major league starter. My only real concern was non-tendering Lance Cormier. He seemed to be effective most of the time last season.

I beleive that some of the younger pitchers at Bowie will get a chance to make the team - which may not be a bad idea. Or McPhails knows we have a good chance to sign one or both of the Japanese pitchers.

No matter who is in our starting rotation for '09, I can not imagine it being any worst than last year.

[Dan From Indy]

I guess I was right after all. Two yars ago, I suggested the O's trade D. CAb afte he threw a one hitter - knowing hi value would never be higher. I was lambasted for making such a comment. Now after two horrible years, the O's release him - geting nothing in return - except we won't have to enue another year of false hope with him in he starting rotation.

[Ghost Oriole]

Hey, Joe.

Tillman has a career minor league WHIP of 1.43. That's awful.

Do your rules apply to him?

His career MiLB ERA of 4.14 doesn't project well, either.

But he must be good, because people say so. Nevermind his actual pitching because that isn't so hot.

Here are some recent "failed" AL East prospects and their MiLB career numbers:

Ian Kennedy Yanks 1.99ERA 0.97WHIP
Phil Hughes Yanks 2.40ERA 0.92WHIP
Clay Buchholz Sox 2.43ERA 1.01WHIP

Those three guys completely blow away anything the O's have to offer, and they can't get a job with their clubs. But MacPhail is basing the future of the O's on lesser prospects.

Oh, and those guys pitched at AAA as part of those numbers. None of the O's prospects have made it that far.

[Ghost Oriole]

No matter who is in our starting rotation for '09, I can not imagine it being any worst than last year.
----------
You're not giving Andy MacPhail a chance.

He can make it even worse. Just give him a chance.

[lance917]

Regardless of what else happens, releasing daniel has made my day. I couldn't and wouldn't have watched him pitch 1 more game for this team.

[Os Fan]

I think you're expectations are a little out of whack Ghost Oriole. MacPhail is doing fine but this organization was so broken that it cannot be fixed within a year. pete angelos allowed this team to be run into the ground over the last 10 years and that had significant effects on the major league team, the minor league system, the fan base, and the attitude of the players in the clubhouse. MacPhail has started to address some of those by getting rid of bad attitudeds like Bedard, Tejada and now Cabrera. In the case of Bedard and Tejada, they actually got back potentially useful players for the rebuild. Cabrera is addition by subtraction even if they don't have options to replace him in 2009 right now.

This team will be lucky to win in 2 or 3 years no matter who is running things, so have some patience and allow MacPhail to continue fixing this organization.

[Ghost Oriole]

David Hernandez career MiLB WHIP 1.34
Brad Bergesen career MiLB WHIP 1.24
Jason Berken career MiLB WHIP 1.26
Jake Arrieta career MiLB WHIP 1.16
Brian Matusz college WHIP 1.14

If these pitchers don't dominate at the lowest levels, why would they do so against the best hitters on the planet?

The numbers are OK, but not close to someone like David Price:

2008 A/AA/AAA 12-1 2.30ERA 1.13WHIP

The "Plan" is just plain dumb. The O's do not have the prospects in the minors to match up with other teams in the AL East.

However, if "The Plan" is to fool the remaining gullible fans while slashing payroll, I'd say it's working fairly well.

[EJR]

Ghost Oriole wrote:

No matter who is in our starting rotation for '09, I can not imagine it being any worst than last year.
----------
You're not giving Andy MacPhail a chance.
He can make it even worse. Just give him a chance.

Ghost, have you ever made a single positive comment? You must be a joy to live with. Find some happiness somewhere in your life my man.

[Joe]

Ghost Oriole wrote:

This is a shining example of what MacPhail wants to avoid in the future, no more rushed prospects.
----------
Coming from the guy eager to see Wieters, Matusz and Arrieta in Baltimore next year.
They have combined for a total of two years in the minors.

You're putting words in my mouth, I am all about service time, my thought would be to do to Wieters what the Rays did to Upton, make him stay in AAA a full year to defer that service time until it can be used to greater effect. I have always been about next decade, slow roll the pups, polish these kids so they are actually ready when they arrive and in the meantime we will be collecting some very high draft picks.

[Ghost Oriole]

EJR wrote:

<quoted text>
Ghost, have you ever made a single positive comment? You must be a joy to live with. Find some happiness somewhere in your life my man.

Relax. I just love ragging on the O's. They're horrible and getting worse.

If all of life was the Baltimore Orioles, most of us would be jumping off bridges.

[Ghost Oriole]

The funny thing about my comments re: The Orioles is that the team could do so very many things to illicit a positive comment.

Seriously. I know you don't believe it, but MacPhail has dozens of options available to him to improve the team. I'll give him some props if/when he does something intelligent.

He's lying to the fans, and it's pretty darn clear that the plan is to reduce payroll to the lowest in the AL, and lowest in MLB, if possible.

If the plan is NOT to slash payroll, then MacPhail is doing a completely horrible job. Terrible. What's the point of not spending money unless to line the 80 year-old's pockets??? It's not as though it gets saved for the future. It just disappears.

Raul Ibanez

2006 33HR 123RBI .289BA
2007 21HR 105RBI .291BA
2008 23HR 110RBI .293BA

This guy just signed for $10 million per year for three years. That would be exactly the type of deal the O's should seek out.

Yes, he's 36 years old. So what. The point is to put good players on the field so the team can win.

Or, not.

And if you want to yell at me about REBUILDING, please feel free to show me a GOOD player that MacPhail has acquired since last January. And the draft doesn't count because in theory everyone got good players.