Over four days this week, MLB FanHouse's Hall of Fame voters will break down the particulars of select players up for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011. The results of the balloting will be made public on Jan. 5.

Six years ago, I saw Roberto Alomar at his worst.

Alomar spent the first half of his final season with the Diamondbacks, and I was a beat writer covering the team. He hit .309 in 38 games but made little impact, missing two months with a broken hand after being hit by a pitch.

After being traded to the White Sox in August, Alomar hit .180, and the next spring, he retired.

Here's the thing: Despite what I saw up close, I can't believe Alomar is anything but a slam-dunk Hall of Famer.

That Alomar DIDN'T get in a year ago, in his first time on the ballot, still stuns me.

I can't imagine under what criteria Alomar is not a Hall of Famer.

The Orioles want Adam LaRoche to play first base for them in 2011, but it seems that LaRoche doesn't have his heart set on playing in the city that played home to "The Wire."

LaRoche is either looking for more years than the Orioles are willing to offer, more money than they've put on the table or simply a different ZIP code to call home. According to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun, that's led the Orioles to shift their attention to Derrek Lee as their next first baseman.

That seems like a logical enough approach. LaRoche is four years younger than Lee, but the two men have put up comparable offensive statistics over the last two years. Both are good fielders as well, so if the Orioles aren't looking to fill the position for multiple years there doesn't seem to be a significant difference between the two players.

The Orioles' bullpen makeover continues, as Baltimore reportedly has agreed to terms with former Blue Jays closer Jeremy Accardo on a one-year deal.

Accardo will make $1.08 million in 2011, according to the Baltimore Sun, as he tries to resurrect his career. The right-hander, who turns 29 on Saturday, has appeared in only 47 major league games combined the last three season, but he racked up 30 saves for Toronto in 2007. Accardo had a 2.14 ERA in 64 games that year but suffered an arm injury in 2008 and fell off the map after that.

He spent most of the last two seasons with Triple-A Las Vegas, saving a total of 37 games there (including 24 this year), but never getting another serious shot with the Blue Jays. Toronto non-tendered him earlier this month, leaving him free to pursue a fresh start.

Accardo joins a bullpen in flux in Baltimore, as the Orioles traded away four relievers last week while also re-signing Koji Uehara. Baltimore also has an offer on the table for veteran closer Kevin Gregg, reportedly for two years in the $8 million-to-$10 million range.

That's four whole games short of where it would have ended if Favre had completed the season and retired. Or four games short of where it might have ended if Jenn Sterger's crew had forced Favre off the field for sexual harassment. No matter where you lived or how little you care about sports, you heard about Favre's streak coming to a close. A streak, mind you, that began before Miley Cyrus was even born. (Can we go back to then for a week, just to forget about Miley?)

ESPN, for the billionth time, morphed into the Favre Network to breathlessly update us on the quarterback's consecutive games streak coming to a close. It was all Favre all the time. In the process, the network's Favre hosannas served to minimize what remains the most impressive endurance feat in team sports history: Cal Ripken, Jr's consecutive games streak in Major League Baseball.

That one lasted 2,632 games and stretched from 1982-98. You might have forgotten about it seeing as how back in the quaint year of 1998 the media onslaught wasn't as all-consuming as it is today. My misguided colleague David Whitley is arguing that Favre's streak is more impressive, but he's as off-kilter as Tom Brady's hairstyle.

See, teams design their entire game plans around protecting pocket passers today. Don't believe me? Who are the best quarterbacks in the game today? Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Eli Manning, Tom Brady, and Philip Rivers would be a good collection, right?

Well, every single one of these quarterbacks has a consecutive games streak that ranks in the top 15 all-time in NFL history. Every. Single. One. Peyton Manning, at 204 games, has started every game of his NFL career and one day could break Favre's record. But each of these men is their respective team's franchise and all five of these quarterbacks ranks in the top 15 all-time in consecutive games played.

The Orioles suddenly are loading up on infielders, reaching an agreement Friday to re-sign Cesar Izturis after acquiring J.J. Hardy and Brendan Harris from the Twins a day earlier.

Izturis will get a base salary of $1.5 million in 2011 and could double that if he hits various incentives. He has been the Orioles' starting shortstop the last two seasons but will slide into a utility role as Hardy takes over up the middle.

"We were anxious to bring him back if only in a utility capacity," president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail told the Baltimore Sun. "He's like having an additional coach on the field. With Hardy and (Brian) Roberts being nicked up for part of the time last season, we wanted to make sure we were comfortable with that backup and Izzy gives us that comfort. He's just a good influence to have around."

Not satisfied there, the Orioles added to their infield depth by signing the well-traveled Nick Green to a minor league contract with an invitation to big league spring training. Green, 32, has seen sporadic time in the majors for seven different teams since 2004.

The Orioles have yet to commit to a closer in 2011, and that could be because he isn't on their roster yet.

The O's have offered Kevin Gregg a two-year deal that would pay him $8 million-$10 million, the Baltimore Sun reports, but it could take that money and some additional assurances to get him to sign with Buck Showalter's club.

Gregg, who saved a career-best 37 games for the Blue Jays in 2010, wants to remain in that ninth-inning role. He closed the previous year for the Cubs and the two before that with the Marlins, but his track record isn't exactly ironclad. As the Sun notes, his 121 saves the last four seasons have been accompanied by 26 blown saves.

That stat will have Orioles fans twitchy after last year's showing by Michael Gonzalez. And there seems to be plenty of sentiment to hand closer duties to Koji Uehara, who re-signed Thursday, after his impressive showing in relief last year.

We'll see where Gregg ends up, as he has other suitors. But if it's in Camden Yards, expect him to be the guy with the ball when the game is on the line.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- A few teams came up big this week Winter Meetings at Disney World. Others simply stood pat, either hampered by financial restrictions or choosing to wait until later in the offseason to make their moves. Then there were the teams that were hurt by events at the Swan and Dolphin Resort. FanHouse TV's Dan Graziano and Steve Phillips try to identify the latter group as they present this week's losers.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The Orioles will leave the Winter Meetings with a pair of veteran infielders in the fold. They announced Thursday that they have acquired shortstop J.J. Hardy and utilityman Brendan Harris for the Twins.

Right-handed relievers James Hoey and Brett Jacobson are headed to Minnesota in the deal, with cash going from Minnesota to Baltimore as well. The Orioles also moved to shore up their own bullpen in agreeing to bring back Koji Uehara on a one-year deal with a vesting option for 2012.

Hardy gives the Orioles the everyday shortstop they have sought this offseason, spelling the end of Cesar Izturis' days in Baltimore. Hardy, who is arbitration-eligible, stands to make at least $6 million in 2011 after hitting .268 with six homers and 38 RBI for the Twins last year.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- A versatile right-handed-hitting player was on the Rockies' shopping list this winter, and Ty Wigginton fits the bill perfectly.

Colorado agreed early Tuesday on a two-year deal with Wigginton, according to a FoxSports.com report.

He'll back up Todd Helton at first and Ian Stewart at third and could see reserve time at the corner outfield spots. He also has played second base during his career with the Mets, Pirates, Rays, Astros and Orioles.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- If the Orioles were wondering what the going rate for an impact hitter in free agency was coming into the Winter Meetings, their struggling rivals a Beltway to the south left little doubt on Sunday night.

Seven years and $126 million for Jayson Werth set the bar high, probably way too high, for Baltimore, which has already missed out on an attempt to land Victor Martinez earlier this winter and figures to see a similar conclusion to its pursuit of Paul Konerko, perhaps in the next few days.

The O's, like their neighbors in Washington, are in a tough spot when it comes to player acquisition. Baltimore is not an attractive destination for free agents, meaning it is stuck having to overpay Werth-style if it wants to bring in elite targets. It also does not possess the depth of talent either at the major league or minor league level to go out and swing a trade for someone like Adrian Gonzalez without seriously damaging its chances of competing in the cutthroat AL East.

So it is within that context that the Orioles went out and sealed a deal several weeks in the making for Mark Reynolds Monday. Reynolds -- 27, acquired from Arizona -- is a player they hope will boost a sagging offense that ranked second-to-last in runs scored in the AL last year, and particularly struggled in the power department -- ranking 10th in the league in home runs.