Why does Baltimore think so highly of Sidney Ponson?

[mcmahojl]

The guy has been nothing but a mess with exception to that little run he had a couple years ago that ended when he was traded to SF. Never put up excellent numbers. And he is a jerk and out of shape.

[nettles3Ball-star]

I'm currently in the area and it seems the O's are one of those teams that have to focus on the positive side of all their players for fear of committing hari-kari. What other arm do they have to tout? Seriously, look at the SP shuffle and the dearth of talent that's ridden on it. Poor birds!

[WittyC]

The guy has been nothing but a mess with exception to that little run he had a couple years ago that ended when he was traded to SF. Never put up excellent numbers. And he is a jerk and out of shape.

Free agent pitchers were expensive as all get out this year (Kris Benson signed for like $10 mil a year!?!?! I mean, KRIS BENSON!?!?!). Since the O's went overboard on free agents last year, they didn't have any money left to go after an ace this year, so they're basically stuck with Ponson, in whom they made a terrible investment last year.

[looptid]

He was knighted in Aruba.

[Bobblehead]

Ponson sucks I would never want him on my team. Rodrigo Lopez is a much better pitcher for the O's.

[GotowarMissAgnes]

I don't think the Orioles think that highly of him. And the fact is he's been a better than average pitcher 3 of his first seven seasons. That's actually damn good for a pitcher under age 28. Some pitchers who have a career track like Ponson put it all together right around this age, If you look at his least of comparable careers on baseballreference.com, you see some interesting names: Livan, Javiar, and Radke, for example.

[rlee]

WittyC, you certainly have the right to say Benson was overpaid ... but it was $7 million a year, not $10 million.

The O's tout Ponson because they don't want to admit how dumb they were to sign him to a big lon term contract last year. They're now stuck with him

[DK]

He was knighted in Aruba.

And de-knighted for punching a judge.

[Jer19G]

They really don't think all that highly about him. He was 8-3 after the break, but his other numbers were still not very good, and they are hoping this could carry over to 2005. No matter how you look at it, it was a big mistake to think this guy could be the team's ace. Lopez is the superior pitcher for now. THe O's rotation is a mess full of question marks. I still think that Ponson could turn it around to become an ok sp, but nothing that special.

[CrimeDog]

Ponson sucks I would never want him on my team. Rodrigo Lopez is a much better pitcher for the O's.

I agree, I think Lopez is somebody to watch out for this year