Very quickly about the baseball winter meetings:
The Orioles traded catcher Ramon Hernandez to Cincinnati for fourth-outfielder-with-some-speed-but-no-pop Ryan Freel. Good move by the Birds, freeing up space for uber-prospect Matt Wieters to join the big league club sometime this season. The O's also signed light-hitting shortstop Cesar Izturis. Nothing earth shattering, but he'll suffice as a serviceable stopgap.
Losing the A.J. Burnett bidding war to the Yanks is not surprising. Burnett would have immediately served as our ace, but the injury-riddled righty ain't worth even close to a five-year contract for $82.5 mil.
Now, Mark Teixeira, on the other hand, is totally worth an eight-year deal at $20 mil a season. The O's have entered their name in the bid, but they have to compete with the Angels, the Sawx, and the Nats (and, let's be honest, potentially the Yanks). I sort of cynically doubt that Hometown Mark signs here, but it's nice that Andy Mac is at least pursuing him, at least throwing O's fans a bone.
OK, enough about that. Much more important stuff to discuss this weekend.
If you haven't done so already, check out Alex's Exercise in Procrastination, a solid breakdown of the Rave/Steel matchup. I'd like to add that if the contest does come down to passing games, then you have to give Pittsburgh the edge. Roethlisberger, as dopey looking and fantasy crippling as he is, is still a proven veteran who sees the field, makes all the throws, and wins games. Further, the Ravens secondary is depleted and suspect. If Pitt's o-line keeps Baltmore's front seven off Roethlisberger, he'll pick the Ravens apart, and the Ravens will lose.
On the other hand, Joe Flacco, though proving to be highly capable of leading an NFL team, is still a rookie. Pittsburgh's secondary is the best in the league. So even if the Steelers front seven doesn't put pressure on Flacco, he might not make all the plays that Roethlisberger would make. Which means the Ravens still might not win. It's pessimistic -- I prefer "reverse jinxy," actually -- but if the game comes down to QB play, Pittsburgh'll probably win.
That freakin' said, I am so incredibly jacked up for this game! I can't really be more illustrative than that. Sorry. If you didn't know already, Dan and I will be live-blogging the game at 4 p.m. tomorrow! It's our first ever TheBaltimorons.com -- tell your friends -- live-blog! It should be epic.
And, because I'll take any excuse to link to it, I'll close with this. (Stupid YouTube NFL not letting me embed that shit.)
See you tomorrow.
"Gang sack of Ben Roethlisberger" Photo courtesy Associated Press.
"Robo Dog" Photo courtesy Techno Robot.
"Bart Scott forcing Ben Roethlisberger to question his decision to play professional football for a living" Photo courtesy Associated Press.
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