Always going for players available on the cheap, the O's are looking at Cesar Izturis to man the shortstop position for 2009 (according to the Baltimore Sun).

'Industry Sources' report the O's have no interest in Furcal, Renteria, nor Orlando Cabrera.

The same list of boobs that we've been hearing about are availble via trade:Greene, Crosby, Wilson, etc.

Hardy would cost too much in prospects.

MacPhail is a sound baseball man and yet he makes it known we're going after a player who's nothing more than a bench guy on contending teams?!!

No Hector Gomez, Esmailyn Gonzalez, Yaimaco Navarro, or Oscar Tejada?

Anyone with intelligence would be looking for a longterm answer at short such as the names I've mentioned.

MacPhail really has a plan in place......

:rolleyes:

How many prospects is too many?

Get the best defensive SS available. Jose Reyes and Handley Ramirez watched the playoffs at home just like you and I.

Put the gun down, Hal. The only people linking Izturis to the Orioles are the infallible, wholly reliable, never-wrong, unnamed "industry sources."

You mean he isn't being fitted as we type?

The article didn't mention the "industry source" they were relying on. I'm guessing it was the auto industry. The CEO's of the Big 3 were in the neighborhood yesterday looking for some cash to burn…



Why not nationalize the auto industry as we have the financial industry? Now that the last Yugo has rolled (or was rolled) off the assembly line a few days ago there is a niche to be filled by a government designed and produced automobile.

Question: Why is there a heater on the rear window of a Yugo?

Answer: To keep your hands warm when you are pushing it.

EDIT: I know it's a bit early but I was so anxious to get out the old Christmas tree…

The Sun also reports that the O's turned down a Garrett Olson for Khalil Greene trade. Because Greene only has one year on his contract they would rather get three more years of poor performance from Olson than one good year and a A or B free agent classification for Greene. Of course, as brittle as Greene is, they may only get 80 games from him in the one year he plays.

I'll say this for Izturis. He may not walk, but he doesn't strike out much either. His lifetime OBP (.299) and OPS (.630) scare me. Given his speed, he doesn't GIDP too often. But what he does when batting is mostly ground into outs. His groundball/flyball ratio for his career is around 1.6. Here's what Ron Shandler had to say about his 2006 season: "Lost first 2-1/2 months to recovery from TJ surgery and much of last 6 weeks to strained hamstring. In between, he showed practically none of the speed on which his value rests. In truth, he's shown it only once."

On the bright side, in 2008 he did steal 24 bases with only 6 caught stealing. Ok, so now he's shown it twice.

Trade Daniel Cabrera for Greene. Get it done!