Team Reviews Coming This Weekend; The Words of Roch Kutbako on The Crazy Bedard Adventure...

Well, for the second year in a row, I am going to try to do a review for every team in baseball - for better or worse.

The first review will be of the Boston Red Sox which will debut Sunday. I'll try to get one up two or three times a week until the season begins. The New York Yankees and Washington Nationals will come mid-week.

Naturally, I will hold off on doing the Baltimore Orioles until the Bedard mini-series ends, Roberts has a home, or the smoke clears - whatever comes first.

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If you get a chance, read Roch's blog on the Sun website. I don't know whether he's frustrated with the whole Bedard saga, or he's sick of the snail's pace that the deal is moving, or both, his entry is an eye-opener.

"...My sources at the warehouse tell me that the Orioles are finally ready to announce a trade later today. Unfortunately, it’s the 10-player deal with the Yankees in 1976.

We’re still waiting for confirmation that Scott McGregor, Rick Dempsey and Tippy Martinez are involved.

I spoke with someone in the organization yesterday who suggested that the Orioles push for Brian Roberts to sign a five-year extension, selling him on the fact that he’d be the face of a franchise that will be ready to contend again in a few years, a franchise that promises to go hard after Mark Teixeira and put him in a lineup that will include Nick Markakis, Adam Jones, Nolan Reimold, Billy Rowell and Matt Wieters. You only trade Roberts if he isn’t interested.

Of course, Teixeira would have to be interested in signing with the Orioles, and the appeal of playing for his hometown team won’t be enough if the price isn’t right, and if he isn’t convinced that they’ll be winners anytime soon. And the Orioles would have to be willing to spend big for him.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. Teixeira has another season to go before free agency. And Roberts can’t possibly be happy that the Orioles traded Miguel Tejada and are a physical away from doing the same with Erik Bedard.

And speaking of Bedard, if this trade drags on much longer, the Orioles should just wait until the July 31 deadline.

It would be nice if the front office provided an update so fans know what’s going on.

Adam Jones and George Sherrill took their physicals in Baltimore. Bedard is supposed to do the same in Seattle. Terrific. So what’s the holdup?

It took less time to build Camden Yards than to acquire a new center fielder to play in it.

You want fans to sell out the ballpark again? It might be a good idea to turn on the lights so they’re not left in the dark."

Although Roch's in the press, he's got the pulse of the fan down very accurately concerning this deal and it's refreshing see what's on his mind in print.

It looks like the principals handling the deal only really know what is going on, but considering the public trust between fans and their sports team, the dissemination of information from the Orioles onto their paying public has been woeful.

Always an interesting day in these parts, ain't it?

I'll have a rundown sometime on Friday, and don't forget if you're in the Baltimore area, check out the event going on at the Sports Legends Museum which celebrates the 113th birthday of baseball's greatest star, Baltimore native George Herman "Babe" Ruth.