You mean Diet Dr. Pepper doesn't have Grecian Formula side effects?

Pete,

You desperately need to do SOMETHING down there that has to do with winning.

Since the O's and your brackets are already disasters, maybe you can head down to South Beach and catch the ladies topless volley ball game at 1pm. Some would call doing such winning, right?

Oh wait, you're in Sarasota...... Damn!

You are on a losing streak!

HAHAHA GOING TO SARASOTA IS LIKE WINNING THE NIT

haha wayne!

Pete--I hear your pain and am convinced that you need to fine another turtle--perhaps on Tuttle?--and celebrate the real meaning of spring training.

I seem to recall Gregory Peck asking about Tuttle in Vertigo. But, like a nonstop series of looping the bases, it has become a dizzy spin of dirt, cleats, and whirling signals from the third base coach.

Did you slide into third? Home? Head first?

The players should run the bases instead of seniors -- just so they remember how to make a left turn should they start hitting again.

A few times I posted stats and facts questioning the approach by the current Baltimore Orioles. Sometimes what I had posted was taken as a post with regards to Andy MacPhail specifically.

I never researched MacPhail that closely. The reasoning was simple. I'm not sure how many constraints MacPhail has as the General Manager (or some other long-winded title meaning the same thing).

So, I decided to research MacPhail -- at least to a point. He is after all credited for being the GM of the Twins the two years they won the title (1987 and 1991). That seemed to e a good place to focus.

MacPhail came on board as the Twins' GM in August 1985.

The 1987 was a peculiar team. They finished 85-77 in the weak sister division of the time, the AL West. The Tigers won the East that year with a record that was 13 games better. Both teams won their division by two games.

The Twins also had the distinction that year of giving up more runs than they scored. Their road record was atrocious. Of course, that meant their home record was wonderful.

They won both home games against Detroit en route to a 4-1 series win. The 1987 World Series had the distinction of being the first in which the home team won all seven games.

Of all of the starting position players, only Dan Gladden was acquired on MacPhail's watch (traded from SFG that year). Laudner, Hrbek, Lombardozzi, Gagne, Gaetti, Puckett, Brunansky and DH Smalley were all drafted or axquired before MacPhail came on board.

Of the reserves who contributed, only middle infielder Al Newman was acquired by MacPhail coming from Montreal in a trade.

The same holds true for starting rotation for the most part. Only a June 1987 trade with the Yankees to acquire Joe Niekro as a fifth starter helped the Twins.

However, MacPhail did make two important moves in the offseason leading up to the '87 season. He traded for closer Jeff Reardan and he signed free agent reliever Juan Berenguer. Both had remarkable seasons and were necessary as Minnesota has to win a lot of close games.

It would be unfair, therefore, to say MacPhail was riding the coattails to get the World Series ring in '87 but the bulk of the success was there ahead of him nevertheless.

1991 paints a very different story. No less than ten players of significant stature were added to the roster when compared to 1987. Interestingly, only two players came from within.

Chuck Knoblauch and Scott Erickson were drafted by the Twins on MacPhail's watch.

Right fielder, Shane Mack, was a Rule 5 acquisition from the Padres. (Mack might have been one the oldest Rule 5 players but that's for another research project.)

Four players were acquired through free agency. They were Brian Harper (C), Mike Pagliarulo (3B), Chili Davis (DH) and Jack Morris (P). Nearly one-sixth of the roster came by free agency, and they weren't plug-in's either.

The balance of the new players acquired by MacPhail came on a brilliant trade with the NY Mets. MacPhail sent Viola to the Big Apple for pitchers David West, Kevin Tapini and closer Rick Aguilera.

MacPhail deserves kudos out the wazoo for the '91 team. Ten significant new players as compared to the championship team from four years prior.

That's 40% of the 25-man roster.

And 80% of those new players were not from the draft.

I'm sure the Cub situation was different him. The results were surely different.

The Oriole starting point is certainly different. And who can be really sure if MacPhail has free reign to really do what he wants to do.

With the Twins, we know two players were drafted on his watch in the 5 1/2 years prior to 1991.

Eight other players were acquired differently. Four were free agents. Will the Orioles sign significant free agents?

Three came by trading a marquee in his prime. Sure, MacPhail traded (or was allowed to trade) Tejada and Bedard. One was losing his range and the other was in the repair shop too often.

Would MacPhail be allowed to trade Nick Markakis if a fat package was offered? We know Brian Roberts visited too many hospitals for that trade to be allowed. And even that pales by comparison to Pat Gillick being vetoed on David Wells and Bobby Bonilla.

Maybe MacPhail was lucky and/or a one-trick pony. I would still take my chances on him making baseball decisions. But I'm not the owner of the team.

waspman,

that was a nice post. I give AM all the credit for building the farm system. And as you said, he may not have the freedom to do what he wants to do. But I'm not going to make excuses for him either. Hopefully he will make the moves necessary to bring some impact players to this team. I just have a hard time believing he'll do it.

Did they also tell you that no metal walkers are allowed on the field?

As we mark off another day on calendar things are getting worse for this revamped 2010 orioles team instead of getting better. Dave keeps saying that the 5th spot in the rotation is still up for grabs, he better start changing his tune a liitle bit.The 10,000, 00 they invested in Koji would have been better spent on some sushi grade tuna. I can remember the headlines now ORIOLES MAKE A SPLASH IN THE PACIFIC MARKET . What a complete bust out. They blamed gunthrie's down fall on the WBC last year i am waiting to find out what the latest excuse is going to be.

Pete,

A couple years ago, Nestor Aparicio of WNST was challenged by a caller on his bracket picks. The caller said a monkey could pick winners better than Nestor. Nestor went out and found a monkey and put the bracket selections in a large jar on pieces of paper. Each time the monkey pulled out a selection he got a treat from his trainer. Nestor meticulously selected his brackets on the air, while the monkey was selecting his{or hers}

When the results were in the monkey won, so don't feel too bad.

Obama is doing better than anyone, except that Georgetown SUCKS. And the Big East is just terrible. Go Twerps!

blancione,

It won't be long before everyone begins to realize that 'collectively' AM has brought in the worst FA's of any 4 year period in Oriole history.

I'm waiting for someone in the SUN or elsewhere to do a piece on the subject. Said person will end up getting fired, but it'll be one of the best public service announcements this city has seen in years.

Wayne the only people that might have done a article on that subject have already been fired , rick maese, and david steele. Don't hold your breath waiting for anybody else to say anthing negative about the home town orioles or andy . This team might be worse then last year if that is possible. They have more question marks right now then they did last year.???

blancione,

Don't sell Pete short. He
has sent many signals that his patience is not unlimited. I think if the Orioles get off to a bad start and are say, 20 games out by late July, not only Pete, but others in the local media will start to turn up the heat on Macphail. The honeymoon may end in a few months.

What's more, Andy knows it too, so I think he will do what he has to do to avoid a 2010 disaster, including trades if necessary, if things start to head South. There would be no way to defend another debacle. He has been here long enough, and his handiwork needs to show results in W's and L's, not chatter about the "prospects". That train will leave the station on April 6.

Only problem is Gil, The O's can have another disastrous season, yet still improve by 7 games or so over last year.

If they win 70 games, you can be sure the media and some fans will be talking about the improvement of the team.

I can already see the stories and post now. It's as predictable as a bad FA pick up.

Wayne,

I think that any number of losses this year with a "9" in front of it would be hard to spin as progress

Gil , we have been on the same page recently on some issues, but this one is not going to be one. And by the way when you say local media who might they be, Roch he even drinks more kool aid then pete.

Gil, wayne, blancione -

The only time Pete ever joins in a conversation on his blog is when someone launches a personal attack towards him. Well, almost always.

Otherwise, he's just here to do his job and also give us a little more to dispute about to each other. Baltimore isn't where his heart is. For instance, if wayne told him a particular article is f--ed up spin from a warehouser, Pete would give 2 paragraph reply explaining himself. It is what it is and I guess he doesn't have time for casual baseball talk

Blancione: Learn the difference between the word "then" and "than" and maybe we will take you more seriously!

Orioles fan = Sisyphus

According to ESPN this morning. 4.8 million bracket sheets were submitted. There are only 56 current brackets that are perfect and round 1 is only halfway done.

Ed to be very honest i don't really care who takes me seriously . And if that made you feel better today then i am glad that i gave you something to pick on. Why don't you contribute something to the blog instead of picking on something like that. Gil Mike Preston is the only person in this town that tells it like it is. Most people don't like him but i think he is great. He reports the way you are suppose to.

Gil -

I'm calling it right now:

The O's are going to go 153-9!

ed Miller -

Respond to the actual post and don't worry about grammatical errors and maybe we'll take you more seriously.

And can anyone tell me what "sisyphus" is?

Its a greek myth. He was condemened to push a giant rock up a mountain only to lose it everytime he got the top. Suppsedly, he spends eternity pushing a giant rock up a moutain

Hey! It's Mr. Miller, my old high school english teacher! Did you have a thought about the Orioles to add to the discussion Ed, or are you just perusing the blog to correct grammar and punctuation? Did you take 20 points off bob's post?

The word sisyphean means, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, "endless and unavailing, as labor or a task."

This what I found. The word sisyphean means, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, "endless and unavailing, as labor or a task."

While I don't consider myself among those who have "drunk the orange Koolaid," I wouldn't count myself among the naysayers either, but I do think that we need to address some issues. First, Trembley. We heard alot about how he was going to "bring down the hammer," but then I read the other day how he was gushing over Guthrie's "attitude," that he gets an "A+ for attitude" etc., which is like telling the kid who screwed up on his project that he got "an E for Effort." News flash Dave, you're not the manager of a major league baseball team to nurture good attitude and E's for effort. You're here to win ballgames. The end. If you can't do that, you're gone. If you're a player, I could give a rat's tookus about your attitude, what matters is, are you producing on the field. Do you think Earl Weaver would be quoted in the paper about how happy he was with a player's "attitude" after they gave up 3-4 home runs? No. No he would not. If Guthrie keeps "pitching up" has it occurred to anyone that it might be a physical problem? When a baseball player has issues with his shoulder/back, he can't extend fully which throws off his mechanics, i.e. he can't get all the way down in his delivery so his pitches come up--POW. Has anyone bothered to look at films of Guthrie in 2007/2008 when he got men out vs. 2009 and now? What's different? How's his body look by comparison in his motion? The velocity is there, but as we all know, that means nothing in baseball. Guys can hit 100+ mph pitches if they're in the zone (Armando Benitez anyone?). As for Uehara, well, he's a disappointment. You wonder how this guy would have fared in the Ty Cobb era when guys played with broken bones. This guy gets a twinge and he's out. What's the doctor report on this prissy-school-girl hamstring he has? Maybe it has a tear, damaged in some way--otherwise, why the repeat injuries? Wasn't this guy spending the offseason working on this, getting assessed, doing rehab to strengthen the area? It seems the players either don't do enough of this (Uehara) or they do too much (Roberts and his bad back). And BTW, if Roberts gets healthy enough to play and play well, as soon as he's on a good streak, for Gosh sakes, start looking to trade him. Take it from someone who has battled back injury for many many years. You get a bad back, a bulging disk, etc., you have that for LIFE. It is NEVER going to go away. It's just how well can you manage it...and the older you get, the worse it will get, so TRADE HIM while we can still get something for him.

max,

You might soon get your way. once this season's farce is completed, trembley will be fired. Some minor league figure head will be hired as mgr and we'll go through another rebuilding phase by trading away Jones, Kakes and Roberts. They will bring back 12-14 players.

Obviously this last rebuild attempt wasn't thorough enough so this time it will be a more complete overhaul to rectify it. It's really about 2014 anyway. Lesson learned

Anon,

U may be being facetious but Jones was a cpl days shy of being arbitration eligible. He would've gotten abouit 5 million through arbitartion.

No sense having those expensive players on a last place team like Andy always says.

The pirates never keep any expensive players either. That strategy works for them. It should work for us too

Ed Miller was my HS Russian Teacher...

'spose there are a few of them floating around.

Crap, now you all have a 1 in 250 or so chance in figuring out my true identity and showing up at my house in the middle of the night.

depending on his performance, Jones will probably be looking at a similar extension to the one Markakis got.

But I forget that extensions don't count to the AM as the players are not free agents and only free agents win pennants or as wayne has now softened to "meaningful games".

If you weren't such a jerk off, you wouldn't have to worry about people knowing what rock you live under

anonymous (or maybe jason?)-

that was real cute, douchebag.