Pete, I know they resigned Gary Thorne for next year. Do you know if Jim and Buck are also resigned for next season as well?

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Pete's reply: I haven't heard anything official, but I'm pretty sure those guys are back.

Peter,
Why with so much secrecy by McFail? He may be a great negotiator but he stinks as a communicator? Isnt every good leader supposed to be a strong communicator to bring everyone on board. I would bet 99 percent of the people dont know or cant remember the last time he sat down and talked to the press or fans about such?

He is great for the organization...because Ole Pete picked him...lol

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Pete's reply: MacPhail is not a big media guy, but he's cooperative and he talks to the reporters regularly. He doesn't hold a lot of press conferences, but I don't remember Pat Gillick doing that either.

Hey Flanagan obviously doesn't have a front office role anymore so the options listed makes sense.
On the subject of NOT making sense, how about the 2 recent free-agent signings..Bradley to the Cubs for 3/30 mill and Burrell to the Rays/2/16 mill. Bradely brings a lot of baggage with his temper and injury-proneness so I just can't see laying out that kind of $$$.
Burrell now becomes one of the highest paid Rays and it will be interesting to see how he fits into a young team. He is a streaky hitter and he'll be facing better teams/pitchers. I think the Rays panicked on having to make a move but this one will haunt them by upsetting their salary structure. Why overpay for a .250 hitter who may hit 30 HRs but strike out 180 times? They might as well re-signed Eric Hinske and/or Rocco Baldelli combined for half the price with the same production.

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Pete's reply: I'm hesitant to second-guess the Rays. They seem to know what they're doing.

I think Flanagan became irrelevant in terms of baseball operations when MacPhail was hired, and rightfully so. It would be nice if he was put back in the booth, though. Regardless, I wish him well -- he seems like a class act.

On another front, do you think the O's will shop Aubrey Huff either before the season or before the July deadline? What about to the Angels? His value couldn't be higher than right now, and there is no point in keeping him for 2009 (other than an attempt to win at least 60 games). Have you heard any Huff chatter Peter? Thanks.

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Pete's reply: I'm sure they'll shop Huff in July if he's having a good year.

The O's have been quiet on this subject because Flanny will be named as the second starter in the rotation.

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Pete's reply: Can't believe you know that. I was planning that as tomorrow's scoop.

Pete,

Mike Flanagan seems like a great guy, but what's up with him and the O's? Does he have pictures of PA and animals or what? I mean he did ok as an analyst in fact much better than Cakes Palmer, but he was horrid as a pitching coach and even worse as a GM, can we say Gibbon extension, Baez, Walker and Bradford fiasco, I mean how many chances does one man get? If I didn't know better you would think Flanny was offspring to Peter the Great with the number of chances he's been given!

Pete another small market team the Rays (our model) just signed Pat Burrell, does that mean we can spend 12M for two years on a hitter or is Richie Sexon our $1M version for a sub-small market team?

flanny has a terrible voice for tv/radio. very nasal sounding and not the kind of voice you want to hear for any period of time. he'd serve the organization better as a pitching instructor working with young prospects.

Why do the Orioles always get guys with annoying voices to do commentary?

There was Micheal "smacky lips" Reghi. *smack* "And the Orioles are ready to take the field. *smack* Bedard winds up and delivers the pitch. *smack* And it is in there for a strike."

Jim "homer" Hunter.

Buck "the Inflectionator" Martinez. Why is his voice normal every other time I hear him talk, but when he does a ball game he sounds like a recording of himself with somebody pinching the tape to slow it down and speed it up at times. What comes out is this kind of weird roller coaster ride of tones.

Gary "I missed the pitch location, count, and batter's name....again" Thorne. At least his voice is pleasant, but is he even paying attention to the game? "That pitch will miss low and away for ball three." In reality the pitch was high and tight and was ball two.

I know my voice isn't a prize, but you don't see me trying to get a job as a commentator.

"...can we say Gibbon extension, Baez, Walker and Bradford fiasco..."

I think you forgot to mention the Deivi Cruz and Omar Daal signings.

What about the Chad Bradford trade to Tampa. They were suppose to get a player to be named in return but have not yet acquired one. Do you know anything on this? Who possibly they will get?

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Pete's reply: I think they will take a cash payment instead of a minor prospect, but haven't heard anything lately.

I say give him a raise and put him in the booth, where I thought he was very good.

As far as the raise, anyone who wants to stay in the organization (very hard to find these days) deserves a raise.

Flannagan better than Cakes? I beg to differ.

Pete, the sad truth is that if Flangan were given 30 days to get in shape, he might do better against lefthanders than Jamie Walker has in the last two years.

I just can't wait to see Mark Hendrickson pitch again. He played in the Semi Pro leagues up here in York and Adams County a number of years back and did pretty well against high school kids and over the hill guys like me.

He may still hold the York County record for strikeouts against 45 year old construction workers with beer guts on Sundays.

Who's going to get Angelos' wine and cheese during games?

O’ great, another direct employee pretending to be media & covering the team. Im really sure he will be a harsh critic. Come on…And that whiny voice,,ugh no thanks. This organization gets more unbearable by the minute.

Buck's voice ain't so hot, either. But the good voices cost too much for Angelos-owned MASN to sign. Besides, they never wanted to come here anyway.

Flanagan's principal defect as a broadcaster is that he is a unabashed homer. As a consequence, his biased comments are uninteresting. Some fans seem to like this kind of boring drivel, but I would rather listen to someone sharing his informed insights with his listeners (even casual fans like me). Alas, customers are at the bottom of the MLB pyramid.

My favorite Flanagan on-air reportage was his considered remark during a game a few years ago that the pitcher (Mathews?) "was possibly having control problems." This wise statement from the seasoned pro in the booth was made after the pitcher had walked the bases loaded and threw a wild pitch on an intentonal base on balls, which resulted in a runner scoring from third.

Where have you gone, Jon Miller?

Pete , in keeping with an earlier comment , if the O's have their fantasy camp again this year , maybe they should take a look at afew of those old - timers . I hear Scott McGregor still has it .

All,

If many of us had the same loyalty to the Orioles that Flanny has, Camden Yards would not be empty all of the time. He is an Oriole and cares about the organization- he deserves our respect. So he tried his best as a GM but it did not work so well. Stop beating him up- he is a good man and a true Oriole.

The Rays sign Burrell; the O's sign Freel. Any wonder why the O's are the laughing stock of baseball?

Actually, Huff's value won't be very good unless he starts the season off well. Last season was more an anomally than the norm for Huff. Not to mention, who's going to play first if he gets traded? Brandon Snyder? I hope not. Adam Dunn? I'd love it, but not likely.
As far as Flanagan goes, just keep him away from the FO, 'cause he just doesn't know how to say no to Angelos.

Pete: You have been very patient and kind to the O's thus far. Giving AM a chance. Fair enough, even though 12 yrs of PA tells all of us all we need to know. You get props for calling out PA a few years ago, and he is still angry, but it seems to me you're being too kind to AM and too slow to call AM out. Maybe you like him; maybe he's a nice guy; whatever. The O's so far have had a completely uneventful off-season. Can you tell us right now what are the MINIMUM things we as O's fans (and season ticket holders) should expect before we begin to declare this offseason a failure? And if they aren't achieved will you go back to your old crotchety, lovable self?

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Pete's reply: No, because you're confusing my opinion of the rebuilding plan with the lack of exciting activity this offseason. I'm foursquare behind the rebuilding plan because it's the only real hope of ever being competitive for more than a couple of months -- even if it may end up being a faint hope. I wanted to see Teixeira come here, but he didn't want to, so I'm not going to blast the FO for not squandering that $140 million on a handful of other players who aren't going to be around when it matters. If they sign three free agent pitchers to three-year deals and spend a total of $80 million on them, all they're going to do is waste resources, finish with 77 wins and mortgage the future again. Wow, if that turns everybody on, great, but understand it's that kind of thinking that got the team to this point in the first place.

If the O's want to keep him around b/c he is one of the few links to the past, they should have extended his current contract. Give him an office in the warehouse and make sure the fans know he is around so they have something to care about, even though he doesn't actually make any decisions. Enough of this trying to talk ourselves into what he is good at. He stunk as a pitching coach, a commentator and a decision maker in the front office. Let him wave at fans from the owner's box.

while i certainly respect flanny's contributions to the franchise it is time to cut him loose. no role of any kind for him. he's a bore on tv. no personality at all. he has this thing called - Scoreboard Math. It's when the O's are losing 5 to 3 or some such score so the O's need 3 runs to get ahead. That was a highlight of his analytical skills mind you.
thanks flanny, here's a watch, take care.

The timbre of Mike Flanagan's voice is fine with me. He is a bright, witty guy and a former star pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles.

I wouldn't mind hearing him in the booth again.

Flanagan was a REAL GOOD pitcher...everything since has been REAL BAD....just MHO.

Pete,

Any chance PA thought the cash in his pocket for Bradford was better than a prospect or two in the system?

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Pete's reply: Think about this for a minute. The guy is worth about a billion dollars. He owns half of downtown, a huge law firm and a major league baseball team valued at maybe $500 million. Do you really believe he even gets a memo when the team collects maybe $75,000 or whatever that payment might be? I'm guessing the O's weren't offered enough to justify a roster move, so they took some cash, but I have not heard of a final disposition on that.

Pete,

It only makes sense, if good players don't want to play in Baltimore and we can't keep our good players (BROB) why would a good announcer want to come here as we couldn't keep Jon Miller! I guess were just expected to accept inferior products, obviously your exclusionary to this as is Fred and Joe!

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Pete's reply: Who do you want?

Orioles are fortunate to have Mike Flanagan still active in the organization.How many people in baseball wore as many hats so well.Pitcher,Coach,GM,Broadcaster,
Cy Young Award Winner,World Champion.Best of luck to you,Flanny

At some point don't you just have to separate yourself from a situation? The Orioles have a love affair with the 1983 team. If we aren't celebrating its 25th anniversary we are allowing its players to hang on like barnacles. I for one am embarrassed that we would celebrate the 25th anniversary of our last championship. Admitted, I was only one when the Orioles won that championship so I don't have the same affection towards Flanagan and others(Dempsey)as the older fans may, but can't we do a bit better? If I was in Flanagan's shoes there is now way I could take a diminished roll with the organization.

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Pete's reply: I'm not a big anniversary guy myself, but the O's have been hammered for not giving those kinds of things enough attention, so they can't win either way.

I think Jim Hunter has gotten better over the years. His first couple of years were a constant whine about the umpires! Every single loss was the umpires' fault! I will take his present paycheck induced optimistic homerism over his former whining self.

Pete,

Ok, I'll say uncle on the announcer deal. I was a big Brooks Robinson fan myself until PA ran him out of town! But Kenny Singleton is pretty good and he played here if that is a requirement. Others might be Greg Maddux now that he is retired or even Harold Reynolds. As far as PA and the Bradford CASH dealing, only poking fun, but just another example of dumping salary, not so much what we got, it's what we won't pay in 2009 even though he threw strikes! I've said this on this blog several times, I REALLY hope your right about all of what is happening, but I'm afraid we are being dealt from the bottom of the deck!

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Pete's reply: That's certainly possible, but if so, all is lost anyway.

I can see why we're all talking about Flanny and what role he might have with his Oriole welfare check. Milton Bradley just signed (pending Thursday's physical) with the Cubs for three years, $30 million.

Bradley has played at least 100 games only three times in his career. Granted, his past year was a nice one, however, doesn't this throw dirt on the theory that Markakis is going to accept $60 million for six years?

It should even if one was foolish enough to believe it in the first place.

But it's good to have another warm body promoting the virtues of the front office. After all, growing pains are tough to deal with when there's no actual growth.

By the way, what's the over-under on wins by Hendrickson? 5½?

Flanagan has as much credibility on baseball as Matt Millen does on football. Both destroyed franchises.

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Pete's reply: Yeah, the franchise was in such great shape when he took over.

If Huff has a good first half,the last thing we should be thinling about is trading him! He's only 31/32 and if we leave him at DH(and burn his glove!), there;s no reason he can't remain a key part of our offense for a number of years. Teams are paying 10 mill/yr for a guy like that so why not keep a 25-30 hr/100 RBI man?
A lineup with Roberts, Markakis, Huff, Jones, Weiters is a good foundation..now all we need is a pitching staff!

Whatever happened to Lowenstein? I used to love to listen to him and Mel Proctor.

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Pete's reply: Last I heard, he was happily retired in Las Vegas.

I do not understand some of you. Flanny was great in the both. He presented insights that others cannot. I just wish they would add Brother Lowe back in the both and have him work it.

Also Mike did not do a bad job. Had a lot of bad luck. What are they going to say about AM if Tillman never gets the ball over the plate and Patton never recovers. Will PA fire him for injuries?

I seem to remember Flanagan being a pretty solid pitching coach. Any chance he'd be interested in that type of role again?

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Pete's reply: I believe they have a pretty solid pitching coach, but you never know.

I saw Flanny on an MLB Network interview and the man knows his stuff and knows his baseball. The fact that he may have been moved to the sidelines in the MacPhail era is no slight to him - Andy runs baseball operations for the O's. Based on Flanny's analysis on the MLB Network interview, he is no doubt a valued member of Andy's team. The baseball operations department needed new, outside blood. Sometimes that's what an organization needs to make the changes that need to be made, and are no slight to the talents of those who held positions under the old regime. I'll look forward to Flanny in the booth. I hope Jim Hunter is back.

If they replace Flanagan with Dempsey I say GREAT!

Think about this; the other 31 teams in baseball are not beating down the door the hire Flanagan for their front offices. There is a reason for this-he was lousy in the front office.

bring back procter and lowenstein

They re-signed Gary Thorne? Absolutely their worst signing ! Mike F was always a loyal soldier, keep him around. It's tough to find any kind of loyalty in MLB

Flanagan was (to me) unimpressive as a member of the broadcast team. I still miss Jon Miller, but Buck ain't half bad, as anyone who listens to announcers from other clubs would quickly notice.

Flanagan should be offered a job as roving pitching coach in the minor league system. If he doesn't want it, he should retire. The idea that Mike F. is better in the booth than Jim Palmer is really shocking to me, although I understand that different people have differing tastes. Palmer's quite good (although repititious), and somewhat importantly, he is an historical landmark like only Brooks, Frank and Cal can match.

Please please please do not put Flanagan back in the boothe. He is awful! Show him the door! He was awful as an announcer and even worse as a gm. Get him out of the organization. NOW!

Please please please do not put Flanagan back in the boothe. He is awful! Show him the door! He was awful as an announcer and even worse as a gm. Get him out of the organization. NOW!

Flanagan was a wonderful pitcher, woeful FO figure, and pretty good in the broadcast booth. He has to bring the humor, though. Other wise he is ordinary.
Flanagan's FO legacy Bad: Poor performances and lousy signings.

Flanagan's FO Legacy Good: Handling the Steve Bechler tragedy. He performed top notch in that role.

Pete,

I saw a comment regarding shopping Huff around possibly at mid-season. I am not aware of any first baseman in the minor leagues, or of a decent first baseman on the roster (Millar would not qualify). Why is everyone so eager to get rid of Huff, I though he was one of the few bright spots on the club and should be kept around for several more years. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, eh?

Please God No Flanagan in the booth.

Jim Palmer and Gary Thorne are great. If they want to bring someone back bring back Brother Lo. But I know that won't happen. Or let Dave Johnson do some color. He is great to listen to and he knows what he is talking about. He doesn't mind being objective.....oh wait that won't work either.

As far as Buck Martinez and Jim Hunter I would trade them both for Ned from South Park.

Lost (or simply not mentioned) within the news of Milton Bradley's FA signing with the Cubs for 3 years is its potential impact upon the O's-Cubs' off-again, on-again trade discussions involving Brian Roberts. With their trade of DeRosa to the Indians and addition of Bradley, it would seem that the Cubs have positioned themselves for an attempted run at Roberts for Pie (and, hopefully, others.) It would also appear, if that is their intention, that they may have eliminated the Padres and Jake Peavy from a 3-way trade proposal.

Anyone have any thoughts about this?

Folks,

Jim Palmer is a horrid announcer, as he continuously talks down to his play by play guy regardless of who he is. I really don't want to hear Jim Palmer tell me about hitting as much as I wouldn't want to hear Mike Ditka tell me about politics! Besides, any major leaguer or former major leaguer who says the tie goes to the runner is laughable. That was good in little league but maybe the Little League World Series is Cakes niche!

Sages. Your comparison of Flanagan to Matt Millen is 'out there'. As a long-sufffering Lions (and Orioles0 fan, Flanagan did not have anywhere near the authority that Millen did. Millen was hired by a clueless owner, who made a poor choice and compounded the error by keeping him around far too long. The Lions weren't really too far form competing back then; in contrast the Orioles were pretty bad when Flanagan was hired.
The only thing the 2 teams have in common is mis-guided owners but it's unfair to lay any major blame on the Orioles mess on Flanagan.

My longtime Timonium neighbor, John Lowenstein, is enjoying retirement & still residing in Las Vegas, NV. Getting ready to celebrate his 61st birthday, he fondly celebrated the 25th anniversary of the 83 WS in the Fall, has regular season tickets for UNLV Runnin' Rebels football and basketball, and routinely heads north with his hunting buddies in search of Elk and Moose, (not mussina), each year.

Flanny will be okay as a broadcaster, better than Dempsy anyway.

Pete, Happy New Year. Any word on the street about the Gavin Floyd for BRob deal? According to Chicago Tribune the O's and Sox couldn't agree on the rest of the players in return. The Tribune is also suggesting Jermaine Dye to O's, I don't see that happening but it would provide some protection for Markakis and Huff.

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Pete's reply: Nobody really seems to know anything. The White Sox story you mention from the Chicago Tribune basically disputes the notion that any serious discussions have taken place. The inclusion of Dye is just unsourced speculation, so I wouldn't put too much stock in it.

His time is over as an Oriole. It will be like saying goodbye to Brian Billick. Someone who meant well for his team but couldn't see the forest for the trees. I don't think it would be rational to put such a person back into the Orioles broadcast booth (alot of people don't like him).

Hey Ozzie, tell John that this O's fan is glad to hear he is doing well. As for Flanny, I'm glad he's no longer in the front office, but equally glad this former O's great is still involved with the team.
McPhail will make a move when there is one worth making, if there is no good pitching out there then you can't buy any. Not much of a consolation, but that's the way the world works.

When Baltimore's austerity program began, did that put the various GMs and other front office and field people in a position to truly compete with the Yanks and Sox ? If the answer is "no", would it be fair to say that those folks might not look so good to us fans ? While winning may not entirely coorelate with $$$, it comes mightly close....give Flanny (and others) a much deserved break.

I respect Flanny for what he has done on the field and thank him for his loyalty to the organization but I too have a hard time listening to him in the booth. He is just not fun to listen to. He's Mr. Monotone is my biggest complaint - good only if you're trying to fall asleep!

I liked Flanny in the booth thought he was informative and had good stories as a color guy.

Flanny's championship memories with the O's are rivaled by one of the great cameos a guy could ever dream up: re-acquired from Toronto shortly before the end of 1991 he enters in the 9th of the last game at Memorial Stadium to a standing ovation and proceeds to strike out the 2 Tigers he faces. He is the last Oriole to throw a pitch from the mound on 33rd Street. That put some lump in my throat on that breezy day...but then again the whole day did.
Also there that day was Ken Singleton. I can't join in with Charlie's suggestion to come back and work for the O's however. He is fantastic on the Yankee telecasts I am forced to watch here ...and he really talks up Baltimore too.
So leave Kenny in NY and Flanny somewhere (anywhere) in Balmer.

One name for the O's announcer, John "Brother Lo" Lowenstein!

As with all others, Flanagan is another puppet of PA's. This team is not going anywhere until everybody stops being a "Yes" man to PA. McPhail will not last, he will leave because of getting tired of Angelos.

Why do you think one of the best GM's left? Pat Gillick.

Only can the Orioles fire a manager, Davey Johnson, who was the finest manager they have had since Earl, after he wins an award...

Pete
It infuriates me to watch the Orioles and see just how Peter Angelos has run this organization to the ground. We spend a lot of cash and we make the playoffs. And then Albert Belle happened and we havent recovered. Baltimore is NOT a small market so why is Angelos treating it like it is? Why are we so gun shy to spend money just because one huge investment didnt work out. We didnt stop making trades after the Glenn Davis fiasco, so why let this put us in the corner?
It pains me to see all these empty seats at Camden Yards and I gotta believe it makes him feel even worse. I guess my question is, does he have any idea of how miserable Orioles fans are?

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Pete's reply: I would think so, but it apparently isn't sinking in.

who is John Angelos?

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Pete's reply: That's a very complex question.

Bring Back brother Low ! At least we can enjoy the color commentary when the game sucks.

i'm serious Pete! is he related to Peter Angelos?

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Pete's reply: I think not, unless Peter is secretly Irish.

*sighs* I'm so confused!

I've run into Flanny a few times up here in Northern Baltimore County; in the grocery store: the service station; the post office. We're almost neighbors of sorts; I know he doesn't live too far away. My son visited his house once with some friends.

Anyway, every time I saw Mike he had what looked like a 3 day growth going. Maybe he was working from home...when he should have been in the office. Maybe that's why Andy let him just quietly become "Mr. Invisible". Or maybe it was his performance. Who knows. There can only be one head chef in the kitchen.

As for Flanny returning to the booth, let's hope that doesn't happen. In fact, it's too bad that those MASN "training camp" TV spots for potential announcers weren't actually for real. I'll bet if they actually had tryouts for a new set of announcers, everyone on the current payroll might have gotten the ax.

BTW, Peter, if you hear that the network is looking for someone, please let them know that I'm available.

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Pete's reply: I think they should just let every fan do an inning of play-by-play. That would get them through early June.

Just getting around to some old blogs (I,ve been busy).RE Flanny on the tube: I've always thought that Dave Johnson was the best commentator re pitching of the whole bunch. I've always enjoyed seeing him on the wrapup.
RE: Texman. IF the O's knew he wasn't going to sign with them (If you KNEW I would think the O's knew) then wouldn't it have bolstered their image among fandom if the O's had countered with a 10 year $181m offer? The Yankees would surely (with Boras' insistence) have offered $185 just to show their fans that little ol' Baltimore couldn't beat the mighty Yankees out on such a valuable signing. At least then the fans could say "Well Pete tried!".