Radhamas Liz, Troy Patton, G. Olson or H. Penn?

[ion293]

All are contenders for the last 2 Orioles SP spots this year and all are decent to good specs. Which one do you think will win the job and which one has the higher ceiling?

[Dodgerbluesc]

ugghh... I'd say Liz/Penn win the job and those are the two with the highest ceiling... Patton could win a spot but I think his ceiling is as a #5 SP at best... I also think that Choyre Spoone is clearly their best pitching prospect by the end of the year, perhaps he'll even be in the majors by the end of this year. I'm not sure of the spelling of his name - but I think Spoone has much better potential than any of the 4 you're asking about...

[stealthdevil]

Garrett Olson is actually my favorite of that group. He's a lefty w/ a nice curve. He got rocked a little last season, but that was his first taste of the big leagues and he dominated all season in the minors w/ actually a pretty good K/9 ratio. I'd say he'll end up as a mid rotation lefty that can start between two RHPs. Troy Patton has a slightly higher ceiling than Olson. Liz has the highest ceiling, but I'm thinking he'll end up in the bullpen. Don't know what to think about Penn, I'll call him a high risk/ high reward kind of prospect.

[stealthdevil]

Just checked out the O's site on Scout.com and there is a link about Patton having some Labrum issues. http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=251#s=25 ... &t=2042439

Also, keep in mind that the O's haven't traded Roberts yet. The Cub's seem like they are going to get the trade done w/ some combo involving Sean Gallagher and/or Sean Marshall. If this goes down I'd say Olson and Marshall win the last two spots. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Cabrera moved to the pen and another spot opened up; not before Opening day but just saying he'll be on a short leash this season.