Let's see if Davis can play third. Then, let's convince him, Reynolds, and Bell to cut down their swings with two strikes, instead of swinging for the fences. Foul off more borderline pitches with two strikes, try to hit outer half pitches to the opposite field.
Jones' homer last night came because he went with the pitch - if he'd tried to pull it, it would have been a grounder to short.

And convince every hitter to walk more. Our .315 team OBP is pathetic, and helps explain why we rank so low in the A.L. in runs scored. Too aggressive.

I can't help but snicker when players say they'd be open to switching positions 'if asked'. I can see it now:

Buck: Hey Mark, I need you to play 1b tonight, will you please?

Reynolds: No thanks

Buck: Ok...Anyone here play 1b tonight?

ITS YOUR JOB TO PLAY WHERE THE MANAGER TELLS YOU!

Not an attack on Reynolds ...whatever the opinion on his usefulness, I think most would agree the guy plays hard every night and would catch if asked. What does a player do if asked to play 1b and he doesnt want to? take the field and then not participate? that would be a sight.

Anncr: Nice play by Hardy up the middle, spins and throws to first...and the 1b is talking to a hot looking chick in the front row down the first base line!

Hey Jeff .. I have ankle soreness from years of backpacking and walking. Solution: run a golf ball 20 minutes each night under your foot as a form of massage. Takes care of the problem...Enjoy your Sunday!!!

TWELVE GAMES +

Behind..... not the Yankee's...... not the Red Sox...... not the Rays........

Drum Roll...... 12+ games behind.......

The TORONTO BLUE JAYS.... the FOURTH PLACE team in the division.

Not the 1st place team,
Not the 2nd
Not the 3rd

But TWELVE + games behind the FOURTH PLACE TORONTO BLUE JAYS.

hahahahahalololololololHAHAHAHAHAHAHaHaHaHaHaaHaHaHaHaHLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahahahahahahahahaha

speaking of leaving organizations, Josh Bell needs to get out of town. I'm all for giving young guys a chance, but he is just a freakin mess. I don't know if playing in Norfolk beat the heck out of him, mentally and physically, but he is no more ready to play at this level than he was last year. Do the kid a favor and release him now, so he can go out to the PCL, put up crazy numbers, and disappoint some other organization.
Or send him down to Bowie, where he can actually see what winning a couple games in a row is like. Just do something with the kid. He's a mess.

I'm hard pressed to conjure up a circumstance where keeping guthrie in baltimore was/is good for the long term health of either him or the club. Why can't this club put together a package with Guthrie in it, for a kid like Brett Lawrie? Some teams need pitching and will overpay in players. The Orioles stink, with or without Guthrie. I think AM missed the boat by not shopping him harder. especially after that performance against the Yanks.

If the return was going to be another Josh Bell, well ok, that's one scenario...

The first thing the new GM should do is go hand out walking papers to nearly the entire roster in Norfolk. Your AAA team is supposed to be able to help you out.
You know, pluck a kid with some skills that transfer to the major league game.
Except for a few players, the Orioles use AAA like a dumpster.

The second thing he needs to do is hand out walking papers to about 10 guys on the major league roster.

I don't know, sometimes I miss the obvious...When queried at the trading deadline about which way the Os might be headed, MacPhail answered, :"Down of course. You've been around. Think I'm going to change direction now?"

So Guthrie remains an Oriole.

UPDATE:

THIRTEEN + GAMES behind .....

Not 1st place,
Not 2nd place,
Not 3rd place,

13+ games behind the TORONTO BLUE JAYS.

Not the Yankee's,
Not the Red Sox,
Not the Rays,

THIRTEEN + GAMES behind the FOURTH PLACE Toronto Blue Jays.

But as AM was quoted as saying... 'we're better'

Very good point, cush. I live near Toronto, and when Jose Bautista agreed to switch from RF back to 3B, the organization acted like he'd agreed to give up a kidney to a dying orphan.

I realize switching positions isn't always easy, but I'm sure the millions upon millions of dollars cushion the blow. People making far less have their job descriptions changed constantly, and they have no say in the matter.

The team has been in crash and burn mode for a while. Reynolds has not hurt the team at first, but I find it laughable when people say how good he is because he hit two homers and only struck out 10 times in his last 5 games. Others guys have hit the ball hard but been unlucky to see those hard hits turn into outs. Three today, 5 yesterday, 4 more Friday. Shows at least that some players aren't slumping, they are just missing a little.

Mark Reynolds continues his habit of drilling HRs in meaningless situations when the pitcher is willing to throw something over the plate, and then failing to deliver productive at bats in meaningful situation. Perfect for Baltimore, since losing is the new norm here and no one in our front office seems to be willing to do anything to change that.

Great... Two things to look forward: (1) The prospect of a 1B next season who hits close to .200 and (2) for the O's to equal last season's horrible record, they need to go 22-29 (.431) for the rest of the year...not likely for a club playing under .400 right now.

Wait'll next decade!