O's stun Red Sox with insane comeback

Down 10-1 in the bottom of the seventh, the Orioles looked like they'd drop yet another game to the Red Sox.

And then they started to hit: Huff singled, Reimold singled, Scott doubled, Salazar homered, Wieters singled, Andino grounded out, Roberts grounded out, Pie singled, Markakis singled, and Huff lined out.

Still down 10-6 in the bottom of the eighth, the Orioles decided to duplicate the seventh: Reimold singled, Scott doubled, Salazar singled, Wieters singled, Wigginton hit a sacrifice fly, Roberts singled, Pie struck out, Markakis doubled, Huff walked, and Reimold flied out.

Up 11-10 in the ninth, George Sherrill struck Jason Bay out with runners on first and second to record his 17th save on the season.

In those two innings, the Orioles amassed 10 runs, 13 hits, and a walk -- pretty unbelievable.

FanGraphs on Bergesen, Michael Aubrey trade

Last Friday, FanGraphs had two interesting Orioles-related stories: one on Brad Bergesen and another on the O's acquisition of Michael Aubrey from Cleveland.

The post on Bergesen discusses how Bergesen has been effective despite the fact that he doesn't post high strikeout numbers. Dave Camerson explains:

Usually, a pitching prospect isn’t going to get much respect if he’s punching out less than a batter per inning, especially in the lower levels. Pitching to contact in low-A is usually a sign that your stuff isn’t major league quality, and when your fastball tops out at 92, the suspicion is confirmed.

However, the strikeout obsession has led to a lot of missed evaluations on groundball specialists, and Bergesen is proving to be exactly that. Pitch F/x shows that his fastball has similar amounts of vertical movement to some guy named Roy Halladay, so we shouldn’t be terribly surprised that Bergesen has a 54% groundball rate through his first twelve major league starts.

When you can command a sinking fastball and have an off-speed pitch to keep opposite handed hitters at bay, you can be an effective major league starter. Bergesen doesn’t have the same potential as some of the more hyped arms in the Orioles system, but don’t discount his strengths and write him off as a no-stuff guy who belongs in the bullpen. Command, sinker, and change-up - it’s the recipe for a solid back-end starting pitcher.

Anytime a pitcher is mentioned in the same sentence with Roy Halladay, it's high praise. Bergesen has been the best pitcher for the Orioles this season, and he certainly has a chance to win rookie of the year honors in the AL. And if he does develop into a "solid back-end starting pitcher," the Orioles will be very pleased.

Another post, this one by Marc Hulet, briefly discusses the Orioles' recent pickup of Michael Aubrey for a player to be named later. Aubrey, basically a career minor league first baseman, was drafted 11th overall in 2003 but has been plagued by injuries throughout his career. Hulet likes the move, saying that "[i]t’s a very nice low-risk, medium-reward move by an organization that is getting better by the season."

He also believes it's a smart move in case the Orioles decide to trade Aubrey Huff or Ty Wigginton. I've never seen Michael Aubrey play, but it seems like a good move for an organization that doesn't have a whole lot of solid-hitting position players. If the Orioles do make a trade or two or suffer a couple of injuries, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if Aubrey got an extended look with the O's.

Weekly Rundown: bad baseball movies, NBA trades, Siragusa

Weekly Rundown is a combination of links and brief comments on stories and topics that I couldn't get to during the week. If there's something important that I missed, don't hesitate to send an email or leave a comment.

• Never seen The Fan? You're lucky then. Here's a list of 10 bad baseball movies. [Big League Stew]


• The Cavs traded for Shaq. The Magic acquired Vince Carter from the Nets. The Wizards sent the No. 5 pick and three players to the T'Wolves for Mike Miller and Randy Foye. The Spurs traded for Richard Jefferson. And the Hawks dealt for Jamal Crawford. Other deals could be in the works, but apparently the Pistons turned down a trade offer from the Celtics: Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo for Rodney Stuckey, Tayshaun Prince, and Rip Hamilton. [Ball Don't Lie]


• The Wizards, at least right now, are committed to keeping the core of Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, and Antawn Jamison together. [Washington Post]


• Here's a surprise: Michael Wilbon didn't like the Wizards trade. [Washington Post]


• Is it really that hard to spell Zimmerman? [D.C. Sports Bog]


• Tony Siragusa ("Internet star"?) may be appearing on a show on FoxSports.com. Well, that plan certainly can't fail. [Awful Announcing]


• I don't know much about Matt Hobgood, the latest first-round pick by the Orioles, but I like his attitude. [Camden Crazies]


• Truth looks at both sides of the Wizards' decision to sell their second-round pick to the Rockets for $2.5 million instead of drafting DeJuan Blair. [Truth About It]


• As Jake points out, it's time for Andray Blatche to step up this year. [Bullets Forever]


• Were you aware that the Orioles are a horrible baserunning team? Peter Schmuck agrees. [The Schmuck Stops Here]

Examining the Wizards-T'Wolves trade

Because I can't watch the NBA Draft tomorrow night, I was going to write a little something speculating what the Wizards could do with the No. 5 pick. Would the Wizards take James Harden, Jordan Hill, or Stephen Curry? Or maybe they would entertain trade offers for the pick on draft night, etc. I was even going to reference Kevin Broom's post over at The Secret Weapon, which broke down the Wizards' chances of getting a solid player with the fifth choice.

Broom's take:

This year’s draft does not appear to have an elite-level talent available at number 5. It doesn’t appear likely that the Wiz will end up with someone who impacts the game like Garnett or Barkley or Wade. But, the Wizards could still end up with a player like Mitch Richmond (Harden?), Steve Smith (Tyreke Evans?), or Raymond Felton (Rubio?). Or maybe it’s someone like Kevin Love or Jason Richardson.

Point is, the fifth is likely to provide a player who will help the team. There’s basically a one-in-three chance they’ll get a future All-Star; a one-in-six chance they’ll land a future All-NBA’er. Only one-in-ten qualify as abject busts over the past 30 years (Bender, Ray and Skita). All this is to say the Wizards are likely to improve themselves, even if they can’t find a trade they like, and end up using the pick on the best available player.

Apparently the Wizards didn't feel they'd be able to pick one of those players, and, as I'm sure you know by now, the Wizards have traded the pick, Darius Songaila, Etan Thomas, and Oleksiy Pecherov to the T'Wolves for Mike Miller and Randy Foye. I really didn't see the move coming, particularly because I thought the Wizards would at least wait until Thursday. Well, I was wrong.

Maybe the Wizards didn't think Harden or Curry would still be on the board, or maybe they didn't feel like rolling the dice at all in this apparently thin draft. Either way, Miller and Foye are Wizards.

It's worth mentioning that the Wizards still have their second round pick -- the 32nd overall choice -- but that's obviously not as exciting as a first-rounder.

Anyway, I've been deliberately avoiding other reviews of the trade all day to make sure not to recycle other writers' and bloggers' thoughts. Sure, my own opinions might not be all that different, but this post will still be original.

Now, back to the trade: I like it. I don't love it or think it's the greatest trade of all time, but it makes sense. Although Ernie Grunfeld may pull the trigger on another trade in the next few days, the Wizards' current rotation is a combination of the following:

Starters:
PG Gilbert Arenas
SG Randy Foye
SF Caron Butler
PF Antawn Jamison
C Brendan Haywood

Bench:
G/F Mike Miller
G/F Dominic McGuire
F/C Andray Blatche
G Nick Young
F/C JaVale McGee
G Javaris Crittenton
G DeShawn Stevenson
G Mike James

That's 13 players, so it appears that one or two of those guys could be on the way out in a possible trade -- possibly James because of his expiring $6.5 million contract. Moving Stevenson may be difficult because of 1) his back injury and 2) he still has two years and about $8 million left on his contract.

Also, Foye might not start at the two; Miller or McGuire could also slide into the starting rotation at that spot.

One more thing: Let's take a look at the contracts of all five players involved in the deal (all $ is in millions):

Mike Miller: 2009-2010 ($9.75)
Randy Foye: 2009-2010 ($3.57), 2010-2011 ($4.79 qualifying offer)

Darius Songaila: 2009-2010 ($4.52), 2010-2011 ($4.81 player option)
Etan Thomas: 2009-2010 ($7.35)
Oleksiy Pecherov: 2009-2010 ($1.54), 2010-2011 ($2.38 team option), 2011-2012 ($3.37 qualifying offer)

Money isn't the driving force in this trade. Next season, both teams will pay over $13 million each for these players -- of course, that doesn't factor in the cost of the No. 5 pick for the T'Wolves. Both Miller and Foye could be gone in 2010 for the Wizards, while Thomas will be gone for the T'Wolves. Songaila will surely exercise his option, and Minnesota will likely decline Pecherov's option. But again, this trade doesn't seem to be about money, unless the Wizards really wanted to clear Songaila's 2010 salary to free up some space to possibly re-sign Haywood and/or McGuire.

Strengths of the trade:

• Mike Miller's shooting. Miller had the worst season of his career last year, scoring 9.9 points per game. But he did average 6.6 rebounds (close to his career high) and 4.5 assists (career high). Unfortunately, Miller shot his worst percentage from three-point range (37.8 percent) since 2003-2004. But for his career he's a 40.1 percent three-point shooter, so it could have just been a bad season. Still, the Wizards' best three-point shooter last season was Mike James (36.7 percent) and they shot 33 percent as a team, so Miller is an upgrade in that department. Playing alongside Arenas, Butler, and Jamison should leave Miller with more open shots than in Minnesota, so he could very well thrive in Washinton next season. He's not a good defensive player, though, which means he should fit right in with this group.


• Guard depth. Adding Miller and Foye should provide significant depth at the guard position in case injuries strike the Wizards again. When healthy himself, Foye can play the one and the two, while Miller can fill in at shooting guard and small forward. Miller has played in at least 70 games in five straight seasons, while Foye seemed to recover nicely by playing in 70 games last season after missing most of the 2007-2008 season with a hip injury.


• Mike James's contract. The Wizards sent Etan Thomas and his expiring contract away in the deal, but the Wizards still have James's expiring contract. The Wizards could do one of three things: 1) use James's contract now in another possible trade for a veteran frontcourt presence; 2) keep James for a while and then trade him during the season; or 3) hold on to him for the whole season, allowing his salary to come off the books afterwards. Combined with Miller's and Foye's potential departures, that's nearly $20 million in possible savings.

Weaknesses of the trade:

• Loss of Songaila. Say what you will about Darius Songaila, but I respect how hard he played in Washington. He shot a career-best 53.2 percent from the field last season while playing in just under 20 minutes per game. He isn't flashy and is out of position when forced to play center, but Songaila was certainly a consistent contributor for the Wizards off of the bench last season. Barring a trade, though, his departure does free up minutes for Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee.


• Was a better trade out there? There have been so many rumors floating around that it's hard to know exactly what the Wizards could have traded for with a similar package. Some examples: Tracy McGrady and Carl Landry from the Rockets; Vince Carter from the Nets; Shaquille O'Neal (?) or maybe Amar'e Stoudemire from the Suns; Larry Hughes from the Knicks; Ray Allen from the Celtics; Steve Blake, Travis Outlaw, and Jerryd Bayless/Sergio Rodriguez from the Blazers; etc. -- that's a lot of possibilities to consider. No one knows exactly what else may have been on the table, but it's possible that a better trade could have been pursued.


• Not a defensive upgrade. Another trade may be on the way soon, but right now, the Wizards are still a pretty bad defensive team. Miller and Foye won't change that. Then again, when a team is built around three star players who don't play much defense, it's hard to change a team's identity with a trade or two.

Final Questions/Comments:

• How good can Foye be? To me, Foye is the biggest key to this deal. My first reaction to the trade was: Great, the Wizards got Miller, and he can shoot. But I didn't know much about Foye. True, the Wizards did trade this year's No. 5 pick, but just a few years ago in 2006, Foye was selected with the No. 7 pick. I did know that, but it's worth noting that Foye is a talented player -- when healthy. He's sort of a scoring, combo-guard type like Arenas at 6-4, 210 pounds, and he can score: He averaged 16.3 points last season. If he can keep improving, he could provide an upgrade over Javaris Crittenton and Nick Young.


• How will Miller and Foye fit in with the big three? Ernie Grunfeld has made the decision to build around Arenas, Butler, and Jamison, and this move confirms that. Miller should have no problem fitting in at shooting guard; he can shoot threes, pass, and rebound a little bit. Foye will be more of a question mark.


• Can Blatche and McGee step up? The loss of Songaila, as stated before, opens up playing time for Blatche and McGee, so these two youngsters will need to step up. Blatche will probably be the first big man off of the bench, but McGee appears to have much more upside -- and is certainly more exciting to watch. The Wizards will more than likely bring in another power forward/center, but how the bigs play behind Haywood will be extremely important in the upcoming season.

This trade helps in upgrading the supporting cast of the Wizards, but really, it won't matter much if Arenas isn't able to play like his old self. Butler and Jamison are great players, but when the Wizards don't play defense and don't have Arenas around, they're an average team at best. Miller and Foye should help ease the pain if Arenas can't return to form, but for the Wizards to move to the top of the Eastern Conference next season, they'll need Agent Zero at 100 percent.

Wizards deal pick for Miller and Foye

According to ESPN's Ric Bucher, the Wizards have all but traded the No. 5 pick in the upcoming draft. The deal has the Wizards sending the pick, Darius Songaila, Etan Thomas, and Oleksiy Pecherov to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Mike Miller and Randy Foye.

I'm surprised that Ernie Grunfeld is close to making a move already, but I'll elaborate more as details become available.

PFT's Florio gets bitter in defending Portis 'reporting'

I mentioned this post in Sunday's Weekly Rundown, but last Friday, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote that Clinton Portis and Jim Zorn weren't getting along in the team's recent OTA sessions. Florio included this quote from one unnamed source: "Portis totally has no regard for [Zorn] and thinks he’s above everyone." Florio then went on to include some comments made by John Riggins, who has obviously disliked Portis for a while now, in a rant he made on Portis in January.

Well, a couple of D.C. blogs weren't too happy with the post. On Friday afternoon, Hogs Haven posted a mocking write-up titled, "Multiple Source Confirm Mike Florio Is Clueless." Here's a sample:

I have had the opportunity to contact multiple sources, and they all advise me that Mike Florio has no idea what he is talking about. Does he ever come outside? Where does he get his sources? First he drops a completely unfounded rumor that LaRon Landry is asking to be traded. When we asked the Redskins Public Relations about the rumor, they responded that they had not heard of anything even remotely like that. Then LaRon himself denied that anything like that was going on.

Today he "reports" that Clinton Portis is creating a huge problem in Redskins camp. Again, we asked the Redskins, "What's going on?" We were told that this couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, it is a classic case of Florio manufacturing the news. He trotted a quote from Riggins that is about 6 months old, and the quote about Clinton thinking he is above everyone else smacks of a quote from last year as well. This is what NBC is paying for?

Over at Mr. Irrelevant, the Mottram brothers, already on tilt after Florio's Favre-to-the-Redskins speculation on Thursday, had a little barb aimed towards Florio in a links post this morning: "Florio does what Florio does, says Zorn has a problem with Portis."

Interestingly enough, the war of words didn't stop there; instead, Florio fired back earlier today at Portis and "some bloggers":

Redskins running back Clinton Portis has denied our recent report that he has demonstrated disrespect to coach Jim Zorn during offseason workouts.

"How this story came about, I have no idea," Portis told David Elfin of the Washington Times. "There's nothing going on. There's no beef between me and Coach Zorn. We're on good terms at this present moment. There's no problem."

Portis admitted that there was a past "flareup" with Zorn, but that it happened "a long time ago."

Portis also told Elfin that we (as in PFT) are trying to make trouble where none exists.

Clinton, we honestly don't give a [expletive]. We use the stuff we get that we think our readers will find interesting. And when a credible source tells us that you mouthed off to your head coach during offseason workouts and another credible source corroborates the notion that you have no regard for Zorn, then it's something we're going to share with our audience.

And we assume that Redskins fans (including some bloggers who lack the ability to be objective because they're more concerned about seeing their favorite team be successful than they are about getting to the truth) will blindly accept the version of the events being told by Portis and quarterback Jason Campbell and anyone else with a vested interest in keeping the team's dirty laundry in the locker room.

Ah yes, the blogger who couldn't get any respect from the mainstream media is now beginning to take shots at bloggers himself.

Here is Mr. Irrelevant's response:

Here’s the thing: We aren’t “blindly accepting” anything. We are accepting, for now, CP and Campbell’s version of the story because it is the more believable side. Florio’s Redskins speculation is inaccurate more often than not (he’s 0-3 this month), and there has not been one report — not even a whisper — from anywhere else that Portis has treated his head coach this offseason in the manner in which Florio’s source suggest. In fact, believing Florio’s report would be the very definition of blind acceptance — simply trusting that Florio’s unnamed informant knows something that has not been mentioned anywhere else.

Florio's speculation isn't anything new; it's something that his site came to be known for, and it's the reason why a lot of people read and will continue to read his NFL coverage. What's interesting to me is that he responded to criticism at all, dropping a rare S-bomb in the process. "Why so serious?"

In most cases, Florio would be right about blogs defending their team, but many Redskins fans already take shots at their team and how it's run -- I know I do. But in this case, if Florio can't provide definitive proof or list his sources, he looks like someone who's just trying to start some trouble. And if that was his goal, he succeeded.

Eighth-grader makes crazy shot

Not much else to say other than that's an unbelievable shot.

(HT: Ball Don't Lie)

Weekly Rundown: Arenas, Portis, Ryan Howard

Weekly Rundown is a combination of links and brief comments on stories and topics that I couldn't get to during the week. If there's something important that I missed, don't hesitate to send an email or leave a comment.

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted one of these, but here's what caught my eye during the last week or so:

• The Washington Post's Michael Lee provides some information on Gilbert Arenas's offseason workout plans:
  

  
  I never got the chance to run into Gilbert Arenas at the NBA Finals, but Washington Times reporter Mike Jones stumbled into him in the hallway during Game 4. Arenas told Jones that he plans on spending this summer working out with the famed trainer Tim Grover, who worked with Michael Jordan and helped Dwyane Wade resurrect his career last season and finish third in MVP voting behind LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.
  
  Although I didn't get Arenas, I did talk for a while with Grover, who was at every game working exclusively for Finals MVP Bryant. Grover told me that he expects Arenas to come to his Attacks Athletics facility in Chicago in about two weeks. Arenas has committed to coming and Grover said while he hasn't seen Arenas's medical records, he estimated that it will take at least a two month commitment for Arenas to get the necessary training required. He added that several stars overcoming left knee injuries, including Tracy McGrady and Jermaine O'Neal, are expected to be in Chicago this summer.
  

  
  Arenas working out with Grover certainly seems like great news. [Wizards Insider]


• The Detroit Tigers' Curtis Granderson weighs in with his thoughts on the buzz surrounding 16-year-old Bryce Harper and his decision to enroll in community college. And he makes a convincing argument. [Big League Stew]


• Mike Florio says that Clinton Portis is becoming a "major problem" for Jim Zorn and the Washington Redskins. Florio: "Multiple sources have advised us that Portis shows little or no respect to coach Jim Zorn, and that the situation bubbled over at least once during the team’s OTA sessions, with Portis telling the coach off in front of other players." If this is true, I'm sure it won't be the last time it's brought up before and/or during the season. [Pro Football Talk]


• Truth efficiently dismisses a couple of odd Wizards trade rumors. [Truth About It]


• Mike Jones of The Washington Times believes the Minnesota T'Wolves may want the Wizards' No. 5 pick:
  

  
  According to one insider, the Timberwolves (who already have the sixth, 18th and 28th picks in the draft) disparately want to move up in order to land UConn big man Hasheem Thabeet. Another report has them badly wanting Rubio. Either way, the T'Wolves are said to be craving Memphis' No. 2 pick, but believe to land it, they need to offer two top-six picks in the draft. Enter the Wizards.
  
  Minnesota reportedly has been working the phones nonstop and of all the teams in the league they're talking to, they've been in speaking with the Wizards the most. Some of the pieces Minnesota is believed to be offering up are swingman Mike Miller, who has a $9.75 million expiring contract, guard Randy Foye, the expiring contracts of Brian Cardinal ($6.75 million) and Mark Madsen ($3.6 million) and possibly the 18th and/or 28th picks.
  

  
  I still think the Wizards will trade the pick, though I have no idea what exactly they'd be targeting. But even if Miller isn't the best defensive player, he would provide the Wizards with a consistent threat from three-point range. [Outlet]


• Mike Prada tries to discover the best possible match(es) for Arenas in the backcourt. [Bullets Forever]


• Peter Schmuck does his best to defend Dave Trembley's decision to let Danys Baez pitch to Ryan Howard last night. Howard hit a three-run homer, but the Orioles fought back to earn an impressive win. Still, I disagree with Schmuck. If the Orioles were going to pitch to Howard at all, they should have done so with their best left-handed reliever: George Sherrill. Sure, Sherrill's the closer, but the Orioles don't have a better left hander in the bullpen right now. If Trembley wanted to challenge Howard at all, Sherrill should have been the guy -- not Baez. Just take a look at Howard's splits against RHPs (.299, 17 HR, 1.080 OPS) and LHPs (.194, 3 HR, .615 OPS). It's some outside-the-box thinking, but as important as that moment was, Howard should have either been facing Sherrill or put on base. [The Schmuck Stops Here]


• Rob Neyer discusses the high number of rookie starters this year. [SweetSpot]


• Rick Dempsey, shockingly enough, believes it may be time for the Orioles to start pursuing some trades. That doesn't mean he'd be OK with the O's trading Gregg Zaun, though. [MASN]


• Finally, Andy MacPhail says the Orioles are not in "salary dump mode." [Baltimore Sun]