Adios Jeremy

One of the first things that I read online this morning was about how Jeremy Guthrie had been traded to the Rockies for two pitchers, starter/swingman Jason Hammel and reliever Matt Lindstrom. At this point, I honestly don't know what to think about the deal. Guthrie's stats were frequently not pretty and he led the American League with 17 losses in 2011 and 2009, but he was a consistent bet to pitch around 200 innings, and has been the only reliable starter for the Orioles over the past three years. 

Being the O's #1 starter for the past few seasons, he was subjected to some tough match-ups against other team's stronger aces, and was often a victim of poor run support, at least in part to the O's hitters difficulties against some of baseball's best pitchers. As the seasons went along, and he wasn't always facing other top pitchers, I can't explain the continued lack of run support for Jeremy, but it was a consistent problem for him in Baltimore. I hope that he doesn't have similar problems in Colorado.

I'm not surprised that Guthrie was traded, as he was set to become a free agent after the 2012 season, and it  has been a frequent topic of discussion around Baltimore over the past season and a half, but I am surprised the trade went down when it did. I didn't expect any trades to happen this close to Spring Training, but all I can do is hope that Dan Duquette has a good plan of action in mind. While it would have been nice to receive some prospects in return for Guthrie, it sounds like that just wasn't an option. 

From an autograph standpoint, Guthrie at times was very personable and open, while other times he seemed to go out of his way to avoid signing for fans. He did sign for me a handful of times over his five years in Baltimore and I'm grateful for each of his signatures in my collection. Good luck in Colorado Jeremy!