Smart Move Or Lucky Break?

Are the Baltimore Orioles kicking themselves for trading John Maine to the Mets in the off season, before the 2006 campaign? Are they wondering if Maine was really the throw I to the Julio for Benson deal or were they cleverly thrown off of the scent by a Wiley Omar? Did the Mets scouts ever anticipate that Maine was going to be this good this soon?

All those questions aside, Maine is that dominant (right now) and yes, the O’s have to be wondering what could have been.

But before we go on and say that Omar pulled one over on the O’s, let’s take a look at the facts.

John Maine came up to the Baltimore Orioles in 2004; he was only 22 years old. He only made 11 appearances and 9 starts for them. He only had a 2-4 record, while sporting an 8.06 ERA. Hardly dominant figures. As a matter of fact, one would say that Maine was on his way to a career that was quickly going nowhere. On top of all that, he had 25 strike out and gave 27 batters, free rides on balls and also gave up 9 homeruns. If all of those homeruns came while he was a starter, than it would have been roughly 1 per start.

No one could have seen what Omar was thinking, or what his intentions were. Maybe Maine was the throw in for Benson (and a bucket of balls for Anna Benson). One thing is true though, John Maine has turned from being nothing, to an ace out of nowhere.