Bowden looking to deal with the Orioles
I'm listening to the Nationals and the Orioles duking it out in Viera, FL right now. The Orioles' broadcaster just mentioned that Jim Bowden called the Orioles last week about swapping for Soriano. Any ideas about which birds Bowden was targeting? I remember seeing Luis Matos' named linked to Washington recently. It would make sense to go after an outfielder rather than trying to convert an infielder, no? Some pitching would be nice too.
The O's have a few nice young pitchers they could add to the trade. Byrdak or Penn spring to mind. Matos can do everything but hit, it seems. He did have a good year (maybe three years ago?) where he did hit well, hit homers, and stole bases. But I still don't see anything that adds up to Soriano here.
Rick, your knowledge of the younger players is impressive. I don't tend to find out much about them until they've made a splash at the major league level.
So far, Soriano seems to be panning out, at least at the plate. His fielding needs work, but then again, it always has…