The Orioles announced Friday that they have reinstated designated hitter Jim Thome and left-handed pitcher Troy Patton from the 15-day disabled list.

Thome was placed on the DL on July 31 (retroactive to July 28) with a herniated disc in his neck. He has batted .261/.354/.391 in 18 games for the Orioles after being acquired from Philadelphia on June 30. Thome was batting .316/.409/.526 in his last 10 games before going on the DL.

Patton was placed on the DL on August 14 (retroactive to August 13) with a right ankle sprain. Patton is 1-0 with a 2.58 ERA (52.1IP, 15ER) and 48 strikeouts in 50 appearances this season. He currently owns a career-high 18-game scoreless streak (13.2IP) since July 6.

I arrived home late last night from Cleveland and Pittsburgh. I took in Friday and Saturday night’s Oriole wins at Progressive Field and a game at the beautiful PNC Park Sunday afternoon. These were two more stadiums on my journey to see an official game at every MLB park, numbers 17 and 18 respectively. But Cleveland was all business, with my Orange gear on I was there to see the Orioles play. The second night we actually sat with 5 Orioles fans and were louder than the Indians fans in our section which was in the bleachers. The Indians have some interesting traditions, none more unique then the drum guy. This guy plays his little bass drum all night long when the Indians have a runner in scoring position and everyone in return claps along.

In my last blog, i deemed this series against the Indians as the most important series of the season up to this point. I was right with the Orioles taking 3 of 4 and the Yankees getting swept in Oakland. The O’s are now just 6.5 games back of the Yankees and tied for the Wildcard lead with a huge two week period ahead with Tampa, Oakland, and the Yankees. Its now or never and the two games I saw in Cleveland along with Sunday’s was the start! But back to the trip, I was pleasantly surprised that my party of three wasn’t the only Orioles fans at Progressive Field. The fans in Cleveland were also very welcoming towards us Orioles fans. I did make the classic mistake of asking the woman next to me who was more hated, Model or Lebron. She got over it!

The highlight of the two games in Cleveland besides the obvious two wins that I got to see on the road, was hearing the roar of the crowd when Jim Thome took his first steps towards the plate of his first at bat Friday night. He went on to double, Homer, and single that night! Thus they didn’t cheer for him very much the 2nd night! His home run in Friday nights game put him alone at 6th all-time, passing short time Oriole, Sammy Sosa. This was the first significant home run that I had seen in person since Manny Ramirez’s 500th which took place May 31st of 2008 off of the submariner, Chad Bradford, at Camden Yards. The Orioles lost that game 6-3. Thome of course homered in the 2nd game of the trip on a solo shot off Zach McAllister. His first two home runs as an Oriole, in my first two games seeing him play in an Oriole uniform.

The MVPs of the trip are Chris Tillman and Miguel Gonzalez who shut down the Indians in front of two gigantic Cleveland crowds. Both nights after the games the Indians put on an incredible firework show called “Rock N Blast.” This is a once in a year extravangza sponsored by the the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was the only reason fans stuck around throughout the Orioles 10-2 beatdown of the Indians. Big round of applause to Ryan Flaherty as well for homering in back to back nights along with Thome. The Indians are getting ready to install a Jim Thome statue in center field already and he hasn’t even retired yet!  I’ll be back Cleveland for the Ravens-Browns game in November!

Just when you think that the Orioles are going to pack up the tent and head south into the AL East Standings they put a run together like they did this weekend.  Very few Oriole fans were feeling too good about a 2-2 series split in Minnesota during a time when the Orioles were trying to keep their heads above water. On top of that the Orioles were sending three of their most inconsistent starters to the mound for the first three games of their weekend series in Cleveland. The combination of Miguel Gonzalez, Chris Tillman and Zach Britton were 0-3 and had pitched a combined 10 1/3 innings in their last starts. The three young pitchers had allowed a total of 14 runs in those starts. So what do they do? Pitch 19 1/3 innings and allow just three runs in their three wins over the weekend. I guess that’s what you get with a young pitching staff. It could have been two out of three as the Orioles trailed 1-0 heading into the seventh inning of Saturday night’s game. That’s when veteran addition Jim Thome made his presence felt. Thome blasted a 2-run game winning homer to right off of Zach McAllister in the seventh inning and propelled the O’s to victory. I wasn’t a big fan of the Thome acquisition but give the O’s front office some credit. He has now accounted for at least one victory, and his veteran bat allowed Buck Showalter to put Nick Markakis in the lead-off spot. That’s a spot where he has absolutely thrived. He has energized the Orioles offense since his return off the DL after the All-Star break.

Saturday night was another victory that the orioles have pulled out when trailing heading into the seventh inning. They are also undefeated when they lead after eight innings. Grittiness and a great backend of the bullpen will keep this team in the race down the stretch. A win Monday night would guarantee them a 500 record on August 1^st for the first time since 2005 (60-60 on August 17^th).

It was a great weekend for the O’s but they won’t sweep this week’s top three events of the weekend. I had to throw in yesterday’s amazing come from behind victory by Ernie El’s at the British Open. Let’s get to this weekend’s top three.

#3

The Orioles check in at #3 with their 3-1 Saturday night victory over Cleveland. This was just another example of how much this year’s rendition of the Orioles never quit. In years past you could have chalked this one up in the loss column. The Orioles were doing absolutely nothing against Indians starter Zach McAllister. Chris Tillman was pitching extremely well but it looked like his first inning mistake that Shin-Soo Choo hit out of the yard would be his demise. Just when you thought the Orioles three game winning streak would end and the O’s would be shut out after scoring 10 runs on Friday night they rallied. J.J. Hardy started the inning with a single to left and then Thome crushed a 1-0 fastball over the right field fence.  All of a sudden the O’s had a late inning lead. This year a late inning lead is almost a guaranteed victory. Troy Patton, Pedro Strop and Jim Johnson pitched 2 1/3 scoreless to nail down the 3-1 victory.  I actually heard someone suggest that the Orioles should trade Jim Johnson to make the team better. I had to laugh, he is the main reason this team is in the hunt after nailing down save #30 on Sunday. That topic though is a whole other blog.

#2

Ernie Els’ come from behind victory on Sunday at the British Open is #2 this week. I wasn’t sure if it was Els’ performance or Adam Scott’s demise that was the story on Sunday. I picked Els. It’s easy to look at the collapse of Adam Scott and miss how impressive Els’ victory was.

Els started the day six shots off the lead. All you heard from the commentators was how everyone had to be aggressive to catch Adam Scott and for most of the day that looked like it would be the case. The key to the victory though for Els was that he didn’t have a major collapse like every one of the other leaders had. He just stayed the course played patient and pounced on his opportunities. Hell if he would have putted better he could have won by five shots. The onetime Els got aggressive he almost paid the price. His tee shot on 16 ended up by the hospitality tent. He hit a slick shot thru two bunkers to save par and stay in the hunt. When he birdied 18 he probably thought it wasn’t going to be enough. That’s when Scott fell apart. Can you imagine what Els was thinking as Scott made bogey after bogey. From I probably won’t win, to hey I have a shot I better start getting loose, to I’m the British Open champ all in the span of about a half hour.

I would venture to say that no one predicted the Orioles to do as well as they have to this point in the season, except for maybe some of the “homers” out there.  It’s been a year of surprises and disappointments (those links courtesy our own Luke Jones) so far and right now the O’s are in somewhat of a purgatory or limbo.  As I said in one my earlier pieces, the next two weeks or so will be a turning point for the team and will show whether they are ready to contend for a playoff spot or gear up for the future.

Here are my five predictions for the second half of the year:

1. The Orioles will not end up “buying” any great players – Even though Dan Duquette has declared the Orioles “buyers” at the trade deadline, I don’t buy this for a second.  Up until this point, Duquette has given every indication that he believes the right way to build a team is through the farm system.  He really didn’t take a huge risk on Jim Thome (which appears like a failure so far) and I don’t think he will be willing to give up what is needed to get someone like Zach Grienke, Matt Garza, or Wandy Rodriguez which would be some middle to high level prospects.

2. The Orioles will trade Wilson Betemit or Mark Reynolds – There are a few teams that are in need of a quality third baseman and there aren’t many of those around.  The Orioles have two.  To call them “quality” might be a stretch but they can certainly fill a void for a team in need.  Nick Markakis’s (returning to the lineup Friday) and Endy Chavez’s (now on a rehab tour) returns will add depth to the outfield allowing Chris Davis to return to the first base position which will make a trade of either of the two third basemen even more logical.

3. Brian Matusz, Jake Arietta, and Tommy Hunter will not return to the MLB level – They may come back next year but if you look at Chris Tillman and the good that working with Rick Peterson in the minors did, I think the Orioles will be wise and keep them down to figure things out.  The process of identifying their problems and fixing them is a somewhat lengthy process also.  It requires in depth recording and analysis of the pitching delivery and then practice of the corrections made to it.

4. J.J. Hardy will continue to slump – I never thought that J.J. would be as good as he was last year.  This year he is clearly fatigued and maybe injured, batting only .224/.262/.380. That’s bad any way you look at it.  I have heard some things about him dealing with shoulder pain and if you have ever played baseball, you know how hard it is to swing if your shoulder isn’t 100%.

And finally…

5. The Orioles will not finish above .500 – As much as I would like them to, I just don’t see it happening.  The way the Orioles were having success (good pitching and hitting home runs) is not a sustainable winning formula, first of all, and it has completely unraveled in the past 20 games.  Remember, this isn’t just a few game slump we are looking at.  We are witnessing a bad baseball team at the moment and one that I think has reached its ceiling.

I know these predictions are a little pessimistic but I’m just trying to be realistic and look at the facts with this team.  They aren’t playing well, no matter how you slice it.  You can only go on history and if you do that, there is every indication the team will start trading away players at the first sign of trouble, thus making the team worse.

Extra credit prediction: Adam Jones will continue being a big mouth (and I’m putting that nicely).  I’m really not sure why so many people like the guy.  Since his new contract (all $85 million of it) he has been below average at best. He constantly mouths off at fans on Twitter and says how he and the team need to do better yet doesn’t make good on his statements.  Adam needs to start putting his money (no pun intended) where his mouth is and play some good baseball.

Follow me on Twitter @RealJohnSears

I was in Paris when the Baltimore Orioles’ trade for veteran DH Jim Thome became official and didn’t get much of a chance to opine about it. My guess is that I would have politely said something along the lines of “sure, Jim Thome is better than no one, but is a part time DH with little left in the tank really going to make much of a difference?”

I’m glad I didn’t have the chance to say that. Boy would there be egg all over my face.

Thome has come to the plate in six of the Birds’ eight games since being acquired. He’s managed to collect five hits (all singles), score a run and drive in another. He’s also walked four times and struck out 11 times. He’s been far from terrible since arriving, but hasn’t really made much of a difference in the lineup either. The O’s have won three of the eight games they’ve played since acquiring Thome and enter the All-Star break without scoring a run over their last 21 innings.

The Birds finished the first half of the season with a 45-40 record, good enough for 2nd place in the AL East and currently holding what would be the second Wild Card spot in the American League. The troubling part is that over their last 19 games before the break, they compiled a 6-13 record and averaged scoring less than three runs per game during the stretch.

I don’t want to seem like I’m taking the Orioles’ pitchers off the hook during the stretch. The team allowed nearly 5.5 runs per game during the same stretch, demoting starting pitchers Tommy Hunter, Brian Matusz and Jake Arrieta to AAA Norfolk in the process.

I’ll stop short of labeling the stretch “a disaster” for the Birds, but I’ll admit that I went through about ten minutes of inner monologue before I decided the term would be unfair.

I’m not particularly mad at Thome for not lighting the world on fire during his first week with the Orioles. It would be unfair to expect any player to become a serious catalyst in just one week, but there was absolutely zero reason to expect a soon to be 42 year old who hasn’t put up particularly good offensive numbers since 2008 to be the one to do it.

The truth is that the Thome acquisition is going to bug me until the Orioles decide they want to acquire players who are actually good.

I know WNST.net’s Drew Forrester said Sunday the Birds “had better” make moves to upgrade the team before the July 31 trade deadline. My column today isn’t just an echo of Forrester’s sentiments. My column is much more particular.

I’ve said for some time that the Birds cannot view their start to the 2012 season as a sign that they’re on the cusp of turning the page. There simply is not enough evidence of that being the case. There is significantly more evidence of the Birds experiencing good fortune thanks to a couple of nice pieces (OF Adam Jones, C Matt Wieters and P’s Jason Hammel & Jim Johnson notably) and an element of luck via injuries to rival teams.

I’m certainly not backing off of those statements. The start of the 2012 season is in NO WAYS a sign that the Birds’ “rebuilding” plan has worked, or that former executive Andy MacPhail and current GM Dan Duquette have put together a group of players that are just a year away from reaching greatness. The reality is that there just aren’t enough good players either currently at the Major League level or set to reach the majors in the next year or two to suggest the team will be able to win for more than half a season.

The players I mentioned before (Jones, Wieters, Hammel, Johnson) are good players. Unfortunately, that’s about where the list ends.  OF Nick Markakis and SS JJ Hardy are supposed to be good players. SP Wei-Yin Chen and RP Pedro Strop have showed signs that they might be good players. P Dylan Bundy and SS Manny Machado are believed to be good players for the future. Thome and 2B Brian Roberts USED to be good players. 3B Mark Reynolds and 1B Chris Davis (or is that 1B Mark Reynolds and OF Chris Davis?) are players you want to believe are good but you know better.

It’s been an up and down first half of the season for the Baltimore Orioles.  After a fast start, recently the team has been looking somewhat like the Orioles of past years.  In the last 20 games or so, quality pitching and timely hitting have been at a minimum.  The formula the Orioles used during their hot start has started to unravel after injuries and just simply poor play has plagued them.  Injuries to Nick Markakis, Endy Chavez, and Nolan Reimold have decimated the outfield, leaving Adam Jones the lone staple.

The Orioles are right on the line between irrelevance and contention.  There are problems that need to fixed and there are ways to do it.  At this point it’s a matter of trying.  Both with the players and the front office.

Since his new contract extension back on May 26th, Adam has completely dropped off in production.  Batting a mere .260 in June and July, it seems as though Adam has almost phoned it in at this point.  He doesn’t hustle down the line or after foul balls near as much and just isn’t having many quality at bats.  Adam needs to put his money where his twitter feed is and start hitting the ball and not just talk about it.

The trade for Jim Thome hasn’t worked out very well either.  He is batting a measly .238 since joining the team with zero homeruns; the main reason we traded for him.

The stellar starting pitching during the first part of the year has all but disappeared at this point, with three of the original five starters not even at the major league level anymore (Matusz, Arrieta, Hunter).  Clearly if the Orioles want to stay in contention they need to trade for an elite arm like Zach Grienke or trade for a couple of quality arms like Matt Garza and Ryan Dempster.  I personally would trade anyone except Bundy and Machado (especially after their Futures Game performances) for Grienke.  He is a great pitcher who I think the Orioles could easily sign to a longer deal.  He has said he likes the small market teams better because he isn’t much of a media guy.

Anyone who has stepped up to play third base has been simply downright awful defensively.  Buck Showalter has resorted to putting Robert Andino there but what you make up defensively with him, you give up on the offensive end.  There aren’t many, if any solutions out there for this problem at this point.  Padres Chase Headley has been a rumor but they clearly want too much in return for him.  This is probably just going to be a hole the O’s will have to deal with for the rest of the season.

Brian Roberts’s return was a great story, but that’s about all it really was.  His average is down to .182 and is still without an extra base hit.  Yes, that’s right, he doesn’t even have ONE.  This is clearly not the production that you need out of your lead-off hitter.

Nick Markakis should be returning to the lineup after the All Star Break which should bring some much needed stability to the lineup.  For what it’s worth, he hit two, two run homeruns during his Friday rehab start with AA Bowie.  If anything, it’s encouraging to say the least.  His return would allow Davis to move to left field which is more suited for his abilities in Camden Yards.

With all this said, the team is still five games above .500 at 45-40 and a manageable 6.5 games behind the Yankees for first place in the A.L. East.  While there are clear problems on this team, they can be fixed by simply caring about how well the team does.  If the front office wants to make something out of this year, then they will go for it and trade for some legitimate pieces. If not, the team will simply fall into irrelevance

The All-Star break is upon us. And, if the season ended today, the Orioles would be headed to the playoffs. Thursday’s disaster with the Angels notwithstanding, the Orioles have reached halftime without completely faceplanting as most of us expected they would. The bullpen has been the most pleasant surprise, with an ERA still close to the best in baseball. The offense (long balls in particular) has also been a big reason for the success, with Adam Jones on pace for 40 homeruns and several others flirting with 30.

However, just like last year, the most glaring weakness has been the defense. Unfortunately, the O’s also lead the league in errors, which has cost them at least three or four winnable games already this season. The other coin flip has been the starting pitching, which lately seems to always be either stellar or awful on any given night. Jason Hammel and Wei-Yin Chen are aces more often than not, but the other three rotation spots have been consistently shaky with occasional flashes of brilliance.

The Orioles have already made a splash in the trade market this year by acquiring DH Jim Thome from the struggling Phillies for a pair of minor leaguers. For awhile now, I’d been wondering if they were really serious about being buyers this year like Dan Duquette said, and if, to that end, they would be looking to pick up another legitimate starting pitcher. Today when I checked my fantasy team (the Mercersburg Rebels, currently in 1^st place), the news feed told me that the Orioles are trying to make a trade with the Brewers for RHP Zack Greinke. It also mentioned that the O’s have two highly-touted prospects in Dylan Bundy and Manny Machado that might be part of such a deal.

For the last few years, I’ve always made it a point to have Greinke on my fantasy team. He routinely goes deep into games, puts up lots of strikeouts, and has a very good ERA and WHIP. He won the 2009 AL Cy Young with the Royals, no easy feat when one considers that they’ve been about as bad as the Orioles over the last decade. This year, his record is 9-2, while his team is currently under .500 by five games.

So, all indications are that he would be an excellent pickup if the Orioles can pull this off. However, I would not part with Bundy or Machado to make it happen. Since Milwaukee lost Prince Fielder, they’re in need of a firstbaseman. Perhaps Mark Reynolds could be part of this trade? True, he’s not crushing the ball like he was last year, but Miller Park is definitely hitter-friendly. And now that the Orioles have Chris Davis, there isn’t a tremendous need for Reynolds here anymore. It would also make a big dent in that error rate.

Another thing to consider here is that the era of Brian Roberts is, regrettably, over. He’s given us some tremendous years, but unfortunately the Orioles simply cannot depend on him as an everyday player anymore. Therefore, letting go of Manny Machado would be unwise, because he will be coming of age right about the time when Roberts is officially finished. I don’t think I even need to elaborate on why trading Dylan Bundy would be a bad move, unless of course the Brewers are offering significantly more than just Greinke.

I have to admit, it’s a VERY nice thought that the Orioles’ rotation could eventually consist of Hammel, Chen, Greinke, Britton, and whoever gets their act together. That, coupled with Jones, Wieters, Davis, Markakis, Hardy, and our current bullpen would almost have to be a serious contender.

However, I must reiterate that even if this becomes reality, we are not yet free of Peter The Terrible, and I still remain unconvinced that the Orioles have truly turned the corner as long as he remains in the warehouse.

What do you think? Should the Orioles trade for Greinke? Is there someone else out there you’d like to see them pursue? Comments are always welcome.

With Jim Thome rolling into Baltimore just a few years past his home run hitting prime and Chris Davis’s monstrous Eutaw Street home run in yesterday’s loss, the question still stands…Will anyone ever hit the old B&O Warehouse? Now I know everyone jumps at the chance to say that Griffey did it in the Derby. And that was an astonishing feat, where the ball traveled approximately 465 feet to the base of the renowned building. The Warehouse is Oriole Park at Camden Yards’ most distinguishing feature. At 1,116 feet long it is known as the longest brick building on the east coast. If you were to stand it up, the Warehouse would be the 7th tallest building in the United States. The six taller are located in either Chicago or New York. Chris Davis’s 437 foot home run yesterday was the 65th home run to reach Eutaw Street. It was the 28th hit by an Oriole and the 8th overall hit this season, which ties a record for most Eutaw bombs in a single season.

So would anyone care to take a guess at who has the third longest Eutaw Street home run? None other then new Oriole, Jim Thome. On July 26th, 1996 as a member of the Cleveland Indians, Thome hit a 440 foot shot of Mike Mussina, who was the Oriole’s ace at the time. Only Henry Rodriguez of the Expos in 1997 and Adam Dunn of the Nationals have hit further balls onto Eutaw Street then Thome’s blast in 1996. Theoretically Jay Gibbons has come the closest, hitting a ball only 4 feet short of the Warehouse back in 2003 against the Phillies, though his ball only traveled 420 feet, 23 feet short of Rodriguez’s longest shot in ’97.

Jim Thome has 609 career regular season home runs. His furthest homerun of his career was a 511 foot blast at then Jacobs Field in Cleveland back in his seventh major league season in 1997. Now by my predictions that would have hit the Warehouse without a doubt if he pulled it. Nobody has ever hit a further home run at Progressive Field. But will he be the first to do it, or maybe it will be the earlier mentioned, Chris Davis. But my guess is eventually, it will be done. If Adam Dunn was a member of the Orioles I think he would have done it. This season, of his 24 home runs, two of them would have been the longest home runs in Eutaw Street history, and who knows maybe his 450 foot blast on April 6th, may have been the first ball to make it to the still uncharted territory. But here’s to hoping that it’s Thome’s first blast as an Oriole that makes it there because wouldn’t that be a great story.

The Orioles made the first move in what looks to be a very close race in the AL East, proving they are buyers at the trade deadline for the first time since the Clinton administration. Though it does not look like a major move, it is significant to a young team making a playoff push for the first time. The O’s are not just adding a bat, they are making a change in the culture.

Thome’s addition will add left handed power to the middle of order, which is struggling to get in a rhythm as of late. His presence as a DH will set the lineup, moving everyone else in to their proper role. Adam Jones has been forced to bat clean up lately because of the lack of power on the everyday roster but with Thome in Baltimore, Jones can move to three hole, where his plate discipline and speed on the base path will have a larger impact. In turn, Nick Markakis moves up to the two hole (when he returns to the lineup), where his ability to hit spray doubles all over the field belongs. Finally, Matt Wieters and Chris Davis now move down in the lineup, alleviating some of the pressure they have to perform.

This move also allows the Orioles to make the move everyone has been clamoring for in Baltimore; keep Mark Reynolds out of the lineup. He has really frustrated the fan base with his inability to produce in the field and his inconsistency at the plate. If they could trade Reynolds away before the deadline, he will not bring back a major haul, but should be enough to replace what they sent to Philly.

The lineup with Thome in place and everyone back to full health looks as the following:

1. Brian Roberts (2B)
2. Nick Markakis (RF)
3. Adam Jones (CF)
4. Jim Thome (DH)
5. J.J. Hardy (SS)
6. Chris Davis (1B)
7. Matt Wieters (C)
8. Wilson Betemit (3B)
9. Xavier Avery (LF)

But this move is not just about the lineup, as Thome may have a larger impact in the locker room. This guy has been repeatedly touted as one of the nicest guys in the league, proving he will be helpful hand in the development of the Baby Birds. He is a winner and veteran presence this lineup sorely needs to weather the rigors of a 162 game season.

In this current starting lineup, only Hardy and Betemit have even taken an at bat in the playoffs with 43 combined; Thome has 217 postseason at bats by himself. His value is beyond his batting average and home run total; his experience adds much needed poise to the roster. But it also means Dan Duquette is prepared to make the necessary moves to keep the Orioles in the race through September.

He has been an Indian, a Phillie (twice), a White Sox, a Twin, a Dodger, and now, we can call Jim Thome a Oriole.  Thome was acquired this afternoon from Philadelphia.  In return, we send RHP Kyle Simon and C Gabriel Lino.  Thome has a hall-of-fame pedigree. 609 Home Runs ties him with (former Oriole) Sammy Sosa for 7th place all time.  He’s a 5 time All-Star, 2 time Man of the Year, and is the All time record holder (modern era) for Walk off Home Runs.

The Orioles have a propensity for adding aging talent to their roster.  We’ve seen before:  names like Vladimir Guerrero, Sammy Sosa, Miguel Tejada, Jamie Moyer, Javy Lopez, Kevin Millar…and that’s just the last few years.  Thome is no different, as he turns 42 years young on August 27th.  Thome does indeed add a Veteran presence , and has a reputation for being a positive impact in the clubhouse.

The Phillies chose to part ways with Thome.  He wasn’t able to be their every day First Baseman, due to back issues.  He struggled this season as a pinch hitter, but during interleauge play, where he was able to be the DH for 9 consecutive games, his stats were fantastic for any power hitter .333/4/14 with a .722 slugging percentage.  The Orioles have completed inter league play, and would  only face a National League team should they advance to World Series play.  As an Oriole,  Thome is an every day player at DH, something the Orioles have lacked this season, with Showalter moving position  players in and out of that role on a day to day basis.

While this trade does not fix our fielding issues, this does add a man with a proven history to put Runs on the board.  The O’s had won many of games this season despite their sloppy defense, they haven’t won game where they couldn’t produce runs.

From the business side of the deal, the Orioles have a win.  While it’s too soon to tell if the a-ball talents Simon or Lino will develop into big name talents, we didn’t deal away any of our key developing prospects to trigger this trade (Bundy, Machado, Schoop, etc).  Financially, Thome has very little impact.  His contract this season is a mere $1.25M, half of which the Phillies will pay.  Comparatively, Mark Reynolds is set to earn $7.5M (and worth every penny, right?).  Perhaps adding a Left Handed Power Bat like Thome make it a bit easier to put Reynolds on the trade block, and not need as much in return.

Most importantly, the front office making a roster move that will seriously keep the club in contention, I see as a huge leap of faith to the fanbase.  Even if Thome doesn’t jump in and begin producing, that fact that the organization wasn’t satisfied to leave well enough alone, well, makes me hopeful that this won’t be the only roster addition before the trade deadline.

Thome is likely to be in the lineup on Sunday, as the Orioles try to split their 4 game series against Thome’s former club, the Cleveland Indians.

@JamesTFinn