The Baltimore Orioles are going to give former Cub Scott Moore a look in the outfield as a way of bolstering his chances of making the team, reports the Washington Post. The Orioles acquired Moore in the ill-fated Steve Trachsel trade.

Good and bad out of the Winter Meetings in Nashville:

Bad: Felix Pie, Sam Fuld, Tyler Colvin, and Jeff Samardzija are "untouchables," according to Jim Hendry. All four are nice prospects, but why would any of them be off-limits in a trade?

Good: Lou Piniella says that Ryan Dempster does not have a starting rotation spot locked up. Kevin Hart, Sean Gallagher, and Sean Marshall will get opportunities as well.

Bad: Ryan Theriot has locked up the starting shortstop spot for 2008, according to Piniella. If Dempster is going to have competition, why won't Theriot? What harm exists in letting Ronny Cedeno compete for the starting job in spring training?

Good: The Cubs are exploring a trade for Baltimore Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts, reports the Baltimore Sun. Roberts just turned 30 and has had .305, .264, .285 EqA's the past three seasons with good defense. Another Cubs Blog has more on Roberts rumors.

Good: A number of teams are interested in Mark Prior, hopefully driving up the asking price.

Who Knows?: The Cubs obtained Twins relief pitcher Tim Lahey in today's Rule 5 draft. Lahey, 25, had a 3.45 ERA in 78.1 innings in double-A last year, with 56 K's and 33 BB's. Another Cubs Blog has more on Lahey. The Cubs lost swingman Randy Wells, who had a 4.52 ERA in 95.2 innings for triple-A Iowa last year, striking out 101 and walking 41.

The Cubs are intent on acquiring a left-handed hitting outfielder this offseason. Here's one available: Corey Patterson. Patterson, now 28, hit just .269/.304/.386 for the Baltimore Orioles in 2007.

The Baltimore Orioles continue their quest to stockpile former Cubs. They "claimed right-handed pitcher Roberto Novoa off waivers from the Chicago Cubs," reports the Baltimore Sun.

Here's the plan: get swept by the worst team in the National League, but only lose one game to the Brewers because Milwaukee is going to go make five errors in one game anyway.

Thankfully, there are just three games left. The Cubs need to win just one, or have the Brewers lose just one, to assure themselves of a tie for the division. And they have their three best pitchers lined up for the Cincinnati Reds: Zambrano, Hill, and then Lilly on Sunday, if needed. The Reds, meanwhile, will give the Cubs two of their best, with Bronson Arroyo on Friday and Aaron Harang on Saturday. It would be best if the Cubs just won on Friday and Saturday and concluded the matter.

Meanwhile, the acquisition of Steve Trachsel has been a disaster. If it is any consolation (it's not), Rocky Cherry has been even worse for the Baltimore Orioles.

Speaking of the Orioles, they are 68-91 on the year. They have given 813 plate appearances to Corey Patterson, Paul Bako, Freddie Bynum, and Scott Moore and 199 innings pitched to Trachsel, Jon Leicester, Cherry, and Scott Williamson. Glad to see the Cubs could be of service.

The Cubs now have their starter for Game 2 of the September 15 doubleheader against St. Louis. And if they get into a one-game playoff at the end of the year. Here is the press release. Having Trachsel back eight years after he last pitched in a Cubs uniform is a little weird. For what it is worth, he posted a 2.37 ERA in 6 starts in August.

"The Orioles have agreed in principle with former Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins executive Andy MacPhail to be the club's next chief operating officer, a baseball official confirmed today," reports the Baltimore Sun. The position appears to be similar to the president's position MacPhail held with the Cubs for twelve years. MacPhail was not able to build a consistent winner on the north side of Chicago. Now, it appears, he will have the opportunity in Baltimore. The Orioles are working on their tenth straight sub-.500 season. Joe Girardi could be the new Orioles' manager. Camden Chat has more.

"The Orioles have agreed to terms today on a one-year deal with Corey Patterson, avoiding salary arbitration with their center fielder, according to a club source," reports the Baltimore Sun. "Patterson will make a base salary of $4.3 million in 2007. He had asked for $4.6, while the Orioles had offered $4 million."

Patterson had a .262 EqA and played 102 Rate2 defense in CF for the Orioles last season.

Patterson made $2.8M in his last season with the Cubs, in 2005.

The Chicago Cubs announced today that they aquired 24-year-old minor league pitcher Kevin Hart from the Baltimore Orioles as the player to be named later in the Freddie Bynum trade. As a 23-year-old in high-A ball last year, Hart had a 4.61 ERA in 148.1 innings, with a 1.9 K/BB ratio.

FoxSports.com reports that the Cubs are in talks with the Orioles for a deal that would send Prior to Baltimore and Tejada to Chicago but "talks are stalled, a source says, over the Cubs' insistence that the Orioles give up left-hander Erik Bedard along with Tejada if they want Prior – and the Cubs' refusal to include top outfield prospect Felix Pie or a top pitching prospect in return."

Both teams are also in discussions with Boston for a three-way deal that would send Manny Ramirez to the Orioles and Tejada to Chicago.