Spending Federal Money

by Bob Bryant - December 15, 2003

The rumors that the O's are about to ink Vlad and I-Rod notwithstanding, yesterday's signing of Miguel Tejada was a huge one for this franchise, not to mention allowing your author a big sigh of relief over his constant support of the two-headed monster in the front office, especially after the improvement on the farm, and in their handling of the July fire sale, despite the flameout of Damien Moss.

Hey, if you haven't noticed, the team has improved their chances a lot over the past 12 months; and that's all we can ask for! I noted in my column Saturday that the game the guys were playing was a dangerous one...as it turned out, it doesn't seem to be the game they were playing at all, or, if it had been, they did have the smarts to change on the fly once the rumors started buzzing.

It's true that some outlets had reported that "the Orioles ARE the free agent market." but it was hard to believe after all the starts and stops of the past six years, when not one decent name, except that of Albert Belle, stood on a podium and tried on an Orioles jersey.

As Kerry mentioned in his column, if all three of those players are inked, it means that the most obvious gaping holes in the Orioles tapestry have been patched, and 80-85 wins are a doable goal for this team from the first time since 1998. There are still pitching concerns, yes, with Jason Johnson likely to be gone, and R-Lo's stellar pitching of 2002 becoming more and more of a distant memory with every passing start in Mexico. But this is the right gamble to take. The Orioles have pitching prospects; they have virtually nothing at positions for the next few seasons, so sink the bucks into the position guys, and let the young pitching take us where it will, with perhaps a veteran to add some innings support, a la Pat Hentgen.

A new manager, at least one new star player (a Dominican, no less), and perhaps a lot more. Hail to the Orioles!

A Most Dangerous Game - The first round of offers reveal that the front office is again taking an approach that is more likely to fail than be successful...December 13