OT: Orioles Dump Ponson

[bulldog]

the Orioles spent 4 or 5 years trying to get Ponson to develop the kind of temperament and control to make him a top pitcher, and now that he is second in the league in wins the team ships him off to the Giants for a collection of nobodies.

Typical Angelos and Co. Don't make the good offer to keep the player, instead trade him for AAA salary guys who are borderline major leaguers :laugh:

No doubt the Orioles will spin this one as being a case of Ponson refusing to listen to reason regarding a contract and not really being a good 'clubhouse' influence, etc............

The only trouble is everyone already knows the score with these Dirty Birds and no one is buying the garbage they are trying to sell.

__________________________________________________ __

Faced with the reality of trading Sidney Ponson or seeing him walk away as a free agent after the season, the Baltimore Orioles chose the former, sending the 26-year-old right-hander to the San Francisco Giants today for right-hander Kurt Ainsworth, lefty Damian Moss and lefty prospect Ryan Hannaman.



Ponson, who is owed about $1.4 million of his $4.25 million salary this season, is two months away from free agency, and the team's attempts over the last two weeks to get him signed to a contract extension failed.

The Giants, who enjoy a commanding lead in the National League West division, clearly obtained Ponson for the express purpose of winning the World Series title they narrowly missed a year ago, when they fell to the Anaheim Angels.

Ainsworth, 24, was the centerpiece of the package the Orioles received in return, even though he is expected to miss the remainder of this season with a fractured scapula. Ainsworth is 6-6 with a 3.56 ERA in parts of three seasons with the Giants.

Moss, 26, is 9-7 with a 4.70 ERA in 20 starts for the Giants this season.

If the Orioles had kept Ponson until the season's end and lost him to free agency, they would have received two first-round draft picks as compensation.

However, in Ainsworth and Moss they get two major-league-ready starting pitchers who won't reach free agency until 2008 and 2005, respectively.

[Sarge]

This is why this club will blow balls until the current management gets out of Dodge. May they linger in last place with a half full stadium until such time

[The Evil Genius]

Not to be rude...but you couldnt be farther from the truth.

Ainsworth is a legit major leaguer....I watched him pitch every game this year. He has above average stuff and would have won 10-12 games if he wouldnt have had a crazy year ending injury. Moss, when his control is there, is a major league pitcher as well. He won, I think, 12 games last year as a Brave and was on pace for the same as a Giant.

Neither are AAA quality players.

The O's knew that they weren't going to be able to sign Ponson...so they got somethign back for him. 2 starters in their rotation (Ainsworth will start next year, bank on it).

The Giants were able to make this deal because they already have 2 young arms in their rotation (Jesse Foppert and Jerome Williams).

Unfortunately for the Giants, I don't see them being able to sign Ponson at the end of the year...unless he comes down from his close to 10 mil a year demands.

[jbooma]

You guys also miss the major point. No matter what the O's do he is going to be a free agent. For letting him go to San Fran for a chance to win a WS this is a good move for the organization. Since when he is a free agent, the O's can still go after him and pay him. If they do sign him in the offseason, then they get 3 quality young pitchers and Ponson back. That would be a steal. He still likes it here in Bmore and since the let him go to have a chance to win he might be willing to talk to the O's again.

[Sarge]

But the point you miss is that Angelos is a cheap basturd who won't pay the bucks necessary to put together a winner

[tenaciousd]

You guys miss the most important point. Baseball is the most irrelevant, boring, "sport" ever produced by mankind.

[The Evil Genius]

Then why are you commenting on it?

[jbooma]

Originally posted by Air Sarge
But the point you miss is that Angelos is a cheap basturd who won't pay the bucks necessary to put together a winner

I disagree, I think this year he is going to spend, they will have 63 million to spend. He might know already that there is no chance for the Expos coming here for 2004. He does know that eventually they will so he has to put something on the field to keep the orioles selling. He did try to spend last year but no one jumped. Now that the O's are a decent team he might be able to get people here.

[buckeyeG]

Yeah,1st Moose and now this.I'ts not looking good for the O's.

Hey Dan, you want to bye another team?:D

[Sarge]

Everybody has been thinking "THis is the year he's gonna spend" since the mid eighties. And they have sucked ever since. Retire already you cheap basturd.

[jbooma]

Originally posted by Air Sarge
Everybody has been thinking "THis is the year he's gonna spend" since the mid eighties. And they have sucked ever since. Retire already you cheap basturd.


I agree with you he needs to go. However if he does put a good team on the field next year, the dc people might go to this games and then he can prove his point.

I don't care much for Angelos as an owner, however the man is smart as hell and must have something up his sleeve.

[Jimbo]

This is a very interesting trade. I think the O's may have gotten the best of it unless the Giants make it to the World Series again. I'm not convinced Ponson would re-up with the Giants next year, even if they win it all.

The pitching in the NL West is potentially as good as, if not better than, any other division right now. I see a lot of those teams out here in Colorado and, aside from the Giants, the Dodgers, D-Backs and Rockies all have legitimate shots at the post-season.

While the Skins are still my first love, I'm really getting excited about baseball again.

[bulldog]

Ainsworth is in the same position that Ponson was 3 years ago. He has a good arm but lacks consistency and maturity. His record at 6-6 before being injured was similar to Ponson's 12-12 mark in his first real stint in the majors.

So, this team isn't moving forward with this trade. If anything they are just giving back the past couple of seasons of work with Ponson.

MAYBE Ainsworth wins 14 games two years from now. Maybe not.

But the bottom line remains the same.

To win, at some point this organization is going to have to identify core players and keep them by PAYING them :)

Or you can be the Clippers and draft and develop players for other teams such as the Yankees and Red Sox and continue to watch them achieve.

[OrangeSkin]

The extent of my baseball knowledge is limited to the highlights on SportsCenter.

So my question to you baseball fans, what the hell happened in '96 and '97 when the Os were going deep into the playoffs?

If Angelos is such a cheap ba$tard, how did he put together a team with Robbie Alomar and the like?

[Hersh]

Funny how some guy named Gammons said the O's made a great trade. Can't imagine he knows what he's talking about.

Ainsworth may have only been 6-6 but his ERA was under 4 which is solid at age 24. Moss gives the O's a young decent lefty. Both are a few years from free agency. Throw in another hard throwing lefty "prospect" and the O's come out better than if Ponson walks away in the winter.

On top of that, the O's could still end up with Ponson back next year or could go after another top flight pitcher. I also expect the O's to make a few more trades as players pass through wavers.

Having said that, they do need to open the check book and address some other needs. Here's to hoping it happens soon.

[bulldog]

Hersh, a nice thought when you are perhaps talking about a team that has been a good winner and then has to rebuild by getting younger.

In this case the Orioles have been trading productive players for 'prospects' the past 5-6 years and have yet to come up with any core all-star players that they have been able to sign to for the future.

I look at Ainsworth's stats line and then note that he won't be back until next spring training.

Moss is 9-7 with a 4.70 ERA. As a starting pitcher those aren't great numbers, even though lefties are hard to find. This will be his third team in two years.

[Bang]

Angelos needs to have a stroke.
Angelos needs to have a close encounter with a speeding freight train.
Angelos needs to have a massive heart attack.
Angelos needs to suffer an embolism.
Angelos needs to fall out of a very high window.
Angelos needs to fall into a very deep hole.
Angelos needs to have a boating mishap.

Angelos needs to be put out of my misery.

~Bang

[TD_washingtonredskins]

The problem isn't that Angelos hasn't spent money. Up until 2000 or 2001 he spent A LOT of money. The O's were one of the highest payrolls in the league. He didn't necessarily do it wisely (Albert Belle, Will Clark, Delino DeShields, etc.) but he paid money to TRY to make the O's good.

Now, I do believe that the O's have a lot of solid pitching from this trade and the past few drafts. Combine with that the fact that Gammons has said he believes they will add some bats this offseason (since they have the money available to be a big free-agency player) and I think they could surprise some people next year. If they can add someone like Tejada to their current team of role players and good, young pitching....I think they can improve.

Just my two cents. But people are acting like we just traded away Roger Clemens...Ponson has just as much chance to tank again as he does to continue to succeed. And if he does tank and we got two lefties and another ML pitcher, that is a great trade.

[NavyDave]

Congress should step in and end this nonsense about the Expos not being in DC by saying goodbye to the anti trust shield they currently have.

[Hitman56]

Selig must go!!!!!!!

[wisconsinskinsfan]

Though I don't know much about the Orioles situation here but being a Giants fan I can give insight on the players you received.

Ainsworth is young and very talented. He has a strong arm and was expected to be in the rotation as soon as he returned from the DL. This season the bullpen has caused him to lose some of his games, in others he got no run support. He is basically a rookie this season even though he pitched a few games in the prior two seasons. I think he will do well in Baltimore.

As for Damian Moss, he has all the ability but at times seems to lack confidence. He is a strikeout pitcher that I beleive is one pitch away from being a solid number one. Meaning if he can learn another pitch to go with his other three. He has one good season under his belt and with the right coaching can be a great pickup for the Orioles.

I think the Orioles will be happy with the trade, the Giants on the other hand are just looking to get to the WS again. I don't see them resigning Ponson after the season. The Giants have always been a team that used fundamentals and young arms to win games. They do not spend a lot on pitching, mostly because they have so much invested in Bonds, and a few others. So the O's may still end up with Ponson next season if they are willing to give him the money.

The deal looks good to me.

[Funkyalligator]

This was a great deal for the Orioles...they approached Ponson with a 3 year 21 million dollar deal and he said he wanted 30 million for 3 years....that is a bunch of bs....there was no way they could sign him to an extension before the trade deadline so why not trade him for 3 good players....this is a great trade for the Orioles.....hands down...there is no reason to complain about this trade...I just wish they had traded away...Batista..Conine...Surhoff.....Cordova...... Segui.... but they didn't which sux

[AJWatson3]

i bet he wanted to get traded and have a shot at a WS.... that is why he made such a rediculous salary demand.

and i think it will be a good trade for the o's... really want them to add a couple of hitters though. as long as they don't take away from mora and gibbons continued development. matos is looking good too, want to see him keep working hard and hitting over .300

so i guess that means we can add SS, 2B, 3B (Batista makes a lot of $$), 1B (Conine to DH?), and C (Pudge will be available again..!)

if we could get Pudge and Tejada and our young players keep playing well i think we would have a legit shot at finishing next season over .500!

[dukeuch]

2B? What's wrong with Roberts?

[AJWatson3]

i actually like roberts, much more than hairston... but i don't know if i would want him to be my 2B of the future... i would actually like him to start next season, especially because i don't know of any super-star caliber 2B that will be available... as long as it isn't hairston!

[jbooma]

Originally posted by AJWatson3
i actually like roberts, much more than hairston... but i don't know if i would want him to be my 2B of the future... i would actually like him to start next season, especially because i don't know of any super-star caliber 2B that will be available... as long as it isn't hairston!

Where is hairston? is he injured?

[TD_washingtonredskins]

yep, hairston is out until at least the end of this month but possibly the whole year....i haven't really missed him much.

at least not until that throwing error last night :doh:

[Riggodrill44]

Hariston is so much better defensely than Roberts.I like them both but if 1 has to go it should be Roberts.With Conine on the right side and as bad as his defense is you HAVE to have a great 2nd basemen that can pick it.