Pause...Jason gets down on his knees and thanks the Lord for getting him out of Colorado and Mile High Stadium."Even the AL East is better than pitching there."

He could give a rat's ass about that.

Hammel seemed like a good pitcher the last few years--though maybe not this good. He thew 92 touching 94 with what seemed like a good curve. With Colorado it seemed inconsistency and minor injuries (perhaps related) always dogged him.

The choice between three days off and a trip to Kansas City is a pretty easy one for most.

One would have to say that the trade has, thus far, been a bit lopsided. Hammel is talking ASG and Guthrie is the odd man out in the Rockies' spectacularly shitty starting rotation.

Yeah, it was an awful trade, part of a series of terrible transactions conducted by the Rockies over the winter. On the other hand, the Rockies - back when they knew what they were doing - picked up Hammel off the scrap heap themselves, getting him from the Rays for Aneury Rodriguez in 2009. So we can't complain too much.

To be fair, it wasn't an obviously bad trade at the time for the Rockies, and it's still early. I think the consensus was that it was basically pointless for both teams, and Keith Law in particular criticize the Orioles side of the trade.

A lot of Orioles fans hated the trade because Guthrie seems like a legitimately good dude and Hammel didn't appear to offer much upside to Guthrie's mediocrity. I didn't have a strong opinion either way.

I'm really glad to see Hammel doing well. He was one of my favorite prospects in the Rays organization as he was coming up but he was crowded out of the rotation and never seemed to be able to keep his mechanics in-line on the erratic work schedule of a relief pitcher.

That's no fair, the players get to vote on pitchers for the All star game.

A lot of Orioles fans hated the trade because Guthrie seems like a legitimately good dude and Hammel didn't appear to offer much upside to Guthrie's mediocrity. I didn't have a strong opinion either way.

I really admire Guthrie for making jokes on twitter about leading the league in losses twice over the past couple of years. He was also great with the "It Gets Better" thing, overcoming what you might have thought were some religious teachings. I'd go even further, and say with a really good defensive team (like the Angels), he'd make a great #4.

But I loved this deal from the moment it was announced... just thought Colorado was less of a hitter's park than its been this year.