1. Dave Trembley needs a little work as far as managing his roster and managing games goes. Great guy, fantastic with words, but some of his decisions are questionable, such as overusing Dennis Sarfate in mid-April which caused his ERA to spiral, or insisting on using Jamie Walker nearly every night. A few of those decisions have cost the team some games. Also, why in the world would anyone want Brandon Fahey or Luis Hernandez on their major league roster? I understand that he values defense more than most, but they can’t hit to save their lives. Hernandez never had an OPS over .694 in the minor leagues, and Fahey never topped .726. It’s honestly embarrassing to see either step up to the plate. I’ll give Luis props for winning a game on a walk-off hit earlier this year, but he’s done nothing since.

2. Matt Albers needs to be in the starting rotation. There’s no way Steve Trachsel deserves to be the #5 starter ahead of Albers, who is turning out to be the gem of the Miguel Tejada trade. He’s been lights out in the bullpen and performed very well in 2 spot starts. Trachsel, however, has an ERA north of 7 and was just torched yesterday by LA of Anaheim, giving up 6 earned in 3 innings. Trachsel’s a smart guy and a good guy I’m sure, but he’s washed up. Give the young kid some time to prove that he’s a part of the future.

3. Adam Jones is like Jekyll and Hyde right now. One at-bat you see an all star outfielder, the next you see Sal Fasano. I know he’s only 22 and expected him to have a rough go at things in this, his first full season, but damn. I’ve never seen someone fall behind to 0-2 faster than AJ has so far. He looks fantastic at one point and shows great plate discipline, and the next he’s flailing at anything that comes near him. Hopefully O’s hitting coach Terry Crowley is working with him every day to help get him acclimated to the bigs. I know AJ has the work ethic to do so.

4. Ramon Hernandez is a bum. In 2006, he looked like a fantastic signing and was one of the best all-around catchers out there. Hit for decent average that year, hit 23 home runs and drove in 91. He had an absolute cannon of an arm, which now in 2008 has been downgraded to a Super Soaker. Not only is his offense horrible, but his defense is so much worse than what it was, it’s astonishing. I didn’t know it was possible for someone to decline so fast. In the last week I’ve seen him allow countless runs on sure outs because of terrible tags. Oh, and not to mention his loafing and overall stupidity. Give him some time to increase his value, then trade him ASAP, in part because of my fifth point…
5. Can Matt Wieters come soon enough? Probably the best draft pick the team has made this decade. The uber-prospect out of Georgia Tech is lighting High A ball up (.341/.406/.560). If he keeps this up, I’m hoping the Orioles brass sends him to AA Bowie, and if he performs there, give him a chance in Baltimore come September. This kid is the future of the Orioles, and when you add him to Markakis and Jones, not to mention all the pitching prospects, and that’s a recipe for greatness.

While I’m sure the Orioles won’t keep up this pace, it’ll still be very fun to watch the rest of this season unfold.

Baltimore acquired outfielder Luke Scott, righthanders Matt Albers and Dennis Sarfate, lefthander Troy Patton and minor-league third baseman Mike Costanzo in exchange for Tejada, who became unhappy with the Orioles two years ago and requested a trade.

This looks like a great deal for the Orioles in trading somebody who obviously didn’t wanna be here anymore, while getting some pretty good quality back for him.   Hopefully 2 of the prospects can continue in a positive manner to the team.  I hear Sarfate an hit 100mph on the gun, so that would be really nice to have.  What are your feelings on the trade?