Baltimore Orioles Trade Possibilities

With the trade deadline coming up at the end of the month. I thought I would start looking at some of the teams who are bound to be "sellers" in the trade market. First up is the Baltimore Orioles.

The Orioles seem to have five main bargaining chips (six if you count the injured Miguel Tejada). Here are their "chips" in no particular order.

Chad Bradford – Orioles – signed for $3.5 million per year thru 2009 – decent 3.18 ERA and a pitcher who is very good vs. right-handed hitters. Bradford gets a $500,000 one-time bonus if traded so that may make Bradford pretty happy to get out of Baltimore. Almost every team in playoff contention is trying to add bullpen help – so there could wind up being a bidding war for a veteran like Bradford.

Steve Traschel - currently out with a pulled muscle in his ass but should return to action shortly. Traschel is a free agent at the end of the year (although there is a $4.75 million team option). He could make a nice innings eating 4th or 5th starter for an NL team that is hurting for starting pitching. My guess is he winds up in the NL East with the Braves, Mets or Phillies.

Aubrey Huff – he’s signed through 2009 at the rate of $8 million a year (but just $4 million this year). That means the Orioles have a financial incentive to deal him now. Huff has averaged 20+ HR the last 5 years but has just 6 so far in 2007. He can play 1st or OF but neither very well.

Kevin Millar – some teams may view Millar as a veteran presence that can help keep a playoff bound team both focused and loose at the same time. Others (like me) see Millar as a defensive liability who will turn cancerous if he’s not getting enough playing time. Millar has a contract clause that vests his 2008 option ($2.75 million) if he gets 475 plate appearances in 2007. So far Millar is at 266 – so getting those last 209 will be his priority. You also have to ask yourself if the Orioles really want Millar around next year or if they want to move in another direction.

Jay Payton – signed for $5 million for 2008. I would think that Payton is more trouble than he’s worth but some team who needs an outfielder may be willing to take a risk on Payton.

Miguel Tejada – still owed $30 million over the next two-years ($4 million deferred). Out with a broken wrist which means if he’s traded it will probably be during the off-season.

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Roger Clemens makes his first start for the Yankees today against the Pirates in Pittsburgh. I'm thinking Roger will be lucky to make it to the 5th inning... Willy Taveras is an example of how you have to look a bit deeper into the numbers. In the "old" days you would see a guy hitting .324 with 13 stolen bases and automatically think the guy is having a very good year. However, when you look closer at the numbers you see that Taveras only has an OBP of .378 despite the high batting average. That OBP sounds high but its not even in the top 3 on his own team. The 13 stolen bases seem a lot but consider he's been caught stealing 8 times. Then throw in the fact that his slugging percentage (.376) is less than his OBP and now that .324 batting average doesn't look as good as you might think... Don't get me wrong though - this could be a career year for Taveras but as the guy who sponsors his Baseball-Reference.com page puts it "Infield single anyone?"... Kevin Hench has a column up at Fox Sports where he wonders why nobody asks Roger Clemens about steroids. I give Hench points for asking about the elephant in the middle of the room but I have to take away points because he never even mentions Jason Grimsley (who has supposedly named Roger Clemens as a steroids user)... Maybe the most amazing thing about yesterday's game between the Rockies and the Orioles is the fact that a game started by Steve Traschel went less than 3 hours (2:48)... Tonight will be an interesting game in San Diego which features David Wells against Jeff Weaver. If Wells wins - then he moves into a tie with Tommy Bond for 59th place all-time with 234 wins (just 2 behind Yankee lefty legend Whitey Ford). Weaver meanwhile has been awful this season - sporting a 0-6 record with a 14.32 ERA. Everyone was saying that Weaver should have stayed in the NL with St. Louis where he seemed comfortable. This game can give us a window to see if its the AL that's the problem or if Weaver just sucks (I'm guessing that Weaver just sucks). Just saying but Weaver is 0-6 and the Mariners are just 5.5 games behind the Angels in the AL West. The Mariners are also just 1.5 games back in the AL Wildcard race. If they had just an average pitcher taking Weaver's starts they probably would be leading the Wildcard race. Just saying...