ESPN.com: MLB – Orioles trade Richard to Rockies for prospect Cust

ESPN.com: MLB – Orioles trade Richard to Rockies for prospect Cust

The consensus seems to be that the Orioles made a great trade, for once. And since they gave up someone who was an awful lot like a lot of other guys on their team, you could say they got a potential big time power-hitter for nothing.

Lawr Michaels insists Cust profiles like Thome, but when Thome was 24 years old he already had 30 major league home runs. Cust has to hit 29 this year to catch up.

Cust also hit just .265 in Colorado Springs, with 121 strikeouts. CS plays a lot like Coors, so there has to be some concern.

There are plenty of scouts and plenty of sabremetricians saying Cust is going to be a star, so maybe I’m wrong. But while I applaud the Orioles for taking a shot, but this guy doesn’t look to me like the solution to any of their problems.