The Sports Note

One of my favorite blogs is MLBTradeRumors.com, its a daily must-read for me. Today though there is a guest post up which includes the suggestion that the Orioles trade Eric Bedard to the Phillies (with the Pat Gillick connection being the main reason here). How to put this politely? Um, thats not going to happen. The Orioles arent about to trade Eric Bedard. The author of the post makes this point:

If the Orioles don’t feel they can retain Bedard long-term, they might be wise to listen to offers and begin another rebuilding.

Here’s the problem with that statement: The Orioles haven’t tried rebuilding in the first place. We’ve been losing for a lot of years now but we’ve never torn the whole thing down and tried to start over with youngsters. Thats why we signed Jay Payton and Aubrey Huff this off season, thats what the O’s front office thinks of as rebuilding. We didnt trade Tejada last year, when his value was high, why would we trade our ace pitcher now? Especially when he’s coming off a performance like his last start (first career shutout, career high 15 strikeouts). Not only do we not want prospects for our 28 year old ace but thats never been the team’s philosophy.

Look, I appreciate the fact that being 11 games under .500 at the halfway point means there’s going to be a rash of speculation about who the Orioles are going to be dumping, if anyone, but Bedard isn’t on that list. Kevin Millar, Jay Payton, Steve Trachsel, they are all on that list but Bedard isn’t. Sorry to disappoint Phillies fans.

I’m not the only one predicting big things from the Orioles this year my friends. There are other, smarter people then me who see the possibility of a splendid ‘07 season for our boys. SI.com’s Jon Heyman has the Orioles at #4 on his Team’s that could surprise list (and I’m aware this is an old article, I just hadn’t gotten around to reading it yet):

4. Orioles. Finally developing some young players to brag about (Erik Bedard, Nick Markakis).

I hear ya Mr. Heyman. Add Daniel Cabrera to that list as well. Of course Mr. Heyman predicts that the O’s will finish 4th in the division, so maybe forget him then.

Also we’ve got Keith Olbermann (who I adore) giving us a somewhat nice compliment (also old):

The Orioles could pull a stunner, but all three of their young pitchers (Cabrera, Loewen and Bedard) would have to come through, and Nick Markakis would have to stretch his strong spring through 162 games.

And then Mr. Olbermann really earns some respect:

The Red Sox are the pick in the East with Baltimore second and the Yanks tumbling to third in a season that will harken back to the gory years of the early ’80s. Toronto’s fourth, and Tampa Bay an intriguing fifth. As stated, it’s the Tigers, Indians, Twins, White Sox, and Royals in the Central, then Oakland, L.A., and a you-pick-’em between Seattle and Texas in the West.

So there you go people. I’m not the only one expecting big things from the O’s. More on this weekend’s series victory over the Yanks to come. Oh and today’s our home opener.