Sunday, October 28, 2007

Orioles Shopping, Tejada, Bedard?

The Orioles will come in to the off season looking to trade Miguel Tejada, and possibly Erik Bedard. Both of them, would draw considerable interest and would probably be traded early rather than late. For Tejada, I see interest coming from the Cubs, Angels, Astros, and Dodgers. Now would be a great time for the Angels to make a trade. They know where they have depth, and this would be a great start to the off season after two previous unsuccessful ones. They could trade Ervin Santana, Reggie Willits, and a third player for him. They may look to part with Chone Figgins and could offer him, but I think they will look to teams with more proven pitching for him. Personally, I think the Dodgers have the best chance to land him. They have young talent to offer and it would not hurt them too much to offer it. Chin-Lung Hu, Andre Ethier, and Tony Abreu, but a lot of pressure is on Ned Colletti to find a solid upgrade, and he would definitely be taking a chance on Tejada. Maybe they would offer Rafael Furcal? A sleeper in this race is definitely the Astros, who are looking for an upgrade in the infield. Yes, Everett is great defensively, but is power is next to nothing. Not only that, but Tejada's swing is tailored to Minute Maid Park, and he would benefit in two seasons there.

For Bedard, the Orioles feel they have enough starting pitching and can unload him for major league ready players. I hope they are not counting Radhames Liz in that list. Liz has some of the worst mechanics I have ever seen, and will probably lead to arm problems eventually. Bedard could probably bring in a capable outfielder, and couple prospects. I expect interest in Bedard to be everywhere in this weak market for pitching. The Indians, Rockies, Diamondbacks, Cubs, Cardinals, Nationals, Mariners, Twins, and maybe the Blue Jays to be interested. This would be a smart move to make on the Orioles part. They could land several young players that could take over spots in the field and they would potentially put them on the same path as the Rockies are right now. However, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves-Orioles President Andy McPhail is known for taking his time with trades and it might hurt their chances of landing the best players. Only time will tell.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

McPhail should be wheeling and dealing, without a doubt

Anonymous said...

The Dodgers should really think about Tejada. I doubt Baltimore would take on Furcal's remaining $13 million for '08, but I totally agree with the Chin Lung Hu, Tony Abreu, Andre Ethier combo. Other names like Delwyn Young, Justin Orenduff, Jonathan Meloan could be possibilities. The Orioles are probably gonna ask for James Loney Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, or Chad Billingsly, but Ned needs to hold on firmly to those four.
This offseason will be Colletti's opportunity to redeem himself for an awful '07 offseason. This is his chance to show that he can be creative. Trading for Tejada and signing Torri Hunter or Andruw Jones could make the Dodgers a true contender in the NL. Competing in the NL West is tougher than ever now.

Anonymous said...

If the Indians get Beddard just imagine that starting line-up. CC Sabathia, Eric Bedard, Fausto Carmona, Jake Westbrook, and Cliff
Lee! We would have three #1 pitchers!

Jon Shields said...

I really wish the Mariners would persue Beddard. They could offer a package around Richie Sexson (Orioles are looking to upgrade at first and have had interest in him), Wladimir Balentien (a mini Manny Ramirez) and cash.