The O's Are F___ing Unwatchable!! They do nothing well, they need a SF and they swing and miss, everyone hits into DP after DP. KC tries to give us the game in the 9th and Wiggy K's when he only needs a SF. They have a awful bench, Trembley has no choice. Why is Lou on the bench hitting .117 and I have not been to a game in over 10 years and Angelos will NEVER GET A DIME OF MY $$$$$ SELL THE TEAM

You go to the phones and find yourself either:

a) a new manager
b) a new hitting coach
c) a new 1B
d) both b & c
e) all of the above

I vote for d.

Get Kila from KC!

This is starting to get pretty funny…

... and MacPhail wants to stay the course. What's pathetic is that even with this record and miserable product, MacPhail won't get fired. Why not? Because MacPhail is exactly what Angelos needs. Slash that payroll baby, Wal-Mart style.

From here they get in the Hot Tub Time Machine and draft Tim Lincecum instead of Billy Rowell, get swept by the Yankees a few years back and get to draft Mark Texieira, finish with the worst record two years ago and draft Strasburg.

Ok... I know none of that time line makes sense, but neither do most Time Machine movies.

Their luck, next year the have the first draft pick and take Todd Van Poppel.

Pttttthhhhwwwwwtttttt.......

right now we obviously don't have a team that can win baseball games. Not consistently at least. For the most part we match up talent wise with more than half of the Major Leagues. We need a major shake up, and we need it soon. The most "major" line up shake up so far was moving Reimold to Norfolk, which was probably necessary for his rehab from last years injury and moving Bergesen down for a start which proved to work wonders.
Since our current manager won't make these shake ups, and our current hitting coach can't get Jones to stop swinging at pitches that our bouncing before they leave the mound, they both need to go.
Maybe then will it matter whether or not we get a cleanup hitter, or a solid 1B or SS player, but for now, the O's seem to be content with being worse than mediocre.

This is simply beyond words. Either the team goes or I go....OK, bye-bye....

Just how bad does it have to get? I thought that Trembley had bought some time when the O's embarrassed the Red Sox, but that can't pardon him forever. Seriously, can McPhail wait much longer before making some sort of major move? If Andy believes that he has stocked the team with the best level of talent they've had since he's been here, yet they are under performing to such a stupendous degree, doesn't he have to hold someone accountable?
You know they cannot be blind to what's happening to the home attendance.

This team is making me physically ill.

Where do you go? As long as the Orioles fail to hit in the clutch, you sink further and further.

I've come to the conclusion that Garrett Atkins is a cross between Mark O'Meara and Paul Lynde.

Since I have been publicly asking since spring training if Atkins sees OK considering his ongoing squint, I will make a leap in faith that his squint is simply a mannerism.

Most hitters do the opposite. Opening their eyes up wide and stretching their jaw to relax and focus.

Have the Orioles made sure that Atkins is seeing OK?

Did they make sure that Brad Bergesen was monitored when he made an off-season commercial for the team and was asked by the director to keep on throwing hard?

And got a sore arm.

The Orioles' 3-4-5 hitters - Wiggy, Tejada and Scott - wouldn't occupy those positions on any other batting order in the majors. That's why this team is awful - there is absolutley no middle of the order. And it's not gonna change for the rest of the season.

can you believe the luck? who could have predicted Markakis would be walked and Wiggy would strike out. just bad luck.

we keep running into these ace's and unlucky situations. this schedule is brutal. i mean, what did you expect vs Cleveland & KC @ home? such a bad draw.

oh well, not about this year. wonder how many MLB teams we have to play next year. i mean come on, its not fair. other teams get to play 162 games against the o's. how can we compete with that unluckiness?

"it takes three or four years to develop a young player for the Major Leagues, and two to four years in the Majors for a most big league players to be productive."*

--Dayton Morre, GM Royals (still has job in KC since '06)

Is that statement false? And by extension, is 3.5 years too soon to be making conclusions of AM era...

*that was pulled from Peter Gammons Article..."No Quick Fix To Rebuild"

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100516&content_id=10086512&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

What is absolutely disgusting is our beltway neighbors (the Nationals) are playing a billion times better than we are. And should no way be beating us to the punch as far rebuilding goes. Its been 13 years and we are still losing! I give this team a ultimatum --by the end of May if there is not a new manager or a .500 record I am seriously boycotting this garbage for the rest of the season. this is making me sick.

CIH,

I'd take Kila too...but could you really stomach the "just a prospect" banter anymore/again...

When does the GM (VP, whatever) become accountable?

Obviously the Red Sox sweep was an illusion. Things have faded to black once again. It's a sobering thought to think that our nightly fortunes rest with Corey Patterson, Ty Wigginton and Alfredo Simon. Yikes.
Meanwhile, the Mets ....one of our favorite trading partners ......are matching the O's underachieving ways stride for stride in the NL. Both teams have young players who should be performing better. Both fan bases and media are fantic for change. So......
McPhail and Minaya should just do an old fashioned blockbuster. No one should be safe on either team. O's would like people like David Wright, Ike Davis and Krod. Mets would like Matt Weiters, Adam Jones and a young starter. If B Rob and Beltran get heathy throw them in to the deal also.
Enough standing pat. When we are quaking in our boots at the arrivial of Cleveland and Kansas City ANY change is good.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHA

Paulie cites Moore, a terrible GM when he wants advice on how to build a team

GOod choice. Pffft

U must love crappy teams. Oh yeah, u do

Dave Drombowski took the tigers from 119 losses to the WS in 3 yrs

Keep the excuses coming

U have a job to do

Maybe you should consult a successful GM for advice on how to win. Thats probably a better strategy

But SI said the Os were a team on the rise

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

well there's always papelbon giving up 2 2-run homers in the ninth as the sox fight back from 6-1 to lose 11-9. So much for pitching and defense.

Hey Peter,
When is someone going to be held accountable for this team's performance? If the hitters aren't hitting is it really that far-fetched to assume that the hitting coach deserves some responsibility? If the manager isn't managing the players to Ws, isn't he failing in the most fundamental objective of his job? If the whole thing is a mess, when does AM have to answer for results rather than continually lowering near-term expectations and stalling on delivering what he's promised? Finally, after more than a decade of truly awful on-field performance, coincident to Angelos negotiating sweetheart business deals (guaranteed selling price, controlling stake in MASN, state incentives) and earning a substantial return on his financial investment (both a healthy operating profit and a dramatic increase in the value of the franchise itself), at what point does Peter Angelos himself have to open his books and explain what the hell he is doing with this city's team?

Surely this can't go on forever while we just hum "what bad luck," "well he's a stand-up guy", etc? At what point does the Baltimore media start holding people responsible? At what point do people start demanding accountability?

I realize this goes against your whole California zen "live and let live" philosophy, but some of us are working real jobs here. Real jobs where if our bottom lines don't measure up we are shown the door, where it doesn't matter if you're a nice enough guy or if luck could have played a role. We're paying hard-earned money and we've invested years towards promises of a rebuilding, years where we accepted that the Ws would be few and far between.

At what point are we owed something in return?

Andrew Friedman took over as GM of the Rays in 05 and was in the WS by 2008

short of a new 1b, ss, 2b, and dh, it'll pretty much be business as usual. No hope at AAA, AA right now.No trading partners, mostly because the only guys the Os have to trade are some young pitchers they'll need come July when the roster gets suddenly depleted, and the roster at AAA has no room for yet another 1b and Of.
There are no answers. But shedding Atkins and Lugo might be a start.

A new low

http://pegshot.com/p/b6ff9418q/

It was about two weeks ago when Andy came out and said "nobody is safe" if they aren't producing, his famous "suicide pact" quote. Well since then, the offense has gotten worse and the only move has been Reimold for Patterson, which actually has been very good. Why stop there? It's not like the light is going to switch on any day now, this is what you get and it will lead to over 100 losses. If that's part of the plan, then fine. If not, do something!

I'm a season ticket holder for about 18 years. Field boxes now. I share them with friends, and take maybe 35 games/ year. I'll typically blow off a game or three every season, but so far, I've only gone once. Its painful and depressing, a bad product badly administered. I'm close to bailing on the the kind of seats I've waited my entire life to own.

For whatever reason, the young hitters who should be thriving under an experienced hitting coach aren't. No need to finger point or blame, but its clear that a change is needed. Cro's not being heard, and can't seem to change the message enough for it to matter. He needs to go yesterday.

Anyone paying attention had to realize that there was a vacuum at first base coming into the season, and that the position wasn't adequately addressed in the off season. Atkins' numbers were probably altitude inflated, or worse, and clearly was never the answer, a multi-million dollar Hail Mary. There never really was a major league clean-up hitter on the roster. The bullpen isn't bad through the late innings, but Gonzalez has never closed effectively; he's a left handed Jim Johnson, talented but somehow overmatched as a closer. Why did McPhail not see what the other GMs, personnel directors, and Roti players clearly understood.

Andy has been given as much or more control than any GM/ VP in the Angelos era, but it clearly hasn't been enough to overcome years of arrogance and inertia. The young pitching is encouraging, but they're getting no support, and learning how to pitch tight, unwilling to put the ball in play and give up the run, and trust their offense. The bullpen is getting habitually over-extended, and at time unfathomably mis-used, and no one has any confidence than an 8th inning lead will hold up. This is by any standard an ill-managed team, and a badly stocked roster.

McPhail and Trembly have fallen far short of the professional standard for a rebuilding organization. This is an organization depleted of talent, and increasingly devoid of hope. I'm not at all sure that change now matters much, but it needs to occur. McPhail and Trembly have failed at their designated tasks.

I truly hope that Angelos sells this team, before its fan base deserts for good, and the team's existance in this mid-sized market becomes non-viable. I'm not throwing my allegience behind some other team. I'm just too saddened by this team to waste any more of my time, money, or hopes on them.

Admit it, it has crossed your mind that perhaps you wouldn't give a damn if the Orioles moved to Las Vegas or wherever MLB wants a new team. It sure seems like they are to remain this utterly pathetic for years to come, and you rationalize that you'd be better off not saddled with the attachment. We've (mostly) gotten over the Colts. The young fans don't remember them at all. When they left, their heyday was in the rear view mirror. It reminds you a bit of the O's and their pathetic baseball owner. Maybe it's better to turn the spot where OPACY sits into a business park instead of a place of yearly embarrassment.

It has crossed your mind, if only because you are sane.

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2142572&postcount=225

That walk up surcharge was a good idea though!!!

Year 14: the Rebuild Redux Redux continues. One year they may get it right.

Is Atkins the Second Coming of Glenn Davis?

Dave Drombowski took the tigers from 119 losses to the WS in 3 yrs
-------------------------------------------------------

Andrew Friedman took over as GM of the Rays in 05 and was in the WS by 2008

Posted by: Andy = Terrible GM who signs Turds | May 17, 2010 11:36 PM

------------------------------------------------------

whoa there fella, slow down you're getting ahead of yourself...

both those guys were operating under different circumstances.

Andrew had/has a loaded farm system, no budget, and poo free agents too.

Dave had a good budget, no depth in the farm system, and a killer Trade.

so which is like the O's and Andy?

puppet, your hate overwhelms your common sense....relax a little.

How many games have the O's played where the end result was they ended up being 1-13 or 2-14 with RISP? I don't care if people think DT doesn't have a great team (he doesn't), but enough is enough, as he simply isn't getting through to this team so fair or not fair, it's been part of pro sports since the get go.

The 9th inning was pathetic and I know some people will say the Crow didn't swing at the pitches (no sh*t), but this guy has done nothing to improve the youngsters or help the vets regain their swing and worse than that, they are regressing. Crow and DT need to be out of Baltimore before the road trip.

Please move Wiggy to 3rd and Miggy to SS so Izzy and Lugo never have to play again. Why the hell don't they call up Justin Turner and see what he can do at 2B? If he fails at least we know he's not part of the future, but how are Izzy and Lugo part of the future plans? I don't care if they call up guy every other day till something works because they are getting nothing from SS, 1B and CF.

Comical

poor predictable paulie,

It was somehow easier for the winners right? Nice revisionist history. Im sure you were predicting the Tigers to the WS in 3 yrs back when they were losing 120. Yeah right

He makes others GMs success seems easier to attain than andys miserable failures

If u didnt have lame excuses

What would you have?

APologists make me sick.

I dont know whats worse their complete inability to hold andy accountable or their lame and petty attempts to discredit winning GMs that actually know what they are doing. Winning in a timely manner, why would a macfailer like something like that?

The 2003 Tigers were a horrible wretched team with no hope of contending. No one thought they were close to a .500 team. Remember like it was yesterday. Pudge was criticized as a mercenary for signing with a team that "had no chance to win"

3 yrs later, they were in the world series. Guess it was all luck, right paulie wally?

The 2005 Rays were a horrible wretched team with no hope of contending. No one thought they were close to a .500 team. They were a complete and utter laughinstock

3 yrs later they were in the WS

Dont act like Friedman had nothing to do with their success either. They never wouldve made the WS without the Garza/Bartlett 4 Young trade. AM doesnt ahve the balls to trade a younger player for other younger players

Keep digging for quotes that say winning takes a minimum of 6 yrs like a good little apologist to cover for that loser Andy. Lets ask another losing GM how to build a winner. Good thinking

In a cpl wks, Andy will be celebrating his 3rd yr here and the team is actually regressing

They are no closer to contending than they day he was hired. Yippee

Paulie thinks the guy who has made no progress at his job is somehow a good GM, but the winners arent. Guess the good gms got lucky, eh paulie?

LOL. U cant make this up

Meanwhile guys who have orchestrated compete turnaround of their teams, he tries to discredit.

He's just mad he cant use the excuse that AM hasnt had enough time. Pathetic beyond belief

The stupidity of his thought processes can only make me hope that he has not spawned any children to further contaminate the world

Paulie....

Loves losing GMs like macfail and Moore. Since they stink, it must take 6 yrs to rebuild

Hates winning GMs Dombrowski and Friedman. Since they won in 3 yrs, it mustve been easy

Makes sense

"Where exactly do you go from there?" If you're not going to fire the arcitect of this disaster (Andy) and his ridiculour over-tolerance for sub-par performance, there's no point doing anything. He clearly has the power and the RESPONSIBILITY for this mess (not Dave) and he should pay the price for utter failure - dismissal. Anything short of that and the players get the message there's no accountability and the loser's mentality will continue.

I've been advocating this for a long time and your occasional replies were dismissive. Nice to see you're finally recognizing the obvious.

MacPhail, "This is the year the O's will be judged according to their record..." Andy will regret those words.

My suggestion is getting rid of 1st and 3rd base, seeing how this organization has ignored the corners for the past 5 years. Imagine the lineup we could have? Imagine the limited base running blunders? Ridiculous? Following this garbage team is as ridiculous.

The Orioles in some respects are worse off after four seasons of Macphail than before he got here. Other than trading a few veterens for prospects who have not panned out, he has done little to supply the organization with legitimate position players at any level. There are no first base or shorstop prospects in the system and Josh Bell will never be able to field at a major league level even if he makes it above AAA. His tenure is an absolute joke and sooner or later Angelos will wake up and see that Andy has no idea what he is doing.

The Orioles have fallen from 19th to 22nd in average attendance in one week and are headed further down the list. Macphail needs to be fired before he screws it up even more.

If you're Dave Trembley, I hope home for good so someone else (anyone else) can manage this team.

The Orioles usually reserve their September-quality baseball for the end of the season.

Now the Orioles have shown that they can collapse and be absolutely awful for an entire year.

I say that Detroit's record for losses all-time is not safe.

By the way, did anyone see that picture of last night's crowd taken from the stands?

There were more people on the field than there were customers in the stands.

And you cannot blame the people of Baltimore for not supporting their teams. Look at the Ravens, and all of the early years at Camden Yards.

I think fans are getting to the point of where enough is enough.

Orioles Fever!! Catch it and die.

Who cares? Angelos owns the team. Not a penny of my money will be spent on his team. Not much of my time either.

What a laughingstock of a sports franchise. I wouldn't hire the manager to coach a tee-ball team, but he's perfect for Angelos.

Baltimore Baseball - R.I.P.

Last night was the battle of the "ain'ts" at the Yard. Kansas City has been looking forward to this break in their schedule. The Borioles proved that they can be even more inept than the pathetic Royals. Bring your bags with eyeholes tonight to salute the worst team in Major League Baseball. WHO DAT!

Geez, Louise. Somebody. HELP!!!!

I've been a lifelong O's fan as well and this team is toast. I've never seen so many has-beens and AAAA players losing every night. The veteran players need to be dumped and the AAAA players sent to AAA. We should bring up Arrieta and Tillman and demote Hernandez(aaaa player) and trade Millwood for a young first baseman. Bring up Josh Bell and move Tejada back to short. This team is going to lose 120 games so it's time to cut loose!

I don't even watch the games on MASN any more.

I am starting to believe this is the new version of the Montreal Expos. Then NEW ownership came in bought the team, moved them to DC and actually rebuilt the team. If the Orioles are bought out and move out of town, will the Baltimore fans then root for the Nationals?

I am an Orioles fan the future is really sobering...It is not good. And if the team were to ever be bought out and move I really don't want to be a Nats fan...But they surely are rebuilding in the right method. Maybe the upper management for the Orioles can study this Nationals transformation.

I believe there are several posters who have a better idea then the Oriole management at this point.

It would not be that difficult to really work Reimold at first base and work out in the minors. While this is going on let Wigginton play 1B. Move Patterson for the time being to CF and let A Jones work out in LF. Maybe this would get A jones' head straightened out. Lets see what Josh bell can do at 3B, Move Tejada to SS. Then call up Turner or the another 2B prospect. Lets see if this works.

You actually have to have try different methods in order to solve this equation. The lineup as is, plain and simple is wretched.

This organization actually makes me laugh.Today the headlines in the paper read O'S to stick with atkins for now. MacPhail says he'll continue to explore options for boosting power at first base. That is just great but where did he say that he was looking for options to boost power in CF or Rf. Two Golden Boy's that have combined for 5 HR'S and 19 RBI'S through 39 games almost 1/4 of the season gone bye. 66,000,000 for a punch and judy hitter that slaps the ball to left field now. Have you ever seen anything like this in your life.Now two former ex orioles who have ton's of credibility have in there own way been critical of the way NICK M has performed. The latest came yesterday with Scott and Jeremy interviwed rick dempsey. Why oh why hasn't anybody been critical of what i just pointed out. How can you be satisfied with that production from 2 guy's that are suppose to carry the team. Nick m is just a good ball player that has been elevated to star staus because he is home grown and one of only a few players besides roberts that are the face of this team. He is not a so called franchise player or difference maker, You can go over the entire league's rosters and every team besides, the orioles, KC, and pittsburgh have at least 1 and maybe more of what i call franchise or difference makers. When you pay a guy that kind of money you have to expect and demand more but this team and the fans don't demand anything anymore. 12 and 27 are you happy with the plan now . What a complete sham by our great over rated GM . Great Job Andy you pulled the wool over the fans eye's once again.

I contracted Avian Flu from these dirty birds. Please kill me now and put me out of my misery. :(

Paulie....

Loves losing GMs like macfail and Moore. Since they stink, it must take 6 yrs to rebuild

Hates winning GMs Dombrowski and Friedman. Since they won in 3 yrs, it mustve been easy

Makes sense

Posted by: Paulie loves to make excuses for macfail | May 18, 2010 2:29 AM
********

Friedman took over a loaded farm system. Its not tough building a farm system when you get to pick top 3 every year either. Like Torre taking over showalters yanks, he gets all the credit for their success.

But, you are right... Pat the Bat was a good signing. Thinking his rotation was better than it was, he also cost them a return to the playoffs last year by trading Edwin Jackson for Matt Joyce.

Did you get any sleep last night cool guy? 229? Really?

Keep pumping out the same nonsense over and over. Have you ever commented on what actually happens on the field? Or does your one-track mind limit you to talking about MacPhail, PA and Payroll?

IVE GOT IT!!! You are really one of Lee MacPhails nephews that is getting left out of the will!!! It makes sense now!

I'm considering moving the franchise due to lack of support from the people of Baltimore. They used to attend games in droves. Now, we can't get 4000 in here for a weeknight game. San Antonio looks good. Maybe Orlando. Sad day for this town when I have to pack up the bags and ship this team elsewhere. Sorry Baltimore, but you just don't cut it. I tried to put a consistently sh*tty team out there to maximize profits but you wouldn't meet me halfway. I even signed a bozo manager to 'lead' these clowns. I'm getting richer off you but there's a pot of gold elsewhere, so maybe the Alamodome is the place to be. Those saps down there in Texas will just be happy to have a team. It'll be five years before they realize I'm all about bucks. Seeya Baltimore. You suck as a baseball town!

I'm still very positive about the future..
We are well stocked with pitching.
It'sa long season. I say with the trades coming up at at the deadline and as more of these pitchers mature, the future is bright.
This is actually the best starting pitching we've had in quite some time.
Problem is no roberts, Jones may never be what many thought he would.
We3'll have to see how Reimold does at first base and if he starts hitting again.
Pie was a big loss also.
Sure it's depressing and I think a managerial change may be coming, but I'm remaining optimistic.
Since AM's 3rd anniversary is coming in a few weeks, I think he should be allowed to have this year and the next offseason to really give grades to his rebuilding. He wasn't responsible for the mess he inherited. And those who claim we were better off before he got here simply don't have a clue.

Whoa, serious orange koolaid overdose, smitty. It's all about gross incompetence, my friend. All the optimistic vibe isn't going to change that.

Andre Friedman was the director of baseball development for the Rays two years before he was GM. You can say he took over with a stocked farm system, but he was largely responsible for that stocked farm system. He signed Carlos Pena when the O's had a chance to, but were too cheap. He got a potential Cy Young in Garza and an all star ss in Bartlett for Delmong Young and Brendan Harris. He's responsible for drafting Price, Longoria, Nieman, and Davis.

Friedman is in his fifth season as Ray's GM and the Rays are on their way to their third straight winning season in the toughest division in baseball. MacPhail is in his third complete season (not counting the three months of 2007). In each of Freidman's first three seasons the Rays improved their record (they couldn't improve on their 97 wins in 2008 last year). In MacPhail's first two seasons the Orioles have gotten five games worse and it's hard to imagine after watching them for 40 games that they will not have a worse record this year than last.

The worst part is, it's not even a level playing field. The Rays have no where near the resources the Orioles do. They are a far superior organization, and will be for years to come, despite spending a fraction of the money. One organization is functional. The other is dysfunctional. It's that bad. It's not getting better. Wake up.

smitty,

If Roberts didn't go down, we would have never seen what Wiggy could produce. Therefor, Wiggy has more than adequately filled in for BRob. Not as a table setter, but as a needed middle of the order guy.

After Tillman and Arrietta (both of whom have issues), where is the depth you're talking about? Are you just talking 'names' that you've heard were good, or are you looking at production? Have you seen the stats for the #, 4 and 5 in AAA? Wow!

And speaking of Arrieta, if he walks as many as he does in AAA, imagine what he'll do in the Bigs. And what are Tillman's #'s accept for the no no?

It also seems we had two promising young pitchers names Jim Johnson and Dave Hernandez. Bad wings on both guys now? Damn!

Maybe Bergy and Arietta (Neither of whom are here because of AM) will pan out. And perhaps Tillman will some day match the overblown hype. But smitty, seriously.... even if you include Matusz, other teams are developing as well. Other teams have their so called stocked young arms.

It's just that other teams are not the worst in baseball while developing their so called young studs.

AM is a complete Fraud. Everyone is seeing things for what they really are now. The fact that you haven't seen it yet is, well... interesting.

As someone who is associated with the Baltimore Orioles however, you have been a trooper. They have given you nothing to work with, yet you're out there every day, trying to come up with something to hold onto.

While I used to feel sorry for you and your mates, now I just feel bad for you.........

Jeff,

Awesome post!

Facts will get you in big trouble around here though.

Seriously...... Your post should be a column topic by someone in the SUN. No one ever talks about The Pena, Garza, Bartlett deals, etc....

And no one ever will...... It would piss PA and AM off.

I have to laugh when Pete keeps mentioning that the O's should take advantage of the schedule re: the Clev/KC/Seattles of the world. Their writers.etc are probably saying the same things anytime they see Balt. on their schedules!
I'd say "how the mighty have fallen" but when you lose as long as the O's have, it's probably inaccurate or something that was more appropriate 6 years ago.
Here we are 4 years into the latest PLAN and really, the siutation isn't looking too rosy on a lot of fronts. No offense to speak of, mental mistakes a roster full of other teams rejects, many who wouldn't even get regular playing time on some AAA teams nd gaping holes at first base/closer/bench/OF.
Crowds are dwindling and by July OPCY will be lucky to have 8,000 fans on nights when the RedSox & Yanks are not in town.
The way this season is looling, it's not a question of if the O's will lose 100, it's whether it becomes 110 or maybe even the 120 loss record is in sight.
Meanwhile, MacPhail keeps his job, makes no significant moves, other than scouring the waiver wire for cheap Cub pickups.

Pete, I got a lot of respect for you. You roll out of bed every morning with a glimmer of hope there will be someting good to write about by 10 PM that night. Night after night, it is the same "photocopy" subject matter, sort of reminds me of Groundhog Day. Have you thought of breaking a pencil and placing it next to your bed to see if it is still broken the next day? You are my Bill Murray. You could even recylcle blog topics from last year to save yourself some time!

BTW Bill, which horse shall I place my money on tonight??

paule -

You kind of started digging your own grave when you posted a quote from Dayton Moore, the only GM in the game who might actually be worse than Andy.

On Andrew Friedman:

People keep bringing up the Jackson/Joyce trade and the Burrell signing to discredit Friedman.

In response to those points, I have a counterpoint for each:

1. Edwin Jackson put up a 5.15 ERA in the second half of 2008. Prior to that "breakout" year, his career ERA was well over 5.00 in 40+ starts. The Rays were set to head into 2009 with James Shields, Matt Garza, David Price, Jeff Niemann and Scott Kazmir in their starting rotation. They needed a right fielder, as they didn't think Gabe Gross could handle the full time job. Matt Joyce, a 24-year-old with some pop, put up a .252/.339/.492 line with the Tigers in 92 games in 2008. What would you do?

2. The Rays were also set to lose their DH, Cliff Floyd after the 2008 season. Pat Burrell, a 32-year-old who was coming off a four year stretch in which he averaged 31 homers and a .504 slugging percentage, was a free agent willing to sign for $7M per year. What would you do?

And a few positive moves to balance out the uglies...

- The aforementioned Delmon Young for Matt Garza/Jason Bartlett deal. There's no way the Rays make it to the 2008 World Series without those two. Garza's now one of the best pitchers in the game. Barlett will never put up a year like 2009 again, but he's a nice defensive player and he can still hit a little. Young? He's okay...

- Aubrey Huff for Ben Zobrist and Mitch Talbot. Zobrist is working his way out of an early season slump and Talbot got the Rays a decent backup catcher in the Kelly Shoppach trade.

- Carlos Peña. He averaged 39 homers over the past three seasons for the Rays. Friedman signed him as a free agent. For $800,000.

- Seth McClung for Grant Balfour. Balfour was a huge part of the 2008 run. He struggled in 2009, but he's back to form this year.

- Ty Wigginton for Dan Wheeler. Wheeler's another big part of the Rays' pen. And with Evan Longoria coming up, the Rays had no need for Wigginton and his climbing salary halfway through the 2007 season.

- Jesse Chavez for Rafael Soriano. I have no idea how you trade an average middle reliever for a shutdown closer.

I'm sure there are a few more nice deals in there, but I don't feel like looking.

The fact of the matter is, Andrew Friedman took over a bad team and turned them into a good team. Andy MacPhail took over a bad team and has continued to make them worse.

Nothing to speak of? Nothing to watch, either.

I think what bothers me most is NOBODY on this team is visibly doing anything to improve. Nothing. No extra work in the cage hitting to all fields. No bunting work (which everyone should do). No base running work. No serious infield practice.

Not a single freaking thing.

After a loss like last night, that entire team should have been back out on the field working on the basic stuff that they continually fail to do and costs them losses.

And get them off of the bench when they are hitting. They sit there, completely uninvolved in the game. Make them stand at the rail and actually watch what is going on. Get them involved so they actually think about the game instead of sitting back, waiting for the third out.

I have tried very hard to give Andy MacPhail the benefit of any doubt.

I predicted 58 wins for 2009 and that was laughable to some -- including Peter Schmuck who offered lunch. An unbelievable 6-2 start and a shrug of the shoulders 4-0 finish prevented me from being right.

Pre-2009, I thought the Orioles were on the right path. Even before 2009 started, I backed up my bleak prediction for that year by saying 2010 would be significantly better. (I didn't put a win total down but thought 75 wins were possible.)

During the most recent off-season, the Orioles daudled. True, the free agent offerings weren't as robust as during the previous year. And also true, some of the suggestions made with which I agreed or made myself haven't panned out either. Nevertheless, the Orioles resorted to their bottom-feeding ways that they have done for most of the losing years since Syd Thrift's purge of the late 1990's.

The one exception was the offseason when they signed Tejada the first time. Even that exception was met with not making up the difference to get Vladdy Guerrero. In the Oriole quest to not bid against themselves, they let Anaheim come in to be the suitor.

It reminded me of Hank Peters and his foolish standoff with Reggie Jackson, but I digress.

The daudling Birds presented the fans with a flawed team.

Still, I went ahead and predicted 72 wins based on better pitching and what I thought was a relatively inferior collection of divisionmates.

(When I say inferior, I didn't mean inferior to the Orioles. Rather, I thought they were inferior to their own 2009.)

My predictions have been somewhat mixed so far with an emphasis on being too optimistic (from an Oriole perspective). Odd how I have been painted as a nay-sayer by some including Peter Schmuck when the Orioles were on their modest 10-8 surge.

Only the Red Sox and Blue Jays have performed somewhat near what I thought they might. The Orioles may struggle to get to last year's 64 wins, and that would still be eight wins under my prediction.

What's worse, not only are few trades typically available at this time of the season, the Orioles are so bereft of talent, they may not have any players any other team would want when the trading deadline nears.

This is not a built-in excuse for Andy MacPhail. He is the architect of this flawed team.

Because of the brilliant posts made by Jeff and TerryP above and pattern of diddly moves by MacPhail, I have little hope of trading deadline activity by the Orioles. I want to see some action. Significant action.

I don't expect the Orioles to become wonderful by September 1. I expect moves that fundamentally make the Orioles a better team -- and as a springboard to the upcoming offseason. If they don't, MacPhail should go.

This organization is on the verge of disintegrating into something so bad, it could actually take six years of competency to make the team average (.500) again.

Very sad. Very, very sad.

PS - The Rays also sent Brendan Harris and Jason Pridie to the Twins in the Garza/Bartlett deal.

Yeah, I thought the same thing: Who...?

Andy MacPhail needs to put Dave Trembley out of his obvious misery and fire him immediately. Trembley overcame the odds to keep his job last year when things went awry and now the situation is far worse than then and quickly getting out of control. The attendance at the yard is pitiful. Trembley is a nice man and a decent human being but he strikes me as a manager just managing to hang on and that is not good for him, the players, the fans or the club. Trembley needs to go this afternoon.

Maybe it's time to accept reality... that the Orioles are not very good, less good than we expected, and we oughta zero in on the first draft pick for next year. Think about it... if the O's had only lost a few more games last year they'd be picking first this year. The building project was based on pitching but you can't expect young pitchers to keep the other team from scoring any runs game after game. What veterans have value? Millwood and Guthrie aren't pitching badly no matter what their record (any starter who gives up four runs is sure to get a loss hung on him) ... Scott's stock should be up a bit... Atkins not so much. Tejada is playing well (and could have signficant value). And dare i mention Wigginton?.. Orioles need some bats; they sure aren't evident in Norfolk or Bowie... gotta get them somewhere...

waspman -

I'm totally on board with you.

Here are the moves that should be made before season's end:

1. Cut losses and release Atkins. They ate a ton of money when they cut Jay Gibbons. Why not eat the $3M or so they still owe Atkins and let him stop embarrassing himself?

2. Build a package around Millwood to trade for young, MLB-ready (or close to it) players.

3. Build a package around Wigginton to trade for young, MLB-ready (or close to it) players.

Needs:

- To trade for a young MLB first baseman or a minor league first baseman on the verge of breaking into MLB. No old guys. No projects. I'd love to see James Loney in Baltimore, but it would certainly take a lot to get him. Dig into an organizations with depth, like the Marlins, and get Jorge Cantu, Gaby Sanchez or Logan Morrison. Or get a guy who's blocked like Kila Ka'aihue (KC), Allen Craig (StL) or Lars Anderson (Bos).

- To trade for a young MLB shortstop or a minor league shortstop on the verge of breaking into MLB. No old guys. No projects. Mike Aviles or Reid Brignac could fit the bill. The O's have nothing at shortstop in the high minors. Has Mychal Givens even played a game yet?

- To trade for young MLB relievers or minor league relievers on the verage of breaking into MLB. I don't have any suggestions here. It seems like every other team in the game can find good, young, cheap relievers. Why do the O's have so many problems doing so? One option here is Heath Bell, which leads me to the big one...

- Build a package of prospects and young players to trade for Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell. Instant middle of the order bat. Instant closer. Instant respectability. Instant attendance boost. So maybe we have to give up Adam Jones, Chris Tillman, Zach Britton and more. Big deal!

So are we yet to the point where someone in the media takes this team to task? I mean really, really starts ripping them for this atrocity out on the field? Ah, guess not as everyone is afraid King Petey will strike down with great vengeance.

Remember when the Examiner wrote some articles critisizing the Orioles? Petey pulled all his ads from them. I guess the local media, Sun included, is terrified of the same thing. Unlike the Ravens, who are a model orginization and actually encourage diverse opinions, if you are not on board with the O's you get in hot water. How 90% of the local media can not demand changes when the Blow's the have the worst record in the majors, have gotten worse three straight seasons after tweleve straight losing ones, and have a dim future is beyond me. Who is our future? markakis good player, Weiters, solid so far, matusz maybe a number three for years to come, other then that who will be our future Carl Crawfords and Evan Longoria's> Thanks McFailure!

I am throwing in the towel until they get a new manager. Once again last night, DT does nothing to manufacture runs down the stretch. Did anyone see how the Rays won last night? And don't tell me how great Wiggy is this year and that you can't take the bat out of his hands. He, like the rest of the team, has no clutch in him. Look at the splits for his average and you will see he is batting 350 with no one on and 240 with RISP. Put the guy at the top of the order and let him set the table. Last night, lay down a suicide squeeze. Honestly, I was shocked he did not hit into a double play. In any event, I am down watching this team until it gets a new manager. If they don't care enough to change, I don't care enough to watch. Oh, and I am not one of these fans that has been criticizing the team the entire offseason and the start of this season. I was expecting a better team this year and, frankly, this team is unwatchable.

People what has happened to everybody. Why do we accept journeyman play from players that are suppose to be the face of the franchise.Nick M and adam jones are stinking up the place and nobody has said anything negative about them. Come on people 5HR's and 19 RBI's between them . Have you all been so brain washed that you find that acceptable.Have we been reduced down this much to have to accept that kind of play. 66,000,000 for literally a guy turned punch and judy. Where is everybody. How can any rebuilding plan be successful when the foundation that you already had in place is starting to crumble.Management has to demand better production from nick they have to demand it. anything less in not acceptable.

I fully understand posting a Dayton Morre quote was/is Hot-Fire. Including his tenure, as I did, was further to that point.

However....the point was the quote.

Not the speaker. (either he nor I).

So rather than discuss the Gammons article, or the quote, we'd rather just re-hash the same discussion topics. Paulie is an idiot, and AM is a jackass. Or vice versa.

That being said, Andy has said repeatedly the Rays are the blueprint.

And with the full force defense of Andrew, it would seem many who dislike Andy fully embrace the "plan".

As for the Andrew and Dave comments, those are but 2 good examples of how things can go very right. Of course I'd like the O's/Andy to be able to reproduce those results.

But pointing to those two examples is like claiming that because there were 2 guys who didn't get cancer from smoking, than all smokers won't get cancer.

I also remember last year, exactly at this time the same comments about Pie were being made as they are now about Atkins. I'll reserve judgment...still. I don't think we'll see the Atkins from the past, but I also don't think we'll see the Atkins from the past 2 years either...but that's me.

NB, nice to see your return.

Patrick post 12:15 is completely correct.

We all know Trembley has little to work with. McPhail has screwed him, again. But that doesn't preclude the obvious fact that Trembley is in way over his head. That Trembley is defensive and manages scared. That Trembley's coddling and praising of young players has backfired. And most importantly, that Trembley knows his days are numbered which renders him even more ineffectual.

Its like a bizarre catch 22. Mcphail knows hes largely to blame so he refuses to pull the trigger on such an obvious step. Cmon, Andy - maybe not having to look at Trembley's anguished face every day might relax the players enough to hit in the clutch. It can't hurt.

Bob -

If you haven't seen all of the negative comments about Adam Jones, I suggest you get your eyes checked.

People have been less harsh on Nick, as he's mostly living up to his career averages. The power is down a bit, but there wasn't a ton to begin with...

Career triple slash: .297/.369/.468
2010 triple slash: .294/.389/.434

The blame there goes to Andy, for paying Nick like a "face of the franchise" type player. Check out my May 17, 2010 6:09 PM post in the Dog Day Afternoon thread for more.

The fact of the matter is that Nick is a complementary player. On a team with a real lineup, he would probably be the #2 hitter, but here, he's been forced into the three hole. If this team had real three and four hitters, or if he played for, say, the Phillies or even the Nats, Nick would probably be the best #2 hitter in the game.

Has anybody wondered where Peter Angelos stands on this BS? You think George Steinbrenner would let his Yankees stink like this? You think he would have remained silent in the background?

Peter Angelos must sell this team if he wants to restore his image in this World. Greedy old fart!

Said by Andrew..."I realize this goes against your whole California zen "live and let live" philosophy, but some of us are working real jobs here."

My reply - You're gutless !!! We ALL know the team sucks but to take a shot at Peter Schmuck for no reason is so wimpy you ought to lose your posting rights. While it does get tiring to read all the comments I still find it worthwhile. But you crossed the line. We ALL work real jobs. Go crawl back in your hole.

SUGGESTION:

Attached is the link to send the Orioles some feedback.

https://secure.mlb.com/help/email.jsp?c_id=bal&primarySubject=Other&secondarySubject=None&dest=birdmail@orioles.com

Complaining on Pete's blog doesn't make it the FA. Especially if you are a season ticket holder, let them know how you feel. If we load up the suggestion box, maybe they'll start DOING something about the on-field results.

nb, waspman,

I agree on acquiring more "youth" that's close to MLB ready, however...getting back to that sticky Dayton Morre quote, that's gonna be more loosing as those players get acclimated to the Pro's..."Adjustment periods" and the like.

And secondly, packages that'd net those types of players would "seem" to be cutting-the-nose-despite-the-face. Isn't Riemold in the "close to MLB ready" category? Arrita, Bell, Snyder, Tillman...are they not "close to MLB ready" types too?

wayne's a big "every team has prospects" proponent, and while I see the wisdom of trying to acquire as many prospects as possible (since they don't all work out, eggs in one basket, etc...), it seems the fan base would rather trade our "close to MLB ready" types for proven commodities.

I like the names being flipped about, but is Logan Morrison really likely to be moved? Maybe Gaby Sanchez.... Ditto Lars Anderson, with Popi in his last full year, I was under the impression that Lars was up in the Bigs next year, or packaged for A-Gon.

In reality, without a top player like B-Rob being traded, I just don't see how other teams are going to give up Top Corner Infield types....I'd think the best the O's could manage is for a player like Chris Davis.

Bob you contradicted yourself on Markakis. He's not a complimentary player...he has no help and protection. He's like Abreu, same player type. He needs to take walks and be selective but cannot if there is no else to help. His stats were good in the past.

And Mesotheliangelos - you actually think Steinbrenner was responsible for the Yankees' success? You're delusional. It was only after he let his GM run things and stayed clear did they win.

paulie -

We all know what Andy has said. The problem is that he hasn't followed through.

He said that the Rays are the blueprint. So why did he draft a high school pitcher who won't contribute to the big league team for another five years (if ever) with the #5 pick? Where is his Matt Garza-esque trade? Where is his Pat Burrell-esque signing? Why hasn't he acquired any talented relief pitchers, a la Dan Wheeler and Grant Balfour?

He also said "grow the arms, buy the bats" and bought Miguel Tejada and Garrett Atkins. I have to ask, where are the bats?

The fact of the matter is that Andy doesn't have the balls to make the kind of moves that Andrew Friedman makes. Friedman got Ben Zobrist for Aubrey Huff. Andy could have made a big trade in Huff's career year, but he didn't do anything. Then Huff fell apart and Andy got a minor league middle reliever for him.

Friedman had a frustrating talent in Delmon Young and traded him for a starting shortstop and a talented young pitcher with some big league experience. Andy's got a frustrating talent in Adam Jones and there's absolutely no way he'll ever trade him.

Andy can say that the Rays are the blueprint all he wants, but until he starts making the kind of moves that will push this team to contention, it doesn't mean anything.

paulie -

If you put together an attractive package, any player can be had.

Obviously it would take more to get Morrison from the Marlins than it would take to get Sanchez, but the fact that they have three guys who can play first base in the bigs right now gives them the flexibility to trade any one of them.

Same thing with Anderson. Sure he's pegged as the "first baseman of the future" in Boston, but the Sox have the option of sticking with Kevin Youkilis at first and Adrian Beltre at third and then waiting out free agency on Gonzalez or Prince Fielder. That idea is probably null and void anyway, though. Since he's basically from the 1930's, Andy's probably 100% against trading within his division.

And, honestly, I've got to laugh at the notion that Reimold, Arrieta, Bell and Snyder are close to MLB ready. Did you change the channel every time Reimold came up to bat this year? Did you notice that he's hitting .143/.200/.357 since his demotion? As several people noted when he had his surgery, he's going to need a lot more time to fully recover.

Moving on...

Have you seen how many guys Arrieta is walking in AAA? Have you noticed that Bell is hitting .250/.281/.431 at Norfolk and that he's got a .080/.111/.160 line in 25 at bats vs. lefties? And Snyder? He's hitting .202/.288/.298, reinforcing the notion that, aside from that 58 game fluke at Bowie last year, he's nothing.

Tillman's a different story, and I think that he'll be up in Baltimore to stay by late June or early July.

Anonymous -

I made the comment about Markakis. And you're spot on. On a team with a real offensive, he would be a Bobby Abreu type: a selective guy with decent pop who scores and drives in a lot of runs because of the team around him.

On the Yankees: Steinbrenner is 100% responsible for their success. I mean, seriously, what does it take to be GM of the Yankees? You get an open checkbook and unlimited funds from the boss and you proceed to buy the best players in the game. But when it comes to responsibility for success, who's signing the paychecks there, buddy? Cashman or Steinbrenner?

You reap what you sow, and we sow hot garbage.

nb, paulie,

Luke Scott (while he's hot) for Kila Ka'aihue (and possibly a low tier prospect)...

a) Would you do it?

b) Would Dayton Moore?

I don't think Gonzales is going to be had this year. San Diego is gonna be in contention through the trade deadline, so I don't see it happening. Giving a guy like Kila a shot can't hurt at this point in the season and he's got far more upside than anyone we've got in AAA at 1B.

Fielder, on the other hand, may be available.

Chris -

a) I'd do Scott for Kila straight up.

Luke Scott is not a part of the future of this ballclub. Ka'aihue may be. All he needs is a real shot in the bigs. If it doesn't work out, oh well. It's not like we're playing for anything anyways.

b) Considering the fact that he traded for Yuniesky Betancourt and then signed Jason Kendall, Rick Ankiel and Scott Podsednik all in the same offseason, who knows what Dayton Moore is capable of (and I mean that in the worst way possible)?

nb,

Andy did make the move for Cla Meredith. A young, experienced Middle relief guy.

When it was obvious that Hayden Penn wasn't ready for the bigs, he was moved for Robert Andino.

When the O's needed a SP for the rotation, Andy moved Chris Ray for Kevin Milwood.

Rhyne Hughes was acquired as part of the PTBNL in the Greg Zaun deal (or was it the Bradford deal...)

And as far as Adam Jones vs. Delmon Young goes, I've yet to see Adam toss a bat at an Ump. Delmon isn't a Gold Glover, and the Rays had BJ Upton and Carl Crawford and were dealing from a position of depth/strength.

Obviously not all the moves are genius, nor did they get great returns. But each was in reaction to needs of the team, so it's not as if Andy is operating from the moon.

Matt LaPorta and Matt Gamel were both corner stones of major trades and have yet to produce as advertised despite decorated minor league success. I'm simple pointing out that just because one team had good trades doesn't mean it's easy to replicate. I'm not going to say Andy's a bad GM because he hasn't lived up to examples of Great trades.

The season is hardly over, and there's going to be moves made, so who's to say what happens from this point forward.

It is fruitless to try and compare what Macphail has done so far[or mainly not done} with the Orioles in four seasons to any other "rebuilding" effort in recent memory. Macphail has shown no sense of urgency or sense of purpose. He has traded some veterens for a handful of prospects and has called those transactions "a long term rebuilding program". There is no real theme other than to acquire pitching prospects, throw them against the wall and see who sticks. There is no cohesive strategy to try and get the team into a competitive position. I reject the notion that Andy has not had enough time to work his plan. His plan clearly is to keep on losing and hope that enough prospects bubble up to make things interesting. That may take ten years or it may never work at all. Angelos was a fool to meddle and try to run the team himself for 10 years and a bigger fool to hire an over the hill GM with no drive to excel, just to administrate. Macphail needs to be fired so that a younger GM can be brought in to change the metrics, or we will be having the same conversations two years from now.

Guess the offense wont be fine. Maybe a clean up hitter would be helpful. Good thing we didnt block Reimold or our great young OF with proven run producers. Whew

Batting:
Runs: 27 out of 30
Hits: 16 out of 30
Doubles: 22 out of 30
Triples: 23 out of 30
Homers: 12 out of 30
Total Bases: 20 out of 30
RBI: 28 out of 30
BA: 20 out of 30
OBP: 27 out of 30
SLG: 22 out of 30
OPS: 25 out of 30

Pitching is often cited as being "good" but as the numbers show, they are in the top 10 in only 1 category

Pitching:
ERA: 21 out of 30
Saves: 18 out of 30
Earned Runs : 11 out of 30
Most Runs allowed : 8 out of 30
Most Walks allowed : 20 out of 30
Most Strike Outs: 27 out of 30
Opponent Batting Average: 27 out of 30

Guess "good" is a relative term

Right on cue, an apologist says

"its still early"

You forgot to say, its really about 2012!!

nb, CIH,

I like Kila, and would trade Luke Scott for just about anything.

Yes, the right package of players can get just about anybody, true. But traditionally the "packages" listed on this board for other players is woefully optimistic at times. Not that crazy trades don't happen...the Rays got Scott Kasmir from the Mets, so I've seen it all.

I agree Luke isn't part of the future.

I agree that the Royals might do just about anything, but I did like the Chris Getz trade for them.

I get back to the issue of the Fans tolerance for more "prospects", and the adjustment period in the Majors and the inevitable losses because of it. The tolerance for development in this town is abysmal.

I'd rather the O's try for Prince Fielder, but with Boras as his agent, it seems unlikely that he'll get a deal before free agency. That's what the O's can use their $$ for.

And key too any trade is the value of the prospects the O's have...at this point the value of the O's top guys couldn't be lower, really. Selling at the lowest value isn't the best play, but hopefully in a few months some of them begin to come around and restore some of their value for big trades.

Jeff wrote

Andre Friedman was the director of baseball development for the Rays two years before he was GM. You can say he took over with a stocked farm system, but he was largely responsible for that stocked farm system. He signed Carlos Pena when the O's had a chance to, but were too cheap. He got a potential Cy Young in Garza and an all star ss in Bartlett for Delmong Young and Brendan Harris. He's responsible for drafting Price, Longoria, Nieman, and Davis.

Friedman is in his fifth season as Ray's GM and the Rays are on their way to their third straight winning season in the toughest division in baseball. MacPhail is in his third complete season (not counting the three months of 2007). In each of Freidman's first three seasons the Rays improved their record (they couldn't improve on their 97 wins in 2008 last year). In MacPhail's first two seasons the Orioles have gotten five games worse and it's hard to imagine after watching them for 40 games that they will not have a worse record this year than last.

The worst part is, it's not even a level playing field. The Rays have no where near the resources the Orioles do. They are a far superior organization, and will be for years to come, despite spending a fraction of the money. One organization is functional. The other is dysfunctional. It's that bad. It's not getting better. Wake up.

Jeff, this was a great post. Most of these dopey apologists are too stupid to recognize a good GM when they see it, but Im glad there is someone else out there that gets it

excuses aka ANDY'S TEAMS' aka jason

Are you gonna sit here and complain about where we are and throw your aggression at fellow fans like a little jackass, or are you gonna be constructive and try and figure out what moves can be made to better the team?

cih,

jason, aka puppet, is not about making conversation....he'll never mention suggestions, just mis-steps, hyperbole, and hate.

but hay, that why he's a hater. and a haters gotta hate, right.

paulie -

Perhaps the tolerance for development in this town is abysmal because most of our prospects never develop.

Daniel Cabrera, Hayden Penn, Sir Sidney, Larry Bigbie, the list goes on and on.

Heck, look at Jones as your case in point. He puts up half a great year, makes no adjustments so he can develop, and now he's miserable. The guy has, what, 36 strikeouts and four walks? Where's the development there? Where's the advice from the coaching staff? Where is our "genius" hitting coach? Oh, wait. This kid doesn't listen to coaches. Right...

PS - If the O's sign Prince Fielder, I will run to Baltimore in my underwear to be the first one to get his autograph on Opening Day.

Attaboy to nb too

Its easy to see who has a clue

The apologists make excuses for Andy's incompetence and if thats not bad enough

Then they try to make excuses to explain away the success of a good GM like Friedman.

Isnt that called being a "hater" They are hypocrites,thats never been disputed

Friedman toppled the mighty Sux and Skanks something that dope MacFail will NEVER do. He won the nl central one whole time in 12 seasons. Wow, impressive

In their stupidity the macfailers try to discredit him, but they only further expose their own ignorance

Trying to explain baseball to these guys is tiresome.

Guess the apologists spent their summers playing dungeons and dragons

I don't know who is the head of scouting for the Marlins, but the O's brass should hire that guy as 2nd in command because the Marlins don't make bad trades. They have blown their team up twice plus when guys got two expensive i.e. Willis and Cabrera, they got a great haul every time. Look at the guys they scooped up in non trades like Cantu and Uggla in rule 5 and tell me you don't go after the head of scouting?

Did jason just call me a whack job?

Hilarious.

It's ok, jason, I didn't really expect you to add anything intelligent to the conversation.

I made lots of suggestions.

Does your prolific drug use prevent you from recollection ?

U and Most apologists responded in one of the following ways:

He just wouldnt come here

He isnt worth it

Reimold is better than Holliday

He isnt better than prospect X

We already have 3 aces

Blah, blah, blah

How many times can I make the same suggestion???

Face it, you are incapable of having an intelligent baseball conversation.

U tried making up things a few times, shammmy does that one too. U cant deal in facts

U blindly defend macfail, but its only cuz u are incapable of a cogent thought regarding baseball. U are like talking to a wall

Stick to bong hits and butterflies

Baseball isnt your thing

Actually, not brooks made lots of suggestions and you just spouted off about payroll and the Forbes article over and over and over all off season without actually saying anything... kind of like you're doing now.

So, genius, what kind of moves would you make now? Because that's where we are. We're not in spring training. It's not the off season. We are where we are now. What would you do right now?

...or are you just going to keep yelling about how no one listens to you because we're all to dumb?

*too dumb.

puppet/jason,

I'm not hating on Andrew at all. Try reading...look if English isn't your thing, tell me the language you need to read.

jaosn never read's...he just assumes.

Face it, you are incapable of having an intelligent baseball conversation.

Posted by: chris lin ha tried to make things up too | May 18, 2010 4:01 PM

ROFL, if that isn't the Pot calling the Kettle black...

,Dopey Paulie said

if that isn't the Pot calling the Kettle black.

U should know.

All of you dumb as rocks apologists are hypocrites. Its required to join the macfan club I think

Bunch of turds

Tell me again how good andy is, lol

Wow. Just wow.

I'm a "lying scumbag"? What are you, the renegade blog cop?

You still didn't offer anything of any substance.

You say we need this and we need that, but you don't make suggestions. Instead of looking and seeing what moves could be made, you spend your time making generalizations and trying to remember the insults you used in 8th grade. You are a child.

No one said Reimold was better than Holliday. What we said was that given the impression he made in his rookie year, it was expected that Reimold could put up similar numbers to Holliday for far less money and that money could be used in other areas since both players played the same position. I even went as far as saying they should take the $20 million they could spend on Holliday for one year and use it towards signing Chapman.

You, on the other hand continue with your "Andy bad. Me know better." argument. Yet, you never make concrete suggestions... just the same old generalizations.

I wish I was on drugs. It would be easier to understand your thought process.

jason -

Please don't include me as part of your delusions.

I respect that you're not satisfied with the way things are going, but that's where the respect ends. Chris was absolutely right about you. You spent the entire offseason quoting a Forbes article and verbally abusing anyone who didn't agree with you. And, unfortunately, things haven't changed.

In short, grow up. Stick with a screen name, stop acting like an angry 10-year-old and get over your "I'm always right" complex.

Hey ANDY'S TEAM'S NUMBERS,

When you rank pitching stats, sometimes the lower numbers are "better".

You say that "Pitching is often cited as being 'good' but as the numbers show, they are in the top 10 in only 1 category", and then you go on to list the Orioles' pitching rank for Most Runs allowed as 8 out of 30, as if this is a Top Ten ranking. This is a Bottom Ten ranking as far as Fewest Runs allowed is concerned. Capice?

Conversely, you state that the Orioles' pitching rank for Most Walks allowed is 20 out of 30, which means they are 11th out of 30 (actually tied for 10th) for Fewest Walks allowed.

puppet,

you LIED when you claimed I hate on Andrew.

you LIED when you said I like Morre.

but the biggest thing, the BIGGEST thing...did you ever appolgies to Wayne when you posted under his name and said some foul-mouthed things about dead man? You ever fess up to that? Nope, you're going to LIE about that too. I never called you out at the time, cause I figured you'd eventually take some responcability. Nope. Never did, and you're still all nice to Wayne, even though, if he knew it was you that ran his name through the mud, and spent countless HOURS trying to get thge issue resolved, you never appologized.

...and then there's the reason I call you puppet...care to remind everyone why that is...lol, thought so.

What's with all the yelling? Back to your room. You're foaming at the mouth. You think your life depended on the orioles, and convincing everyone that you're smarter than they are. Who cares? It's a baseball team, a bad one at that, and you have no control over it but to yell at everyone that they're not as smart as you, which at the end of the day, is no control at all. Whew, give it a rest.
You're not the smart guy who wanted to sign Bay, Figgins, and Lackey were you?

Nice, jason. Real nice.

Did you forget to take your anger management meds today?

Maybe you should ask your doctor if there are any reading comprehension meds you can take as well... or you could just spend your time listening to the teacher instead of posting on this blog during class...

If the Orioles were a boxer the trainer would have already thrown in the towel.

That's funny. When I went thru the archives looking for suggestions posted under the screen name
"Wow, just wow says the whiney apologist" I came up with nothing.

At least most of the people on this blog have the cojones to post under the same screen name so that their opinions can be accessed thru archives.

Thanks for proving my point, jason.

People who post under different names should be ignored.

This blog has just become more entertaining than the baseball team it is supposed to be about.

People who post under different names should get help.

i'm sorry, folks. i'm an incorrigible a$$hole... i can't help myself. i feel better by letting out my feelings here. please accept my apology.

I think the movie rights just got picked up, Groundskeeper.

The movie will focus on Pete's (played by Daniel Roebuck) struggles to keep bringing people to the blog despite such a miserable baseball season. Pete will form an alliance with jason (played by one of the Jonas brothers) to keep the blog entertaining, but the alliance will ultimately end in tragedy, with the steady flow of jason's mind-numbing posts eventually crashing all of the servers at the Sun.

Ultimately, Andy MacPhail (played by Bob Balaban) will come to the rescue, taking Shamrock's (played by Colin Farrell) advice and trading Jason Berken, Eric DuBose and Luis Matos for Adrian Gonzalez (as himself). The meteoric rise in attendance will make Peter Angelos' (played by Fred Thompson) heart grow three sizes and he'll buy new servers for the Sun as well as every free agent on the market after the 2010 season.

Look for cameos by Jim Hunter as the upbeat new anchor, Brooks Robinson as the Sun's IT guy and Boog Powell as himself.

Here's a link to the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0

Hi Chris,

We offered many suggestions to improve the team during the offseason but you are right, what would I do now. The first thing I would do is to fire Macphail immediately.The organization nees an enema starting with Andy. The paradigm needs to be changed. Andy's one track, slow motion program, which is to trade a few veterns for a few prospects clearly has failed and if he stays he will continue to do the same, which is the definition of insanity. Change is good. Then the new GM could bring in a new manager with professional experience, get him a few good players by trading some prospects, and move on. The situation calls for a major shakeup and for once I beg for Peter Angelos storied impatience. We simply cannot let Macphail go on like this for another year or two. It has to stop. He has failed.

Gil,

Here's a link to an article about how current scouting directors could be the GM's of the future: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/Future-general-managers-could-come-from-baseball-scouting-ranks-032210

I'll take any of the guys on that list, particularly one of the two in Colorado, over Andy.

Gil,

Unfortunately, I think if Angelos is willing to fire Andy at this point, it means anyone he brings in is just going to be a mouthpiece for whatever he thinks are the right moves... which, as we have seen in the past are usually pretty detrimental to the club.

Someone needs to go though and for me, it starts with Crow (though I don;t know who you'd bring in). I'm sure he's a great guy and all, but the team's plate approach has been horrible for a few years now and it reminds me of the Ravens O under famed Offensive Genius Brian Billick... not that they have the same personalities... but you have this guy who everyone says is great not producing squat. I'd go that route and then put Trembley's name next on the chopping block. Even if they keep him til the end of the season though, I think it's pretty clear that this is the end.

I'm still pushing for Kila in place of Atkins though. And if they can give up Luke to get him, you can switch between him and Wiggy (until Wiggy gets traded) at 1B/DH if and when Roberts comes back. And I think Pie comes back in a month and a half too. Hopefully he can pick up where he left off.

NB, Great Link! Look, I am not a Major League Baseball GM but I did sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night. Actually I really did. I was in one of my favorite cities. Cleveland. Har Har. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is the only thing that keeps it from being a Third world Country.

I don't play fantasy baseball but I do understand the game. I played in the minors and I coached in High School and College. I still coach a 14 to 20 American Legion team up here near Harrisburg but sadly this will be my last year. Father time has caught up with my ability to handle the fungo bat. I saw my outfielders creeping up during infield-outfield practice last week and I knew it was time.

At any level a baseball team must have a theme, a purpose, and a cohesive style. The current Oriole team assembled by Macphail is a mismatched group that can't hit for power, average, or manufacture runs. They don't pick each other up when a hitter fails to drive in runners. They don't cover for each other. They are a group of individual ballplayers who don't seem to understand their relationship to each other. This is the GM's fault. He gets the players. There is no unwritten rule in baseball that you can't be competitive when you turn over a roster. Macphail has burned up any Goodwil he came here with by taking over a bad team in early 2007 and making it worse. As Brooks Robinson said, "that's pretty hard to do". Unfortunately, Peter Angelos is so clueless that he has gone to the other extreme, and we may be forced to watch several more years of this impotence until Macphail is finally terminated or quits. What's scarier is that Macphail thinks he is on the right track. The fans in Baltimore don't deserve this. Please, everyone, call the Orioles like i do regularly and demand change at the GM position now. We can make a difference.

The thing about this current Orioles team is they have a solid core of players/pitchers. The problem is MacPhail did this team absolutely no justice this offseason by getting the types of players that he did. Even if he would've gotten one power bat, this team would've been in much better shape then it is - which is an understatement.

Anyway, in short, my belief is that the talent is there, but the lineup is so mismatched that it's no wonder players like Adam Jones and Nolan Riemold are doing as bad as they are. If they protection behind them and were properly slotted in the lineup their numbers would look much better. The same goes with Wieters. At this rate, these players will never reach their full potential because they're in way over their heads in a position that has forced on them due to lack of personell. It's sad to watch because it's going to hinder their development and there's a world of potential here.

I think Pie's injury was such a shame for that kid, and an even bigger blow to the team than Roberts'.

With Roberts out, Wigginton has stepped in to have a career year, and be at least the short term answer for first base, if Roberts returns.

With Pie out, the struggles of Luke Scott, Reimold, Jones, and even Markakis, are magnified.

Jboy, I am

tell me about Bay again. Pretty please...

onceawarrior -

I'm confused.

Markakis is currently batting .293 with a .390 OBP. Other then the drop off in power, I'll take that from any player.

Dave,

Whereas I do like the obp of Markakis, i think his drop off in power numbers is significant on its own, and also magnified by the lack of a good top of the order hitter. To me, ideally he's a #2 hitter. But i would like him at the 3 if Roberts and Pie hit in front of him.

But it is a little concerning that he hasn't pulled the ball much yet this year. The change in batting stance 2 weeks back reaped immediate benefits, but now he's back to slapping into left field mostly. He's got such a classic swing; i keep hoping he'll develop more pop

Speaking of changes, here's an example of how a real MLB manager handles his players:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100518&content_id=10163612&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Now, it's been well documented here that I don't believe that managers factor into game results too much. A good manager wins maybe three or four games per year and a bad manager loses maybe three or four per year. The rest of it is up to the players. Basically, if you have good players, you'll be viewed as a good manager. If you have bad players, you'll be viewed as a bad manager.

Anyways, this situation with Hanley Ramirez and Fredi Gonzalez is a prime example of how a manager should handle his ballclub. Hanley is basically being a nonsensical cry-baby* and Gonzalez is sticking to his guns and showing that he has control of his team.

Primma donna superstars? Bad for ball. Managers who don't take primma donna superstar BS? Good for ball.

*Here's a quote from the article. Can someone explain this gibberish to me?

"Asked if he was at full speed on the play, Ramirez said on Tuesday: 'I don't know. It looked like it. That's the example [Gonzalez] set with me. If you don't hustle, hopefully, he does it with everybody. It's OK. He doesn't understand that. He never played in the big leagues. That's fine. That's the example that he set. It started with me. Let's see how far it goes.'"

First off, you don't know if you were running at full speed? "It looked like it"? What? You had to watch a replay to remember how fast you were running?

Second, what does this mean? "If you don't hustle, hopefully, he does it with everybody. It's OK. He doesn't understand that. He never played in the big leagues. That's fine." OK... "Hopefully he does it with everybody" means that Hanley hopes he isn't being singled out. Fine. But what doesn't Gonzalez understand? Why does it matter if he played in the big leagues or not? Hustle is taught in little league.

My response to this: Hanley needs to grow up and take responsibility for his actions. I'm sick and tired of star athletes who react like this when they're clearly in the wrong. Especially when they pull the "Who is this guy to confront ME?" Unfortunately, there won't be any sort of Dallas Braden-esque victory for Fredi Gonzalez. Hopefully, Gonzalez will continue to take the high road and he won't get scared off by his superstar whining to the media.

looks like millwood is continuing his crazy k-bb ratio.

Game Over...Millwood gave up a run. Worst run support in the majors about to get a little worse.

onceawarrior -

I don't know what it is this year, but it seems like power number numbers are down with most players so far. The league slugging % is at .403, OBP is at .330 and BA is at . 256. Wierd.

Here is what I find interesting. Even though Markakis' power numbers are down, his OWn% (offensive winning percentage) is valued at .611 - meaning that if a team had 9 players like Markakis, the team winning % would be at .611. When you compare that particular stat with other players, it puts him with players like Matt Holliday, Arod, and Teixeira.

Anyway, is seems like sometimes HR's doesn't always measure how good or bad a player is doing as long as that player is being productive. It's pretty hard to consistently have 100 RBI's and barely hit 20 HR's. But Markakis does that every year, which in my opinion makes him just as valuable as a power hitter such as Derrek Lee. He just doesn't have that clout, which is the reason why he'll never get the recognition he deserves because he doesn't put up sexy stats.

Markakis should've been an All Star and Gold Glove winner at least once so far, and probably twice.

Posted by: ANDY'S TEAM'S NUMBERS | May 18, 2010 3:05 PM

Good to see Jason woke up before 5pm today!

i'm sorry, folks. i'm an incorrigible a$$hole... i can't help myself. i feel better by letting out my feelings here. please accept my apology.

Posted by: jason
*****

dont give yourself so much credit.

Friedman has caught lightning in a bottle with this team. LOTS of things have gone his way, but he has made some good moves. Don't quite put him in Cooperstown yet- let him get past Billy Beane flame out territory first...

"He signed Carlos Pena when the O's had a chance to, but were too cheap" (Pena was almost out of baseball the year before Friedman signed him, appearing in 18 games for Boston. HRs or not, hes hitting .231 over the past two years, including .181 in 2010, a contract year! O's weren't too cheap, complete dumb luck).

"He got a potential Cy Young in Garza" (Garza has potential, but I don't think he is 'elite' just yet, winning 19 over the past two seasons. Had attitude problems with the Twins.)
..."and an all star ss in Bartlett" (hitting .236 this year w/ o HRs) "for Delmon Young and Brendan Harris."

"He's responsible for drafting Price, Longoria, Nieman, and Davis." (not tremendously difficult when picking 1-3-4 every year and dont forget struggling Tim Beckham and sketchball Wade Townsend. Lets see how Levarr Washington pans out when he picks late, like at 30)

Wheeler- Up and down career, 5+ ERA traded for Wiggi. Works out amazingly.

Balfour- Magically turns a 5.44 career ERA into 1.54 the next year. Magic!

Zobrist- Again, Magic. 20 some career minor league home runs, 27 last year, ZERO this year.

Burrell is his only FA signing and it stunk. He is the biggest feast or famine player ever. A talented (and richer) Luke Scott.

Andy is reaching out to the scrap heap too and not getting as lucky. If Atkins hit, Tillman stuck and Jones wasn't in such a funk, Gonzales performs averagely, we wouldn't be having this convo. What AM has done so far just hasn't worked out A+++ yet, like it has for Friedman who is playing with Game Genie in TB.

Just wait until there is some legit talent available this offseason. No big signings? I will turn to the dark side. PROMISE!

@SHAMROCK

I agree with you that the free agents weren't good this year plus like you, I am willing to see what he will do when the free agent class is much better in 2010. Going for cheap players or reclamation projects wont cut it next year. The guys that I really wanted and posted about during the winter were Garland, Thome, Dye and Felipe Lopez so none of those guys were break the bank type players. Garland (yes I know he has a surly reputation) has solidified the Padres rotation and Thome would've given protection in the lineup. I still would love to see the O's sign Dye because the experts says he is very smooth at 1B even though that's not his position, but no way can anyone tell me he wouldn't put up better number than Atkins has.

Roberts getting hurt was unfortunate and the same goes for Felix and Gonzo, but even the biggest critics of AM couldn't predict that Nick and Adam would be struggling this bad. Nick is a gold glove outfielder in my book and a guy who will hit .300, knock in 100 runs and hit 40+ doubles, but I don't think he's a HR guy. I believe he's never had the protection in the lineup that a lot of young players have, but he can play on my team any day of the week. Jones is awful! I don't get the feeling he wants to work on the little things, as even his defense has been erratic plus he seems like he thinks that all will be fine with his swing. I would bench him for a few games to wake him up, but DT wont.

Atkins is flat out awful, but even if you hate Andy, did anyone think he wouldn't have 1 HR in late May? The announcers keep saying Roberts, Pie and Gonzo killed the O's, but I think it's Adam regressing, Nick not putting up the offensive #s he's capable of and Atkins not having anything left.

Pete, not a knock on you because you have other responsibilities besides the blog, but I enjoyed it last year when you commented on questions and thoughts of what's going on.

Still tring to discredit Friedman, are you ?

Damn, you're dumb