Welcome to the year that makes 1988 look like 1966/1970/1983. My prediction for the Orioles: 31-131.

I wish I was going to Florida instead of wading through this ice water....

Does that mean you fell down several times from Eldersburg to Marshall BWI Airport and hired a new walking coach?

Thanks for the updates Roch! I wonder how many peanuts you will get, HA!

Do you expect any of the position players to report early?

Thanks for the blog Roch, I enjoyed reading about your BWI experience. Now I'm looking forward to your posts on spring training. Good luck. Hey at least you can press your face against the glass in the opposite direction from last year when your plance took off.

Have a great trip, Roch. Think kindy of those of us who are still back here dealing with the thaw out! Now that you're heading down to Florida it feels official that Spring Training is finally underway.

I know that there may be other posters around here who are still grumpy and grouchy over things that have (or have not) happened this offseason and there'll be a sourpuss or two who'll get sarcastic about being excited for "losing 100+ games" this season, but I'm excited and looking forward to this season. The way I see it, this is the first time in a long while that the team has a decent shot at exceeding, rather than failing to meet, the expectations placed on their season.

good travels, holmes.

ps. happy birthday to blog!

Have a great flight.....

so i guess that means no comments for about 4 hours

w00t! pitchers and catchers spring is in the air

Ray - the Angels don't want Roberts. They already have a good YOUNG second baseman in Howie Kendrick. I do like the thought of trading Mora and Millar/Huff to the Angels for Wood, though.

Earl Weaver - you of all people should know this. Cal Ripken was hitting under .200 when he got beaned in May of 1982. At that point in his career (about 50 games), he hadn't shown much either. I think Adam Jones will be fine. ESPN is projecting him to hit .275 with 20 homers and 80 RBI. I think a lot of us would be happy with those numbers in Jones' first full year.

You are the definition of multi-tasking.

Roch,
good luck in Florida. I am pretty excited about this year, I think the O's are heading in the right direction. I just hope that AM knows what he is doing with these kids. I have seen the Orioles pick some pretty bad prospects before, and there track record for judging talent lately isnt very good. I dont know how they could have the draft picks they have had in the last 10 years and still not have anyone in the minors. That is aweful. how can the Yankees, and the Red Sox have a stronger minor league system than us with all the draft picks we have had?

Glitches and all Roch, I think you are sitting in a much better seat today than Roger Clemens. I know there are personal sacrifices involved with any job, but I think most of the people who read your blog would be willing to trade places with you in a heartbeat. Personally, I hope you enjoy your assignment to the fullest.

From the Clemens hearing today (not even joking):

"Mr. Clemens, according to your account, Mr. McNamee injected your wife in your bedroom without your knowledge."

Funniest thing I've heard all month! HAHAHAHAHAHA!

He's lying, okay, whatever, let's just move on because I am tired of hearing about it.

go Roch!

Roch on a plane to FL. The official sign that ST is ALMOST here for O's fans.

hallelujah!

Roch can you ask Trembley if veterans who are underperforming will block prospects who need evaluation time/playing well/high-upside or will there actually be a chance that Mora/Huff/Gibbons/Millar will actually be on the bench

Roch, you are as giddy as a school girl to be headed south today! I hope you dont get the rental car that I used last week out of Ft Lauderdale, I used off the 2 gallons of gas above the full line before I returned it. sorry! That will cost you another 8 bucks! Maybe Gibbons will let you bunk with him in his 7K a month party beach house for ST! If the O's are TRUELY rebuilding, they would send him packing and eat his contract. Why waiste a slot on him with all these real players needing experience on their way to helping the O's win! I guess we will see if he took some extra time this off season to learn to run, throw, or hit!

Well Roch, I've been in S. FL since November. Right now the weather is bad. It's not cold, but it is ugly with thunder storms and tornados. Looking forward to your posts from the training site.

Godspeed, Roch!!!!!!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

As soon as I read "almost pulled a hamstring" I thought of strained obliques. Half a sentence later, I got my confirmation.

What's the franchise record for strained obliques anyway ?

Guys - thanks for the positive comments.

Anonymous - I appreciate your point of view. I wasn't trying to defend Angelos or to give him a free pass. I mentioned several of the weaknesses you list also. My point was that there seems to have been no horrible, unreasonable interference since he made the choice to hire AM, yet many poor jounalists write as if they know for sure he is meddling right now.

Regarding ruining a once proud franchise: It is exremely sad to see awful things written and said about the team I have watched and loved for 50 years. And the team has surely lost a ton of credibility and respect somewhere between the 1970's and now.

I think many folks, however, give a "free ride" to EBW and to Jacobs for their parts in tearing down the franchise. After all, by the time Angelos acqured the team, they had not reached the post season in 9 years and they had suffered the unbelievable humiliation of the 0-21 start, the firing of Ripken Sr. after 6 games, the Glenn Davis trade, a franchise record 107 losses, and five losing seasons out of the prior 6. The "Oriole Way" was a distant memory. And we true fans were expecting any minute to have the team moved out in Mayflower vans by the non-locally committed ownership.

So, while I agree with you that the reputation and image of the "once proud" franchise has been ruined, I am not in agreement that Angelos inherited a proud franchise and single-handedly threw it all away.

The franchise was in pretty sorry condition (player-wise and organization-wise) when he bought it. He had pretty good success 4 and 5 years later and has had mediocre and then crummy performance for the past 10.

A more historically accurate position is that Hoffberger built a masterpiece from 1953 - 1979. First EBW and then Jacobs spent the next 13 years dismantling and squandering it. Angelos then spent 16 years of a few ups and many downs, continuing to produce mediocracy and worse.

BUT - he appears to have taken a turn for the better over the past couple of years, and especially during the last 12 months.

At this point, we should all be from Missouri - "show me". But I think we have seen enough to stop the Angelos-as-the-root-of-all-evil posts for while. At least until the next time we have any evidence that he has done something terrible.

However, that's just my opinion. And I still hate having to hear Jon Miller on ESPN and know that he was our guy. As much as Chuck Thompson, he represented the O's. So I do have my grudges.

JPA,

You asked in reference to reporting on Angelos/MacPhail: "Why do you suppose [Roch] should or does want to distinguish himself from his colleagues in this regard?" I think the answer is really quite simple: there is a rather astonishing amount of Angelos bashing that takes place among his colleagues, and it's a brand of reporting that far more often than not lacks credibility (see Schmuck, Maese and now Heyman, among others with far less knowledge of the inner workings of the O's front office). The sad fact is that the reporting carries as little substantive material than the rants of us, the fans.

The bottom line is thinking OUTSIDE the box is often welcome, and often fruitful. Roch, to his credit, does that sometimes. He just hasn't done it in this regard, and so that's why I say he's failed to distinguish himself here. That's of course his option, as it's my option to call him out on it. It's neither the beginning of the world nor the end of it whether he responds or not. I'll simply read his future posts, and comment when it feels right.

As Roch heads to Florida and I sit home enjoying today's wonderful weather I feel obligated to comment on the "Clemens Hearings"---What in the name of ___ is wrong with these people. Once again the sheer stupidity of our elected officials is front and center for all to see.This is not an investigation it's the Congressional version of the"Family Feud." Every Democrat is trying to convict Clemens while absolving McNamee of his lifetime of lies. Meanwhile every Republican is in Clemens corner, and seems to be solely concerned with poking holes in McNamee's story. Though there certainly seems to be some major issues with this testimony the chairman Sen. Henry (eyebrows) Waxman feels obligated to defend McNamee after every question. Meanwhile the Black Democratic Senators continually attack Clemens with a zeal that seems to be an attempt to punish Clemens for the hatchet job the media has done on Barry(big head) Bonds.Hopefully some good will come out of all of this----my guess is that we are watching the early footage of Will Farrell's next movie---National Lampoons "Robes of Justice." Boy I can't wait for Arlen"alzeheimer" Specter and the football "Spygate hearings."

Have a good flight, Roch. Buy Brandon Fahey a protein shake on all of us.

We feel your pain, Roch.

As we scrape the ice of our windshields to go about our dreary lives.

:)

Keep the reports coming, and don't go to any strip clubs with Aubrey Huff unless he pays!

Keep you day job. What is your day job?

Roch, your article makes Trembley sound like the ideal manager. But I fear for him. Think about the other teams that have rebuilt. Have any of the managers who began the rebuilding been kept around to enjoy its fruits? I'm thinking of how Detroit ran the beloved Alan Trammell out as manager just before Jim Leyland swooped in and got all the glory. The Marlins have been through a ton of managers. And Buck Showalter was always fired just before his team went to the next level.

just wanted to say i really enjoyed the article about Dave Trembley (http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-os0213,0,5401465.story)

is there any word on whether he will allow fans to observe the workout sessions? i'm told it's at the manager's discretion. is that true?

Roch and his adventures at BWI... the real sign that spring training is starting!

Woohoo!

Is Brian Roberts going to be traded soon? Is he a risk to "force a trade" publicly and "forcing" McPhail's hand in dealing for less than he could get without other teams knowing that a player is demanding a trade? 3-5 players in return?

Haha- awsome love the play by play about the airport (**Classic**).

Safe travels - give us the inside stories you are so good at Roch - you make it like we were there ourselves...

Regarding the Sun article about Ramon being in better shape: I am so glad they did not trade him this offseason. I look for a strong rebound year for Ramon. God, I love spring training and the optimism it brings - even with the O's current roster.

Why is Steroid Roberts still on the Orioles. I will not watch this year if he is on the team. He is a liar and a cheat.

Rog needs more then steroids. He looks bad. Going bald. Who did that hair.Proof that millions can't make you handsome like me, Roch and Schmuck.

You skated out of Eldersburg like Kimmie Meisner, Roch? Does that mean you fell three times? ;)

I'll be here all week, folks. Don't forget to tip your waiters....