Tonight Stephen Strasburg is pitching and as I watch him dominate, I cant deny that if he stays healthy hes going to be a very special player.  However, unless Washington management finds a way to add talent around him he wont be pitching for a contender anytime soon.  In fact, I am still a firm believer that the Orioles, despite their miserable start this year, have a brighter future than the Nationals.

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David Hernandez's performance today and 3E's quality season to date had me thinking about the future of our rotation.  To start the year I didn't think that either of those two guys would have success starting in the major leagues and I was obviously wrong so far.  However, that wont stop me from speculating about how our young pitchers will perform in the future.  So I am going to run through my thoughts on the usual suspects and then see how you all feel.

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According to MLB trade rumors Nate McLouth has been traded to the Braves:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/06/braves-acquire-nate-mclouth.html#comments

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Heres the link to MLB Trade Rumors:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/12/orioles-reach-a.html

It looks like we have a new #9 hitter!  At least this shortstop can play some defense hopefully.  He's a stopgap for sure, but i'm still trying to figure out what the other side of the gap is.  If we have one shortstop all next year it will be a success, even if he has an OPS under .700 and only plays average defense.

UPDATE: I edited this title and posting a little. First of all, Izturis isn't actually signed yet, and it seems like he won't be for a few days at least. Second, the mlb rumors post is just links to two other articles where the actual reporting is: ESPN and The Sun.

This blog gets picked up by a lot of aggregators now. We just have to be careful that we don't get into a situation like they had at OH last year where they announce a trade that never happens. Carry on.... -zk

It looks like Nady, and Marte have been traded from the Pirates, and speculation is that its too the MFY and what i'm reading over at MLB trade rumors is that the Pirates are getting Class AAA right-hander Ross Ohlendorf, Class AA right-handers Phil Coke and George Kontos and Class AA outfielder Jose Tabata.

This probably increases Sherill's value because it means one less good relief option on the market.  Neither Marte or Nady scares me.  Nady is a solid player with a lot of talent having a career year and Marte is a decent 33 year old reliever.  Also Tabata is the best player that the pirates are getting back (19 year old outfield that hit really well at A+ last year).

Speculation is that Steve Pearce will come up and take his spot in the outfield.

Update:

The Yankees are sending RHP Dan McCutchen, RHP Jeff Karstens, OF Jose Tabata and RHP Ross Ohlendorf to Pittsburgh for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte.

LHP Phil Coke and RHP George Kontos are not in the deal.

That is from MLB trade rumors.

Has anybody else taken note of Erbe's last two starts?

He has a combined line of 14IP 1H 21K 2BB, the man is on fire.  He has quietly put together a pretty good year for a 20 year old in A+ ball.  He has a K/BB of 80/19 in 71.2 IP.  But this is particularly encouraging and just maybe this means that last year was a fluke year for him and he will turn out to be a good major league pitcher.  Our list of promising young pitchers is getting quite lengthy which is very encouraging because it seems as though you can never have enough pitching.

On a side note I believe I saw tonight that Xavier Avery (our second round pick) signed with us and passed up being the Georgia Bulldogs RB.  This would mean our 2-4 round picks are signed already which is always nice.

So there is a player that was just DFA that we really have to go for.  He is a right handed pitcher that is 4-1 with a 3.88 ERA in 9 starts for the Rangers.  That player is the amazing Sidney Ponson. 

Yes Ponson got his fat butt DFA again, but this time not for performance issues but instead "disrespectful and adverse reactions to situations unbecoming of teammates" according to the Dallas Morning News and MLB trade rumors.

All I have left to say is what a stud, if only we could all be as amazing as Sidney Ponson.

Its probably just complete speculation, but I just watched a clip of baseball tonight where Steve Phillips said that Seattle, Oakland and Baltimore are possible suitors for the Big Hurt.  I was surprised to hear that, but I would definitely enjoy seeing him play above Audrey the Huffinator.  It obviously isn't a part of rebuilding, but a one year deal wouldn't cost much and it would give us something else to watch during these bleak times.  I would like to see it happen, at least he knows how to hit, and just a wee bit more intimidating in the clean up role than KevBo.

What are your thoughts on the Big Hurt in Charm City? 

One of the biggest questions of the upcoming season, in my oppinion, is can Jeremy Guthrie repeat last years performance?  I personally think its not unreasonable to expct an ERA in the low 4's.  His BABIP (batting average of balls hit in play) was .275 in case you were wondering.  

Let me know what you all think, I would add a poll but i cant figure out how to get it to appear, so if one of you all can let met know how to do that, that would be amazing.