The Orioles are currently riding a wave of ineptitude that features no clutch hitting, fielding mistakes, base running errors, a horrid bullpen and a palpable malaise that is as undeniable as it is embarrassing.
These are not your father's Orioles.
It seems like a lifetime ago that "The Oriole Way" was a phrase that meant hard work, determination and success. Now it could very well mean a dysfunctional organization that rivals the Oakland Raiders for its ability to find new lows to sink to.
This year the Orioles have the worst record in baseball at 15-39, which is good for a .278 winning percentage- losing 72.2% of the time. Maybe the safest bet in sports to is pick against the Orioles. The team is 15.5 games behind 4th place.
For his tenure Dave Trembley was just 187-283. His achilles heel was the way he shuffled relief pitchers to and fro, often with disastrous results. But the O's decline is not his fault alone. The team isn't hitting and some of that blame should fall to GM Andy MacPhail as well as hitting coach Terry Crowley. Baltimore ranks near the bottom in virtually every AL offensive category. Juan Samuel, who was a good player, but terrible third base coach, will take over the reigns with the "interim" tag.
In my opinion Dave Trembley was set up to fail or at the very least was not put in the best position to succeed. After last season the Orioles knew they needed a closer, after dealing their closer, George Sherrill, to the Dodger. This offseason they signed Mike Gonzalez. He promptly blew two saves to begin the season and went on the DL- where he still resides. MacPhail added no one else with any creditability to pick up the slack. Also lacking in the Orioles' game was a true home run hitter. For this MacPhail did nothing. We have no can't-miss power hitters in AAA and none on the team. He didn't sign one, trade for one or in any way address the need. Given this, it shouldn't be a surprise that the Orioles are having trouble generating runs.
While I agree with the decision to fire Trembley, I am 99.9% positive that Juan Samuel is not the answer. He has only managed one year and that was in AA. Short of Peter Angelos selling the team (probably the best thing that could happen) the Orioles need to bring in a fiery competitor that will not stand for the mediocrity that has become the team's standard for the last 12 years of losing. We need a younger version of Earl Weaver or Mike Ditka. While that will not guarantee instant success, a passionate manager would at least send a signal to Oriole fans that someone actually cares and is trying.
I, for one, am tired as hell of making the 100+ mile drive up to Baltimore to see the O's not run out ground balls, not catch fly balls that were clearly catchable, not hold leads in late innings, etc... It's a lot to ask of a fan to put forth that kind of effort when the millionaires playing the game seem to be mailing it in every game. This is why I have not attended one game this year. It's not about the wins and losses for me, it's about how the game is played. These Orioles, under Trembley, were not playing the game "The Orioles Way" or "The Ripken Way". I highly doubt Juan Samuel will be the manager after September, but I do wish him success. Perhaps he'll get them playing with effort and I can return to my beloved Camden Yards.
When it comes to Dave Trembley I'll also wish him success in the future. I've heard from everyone that he is a nice guy and as such, I feel for him that he is now jobless. Below is my favorite picture of Dave. It shows him throwing an umpire out of the game.
22 comments:
The Orioles have been failing for years. That's why I stopped watching. It's not as much the coaching as it is the front office. Get the good players in there. enough of this "rebuilding" crap.
he was probably the best thing about the team, only because of the hilarious resemblance to sir william shatner
It's not rebuilding when you are doing it for 13 years ... that much building should have yielded the Taj Mahal by now. I'd rather take a donkey kick in the crotch than experience any more O's magic this season
To be fair, GM Andy MacPhail has not been employed with the Orioles for 13 years. He has only been on the job since June 2007. And his turn at rebuilding has been more fruitful than those that tried before him. He has made some good moves.
Erik Bedard to Seattle Mariners for Adam Jones, George Sherrill, Chris Tillman, Tony Butler, Kam Mickolio.
Miguel Tejada to the Houston Astros for Luke Scott, Matt Albers, Dennis Sarfate, Michael Costanzo, Troy Patton.
MacPhail then turned George Sherrill into Josh Bell and pitcher Steve Johnson, who are both in the minors and expected to contribute.
He also got the Chicago Cubs to trade us OF Felix Pie for LHP Garrett Olson and minor league RHP Henry Williamson.
My problem with MacPhail is what he did this offseason. He signed washed up Garrett Atkins and Mike Gonzalez. Re-signing Tejada wasn't bad per say, but he's not producing either right now. MacPhail needs to address our lack of power hitting and we need someone legit to play first.
Not to mention the bullpen...
They will be sold within two years.
thats always been the orioles' MO. trade the good guys. bedard was the only pitcher that could throw strikes, alot of them. miguel was the only one that could hit. oh dear god! we cant keep producers on our team!
every since angelos came to town, they have sucked. they should be renamed to the Baltimore Sitting Ducks.
How exactly has it been more fruitful? They have the worst record in the league! The Orioles have had two seasons of .500+ ball in the last 15 years. I'm a Yankees fan, but I do agree McPhail has made some smart moves. Truth is, Trembley's achilles heel was that he managed the O's. Currently the worst run organization in baseball. They will continue as the bottomfeeders of the AL East, for a long time.
There is only one problem that has led to their losing-Angelos and his tight purse strings.He has not spent any money and doesn't intend to.He's the worst owner in any league.McPhail can only do what the mighty Angleos allos him to do.
The most home runs in a baseball career- Barry Bonds. The most stolen bases in a career- Ricky Henderson. Who got hit in the face with the most balls? Barny Frank
Angleos is the worst owner ever...Peter, for the love of the state of Maryland; SELL THE TEAM!
The O's have sucked for so long MLB is mandating that the team start taking perfomance enhancing drugs.
2:28- since you are a Bankee$ fan you probably are not aware of what moves were made by previous GMs. If we were only going to determine the debate Re:MacPhail's moves in terms of wins and losses, then the jury is still out. All of the players he has acquired have yet to play their last games for the O's and some have yet to even play for the big league team. Beyond that, let's compare the opening day line ups of this year versus 2007, since MacPhail took over in June of that year.
2007 C Paul Bako, 1B Aubrey Huff, 2B Brian Roberts, SS Miguel Tejada, 3B Melvin Mora, RF Jay Gibbons, CF Corey Patterson, LF Jay Gibbons, DH Kevin Millar, SP Erik Bedard.
2010 C Matt Wieters, 1B Garrett Atkins, 2B Brian Roberts, SS Cesar Izturis, 3B Miguel Tejada, RF Nick Markakis, CF Adam Jones, LF Felix Pie, DH Luke Scott, SP Kevin Millwood.
Undoubtedly, the O's have upgraded the C, 3B, DH and the whole outfield. At SS Izturis is a former gold glove winner, so he is an upgrade defensively. 1B Huff was traded for minor league pitcher Brett Jacobson who is currently 3-0 with an ERA of 2.30. At SP we traded Bedard which netted us Adam Jones, George Sherrill, Chris Tillman, Tony Butler, Kam Mickolio. The 2 years after 07 we started Jeremy Guthrie opening day. He led the league in losses last year, so Millwood, while not an upgrade in terms of talent over Bedard, is definitely an upgrade over Guthrie. Add to that the fact that Bedard 164 innings in the 2 years since leaving the O's and is a pedestrian 11-7. And you have to account for the fact that the O's minor league system was pretty barren in 07. These trades have helped us stock talent in the minor leagues that is on its way. 8 of the people mentioned in those three moves I highlighted are still in the minors- most still have the potential to help out.
I believe Trembley was fired because MacPhail has been fruitful in upgrading talent, but Trembley wasn't good at translating that into wins.
I want to be clear that I do not think that the team as now constructed is anywhere near a contender, but they are definitely better talent-wise than their current record would indicate.
2:25 that's one of the ways to get good. Poor teams have to make deadline deals to trade the major league talent they have for a bevy of minor leaguers with potential. The other way is to sign people in the offseason like the Yankees do. If we had a real owner he would do more of this, but we don't. So the only thing MacPhail can do is take a flier on people like Atkins or trade good players for young players with potential.
1:12 - I think I'd rather take a donkey kick to the crotch than read any more of Mr. Brawl trying to justify the debacle that is the Baltimore Orioles. Please tell me more about the great trades they have made over the past 3 years. I wish they could trade me back the last 13 years of my life.
McPhail is terrible, his trades only look good when you compare them to the sh!tty trades made by previous GM's. It's June and they are already 15 games out ... of fourth place!!!!!!
Ron Brawl-This is that Yankees fan, you can write paragraph after paragraph, but that ain't gonna change the facts. Worst record in the league. 2 seasons at/above .500 in 15 years. I'm a fan of the game, so reciting opening day lineups, that doesn't win you a pulitzer buddy. Wow, you "upgraded" from Guthrie(certified bum), to Millwood(who's past his prime and currently sporting a 0-6 record with a 4.3 era). You can rant all day long, fact is the O's can't develop a star, and from the looks of it(as of late), no superstar is moronic enough to sign up with this sunk ship. Cry all you want about the "bankees", but they can develop talent, and ohhh gee whilikers they actually have an owner that'll put the cash up for marquee player. I'm sorry the O's don't have an owner that won't bilk the fans and rape them for whatever he can pocket off them while putting a sub-par product on the field. I'm just telling it like it is.
Funny you mention "bilk and rape fans" you know the New York Times ran a piece last season that compared the cost of attending a Yankees game in the new Yankees stadium to traveling to Baltimore, sitting in comparable seats and the price was about the same.
Again, (I'm not sure why you do not understand this) a trade's value is not fully understood until each player involved has played their last game with both teams.
Millwood's record is a red herring. He leads the league in the dubious category of lowest run support.
CC Sabathia's ERA is a 4.14, Joba's is a 5.32, Vazquez 6.06, Park 7.43. Vazquez is 4-5 with that terrible ERA.
where is your source for this doug? Or is this just more of your ramblings
No one is justifying the Orioles. The trades MacPhail has made have been upgrades. We got younger and more talented. Bedard has went on to have injury problems and Sherrill has been ineffective- we got value for both guys before this. Tejada had a good run in Houston and we re-signed him. These trades would not have happened before MacPhail. And many other teams would love to have a return on investment we got. But if you are going to judge them by the current record then I'm typing at a wall. As I've said before, no trade can fully be evaluated before each player has played his last for both teams involved. These trades only gave us pieces to the puzzle. We need to make more trades and slowly bring up the minor leaguers we also received.
How in the world anyone can point to these trades as "failures" before a lionshare of the players have yet to work their way through the ranks is short-sighted and odd.
I'm not Doug, but your request is reasonable. Doesn't Doug sign his own name to his responses here? Why would he write using my name? Especially on the topic of the Orioles? Weird logic. Of course you could mean a different Doug? Oh well, here it is for you nonetheless.
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John Trush came from New Jersey with his wife, daughter and her boyfriend to see Monday's afternoon game. Trush paid $150 each for tickets marked at $48 and considered it a bargain.
"It's worth it. I'm in the 10th row behind the Yankees dugout," Trush crowed. "Same ticket at Yankee Stadium is $600, and next year it's going to be $850. So trust me, I'm not complaining about the price here."
source: http://poststar.com/sports/today/article_51ab6e69-084a-5190-b4ba-d83dd32aa6ba.html
I did state previously it ran in the NY Times, but I was wrong, it was the Poststar- written by an AP writer.
I'm not Doug, but your request is reasonable. Doesn't Doug sign his own name to his responses here? Why would he write using my name? Especially on the topic of the Orioles? Weird logic. Of course you could mean a different Doug? Oh well, here it is for you nonetheless.
****
John Trush came from New Jersey with his wife, daughter and her boyfriend to see Monday's afternoon game. Trush paid $150 each for tickets marked at $48 and considered it a bargain.
"It's worth it. I'm in the 10th row behind the Yankees dugout," Trush crowed. "Same ticket at Yankee Stadium is $600, and next year it's going to be $850. So trust me, I'm not complaining about the price here."
source: http://poststar.com/sports/today/article_51ab6e69-084a-5190-b4ba-d83dd32aa6ba.html
I did state previously it ran in the NY Times, but I was wrong, it was the Poststar- written by an AP writer.
6:14 great analysis & you are right, the farm system is the long term answer not going out and getting has been's with high price tags. We need a Weaver to light a fire and maximize the talent that is there and keep upgrading each year until they are competitive and ultimately contenders. at least they are on the right path. it is hard to see a team that at one time had the most wins of any franchise in pro sports to go to the basement and stay there for so long.
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