Orioles Notes: Adam Jones, Young Pitching, Seong-Min Kim Fallou

The Baltimore Orioles would be better off trading Adam Jones now, according to Ken Rosenthal. Now is when teams have the most roster and financial flexibility, but the trading deadline might provide another opportunity. Rosenthal notes that it would be more difficult to find a good return if they waited too long (similar to the Guthrie trade) -- and that waiting until next off-season will have been too long.

In other Os notes, we have Grant Brisbee over at Baseball Nation attempting to answer exactly why Baltimore's young pitchers don't pan out, and then some additional fallout around the Seong-Min Kim/Korea/MLB debacle-turned-apology-turned no idea:

• Orioles have options with Jones - Ken Rosenthal
  "Any attempt to trade Jones next offseason, however, would be complicated by the potential availability of three center fielders on the free-agent market – the Braves’ Michael Bourn, Tampa Bay Rays’ B.J. Upton and Philadelphia Phillies’ Shane Victorino."

Are The Orioles Bad Or Unlucky With Their Young Pitching? - Baseball Nation
So are the Orioles cursed or bad? Maybe. The answer is maybe. If there's any consolation for the Orioles, it's that one of the four pitchers on the list of all-time pitching disasters was Roy Halladay, who paired with an awful Chris Carpenter to keep the 2000 Blue Jays away from the playoffs.

Broken young pitchers don't always stay broken. But no matter what happens with the current crop, we'll never have a great idea if the Orioles are getting pitchers who were damaged during the shipping process, or if they're shaking the box too hard before opening it.

• A few things - Britt Ghiroli | mlb.com
  The decision to void the Orioles contract with Seong-Min Kim makes sense for all parties. Major League Baseball wants to keep ties with Sout Korea friendly and the Orioles are free to pursue and sign Kim again, within the proper protocol of course, if they still feel the need. It’s still unknown if MLB will hand down a fine to Baltimore, which issued a formal apology last week, or issue any other punishment.
• Sources: MLB will void Seong-Min Kim's contract - Roch Kubatko
  "The Korean Baseball Organization's protest over the Orioles' signing of Seong-Min Kim will lead to Major League Baseball voiding the contract of the 17-year-old Korean pitcher, according to industry sources."

Zach Britton Still Injured, O’s Revamping Pitching Philosophy | FanGraphs Baseball
Nobody was expecting the Baltimore Orioles to instantly become playoff contenders in 2012, but today’s news out of Birdland is still depressing. According to Jim Duquette, Zach Britton‘s shoulder injury from late last season is "still lingering" and will limit his workload during spring training. Britton was rated as the Orioles’ top pitching prospect coming into the 2011 season, and he was arguably the O’s best pitcher for the first half of the season before slumping badly down the stretch.

• Baltimore Orioles Avoid Arbitration With Adam Jones - MLB Daily Dish
  The Baltimore Orioles and outfielder Adam Jones have agreed to a deal thus successfully avoiding arbitration, reports Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun.
• Seong-Min Kim, Korea, and the International Draft | FanGraphs Baseball
  "...But there is even a bigger issue here, that of the differing expectations and standards in the international market for talent. Because while the KBO complains about MLB teams snatching away talent from the amateur levels, the Puerto Rican baseball community has begun to complain about the opposite issue."
• Baltimore Orioles Complete Organizational Chart - MLB Daily Dish
  Orioles Rosters, Salaries, Leadership, Prospects, Arbitration Details, and Options for the entire org.