5/14- Sweepin’ the Sox

• I was keeping my expectations in check until this start for Daniel Cabrera, but after today…it’s official. I was sizing up the bandwagon, but now I’m back on it full tilt. He went 7 innings against a tough hitting team against the Red Sox. He gave up 3 runs, but held tough and didn’t walk anybody. That’s seven quality starts in a row. He’s a new pitcher…and no, I’m not wanting him to keep pitching good just to trade him. In fact, Cabrera is one the few players I don’t want traded. Oh, he has caused me plenty of mental anguish and frustration…BUT (oh I’ve said these words many times before) he’s turning that corner, baby! He’s young and he’s showing what he can do. The O’s could keep him and he could burn, but you know what, I’m willing to take that chance. I’ve been through plenty of it with it him. He either becomes an ace, becomes a good but not great pitcher, or stinks. I’m willing to take those odds.
• Luke Scott broke out for a 3 run HR last night after a wretched slump and a long bout with the flu. Then today, Jay Payton of all people, hit the go ahead Grand Slam. There’s many things I didn’t think I’d see in my life time among are                                                                                                        

                             a UFO

                             Bigfoot

                             a two-headed snake

                             a Jay Payton Grand Slam

                    It was awesome. With two outs and the bases loaded, I was predicting a shallow pop fly. Congrads Jay Payton. I like you today.

• The O’s took 3 out of 4 against the Royals and 2 out of 2 against the Sox. The starting pitching for the team has been good, the bullpen for the most part has been outstanding. George Sherrill has 15 saves. The hitting has been feast or famine and this team has a habit of getting in close games. It’s been a blast of a season. The AL East is wide open. I don’t think this team has a shot at it for a couple reasons A) We play horrible in the second half B) I don’t trust our offense C) If you don’t think Andy MacPhail is going to use this hot start to swap off some players, you’re crazy. C is the strongest point. I think the Orioles who finish the season are going to be somewhat different then the bunch of boys you saw today. Anyone who’s over 30 is tradebait, that’s just the way it is and the the way he should do it. I want the O’s great for many seasons, not ok for 1.  With the AL East as a whole, Tampa is killing it. I’m going to make a bold prediction right now. The Rays will finish no worse than 2nd in the AL East this season. They’ve got some stud players on offense. The rotation is looking good and that bullpen I used enjoy seeing get batted around is now pretty good as well. The Red Sox are the Red Sox. They’ve got Manny and Ortiz. They got a good rotation for the most part and a surprisingly shaky pen as of late. They’ll do what they do and should finish. The Yankees have gotten old quick. They’re hurt. Their stud young pitchers have gotten batted around. I don’t think they’re bad, but I don’t think they’re that good. I’m sure this will result in the Old Yankee way coming back…spending big. Hank’s probably going to arm wrestle Angelos for Mark Teixiera in the offense. I was high on the Jays in Spring Training. They’ve got the starting pitching, there’s no doubt about that…but their offense is on the back of a milk carton at the moment. Thomas got released, Wells is out. This stuff happens. If the Rays keep healthy and their players keep progressing, I don’t see why they can’t finish 2nd.

Catching up 5/10

A few things to catch up on…

• Trembley’s talking about using a 4 man rotation for a while with a lighter schedule coming up. The 4 man rotation worked for a long time in baseball, so if Trembley wants to do it for a few weeks, it won’t destroy the fabric of baseball. If the 5th starter with no place to go in this scenario is Steve Trachsel, all the better. With Guthrie doing ok, Cabrera throwing a complete game and toying with our emotions yet again by looking like he’s getting it, Olson doing a good job, and Burres defying expectations….that would make Trachsel the logically candidate out. I hope that he’s not going to be moved the pen or something like that in this situation. Trachsel in relief is not a sight I want to see in a game. At least Trembley and MacPhail are thinking smart here. Go with 4 with a light schedule up and not rushing Liz, Penn, or someone else up because Trachsel isn’t cutting it. Although after Friday’s game, I think Trachsel’s bought himself at least another start.
• Alex Cintron, come on down. Cintron comes up and Bob McCrory goes back to Norfolks with a 2/3rd of an inning under his belt for his stint with the big club.

          says Trembley

            He is a second baseman-shortstop,” Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. “He’s a switch hitter who has got experience playing in the big leagues. He gives us some depth. I’ve never seen him play before. We’ll see what we’ve got.”

Trembley said Freddie Bynum is his “shortstop until he shows he can’t do it,” while the 29-year-old Cintron will be primarily a utility player.

Bynum’s got to play himself out of the shortstop position while Cintron will be ultility and Luis Hernandez  will be riding the bench. Brian Roberts is nicked up with a bruised leg, so Cintron will be backing up Bynum and filling second if Roberts can’t go. Once Roberts is back a 100%, its probably spells the end for Luis. I don’t think Cintron is anything more than a stop gap though. He might be better than Luis and Fahey, but there’s a reason he didn’t make the Cubs out of spring training and no one rushed to snap him up. He can help, but I’m not expecting huge stuff out of him.

• Leo Mazzone regrets his decision to go with his BFF Sam Perlozzo in Baltimore and leave Atlanta.     

              “At the time it was a great move, but now I regret it. You see the difference in organizations and     how things are run and, believe me, the Atlanta Braves are about as good as it gets,” Mazzone said.

Who can blame him for saying that? He left a good gig with the Braves and went to Baltimore. Sam Perlozzo got the can during Mazzone’s second year. The rotation and the bullpen were ravaged by injuries. Some of the talent he had to work with wasn’t good. The organization didn’t want to commit to his philosophy from top to bottom. Yeah, I’m sure he does regret it.

Two bad years in Baltimore doesn’t make him a bad pitching coach. He’ll land on his feet somewhere else soon enough. The problem with Mazzone I think was that his plan was for his pitchers to all pitch the same way. That can work with Jeremy Guthrie and Erik Bedard (and it did), but what works for them might not (and didn’t) work for Daniel Cabrera or Garrett Olson.

 

 

Freddie’s Back

(Photo AP/Rob Carr)

I never thought I’d be thrilled to see the news that Freddie Bynum is backtonight, but I am. After seeing Luis Hernandez, Brandon Fahey, and Eider Torres at short thus far this season….hey, Freddie looks great. While he’s not what I want at short, the fact that he’s not Luis Hernandez is good enough for me at the moment.
Bynum’s not a shortstop per say, but he has played good number at the position while he was in the minors. He is what he is, but if he plays decent defense and can bat .250…he’ll work for a while. Luis has 3 errors and has been in what Trembley calls “a fielding slump” all season.

“I can do anything and everything you want to do on a baseball field,” Bynum said. “If you want me to run the catcher over I can run him over. If you want me to drop kick somebody I’ll drop kick them. I am ready. I am ready to play ball.”

I’d like to see Freddie drop kick somebody, after the last 5 games it’d be something to break the monotinity of watching the punchless Oriole offense.

A’s sweep O’s

Catching up 5/6

Catching up again…

Garrett Olson was great in his second start, but hey..our offense is rotten, so Garrett wins a big fat no decision. Olson went 6.1 innings, striking out 7 and walking only one. But the offense was punchless, so that gem was squandered.

No one’s really hitting at the moment. Nick’s in a funk. Luke Scott was in a slide before he got sick. Ramon Hernandez has been horrible. He’s batting a lowly .189 and makes me wonder where’s that great catcher that we signed a couple seasons ago. Our “clean up hitter” Kevin Millar is batting .210 and swinging at anything within a mile radius of the plate. Roberts has cooled off too. But we shouldn’t have to worry, because we’ve got the King of Swing and Miss, Terry Crowley in the dugout. I’m sure all these boys need is a session or two with the king and they’ll all be vying for the Triple Crown at season’s end.
*Whoops, was watching the top of the 1st as I was typing and all the O’s offense could do is strikeout twice and pop out, Maybe 3 or 4 sessions with Crowley is what this team needs.

Anyway, it looks like reality is setting in. I didn’t expect a 1991 Atlanta Braves season, where the Braves went from rotten to NL Champs, I thought maybe they could overperform and with a respectable range within .500. With the offense the way it is and the fact that there’s a big chance that plenty more changes are in store…it could be a long season.

Article I wish I had seen today (but didn’t)

(remember this is fictional)

             The Orioles announced today that pitcher Steve Trachsel was designated for assignment.   Trachsel was 1-4 with a 4.76 ERA in 6 starts for the Orioles this season. “Steve did the best he could for us this season.” Orioles VP Andy MacPhail said “In the end, that’s all you can ask of a man. He’s been an asset to the Baltimore Orioles through his veteran presence and his workman like attitude. In the end, though things weren’t working out. We’ll look within the organization to fill his spot. I, as well as everybody else with the O’s, wish Steve the best. He’s worked hard for us and I thank him for his effort.” Trachsel has a career record of 142-158.

A  boy can dream can’t he…

This didn’t happen sadly, because I saw this article on O’s.com

“I would say right now he’s (Trachsel) going to make his next start in Kansas City,” Trembley said. “I want to be careful. Somebody may tweak my words. I would say that there’s not going to be any review and he will make his next start.”

The leash is short on Trachsel. I was wanting him to be gone on Monday, but it’s going to happen sooner rather than later.

Time for Trachsel to Go

 

I think the tee ball stand would be more effective than Steve Trachsel. For your own personal Trachsel, go here.

It’s time for Trachsel to go. Its that simple. He was brought back to protect the bullpen and the young starters in the minors. That’s a fine and noble idea. Nobody wants to see a young and ill prepared starter be rushed up to the majors, nor do we want to see the bullpen worn down by young starters who might only make it 5 innings.

That’s not what Trachsel is doing. His last 4 starts look like this…

Bluejays 2.1 innings and 5 runs surrendered

Yankees 6.1 innings and 3 runs surrendered

White Sox 3 innings and 5 runs surrendered

Angels      3 innings and 6 runs surrendered

He’s had a decent career and it looks like now he’s out of gas. The bullpen is getting used up in his starts and its dreadful watching him pitch at this point. Last year it worked, this year it ain’t. As for his spot, I’d like to see Matt Albers get a shot at it. Hayden Penn and Liz need to stay in Norfolk in a while longer. Jim Johnson is doing lights out in the bullpen and I’d rather leave him where he’s excelling at. I’m not sure Albers is an answer in the rotation. He’s done well in long relief and filled in ok in his two spot starts, regardless though…he’d be a lot better than Trachsel’s 3 innings of slowly dished pain. Trachsel Watch begins now.

5 Bad Moves

Over at ESPN, Jonah Keri has an article about baseball’s losing dynasties. Of course, the O’s are one of the teams…as well they should be. What I had an issue with was a few of his Five bad moves of the team.

Five bad moves
1. Firing Davey Johnson. Yes, he has an ego, and there’s a long list of owners and front-office people who’ve struggled to get along with him. But all he’s ever done is win, in New York, in Cincinnati and, yes, in Baltimore. The year before Davey Johnson took over, the Orioles finished two games under .500. The next season, they won 88 games and the wild card, followed by a 98-win season and a division title. The O’s cut him loose, and they haven’t sniffed .500 since. But sure, Peter Angelos, you go right on losing games and watching your attendance dwindle. At least you showed everyone who’s boss.

Agreed. This was a horrible move and there’s nothing to add here.

2. Signing Albert Belle to a five-year, $65 million contract. For all the Orioles’ losing, no one could ever blame Angelos for being cheap, and this contract was Exhibit A of the owner’s largesse. Belle had one of the best career peaks in baseball history, putting up gigantic numbers. But in giving him such a massive deal after the 1998 season, including a no-trade clause for the first three years, the O’s were betting that Belle would stay healthy and hugely productive well into his mid-30s. Instead, Belle played just two more years before a degenerative hip injury forced him to retire.

Everybody loves bringing this up lately. I don’t all the guys at ESPN and SI think this one of the worst deals ever. Albert Belle might not be the nicest guy on Earth, but he wasn’t signed the O’s to be a greeter…he was signed to play baseball. In 1999, he hit 37 Homers and 117  RBI. 2000, He hit 23 HR and 103 RBI. He produced in his ‘just two more years.’ Its not like he hit .200 with 14 HR and 45 RBI. Both of his years in Baltimore were good years. The hip condition was unforunate…but from some of the columns I’ve read over the years, some writers seem to think Belle planned on that happening.

 

3. Hiring Syd Thrift, Jim Beattie and Mike Flanagan as GMs. Thrift was years past his prime as a talent evaluator, while Beattie and Flanagan owned lackluster track records and did little to move the team forward during their tenure as co-GMs. Of course in Baltimore, a willingness to say yes to the big boss usually transcends a winning résumé.

Nothing to add here.

4. Trading for Sammy Sosa. In the final, $17 million season of a ginormous contract, Sosa had a .221 batting average, a .295 on-base percentage and .376 slugging. He hit 14 homers and played just 102 games. The trade didn’t cost the Orioles any impact prospects. But it was a classic example of the kind of short-sighted, money-wasting moves that have plagued this team for more than a decade.

I disagreed with this at first, but then I read the last line again and he nailed it. Sosa was 36 when he went to Baltimore. This wasn’t like a contending team picking him up and hoping that he could give them a little pop out of the 4th outfield/DH role. No this was the doomed 2005 that got off to a great start and crashed and burned epically. The trade for Sosa was a noble gamble to get fans re-energized. But for the wrong reasons. We shouldn’t be excited to see a great slugger come to town in the twlight of his career. Developing our own sluggers is something to get excited about. This was when the team wasn’t rebuilding, but thought they could contend. They were wrong. They had Tejeda, Javy Lopez, Raffy Palmerio, and a servicable rotation. It was a doomed blueprint with most of the key players a few years past their prime. Like Wile. E. Coyote, their brilliant plan backfired on them yet again. For Sosa, The O’s gave up Jerry Hairston Jr, Dave Crouthers, and Mike Fotenot. The only three to miss is Fotenot, who’d look a whole better as utility than Fahey, Torres, Hernandez etc. The Cubs ate a big chunk of Sosa’s 17 million price tag to get him out there, so at least helped.

5. Nearly everything else they did in 2005. The O’s jumped out to an early division lead in 2005, holding first place for 62 days. By season’s end they’d lost 60 of their final 92 games, squandered $17 million on Sosa and fired yet another manager. The coup de grace came from Rafael Palmeiro, who started the year by testifying in front of Congress that he’d never used steroids, cracked his 3,000th hit on July 15, then got suspended 15 days later for testing positive for steroids.

Cop out. Again, the Cubs paid a large chunk of Sosa’s money. The team didn’t know about Palmerio’s steroid use. Bringing him back was a move one could question because when he was brought back he was 39. You hate to see a team fool themselves into thinking that a 39 year old player can be a key cog on their team. The losing streak wasn’t a bad move, it was bad play. Canning Mazzilli was a move that had to be made, but it was a bad hire to start with. Replacing him with Perlozzo was a bad move. So yeah, there were plenty of bad moves but I’d rather have one named here.

I would rather say 2004 was a mistake year. Mazilli was hired. Sidney Ponson was brought back. Javy Lopez was signed. Raffy was brought back. Again, Raffy’s performance wasn’t exactly the problem…but if you want to label it a mistake. Label at when it happened. That was the season we last finished it 3rd, but it all crumbled down quite quick.

I can think of a few others.

Trading John Maine and Jorge Julio for Kris Benson.

Benson was average his first year here and missed all the second. Julio bombed out quickly in NY, but Maine has been a key part of their rotation.

Signing Danys Baez

Bidding against themselves and signing Jay Gibbons to horrible contract

Letting BJ Ryan go when they could have locked him up midseason with a fair contract.

 

Hope for the future? The 15-13 start is nice, but the Orioles probably won’t see a winning season for a while. Nick Markakis and Adam Jones are great building blocks in the outfield, Luke Scott is an above-average player as the third outfielder, Brian Roberts and George Sherrill should fetch some interesting loot in a trade, and Matt Wieters is a potential franchise player a year away from taking over at catcher. After that, the closet is nearly bare, with a severe lack of pitching the biggest problem.

I don’t believe the closet is near bare after those players. We do need more positional players with upside in the minors. As for a severe lack of pitching, I disagree. Chris Tillman, Tony Butler, Radhames Liz, Brandon Erbe and Jake Arieta are doing good to quite good in minors. MacPhail wants arms in the minors and I think we’re off to a good start.

ETA for next winning season: 2012

I hope not.

To the Wolves

 

 

 (The scent of a wounded Bob McCrory lingers in the wilderness air)

I cut myself off earlier in my post about Bob McCrory getting thrown to the wolves last night. Its one of those situations that are sink or swim. Looking back at it, it was like the first time I drove. I was 14, nearing 15…the magic age for the beginner permit, Me and my Dad were heading home from somewhere and we were close to home. He pulled over and got out of the car. “You drive the rest of the way.” Naturallly, I was terrified. Nervously, I clutched the steering wheel of that old Ponatic until that wheel bled. It was a slow backroad with little traffic, especially in the evening. With one foot on the gas and the other hovering over the brake, looming there ready to bring the car to a complete halt at any sign of a squirrel. Of course, it was either wreck the car or make it home. I made it home and now I consider myself one of the Carolina’s better drivers.

That’s the best scenario that I could think of personally. But I get what Trembley did. It was one of those things where you trot a kid out there and want him to be aces in a clutch situation. Then after the inning you can slap him on the back in the dugout and everyone’s happy. Trembley’s pines about how the kid has guts. Then McCrory becomes a nice story for a couple days.  That’s not what happened. Then it happened again the next.

We’re rebuilding and part of the rebuilding process is seeing who’s going to be part of the future of the team. With that in mind, it makes sense. I hate seeing a winnable game sacraficed. But if that’s the logic as opposed to ‘Throw him out there and stoke his ego’ stuff. I saw a Western once, I think it was ‘Hondo’ with John Wayne. He’s your typical 60’s movie cowboy. Roaming nomadically, saving towns, being a role model to fatherless sons, restoring people’s faith that good people are still around…the whole deal. There’s the scene where he’s teaching the widow’s son a life lesson. The boy can’t swim and John Wayne was going to teach him. He throws him into a pond and says “Sink or swim, kid!” Not the best instruction, but it ended working and the kid swam like a fish. That’s what I felt happened, expect Bob McCrory sunk like a rock.

Teenage driving lessons, John Wayne movies, and Orioles bullpen, I guess that covers everything.

Oh hey, Lance Cormier got called up in the spot of Randor Bierd. He had a rotten spring, now in Norfolk he’s got a shiny 0.96 ERA with 12 K’s in 9 innings. Why not.

Randor hits the DL

Randor Bierd hit the disabled list today. The offical reason is right shoulder soreness. He won’t throw for 2 to 3 weeks and looks to be back within “a month and a half, a month and ten days.” Bierd’s been good thus far with a 2.03 ERA, but he won’t be back for a while now. Who takes his place?

From the said article:

The Orioles have not announced a corresponding move, but it’s likely they will recall a right-handed reliever from the minors. Potential candidates include Lance Cormier, Roberto Novoa and Andy Mitchell. The Orioles have room on their 40-man roster in case one of those has to be added.

Another option could be reliever Greg Aquino, who was designated for assignment Tuesday, but cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Norfolk.

First off, Greg Aquino. Let’s just say no to that one. Cormier had a rotten spring, but has been good in the minors. Novoa has major league experience with the Cubs and I need to read up on Andy Mitchell. Where’s Rocky Cherry?

On the topic on relievers, I’ve got to second guess Dave Trembley. Last night with a 3-1 lead, he brings in Bob McCrory. It was still obviously a very close game and Trembley decided to throw him in place of Matt Albers (who had a very decent start). The result was McCrory becoming toast. 0.1 innings 2 hits 4 runs 2 BB and no K’s. The game was close but after McCrory left, it was blown wide open. I chalk it up to debut jitters. Then today, Trembley brings McCrory back out and he walks 2 and only gets one out. Good thing was his ERA went from 108.00 to 54.00. I know Trembley was trying to trot him back out the day after a lackluster debut, but I would have liked it for him to get the day off and work on what went wrong and save his arm. Trembley has a bad habit of burning through relievers. Browbeating him for using 3 relievers in starts by Brian Burres and Matt Albers is stupid. Burres has proven he can give 6 good innings standard and Albers ditto. They might go more or they might go less. But the bullpen is going to be used their nights. What I don’t like is when Walker comes in to get 2 outs and Bradford 2 more and then playing the matchups, match up after match up. If you have a lefty specialist, then yes…that’s what he’s there for. But Walker can pitch an inning. I just worry that 3 quarters through the season, some of these guys are going to broken down.

Props to Adam Jones hit the 2 run homer today. His bat is coming around. Too bad the rest of lineup’s is going south. Mora’s batting .230, Millar. 210, Payton .231, Luuukkkke Scott has been slumping lately, but hey Huff is hitting .257…but he’s producing with 5 HR and 19 RBI. I expect the offense to be north and south all season, but it doesnt make it any easier to watch.

Round of Applause for Garrett Olson

(from the Washington Post)

Final line for Garrett Olson

6.2 Innings 2 Earned Runs 4 Hits, 6 K’s, and 5 BB

Really good start for him tonight. He left with two one and two out in the 7th and then Randor Bierd came in and coughed up some hits, which hurt Olson. For Olson, I was very happy with his performance. The walks were a little much, but I’ll cut him some slack tonight. He looked worlds different than he did with his call up last season. Gary Thorne mentioned during the game tonight that Dave Trembley said that Adam Loewen won’t be ready to go when his 15 days on the DL are up. I’m thinking Loewen’s going to be out for awhile and it Olson does this on a nightly basis…he’ll stick around;