The Bell Tolls for Thee

Josh Bell is in Baltimore and in the starting lineup tonight. Pretty exciting, even if his AAA numbers weren't great.

To me, this means someone in the infield is likely to be traded soon. Because the team's replacing an outfield/DH guy in Luke Scott (on the DL with a freaky hamstring strain seen here), and Felix Pie is due back on the team soon, you'd figure when Pie gets the call, an infielder is likely to go. But whom? 

The most likely prospect to me is a trade of Ty Wigginton, who is one of only a few O's with real trade value heading into the trade deadline at the end of the month. Tejada could be of value as well. But while Bell is on the team, you'd have to figure Miggy will be the primary DH.

Cheers to Miggy on his decent work at 3rd. Even with his subpar range (although if we knew his real age, we might be more impressed by his play), he's done a decent job transferring to the hot corner.

Looks like Bell's time has come. Hopefully, he's another piece to the puzzle. God knows Andy MacPhail could use some good PR right now, and Bell's positive play would mean more success from the Bedard trade. (For those of you just tuning in, the O's got Josh Bell from the George Sherrill trade to the Dodgers last July, and Sherrill was received as part o the 5-player package for Bedard.)

A Grim Reminder

Bobby Valentine's recent comments about the available job as O's skipper were painful to read. Anyone reading between the lines (and you really didn't have to look that carefully) was able to surmise not only that Bobby V. had no interest in accepting the job, but that he thought the Orioles were far from righting the ship.

Once again, the Orioles are in the typical position of not even being able to lure talent to this city. It's a vicious cycle. Top names won't come here till things get better ... and things won't get better till top names start signing here. Look, I'm not saying Bobby Valentine is the answer to any of the team's problems (although he's a clear upgrade on Dave Trembley), but the fact remains that this organization is continually spurned by the best available options. 

Why is Eric Wedge such an interesting choice? He did post some good records in Cleveland, but has a .495 winning percentage in the majors.

Is Davey Johnson primed for a return to Baltimore? Davey Johnson, of course, was the last manager to win in Baltimore, and owns a career .564 winning percentage. And the hire of Davey Johnson would - of course - break the curse that his "resignation" (read "firing") put on this organization.

Still, there are factors working against him. There's his age (he's 67). There's his job with the up-and-coming Nats. But most problematic is his well-known adversarial relationship with Peter Angelos. It's been said they've made amends, but still, Angelos is not the type to make that hire. He's no George Steinbrenner (and how sad is it that this is a BAD thing?). 

But one thing this whole managerial search has once again proved is that the O's are a second-rate organization getting second-rate talent. How depressing.

A Look at Some Former O's and How They're Faring

It's always interesting to see how these guys do after they leave the organization.

Here are some selected players and their stats through yesterday:

(A tip of the cap to Jeff Zrebiec on the idea.)


Kris Benson: (ARIZONA 0-1, 3.00 ERA, 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER

Russ Ortiz: (LA DODGERS) 0-1, 10.29 ERA, 7 IP, 10 H, 8 ER

Rodrigo Lopez: (ARIZONA) 1-0, 3.50 ERA, 18 IP, 24 H, 7 ER. (Looks pretty good, but he has a dreadful 1.667 WHIP)

Brian Burres: (PITTSBURGH) 0-1, 9.00 ERA, 8 IP, 11 H, 8 ER, 1.875 WHIP (Actually not far off his career number of 1.685!)

Luis Hernandez: (NY METS MINOR LEAGUE AFFIL.) 46 AB, .304 AVG, 1 HR, 1 SB, 3 CS, 5 BB, 5K

That's just some recent players who popped out to me - here are some others from Jeff's posting earlier today, focusing on the "memorable" O's of 2009:

Hitters

Aubrey Huff (S.F. Giants): .268 avg., 1 HR, 5 RBIs, 11 runs, 7 BBs
Chad Moeller (Scranton/W.B., Yankees’ Triple-A): .182 avg. (2-for-11), 0 HR, 0 RBIs, 1 BB, 3 K
Melvin Mora (Colorado Rockies): .273 avg. (6-for-22), 0 HRs, 2 RBIs
Oscar Salazar (San Diego Padres): .000 avg. (0-for-10), 1 run, 1 BB
Gregg Zaun (Milwaukee Brewers): .133 avg. (6-for-45) 0 HRs, 2 RBIs, 2 BBs

Pitchers

Danys Baez (Philadelphia Phillies): 0-1, 6.35 ERA (5 2/3 IP), 4 ER, 4 hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks
Brian Bass (Indy, Pirates’ Triple-A): 0-1, 4.05 ERA (13 1/3 IP), 6 ER, 15 hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks
Sean Henn (Las Vegas, Blue Jays’ Triple-A): 1-0, 0.00 ERA (7 2/3 IP), 5 hits, 6 BBs, 7 Ks
Rich Hill (Memphis, Cards’ Triple-A): 1-1, 4.08 ERA (17 2/3 IP), 8 ER, 14 hits, 13 BBs, 15 Ks
Radhames Liz (Portland, Padres’ Triple-A): 2-0, 2.57 ERA (14 IP), 4 ER, 10 hits, 6 BBs, 22 Ks
John Parrish (Kansas City Royals): 1-1, 1.50 (6 IP), 1 ER, 3 hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks
Chris Ray (Texas Rangers): 0-0, 3.00 ERA (6 IP), 2 ER, 4 hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks
George Sherrill (L.A. Dodgers): 0-1, 10.13 ERA (5 1/3 IP), 6 ERs, 7 hits, 9 BBs, 4 Ks
Chris Waters (Nash., Brewers’ Triple-A): 2-0, 3.78 ERA (16 2/3 IP), 7 ERs, 15 hits, 5 BB, 14 Ks

Amazing some of these guys still have careers ...