If this is rebuilding...

The Orioles should hire a new contractor.

Seriously, this offseason has been the most disappointing not frustrating, since the days of Syd Thrift. We've got two big trading chips out on the market that we just can't seem to move and nobody really seems to know why.

Andy MacPhail has got the Warehouse in lockdown so nothing gets out so the "Insider Era" on OriolesHangout.com has come to an end and also as well any reasoning behind why this offseason has moved slower than a snail's pace.

But here's what we do know:

After MacPhail was hired he made two positive impressions albeit not without serious drama. He signed Matt Wieters, who is going to be the next savior for the Orioles at literally the last minute. And then he held onto the human pitching machine known as Steve Trachsel past the July 31st trading deadline and somehow got the Cubs to give up not one but three players for him that could contribute to the majors in some way, unlike Trachsel who is still currently unemployed...

Going into the offseason, there was all sorts of speculation with MacPhail having organizational meetings and coming out with a plan for the offseason and beyond. It looked like we finally have a competant GM running things and the future was bright.

It was a long wait until after the World Series for the GM Meetings to start, and there was much anticipation as it appeared MacPhail would begin our offseason right there, possibly dealing Tejada and Bedard. Unfortunately it was all talk and little action, a theme that would describe our offseason to come to this point. Yet MacPhail came out of the Meetings saying we "batted a thousand."

So thus our hopes were renewed for the next milestone - the Winter Meetings when all sorts of trades were supposed to go down. And day after day, night after night we waited for news of a trade that would never come. However we did sign a backup catcher that was probably 200 times better than Paul Bako and picked up a reliever in the Rule V. So at least we did something, but it was still disappointing considering all the hype leading up to the Meetings and the fact that Florida, surprise surprise, pulled off a blockbuster trade with the Tigers for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis, recieving Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller and a bunch of other prospects - the trade the Orioles were supposed to have made. But Haren and Santana were still on the market so there was still hope.

The Dodgers seemed the most likely destination for Bedard and the possiblity of adding Tejada to the deal would make it a blockbuster with rumored names of Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw and Adam LaRoche tossed in there. This was going to be the deal and according to certain people was pretty close to happening, until the Dodgers wanted us to pay a ton of Tejada's salary and then it fell apart. So the Dodgers moved onto Plan B with the signing of Kuroda.

There were lots of rumors in December after the Meetings of Tejada to the Angels as well. The Astros were in the mix as were the Giants, but neither were considered as serious. Finally somehow on Dec. 12th, MacPhail suckered Ed Wade and the Astros into trading 5 players for Tejada, OF Luke Scott, LHSP Troy Patton, RHSP Matt Albers. 3B Mike Costanzo, and RHRP Dennis Sarfate. Not a bad haul as Scott will finally fix LF but the Orioles opened up a huge hole at SS by trading Tejada without getting a ML ready SS in return so the default candidate is (gulp) Luis Hernandez. So the Orioles now had holes at CF and SS.

There was still trade talk of Bedard and Roberts now up until Christmas with the Mariners and Reds being the most aggressive for Bedard and the Cubs for Roberts. The Orioles were demanding Adam Jones from the M's and any package from Cinci had to have Jay Bruce. Billy Beane traded Dan Haren to the Diamondbacks, for only two blue chip prospects, in effect setting the market for Bedard. So now instead of the three to four blue chippers, we are down to two as market value. Yet according to reports MacPhail was still demanding three to four players. And just as it seemed we'd dropped our demands for Bruce from the Reds, they moved on and made a trade with Texas to fill their rotation. A Cubs trade was discussed for Roberts but never came to fruition. So it was coal in the stockings of Oriole fans as the holiday season came and went without a trade being made.

So with the Reds and Dodgers out of the picture, the Mariners seemed to have the best shot at landing Bedard as the new year began. Supposedly the hangup was RHP Brandon Morrow, the Mariners version of Daniel Cabrera, but recently we learned that it may be the reluctance of the M's trading Adam Jones that is holding up the deal. They yanked him from Winter Ball at one point most likely for a trade but then returned him back to action - getting "cold feet" it seemed. And MacPhail has set a deadline of the end of the month before we are going to stopgap FA to fill our holes - Whoopie!

And this is where we sit currently on January 21st. But then there was news recently that the Cubs and Orioles had reached a 7 for 2 swap for Roberts and Bedard only to have it killed by Angelos, something that has been vehemently denied by both clubs. I tend to believe this isn't true as why would MacPhail stick around if Angelos killed one of his trades. The Orioles need him more than he needs them. Yet the Cubs and Orioles seem to be trying to get this done as reports have surfaced the same deal is being worked on.

Personally I think this is a ploy by two friendly GMs. I wouldn't be surprised that Hendry is helping MacPhail put pressure on the Mariners to give into MacPhail's demands by "working" on a deal that would bring both to the Cubs. In exchange MacPhail would trade Roberts for a reasonable price. But we shall see.

In any event, if we hold onto Bedard, this rebuilding has the chance being signifcantly setback if he becomes hurt or performs worse than he did in 2007. And right now it seems we are set to do just that. Roberts would obviously stay if Bedard stays and he's our second biggest trading chip, so if we are truly rebuilding, as much as the female fanbase might decline, he's got to go.

And then there's all the aging dreck we have on our roster - Mora, Gibbons, Millar and Payton. These guys can't go until the big chips are gone supposedly so we are stuck with them as well.

So with holes in CF, SS and solutions being Corey Patterson and Luis Hernandez, we are prepared to go into the 2008 season with an uninspiring group of underachieving players save for Bedard (who doesn't want to be here), Roberts and Markakis.

If that is the attraction at Birdland, I know I won't buy a ticket for admission...