masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgIs anyone else surprised that left-hander John Lannan settled for a one-year deal with the Phillies worth a reported $2.5 million guaranteed, with another $2.5 million possible in incentives?

Everyone else is hauling in ridiculous amounts of cash for being mediocre. Didn’t Lannan get the memo?

Left-hander Joe Saunders must be hoping that Lannan didn’t just set the market for him.

Saw this interesting stat on Twitter yesterday: Lannan is 3-13 with a 5.53 ERA against the Phillies, and 39-39…Is anyone else surprised that left-hander John Lannan settled for a one-year deal with the Phillies worth a reported $2.5 million guaranteed, with another $2.5 million possible in incentives?

Everyone else is hauling in ridiculous amounts of cash for being mediocre. Didn’t Lannan get the memo?

Left-hander Joe Saunders must be hoping that Lannan didn’t just set the market for him.

Saw this interesting stat on Twitter yesterday: Lannan is 3-13 with a 5.53 ERA against the Phillies, and 39-39 with a 3.80 ERA against the other teams. If you can’t beat ’em …

While fans continue to make trade suggestions, please keep in mind that Kevin Gausman isn’t on the table, and not just because the Orioles want to keep him. He can’t be dealt until a year passes since they drafted him.

hardy hit white sidebar.jpgShortstop J.J. Hardy has made the playoffs in 2008, 2010 and 2012. Is this a bad sign for the Orioles in 2013?

Hardy won his first Gold Glove this year, but he also batted .238/.282/.389 in 158 games.

What happened to resting him more often so he wouldn’t wear down?

Hardy called into yesterday’s “Hot Stove Baseball” show on WBAL Radio, and I asked about his offensive struggles. I phrased the question delicately, saying something like, “Looking back at your season personally offensively, what are your thoughts and where do you think you need to get better and what disappointed you about it?”

Hardy, to his credit, cut to the chase.

“Offensively, I thought it was a terrible year for me,” he said. “I felt like the whole year I was just kind of grinding through every at-bat. I didn’t feel like I ever got hot. I always say if I can just stay healthy and be on the field and play, that everything else will come, but last year was an unbelievable grind for me offensively.

“For me, I always just tried to help the team. If it means moving runners over, a sacrifice bunt, driving somebody in, it’s all part of the game. My average was pretty low. I wasn’t getting on base a whole lot, but it seemed like every time I did, (Adam Jones) would drive me in. I was scoring runs. I just wasn’t getting on base as much as I’d like.

“It started to become just trying to do something to help the team. It was a matter of, if we had someone on second base with nobody out, I had to get him over just so the next guy could get him in. I felt like i was going out there with a different approach than I might have if i was swinging the bat a lot better.”