Orioles history: Baltimore finally begins proper rebuild in winter of '07-08

The Orioles' 2008 season does not immediately jump off the page as anything exciting or franchise altering. The O's endured their eleventh straight losing season, with manager Dave Trembley ultimately unable to do much with a depleted roster. But what the 2007-2008 off-season did mark was the Orioles' long overdue acknowledgement that to succeed in the AL East with the Angelos-driven low budget, they needed to rebuild with young, inexpensive talent.

Finally, the Orioles decided to pivot away from signing somewhat useful but average veterans, such as Kevin Millar, Ramón Hernández, Jeff Conine, Jay Payton, Pat Hentgen, and Marty Cordova, to fill out their roster, and instead, traded their two best players -- Erik Bedard and Miguel Tejada -- for mostly unproven talent.

While the decision did not lead to a World Series in Charm City, the Orioles snapped their consecutive streak of losing seasons and reached the playoffs three times, at least in part due to players acquired during the '07 off-season.

The Orioles made the tough choice to rebuild in the winter of 2007

For the first big trade, the Orioles dealt their big free-agent prize from 2003-2004, Miguel Tejada, to the Houston Astros for five players: outfielder Luke Scott, swingman Matt Albers, prospect pitcher Troy Patton, reliever Dennis Sarfate, and infielder Mike Costanzo. To be sure, only one of these players - Patton - played in a postseason game with the Orioles. However, this deal showed a willingness by the Orioles to finally stop trying to make the playoffs with mediocre players. They realized they needed a reset, and to GM Andy McPhail's credit, they dove in.

The most productive player of this group was Luke Scott, who hit 84 home runs (an average of 21 per season) for the Orioles from 2008-2011. Albers, Patton, and Sarfate pitched for the Orioles, though none of them made a significant or memorable contribution. Costanzo did not play a single game for the Orioles.

After dealing Tejada, the Orioles had one more clear, tradable asset on the roster: Erik Bedard. Bedard was coming off a fantastic 2007 season, having gone 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA, 5.5 WAR, and 221 strikeouts in 182 innings. While McPhail initially appeared opposed to dealing Bedard, he finally found a willing partner in the Seattle Mariners, who sent top prospects Adam Jones and Chris Tillman, reliever George Sherrill, and minor leaguers Kam Mickolio and Tony Butler to the Orioles for the mercurial Bedard. Without necessarily knowing it, the Orioles traded for their ace and star center fielder in 2008 for the next 7 years.

This was the deal that truly kick-started the Orioles' rebuild, as Jones and Tillman would start for over a half-decade in Baltimore and lead the team to the playoffs in 2012, 2014, and 2016. In fact, I have it as the best Orioles' trade over the past 25 years. Jones immediately took over as the Orioles' everyday center fielder and became one of the most popular athletes in Baltimore (with due respect to Ray Lewis and Ed Reed of the Ravens). Jones joined the Orioles' incumbent young outfielder, Nick Markakis, to form a 1-2 duo that dazzled with great defensive plays and home run blasts at Camden Yards.

Tillman won 76 games as the Orioles' ace from 2009 to 2016. His best season came in 2013, when he went 16-7 with a 3.71 ERA and was worth 4.4 WAR. He also started three playoff games for the Orioles, including two "Game 1s" in 2014 and the Wild Card game in 2016.

Sherrill immediately became the Orioles closer in 2008 and made the All-Star team that year. Known as Flat Breezy, Sherrill had an effective season, although often made life difficult for himself by allowing several baserunners. The Orioles eventually traded Sherrill to the Dodgers in 2009.

The Baltimore Orioles turned the tide of the franchise in 2008 with two huge trades

Mickolio pitched sparingly in relief for the Orioles in 2009 before being traded to the Diamondbacks along with reliever David Hernandez for slugging infielder Mark Reynolds. Butler did not throw a pitch for the Orioles.

The Orioles went from 69-93 in 2007 to 68-93 in 2008. You would never know that anything special happened during the 2007-2008 off-season. Aside from Jones and Markakis, the 2008 Orioles lineup still included Jay Payton, Freddy Bynum, Kevin Millar, Aubrey Huff, Ramón Hernández, and Melvin Mora, none of whom played for a winning team in Baltimore.

However, 2008 kick-started the necessary rebuild and signaled to fans that the Orioles were finally, finally trying something new. And with subsequent additions of Chris Davis, Manny Machado, JJ Hardy, and Matt Wieters, the Orioles flew out of their misery to a great run from 2012-2016.