Dear Mr. Angelos: Please Use Surplus Pitching Prospects To Acquire Hitters

Last time I checked, there were only five spots available in a major-league rotation. Cinco! 

As the Tampa Bay Rays have learned, and will continue to for the foreseeable future, there may possibly be such a thing as TOO much pitching. Check out the Rays' system.

In the bigs, they have Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Andy Sonnanstine, Edwin Jackson, and Matt Garza. The oldest pitcher in that rotation is Shields, who is 27 and has firmly cemented himself in the rotation. In addition, the Rays have a future No. 1 or No. 2 guy in the bullpen in 23-year-old David Price. 

Down at AAA, they have Jeff Neimann, 25, who had a great year that garnered a promotion to the Rays' starting five, but they had no room for him. So he sat at AAA again. Wade Davis also resides at Durham and is considered one of the top prospects in the Tampa Bay system, but alas, where does he fit in?

In all, the Rays have about 10-15 legitimate starting-pitcher prospects in their system. But, with the five they have in Tampa, where does everyone fit in?

I know the Baltimore Orioles are not the Tampa Bay Rays, both in terms of success and the talent they put on the field each night. But, they are soon to be facing a similar predicament. The O's have a wealth of pitching talent in the minors, which is about to bubble to the surface and pay dividends. 

2008 first rounder Brian Matusz is a legitimate No. 2 guy, possibly a future staff ace. Pencil him in next to holdover Jeremy Guthrie. Righty Chris Tillman, acquired in the Erik Bedard trade, has the makings of a top-of-the-rotation stud as well. Throw in hard-throwing Jake Arrieta, even harder-throwing righty Brandon Erbe, and just as hard throwing Chorye Spoone, in addition to finesse lefty Garrett Olson, and fireballer Radhames Liz, and that gives the Orioles seven starting pitchers to choose from, who are, top to bottom, just about as talented as the Rays' batch of hurlers.

Waiting even further in the wings are another batch of O's pitchers, waiting to make their splash. 2008 pick Bobby Bundy has all the makings of a rotation regular and Bowie teammates David Hernandez and Jason Berken might turn out to be starting material at the big-league level, too. Not to mention the talent the O's might have in Zachary Britton.

This leads me back to my thesis: There are only five rotation spots. Come 2011, these five sports should be filled by Matusz, Tillman, Arreita, Spoone, and Erbe. So what to do with the rest. Trade it for hitting, silly!

Out in the free-agent market right now, the O's are reportedly pursuing Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett. That's great. Fantastic! But, who in their right mind thinks we'll land either whale? That's what I thought.

A trade, on the other hand, is a lot harder to turn down, especially when the O's have what all teams seek in a trade, young starting pitching. This brings me to my main man...Matt Holliday.

The Rockies are reportedly tossing the left fielder's name out into the market this offseason. That's right, I said LEFT FIELDER. You know, that position filled by Luke Scott/Luis Montanez/Jay Payton and eventually possibly Nolan Reimold?

Talk about a serious upgrade. Not to deride Reimold's potential, which might be vast, but Holliday is a proven quantity, a legitimate presence who can hit for average, power, and knows how to take a walk. 

Imagine if the Orioles could land Holliday. With the Rockies' most talented prospect, Casey Weathers, going down with Tommy John surgery, the Rocks could use a near ready major-league prospect. No doubt, the Rockies would demand two, maybe three, and possibly FOUR prospects for Holliday, but come on. The O's are starting to draft better, and I say we pull the trigger on this one. Make them an offer they can't refuse. 

Prospects Jake Arrieta and David Hernandez, as well as veteran reliever George Sherrill, and heck, even Nolan Reimold should get the job done. That gives them a inning-eating starter with serious stuff, a hard-throwing strikeout machine reliever, a veteran reliever, and a major-league ready outfielder with huge upside.

In return, the O's get Holliday, who, at 28, is eight years younger than Manny Ramirez and is a presence who can occupy left field for years to come.