Loewen a Jay?

Adam Loewen seems to be on the verge of signing with the Blue Jays according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun.

The O's had originally thought Loewen would re-sign with them following his release from the club. He was released because of a recurring elbow fracture. The O's planned to make Loewen either a first baseman or outfielder.

If Loewen signs with the Jays the plan will backfire.

Meetings

The O's organization will be holding their organizational meetings soon. I wonder what they will be discussing. Some pitchers? Maybe a hitter or two? I do know that D-Cab will be brought up and maybe Brian Roberts and Ramon Hernandez.

It's my belief, as I've stated before, that Matt Wieters will not be brought up until at least the All-Star Break next season. Hopefully, Ramon Hernandez is gone by then. We'll see. Only Andy and Dave will really know what they're going to do.

Offseason Needs

It's no secret that the Orioles need pitching. However, it seems that if Jamie Walker can turn it around, the Orioles bullpen is more or less set through this next year. The O's definitely need one or two starting pitchers to round out a rotation that struggled most of the year and only had one of the original five pitchers from the rotation was left standing.

A couple free agent starters that I would like to see in an Oriole uniform next year are Derek Lowe and pending an opt-out AJ Burnett. I would really prefer Lowe over Burnett because Lowe is a durable sinkerballer that is familiar with the AL East. Burnett, although familiar with the AL East, may want a boat load of cash, even though his home is near Camden Yards, and has durability issues. The other part about Burnett that concerns me is the number of pitches he has thrown this year, in led the majors in that category.

In the hitting department, I would like to see a solid defensive and offensive presence. Orlando Cabrera is a name that comes to mind. If the O's could sign him to a two year contract as a stopgap for possible prospect Blake Davis that would be a win. Also, I think Brian Roberts, if the deal is a good one, could be expendable in a trade. I believe there will be more bench and minor league depth and even a possible midseason trade of Ramon Hernandez.

None of this is set in stone, just things I would like to see. What does everyone else think?

Fascinating Happenings

The O's have the distinction of playing the Yankees in their final home game at Yankee Stadium and then opening the season in Baltimore against the Yankees. I find this to be an interesting tidbit in the scheduling of Major League Baseball.

I think, however, when 2009 rolls around the O's will have a more competitive team, possibly if the right free agents are signed and if the pitching staff stays healthy. I will write an outlook for the offseason for the O's in a later post.

Jeremy Guthrie

It appears that Jeremy Guthrie is done for the year. The O's placed him on the 15-day disabled list with a right shoulder impingement. The impingement is the same kind of injury that was sustained by Randor Bierd earlier in the year.

Right now, it seems that the O's will see how Guthrie's shoulder responds to see if he'll be able to come back, but I think he's finished for the year. If Guthrie could have stayed healthy, I'm of the belief that he would have won Most Valubale Oriole because of his ability to go out and give the O's seven innings every start, giving the bullpen a rest. Others believe that the O's MVO is Aubrey Huff. I'm not so sure, but this injury to Guthrie seems to have handed the honor over to Huff.

Good News!

Top prospect Matt Wieters has won Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year. Good for him.

The Orioles fans have been waiting for Wieters to force his way on to the big league squad and this award could help solidify Wieters' spot at least in spring training. Wieters has looked good all year and clamoring Orioles fans are lucky to be able to look forward to a future with him.

I think he will be up to the big team either midseason 2009 or Opening Day 2010. Ramon Hernandez's contract expires at the end of 2009 season.

Another option is to have Hernandez play first base if management believes Wieters is ready now.

And He's Back

The O's picked up Dave Trembley's contract option for 2009 and extended his contract with a team option in 2010. This seems to be a typical move of Andy MacPhail run franchises because he likes continuity among the coaches and managers. Let's see how Dave does next year. Andy and Dave seem to have pointed the team in the right direction, but a lack of depth is what seems to be plaguing the organization at this point.