Late Innings

I was just reading Roch… he gives a scouting report on Koji Uehara, a fast ball which tops 89, however he mainly “works in the 82-83 range". I’m not sure how that will fly in the high shooting AL East. Uehara is a control specialist however, however if he gives up something in the ball park of 11 H/9, we’re in trouble. I could be wrong however, Tim Wakefield’s fastball peaks in the 70s and he gets away with it. It’s just something that concerns me, especially with the soft-tossers that Baltimore has tried last season (e.g. Garrett Olsen, Steve Trachsel, Chris Waters.)

Maybe I might be wrong here, and every time that I’ve questioned Andy MacPhail’s decisions, I have been proven to be wrong. MacPhail and the O’s had offers out to Japanese free agents Uehara and Kensin Kawakami… Uehara took the O’s bait, Kawakami took more money from the Braves. He’s getting a three year deal by the way, and terms of it are still to be disclosed… keep in mind that Hiroki Kuroda got 35MM last year from the Dodgers, and that’s what Kawakami was rumored to be seeking. My guess is that the Orioles offered him three years at 7MM per, I’m curious to see what he signed for today.

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Any ways with Kawakami and Tim Redding now both off of the board, there aren’t too many other options to patch this weak rotation. The arm I would love to see the O’s land is Braden Looper, however I expect the Dodgers to pick up their push for him now with these two arms off the board. Ben Sheets is available but I don’t see any interest. Oliver Perez and Derek Lowe, I expect each of these pitchers to land in the NL East. One last arm… Jon Garland (ugh.) The O’s did inquire on him over the Winter Meetings, however they quickly learned of his asking price, which was five years, 65MM. Keep in mind that was the contract that Baltimore gave Albert Belle years ago, and we all know how “hip” of a signing that was. Any ways long story short, outside of Looper the Orioles should just sit back and let the young arms run the show again (parts of Bowie’s rotation will be close by in Norfolk this week.) And I wouldn’t sign Garland, that would be a disaster. Even if his asking price came down to 25% of what he wants, I’d still say “no.”