Comments on: Rangers Swap Millwood For Ray

By: saj

saj — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 01:11:30 +0000

Only makes sense for O’s if you believe in the scouts’ logic that a young staff develops better with a role model vet. I’m dying to see somebody take a serious look at this question. Millwood seems to be as much a risk as a ripening agent. And if you’re interested, here’s an angle: every 10 years a great young staff pops up, with the Braves in 1990-1 and the A’s in 2000-1. Will the Orioles be the 2010 version, a special staff or just a minor breakout like the twins, tigers, marlins, indians of recent years?

By: Dirty Water

Dirty Water — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:23:07 +0000

Considering his cumulative numbers for his last three walk years, that, sir, is a lock.

Seriously. Texas signing the always injured Harden is “a great example of what a team can do with cleared salary” but Baltimore signing Millwood is stupid (implied)? Sometimes I just don’t what the boys here are trying to prove.

IMO, Texas dumping the workhorse Millwood and $3 mil for Harden should be on the list for dumbest moves of the 2009 offseason. Not that I hope Harden goes down again, as he will, because I don’t.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:42:23 +0000

What are the chances of Millwood being a Type A next year? When I first read about the trade, that is what immediately came to mind.

By: lincolndude

lincolndude — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:34:03 +0000

After taking a look at some of Millwood’s pitch stats, I’ve got a question. How can a pitcher have negative run values for all of his pitches, yet still be an above average player? In ’07 and ’08, Millwood’s run values on all of his pitches look bad, yet he still put up 6 WAR over those two seasons.

Is it something to do with the park he plays in? Leverage? What’s the deal there?

By: Detroit Michael

Detroit Michael — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:21:21 +0000

I noticed the same thing right away. The second sentence of the article is wrong (not that it affects the rest).

By: Joe R

Joe R — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:53:30 +0000

Is this the state of baseball in the capital area metropolitan when hoping Adam Dunn hits a 450 foot HR the only baseball related thing to hope for between 2 different franchises?

*yes I know Adam Dunn isn’t the best player on the Nats, but who doesn’t like when he f***s up Sac Flies opportunities with Home Runs?

By: lincolndude

lincolndude — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:39:49 +0000

The Orioles aren’t just flushing this money down the toilet. This is a good deal for them. They picked up 2-3 wins for under 10 million and no commitment beyond 2010, and they gave away basically nothing for it.

Whether or not they are contending for a playoff spot, adding 2-3 wins to the club is worth something. They have to field a semi-competitive team or else all their fans are going to go to Nationals games, right?

By: DavidCEisen

DavidCEisen — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:12:07 +0000

Yeah, not sure how the author missed that.

By: OsandRoyals

OsandRoyals — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:11:55 +0000

The reason why the Orioles overpaid by a bit is because there aren’t too many free-agent pitchers (non-injured variety) that will perform near the league average in the AL East and could be enticed to a 1-year deal with Baltimore.
It’s probably a little pricey of a deal throwing in prospects as well but if the PTBNL is a rule V pick, the Os are full up on roster space so that’s not giving up anything of value.

Oh and to BX there’s no way the Orioles would let their starting pitchers blow out there arms. They have all their pitchers on an extremely conservative season innings limit which is why near the end of last season the Os couldn’t buy a win with all their starters being shut down. It’s the bullpen this saves. It basically means that the team doesn’t want to see all their relievers come down with injuries like Baez and Ray did after having to pitch so much in 2007. (The year might be wrong.)

By: Casadilla

Casadilla — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:36:45 +0000

Millwood fills the same role for the O’s in 2010 that he filled in ’09 for the Rangers. Imagine the Rangers without Millwood last year: their playoff hunting is suddenly less plausible. Not to say that the O’s will be in the playoff hunt because of Millwood, but he provides consistent and dependable innings, at great relief to the rest of the rotation and bullpen.

I say this is a win-win situation for the teams: Rangers are relieved of Millwood’s salary and freed to spend on something high risk/high reward (e.g. Harden, Dye, etc.), O’s get 1 year of a reliable starter who likely provides 170IP and better results than Adam Eaton, and now don’t have to make a move like the Braves in ’08 and sign Derek Lowe to a ridiculous 4 year deal.