Recap of another horrendous year of baseball in the city of Baltimore....

Led by an owner who is annually voted in SI as the worst owner in the game and a GM who has lost more games than any other exec over the past 20 years.

A city that has learned to live with a losers mentality by getting excited over the trade deadline year after year.

And poor Jeremy...... If it's true that he won't be traded, he's stuck with the worst team in the AL for yet another year.

Hang in there Guts. Do well through this time next year and they'll have to trade you no matter what. They'll never keep you around, knowing you'll be getting huge offers the following year from real baseball teams.

But hey, perhaps AM will get a prospect or two who will someday be as good as you. because as you know Jeremy, it's never about this year in Baltimore. Never.

so britton goes to AA for 20 days, after a real bad stretch of pitching, does a little expected griping because he thinks it's all about service time, comes back, and doesn't make it out of the first inning .

I wonder if he is as tired of getting wacked all over the park as we are watching him get shelled.

Today, he and tillman combined to pitch 4 innings out of 16 possible. Nice work fellas. How about this. Just march them out there every 5 days and give them both a nice long look here at the end of the year. Let's see who should be griping come October.

Imagine: the Orioles could have a 30 home run hitter at first (Davis), 3B (Reynolds) and LF (Bell) next year, and have 3 guys strike out 200+ times each, and not one bat over .230. Really exciting losing streaks when you had in the substantially below negative fielding the three will deliver (OK, not so bad from Bell).

Finally, a good trade that makes sense on both ends. Koji played with us just over 2.5 years and was effective for just under a year. If we all remember correctly, prior to Buck showing up Koji was having health and serious pitching problems. However, I will say this Koji is a class act and pitched his but off for us while he could. Someone he became one of the top relief pitchers in the game with a fastball that hit 90mph on a good day. Will we miss him, you betchya, but was the trade worth it, you betchya. Hunter can be an arm in the rotation to count on, I'm hopeful we keep Guthrie and Brittan has the time to develop he deserved in the first place. These 3 guys are a promising rotation. As for the other spots, look elsewhere, maybe Matusz but who knows.

Davis added in on the deal is the second coming of Reynolds, who I am behind a 110 percent in our lineup, but a second Mark maybe rough. Hopefully he develops but if he doesn't oh well and was worth the risk.

What I still cannot understand and that has been swept under the rug is our lack of player development and latin american scouting. If you didn't hear we dropped 2 minor league affiliates and are only planning to sign half of our draft picks. So the signings are that much more crucial. I would think a team in our situation would be adding ML teams and players and not dropping them, giving us the best posibility of growing the farm, but ofcourse the O's are not. I haven't missed a game in 5 years and hope the future is bright. We'll miss you Koji but I hope you can deal with the Texas heat and be the effective player you were for us.

As I've said, don't count out more trades. A lot of teams want pitching and right handed hitting, so expect Guthrie, Johnson and Guerrero to still get trade offers. Maybe more guys, who has asked for a trade??

Name me one hitter the Orioles have developed since Markakis and one starting pitcher in memory.

The player development side is riddled with incompetence yet the same people continue to come back year after year and do nothing.

The coaching is abysmal.Pitchers come up here and can't throw strikes. Matt Wieters, supposedly an awesome talent when drafted, swings like your aunt Minnie and sweeps ground ball after weak ground ball to second because nobody has developed his hitting mechanics.

Kids don't stay on shape. A pitcher is allowed to throw for some stupid commercial in the middle of the winter, hurts his arm, and his career appears to be shot .

And presiding over year after year of disaster is what has to be the worst owner in baseball and maybe in all of professional sports.

This season is horrible, but the trades were good trades. The return on Uehara is terrific. It's sad to see this team playing so badly, and it's easy to give up hope on those young pitchers...but really, this team is just a couple of major-league average starters away from...well, from not being an embarrassment, which is all I'm looking for now.

It doesn't take much, after that.

Dan, you actually wrote that the Orioles outscored the Yankees 3-2 after the second inning? Bet you'd like to have that one back.

As I mentioned on another thread, Peter Angelos just gave the University of Baltimore School of Law ten million dollars to name a new building after his parents.

Meanwhile, he won't cough up the funds so that his baseball team can scout the Caribbean, sign marquee free agent talent, or pay the money to bring in major league calibre front office personnel. We have a minor league team in Baltimore masquerading as a major league franchise, and a minor league GM posing as a baseball executive. At least I hope Andy slept in a Holiday Inn express last night.

That's why Angelos' baseball team loses games 17 to 3 and is 22.5 games out on July 31. And what is Angelos worried about? Getting a building named after his parents. And the remaining few Oriole fans are left with nothing but talk about trading veterens for prospects. It's summer, it's Baltimore and it's bad baseball as usual.

Balto Oriole Team Recipe: Shake, do not stir. Just let the whole thing implode and see what's happening after the dust settles. Start thinking outside the box. Stop waiting for players to 'break out'. This team is HORRIBLE. I'm a fan who usually watches long after we're out of contention. But this year, I don't know...

DON'T tell me you expect them to keep Tillman up.. WE got exactly what I expected to see from him. Britton I wasn't expecting to look that bad, I am not sure the route to take with him. Don't send PATTON down if we can't bring him up for 10 days, same for jakubauskas .. Berken maybe but I don't know we have that many arms down there to bring back..

Dan,

Do you think Britton might be sent back down as well?

It seems Baltimore is destined to be the disgrace of ML baseball, next to Houston. Even if this team by some stretch of the imagination climbs out of the cellar and above .500 it will only be by accident (see 1989). The P.A. and A.M. are pitiful and pathetic at best. It is time the media hop on the "Let's Get Rid of the Angelos Regime" once and for all. Unfortunately both will probably live forever, so we need to force them out somehow. So media go to work and I'm sure the fans will be behind it. Oh and for those that think A.M. built the Twins, he didn't. He was a glorified front office stiff who ran errands.

You're right Wayne ,Britton made a fool of himself. He shouldn't be griping. In fact the only people that should be griping are the fans. I've seen enough of this to know that the Oriole organization is broken, totally nonfunctional. It's hard to take.

Dan, Jeff, Anyone!

like the moves and lets hope buck gives all the young guys a chance. Now we need to release PIE, trade VLAD and bring up Snyder and let him play DH/LF/1B. let him have 2 months of regular at bats to show what hes got.
Or does these trades mean they have giving up on Snyder? your thoughts?

Dan, Jeff, Peter, Anyone!

like the moves and lets hope buck gives all the young guys a chance. Now we need to release PIE, trade VLAD and bring up Snyder and let him play DH/LF/1B. let him have 2 months of regular at bats to show what hes got.
Or does these trades mean they have given up on Snyder? your thoughts?

Jeff,

Are we possibly looking into possibly kicking the tires on Ludwick? Matusz (a SD dude) would be the centerpiece.

This would make a lot of sense. LF/RF with power.

Davis, another guy like Reynolds who can strike out with the bases loaded. O's are awful and staying that way. Another poor move. add that to Tillman and Bell as a waste of time. No wonder free agents avoid here. 100 losses this year

To: Keir Richter

"If we all remember correctly", the Orioles front office completely misused Koji for the first 1 1/2 years he was here. On the brilliance of the front office, we took a guy who had been an effective relief pitcher in Japan--pitching in air-conditioned buildings--and thought we could turn him back into a starter pitching in the heat and humidity that is Baltimore in the summer.

When they finally figured it out and put him back in the role where he could succeed, he did just that--beyond anyone's expectations. What a surprise!

One has to wonder if the Orioles had a major league team in 1927 with the same front office guys running it.....if they traded for Babe Ruth, would they have converted him back to being a pitcher?

Speaking of being beat around:

I saw that Hobgood lost his spot in the rotation at SHORT SEASON A ball, then got lit up in relief the other night. His ERA is now 9.31.

What a fine draft pick that was, Andy!

Meanwhile Mike Leake had a fine game last night against the defending world champions. Alex White and Mike Minor are top pitching prospects and Mike Trout is playing OK for the Angels.

Now the orioles have a chance for records
on two offensive categories!
Strike outs and double plays

Hunter was strong as a starter last year for a stretch. He has been pretty good as a middle reliever this year but has had a couple of shaky outings as well. The main knock on him is that he lacks an off speed pitch that would keep the hitters off balance and provide him with an 'out' pitch. Check his low strikeout totals. I think Uehara's strikeout numbers are what the Rangers were looking for in this deal. Davis has not played well at third or outfield. His first base defense has been solid. He has a tremendous upside if he can ever translate his AAA game onto the major league level. Check out his outrageous hitting numbers with Round Rock this year.

Maybe Tillman and Britton's performances were a blessing in disguise in that the O's suddenly realized that they should keep guys that can pitch and not trade them for guys who may or may not be able to. I guess at this point it doesn't even matter because whatever they try fails anyway. Not that I'm bitter or anything.

These trades were... okay. I would have preferred a younger prospect with higher potential upside than these 2 players. On the other hand, the Orioles have so many holes that filling them with low-level major leaguers helps the cause, and I wouldn't have expected much for Koji anyway, just because of his age and position. I will miss his style: he was fun to watch.

I knew we weren't going to get much for Lee, and we didn't. I would be happy about the salary relief except that we gave Texas $2 million.

In the end, these deadline trades weren't going to go too far towards improving the team. At least Davis and Hunter allow the Orioles to focus their energies somewhat in the offseason. Hunter is basically the equivalent of the innings-eater free agents we usually pick up, so at least that won't happen again.

I called the over/under at 20 runs scored by the Yankees a few days ago in a comment when I heard Britton and Tillman were starting twin bill, but I did not think it would be 25. Can we channel Casey Stengel, "can anyone here play this game?"

I realize there is no excuse for that first inning, but while everyone wants to blame this whole season on the pitchers, what Buck, Andy and most O's fans seem to miss is the pitchers suffer, because this is one of the worst defensive and fundamental baseball teams I have seen.

Take that first inning, Matt Weiters misses a throw at home plat, that is pretty routine and which he usually catches that would have been the second out and would have prevented the first run (still don't see how they gave an error to Nolan) and then Hardy boots an easy double play ball - making 4 outs before any runs score.

Yes - Britton and then Berken were horrible after that, but one wonders what happens in that game if Zach gets through the first. He was throwing 92-94 and appeared to have a decent sinker.

Then today - Arrietta stupidly walks Chavez to lead off the 4th after being 0-2, but then anotther routine double play ball goes through Hardy;'s legs and the yankees end of with 4 runs. The young pitchers obviously have to learn to handle adversity, but it's hard to learn to pitch in the bigs when your team gives clubs like the Yankees 4 or 5 outs in a couple of innings every time.

Right now, they are weak at second base (althought Davis may be better than Andino), Lee while talented was awful defensively the last month, Reynolds isn't a quality ML third baseman and Pie may be the worst left fielder in the league.

Hardy is usually solid, Nick is one the best RF's in the league, Weiters is a top 10 catcher and while I think Adam is a little over-rated he's a good center fielder. Other than those 4, the pitchers need more help.

Which is the problem with our young pitchers? Our original evaluation of their talents (?) or, if that was accurate, do the Orioles ruin them in development?
I have rarely watched two more clueless pitchers than I watched Saturday. No wonder the pitching coach suddenly retired.

Peter Angelos is the worst owner in MLB. What a joke he is.

O's won't be a winner again until the Angelos family are no longer associated with the organization. Book it.

Peter Angelos, 95% of Oriole fans despise you. Sell the team and slither away.

This team is an embarrassment. 15-0 in the SECOND INNING? Even minor league teams wouldn't play that badly.

But, that's what the O's have become. A minor league team. They sure aren't playing major league quality baseball. The pitching is awful, the defense is equally bad, and they can't hit. That pretty much covers all the categories.

As a fan for almost 50 years, I now watch the game a few minutes at a time. I know if they have a lead, they'll blow it, and if they're trailing, they're definitely going to lose. So, why watch? Just more of the same pain, as it has been for 14 years now.

Well, my son is going to take me to a game in September. Bet there will be plenty of good seats available.

Angelos, please sell this team so us O's fans can have reason to hope the future will be better. Because as long as Angelos owns it, it will not get any better.

I was about to post another rant about this joke of a franchise, but what's the point?

Here's hoping that Derrek Lee and Ryan Ludwick can provide a spark to Pittsburgh's offense for the rest of the season, because these Orioles deserve to be the longest tenured losers in baseball.

Go ahead an tell me I'm not a fan if you want. Go ahead an tell me the definition of a fanatic is a person who is extreme and uncritical in their enthusiasm. I don't care.

Peter Angelos has destroyed the team that I fell in love with as a child. A string of pathetic, lame-duck executives have aided Angelos in said destruction, whether they meant to or not.

This is just beyond painful...

Biggest thing wrong with "O's" is management.
Worse thing wrong with "O's" is management. In between the "O's" are so used to losing they would probably be embarrassed if they won. Neeed major house cleaning, starating now with pitching and hitting coaches.

Angelos + McPhail = TOTAL COLLAPSE!!!
What a pathetic pair of no nothings. Hey McPhail as brilliant as you think you are I hope you are the next commissioner so Angelos will get even a better deal if he ever sells the team to real owners. Do you think it is possible to get a AAA team next year, I'm sure they would be more exciting.
GO NATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and yet, with ZERO pitching through out the organization.....Dylan Bundy is still not signed.

Call me crazy, but I'm quite inclined to believe that McPhail attempted to trade Guthrie to the Detroit Tigers, but got greedy and Detroit turned its back on McPhail and eventually signed former Seattle Mariner, Doug Fister instead.

Who cares about these trades, both of the new guys will stink. How can anybody play for this organization. What an embarassement. Britton, Tillman, Bergerson, Matusz, and let's not forget Loewen lost causes in a sea of oblivion. Who are these so-called scouts who draft these losers?