Quick O's, Ravens Stuff

Orioles

Topic: Danys Baez.
Time to trade this guy before he falters even further. Someone who was seen as a good trade chip a month ago has done very poorly out of the bullpen since then. His ERA on June 22 was 3.22. His ERA coming out of the All-Star break was 4.26. And just before I started to write this blog, he came into a tough situation; first and second, one out. He hit Jermaine Dye in the head, so the bases were loaded. Then he allowed a home run to Jim Thome. So his ERA is now much higher than 4.26. Trade him and get what you can out of him before other teams notice he's going back to the Danys Baez of two years ago.

Topic: Nick Markakis and Adam Jones.
Is it a sign of a good second half to come for these two? Both of these guys came into the second half on homer-less streaks, and both have hit a homerun so far tonight, which is good to see from these two. Hopefully they can keep it up, especially Markakis, who has really disappointed me with his patience at the plate. It seems that every time he comes up he bounces a ball to the right side of the infield when he should have taken the ball the other way, swings at too many pitches early on in the at-bat, or takes strike three. Markakis needs to go back to what brought him success last year: being patient. He walked 99 times last year, and batted .306 with 20 homers. He's on pace to barely break 60 walks this season. Going into the second half, his batting average was .291 with 8 homers. Before tonight, he hadn't hit a homer since June 16th.


Ravens

Topic: SUGGS.
Great to see the Ravens give up a lot of money to get this guy signed. A six year, $63 million-dollar deal is rare in the NFL, but is a great idea to give to Suggs. The Ravens needed to get this guy back for a while. Having already lost Bart Scott and Jim Leonhard (Ray Lewis, too, will be gone sooner than we know it), we needed to keep this guy, who has really become the centerpiece of this tough, Ravens defense.

Topic: Derrick Mason.
After Derrick Mason's surprising announcement of his retirement, John Harbaugh will meet with Mason, and discuss his future. This retirement took Ravens Nation by complete surprise, considering there was no discussion of a possible Mason retirement. If Mason does not end up coming back to this team, the Ravens are in trouble. The duo of Mark Clayton and Demetrius Williams is nowhere close to a playoff-calibur one. The Ravens need to sign a big-name receiver if Mason truly retires. Marvin Harrison, Anquan Boldin, Plaxico Burress, Brandon Marshall. Those big names are all out there, and they all wouldn't mind playing for a contending team, I'm sure. Check them out if Mason truly retires.