Here are my thoughts on the most likely Bedard trade possibilities. Keep in mind that I don't have any inside info -- these are based purely on my intuition and analysis. Listed below in no particular order:

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What really bugs me about this team is that it should be a pretty good team -- maybe not a playoff contender, but above average (85-86 wins) -- but I fear that the team's horrendous roster management and Perlozzo's horrendous in game decision making will cost us a bunch of games.  IMO, the roster should look like this:

Hernandez C
Huff 1b, DH, 3b
Roberts 2b
Tejada SS
Mora 3b
Markakis RF
Patterson CF
Payton LF, CF
Millar DH
Knott DH, LF, 1b, PH
House/Dubois DH, PH
Bako C
Stern CF

Bedard SP
Cabrera SP
Loewen SP
Traschel SP
Burres SP

Williamson RP
Guthrie RP
Bradford RP
Parrish RP
Baez RP
Ray C

The most controversial change there is Gibbons. I'd trade him if we can get anything of value.  If not, I guess he replaces House.  

That's a pretty decent team, but I don't think we'll ever see it unless Perlozzo is canned.

Here's my somewhat plausible playoff contender scenario.  Last year, the Orioles scored ~770 runs and gave up 900, and won 70 games. The offense was a bit below average and the pitching was horrible. The biggest problem with the offense was that they got absolutely no production out of LF and DH.  With Huff, Payton, and Gibbons improving the offense from those positions, minor improvement from Markakis, and equal production (on balance) from everyone else, I think they can have a league average offense and score ~800 runs.  

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My source at the warehouse just told me about this (details below).

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Here's an interesting comparison:

Garrett Olson was born in the fall of 1983, and was drafted out of college last year.  This is his age 22 season.  

His overall stats in rookie, low A, high A, and double AA are:

196 IP, 167 H, 54 ER, 12 HR, 59 BB, 198 K, 2.48 ERA.

3.4 K/BB ratio, 9.1 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, and .6 HRs/9.

Matt Garza was also born in the fall of 1983 and was also drafted out of college last year.

220 IP, 154 H, 60 ER, 14 HR, 53 BB, 243 K.

9.9 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, .57 HR/9, and a 2.45 ERA.

So Garza's rates are slightly better, and his ERA is basically identical. The big differences are that Olson has been pretty consistent, whereas Garza was just ok last year and totally dominant this year, and that some of Garza's #s are at AAA.

The point isn't that Olson is as good as Garza, but it's interesting that the comparison isn't ridiculous.  I think Olson should be taken a bit more seriously as a prospect.  

I'm pretty tired of the Orioles' half-hearted attempts to rebuild over the last 8 years. I really like guys like Mora and Tejada, but maybe the Orioles should follow the Marlins lead and start from scratch. My suggestions are below:

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