O's nearing a deal with Adam LaRoche - UPDATE - O's sign Derrek Lee

[NAHSTE]

I love Rochey, but I'd advise the O's to make it a half-year deal. Fucker goes from Rafael Bellliard to Babe Ruth around the All-Star Break.

If only he knew how to hit in April and May, he'd be a top 1b. He's got a great glove too, for the Mariners fans amongst us who put value in that sort of thing for a corner infielder.

With JJ Hardy and Mark Reynolds, the O's have assembled quite the infield of second-tier talent.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/12/orioles-closing-in-on-deal-with-laroche.html

[Bmore]

Moving on up... to the east side...

[Warner2BruceTD]

Orioles struck out on all of the top line guys they moved on, so at least they are still trying. I can't kill the teams that try. Pirates, for example, don't even pretend to try.

[Mogriffjr]

Orioles struck out on all of the top line guys they moved on, so at least they are still trying. I can't kill the teams that try. Pirates, for example, don't even pretend to try.

what....not excited with Lyle Overbay to the Pirates??

[NAHSTE]

Looks like Baltimore chose to bring in Derrek Lee instead. One-year deal, pending a physical.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5975254

I like the move if Lee can get healthy. He still has some legit power and should help stabilize that lineup.

LaRoche seems to be headed to the Nationals.

[Warner2BruceTD]

I feel bad for the Orioles, they made a legitimate effort this offseason, threw tons of money at people, and came away with washed up Derek Lee, a trade for overted Mark Reynolds, and a trade for one (half) year wonder JJ Hardy.

At least its a new look. O's fans should go out and support the product.

[NAHSTE]

Yeah there a ton of baseball hungry fans in that area, but for whatever reason they just stopped coming to their park. Part of that is Angelos being a shit owner, I guess part is apathy because of the rigged deck they play in, and maybe some is the novelty of their park wearing off as it is now 18 years old ... but Baltimore was and still could be a great baseball city. It makes no sense how little they draw. These free agents aren't gonna make or break them though, the kids they've been waiting on for three or four years now need to actually live up to the hype. Markakis topped out as a low 20s power guy, and Wieters still hasn't justified his 'future best offensive catcher in baseball' talk. Not to mention the pitchers who are still "on the way."

[Leftwich]

Yeah there a ton of baseball hungry fans in that area, but for whatever reason they just stopped coming to their park. Part of that is Angelos being a shit owner, I guess part is apathy because of the rigged deck they play in, and maybe some is the novelty of their park wearing off as it is now 18 years old ... but Baltimore was and still could be a great baseball city. It makes no sense how little they draw. These free agents aren't gonna make or break them though, the kids they've been waiting on for three or four years now need to actually live up to the hype. Markakis topped out as a low 20s power guy, and Wieters still hasn't justified his 'future best offensive catcher in baseball' talk. Not to mention the pitchers who are still "on the way."

I've been saying maybe next year for 10 years now. It fucking sucks too. They made some moves this offseason which excites me but they're not gonna be able to compete with the payrolls of the Yankees and the Red Sox and the youth and talent of the Rays.

I know we have a lot of youth and the pitching is "on the way" but to be honest. A lot of these prospects are overrated and probably won't pan out in the bigs except for a few. It's gonna be a long time before the O's make it anywhere. We're only getting into the playoffs if the Red Sox, Yankees and Rays have a down year and everyone on the O's has an MVP caliber season. It's frustrating as fuck to be an Orioles fan.

[SuperKevin]

Damn I wanted Lee in Washington. I can settle for LaRoche though

[FedEx227]

So does this mean Luke Scott moves to DH? Lee starts at 1B, Reynolds at 3B?

They are definitely making an effort but that rotation is just god awful. There's some potential for some young arms to breakout but still what is their peak?

[Lanteri]

So does this mean Luke Scott moves to DH?

Moves to? He only played 33 games in the field last year. DH is where he'll be at for sure.

The pitching staff is pretty horrible right now, but I mean they're all young and highly touted prospects outside of Guthrie. Matusz, Tillman, and Arrieta are their future big guns should they pan out. Way too small a sample size on any of them to say for sure, but they're not going to get any better by not pitching in the bigs, so, it's not a bad idea to at least semi-attempt to bring in a couple over the hill/reclamation project bats to try and get them a few wins and some confidence.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Alfredo Simon thinks Baltimore is having a killer offseason. He thinks they can take a stab at the AL East title. He's a lethal RP, face him and you're dead.