Luck, schmuck (hah!). Last place is last place. And saying that this team is better than last year's team isn't saying much.

As I said earlier, the results we've seen so far are absolutely unacceptable.

And anything less than two out of three from the Red Sox is unacceptable.

And anything less than five out of seven in Chicago and KC is unacceptable.

The turning point of 2011 has come a lot sooner than a lot of us expected. If this group can't figure out how to put everything together sometime real soon, 2011 will be another waste of a season.

And, as Gil say, a season is a terrible thing to waste.

There is no doubt that this year's team is better on paper than last year's team. But that is always relative as to how the competition did in the offeason to get better on paper. Then come the games on the field for all. To date, the Orioles offseason moves have yet to show the promise that I and many others saw in them. I think the loss of J.J. Hardy has really hurt. His bat at the bottom of the lineup is a major upgrade over last year. We knew what we were getting in Reynolds, and I expect that Guerrero will end up having a Guerrero type year before it is over. My concern is with Derrick Lee and Nick Markakis. If the Orioles are going to right the ship and play meaninful games in September, those two will have to produce.

Lee worries me the most. He appears over matched right now. Unless Nick breaks out soon, I will begin to suspect that he is concealing some type of injury. I think the starting pitching will be pretty good by Memorial day. I am not sure about anything as far as the bullpen is concerned other than Jim Johnson, Uehara and maybe Berken.

As I said before the home stand started, it is too early to consider the stand crucial, but it is important. The team needs to show up against the Red Sox and prove they can compete.

There are so many things going wrong with the O's right now, that it is not even worth dissecting the situation. It's bad. It's what we've come to expect. More of the same. Or as I like to call it: Same owner same results.

For the O's to do well this year, they would have to fire on all cilinders from the get go. They started that way and ran out of gas. Also, all the one year rentals needed to have in-their-prime type seasons, if the O's would have a chance. I hate to say it; however there is enough sample size to say: The O's are done, stick a fork in them. I never thought I would look forward to the Ravens season opener by the end of April. Pathetic and sad.

The saying: you get what you put into it, couldn't ring more true about these O's.

Now Batting, Nick Swisher!!! People need to be held accountable for this teams mistakes. Its throws to first and its pitching. I still believe we can win more games because some of the hitting hopefully will come around. During that loss on Saturday and all of the yankee fans, I have never wanted to hide in that stadium. But after Markakis was announced wrong I thought why do the O's fans even try to come to these games. Nobody can get it right!!!!!

At least these horrible at bats this club is taking can't be blamed on the Crow!
I mean are they lost or what? Not sure what Buck's new guy is trying to do but, let Markaikis alone. Enough of these first pich weak groundouts.
Check the Yankees lately...they run every pitcher to 2-0 & 3-1 counts.
We go up & give 3 outs on 5 freakin pitches.
This is loser baseball in any league.
Hit ahead in the count & your chances of success go up dramatically. Hit first pitch & MLB averages are around .220. Hit 3-1 & the average is over .300. The difference is about equal between where the Yankees are & where we are.

no comment except the o's have the worst bunch of hitters I have ever seem, they all go in a slump at the same time. It's a shame the pichers have been pitching most of the time good enough to win with a timely hit once in awhile. I don't know what the o's saw in derrick lee, that guy has been useless, how many times has he failed to advance a runner or drive in a run. If I was the manager I would either bench him or release him. but they want. they should have kept wiggington he wasn't that bad of a fielder and he always gave you 100%, lee is just on the team for the money he looks like he could care less about winning.

155 days remaining

Nice! The return of MacPhail Watch!

You've got to believe that if the O's are out if it by the end of May again, Andy won't make it through the summer.

If this team doesn't make the strides we expected them to make this year, there's absolutely no reason for Andy to keep his job.

Pete,

I agree with your point about being lucky relative to first place. However, i think the greater point is which are the Orioles closer to mounting a small winning streak or extending this current futility & exceeding last year's devastating 2-16 run thus sinking further & further ??

I know Derek Lee is the ultimate professional, but his bat is beyond slow right now. Hurlers are pumping 89 mph "fastballs" by him every night! Let's give him a day off to collect himself so he doesn't keep embarrassing himself out there. He's putting new meaning to "stepping in the bucket".

Try this lineup against righties...

Roberts
Jones
Wieters
Vlad
Scott
Markakis
Reynolds
Pie
Andino

They may be lucky as far as their distance from 1st place, but that's pretty meager consolation. It doesn't matter if they're 2 games out or 10 right now, either way they'll be 30 games out by the end of the year if they don't start winning. It's time for these highly paid, veteran hitters to start earning their checks. I didn't think it was possible the O's offense could actually look even more pathetic than it did last season.

It would help a lot if the O's don't fall behind 2-0 just 4 pitches into the game!!!

Pete as i was getting ready to post here i truly didn't have anything more to say that already hasn't been said. It just dawned on me that i am already burned out and the season is only 20 games old. I swore that i wouldn't let it happen to me again like in previous years but it has.From say Fanfest all the fans of this town look forward to spring training, opening day to finally see if the promises and upgrades are finally going to prove positive. SO far we know the answers to that don't we.To make matters worse take a look at what Jeff just posted about the 10 best prospects in this organization, it just reinforces once again just how far away this organization really is. I think Andy M really really tried to make things better but outside of a few young pitchers that still have to prove there wears this team isn't really that much better then before. I finally heard what the word potential really means last night on a cooking show from BOBBY FLAY sooner or later potential needs to turn into productivity and believe me the jury is still way open concerning so many orioles.

Well, I see that nearly 6 years after I was fired, the Oriole's are in worse shape then when I was at the helm. The 2nd half collapse of 2005 might have been the falling point of my tenure, but I'm probably better off for it.

Thank you Mr. Flanagan and Mr. Beattie for cutting ties with me. I hope for Buck Showalter's sake, he can overcome my high water marks of 78 wins in '04 and 63 days in 1st place in '05....but sadly, I just don't think this team has the same quality of talent I had to work with. God's speed and good luck

we are also lucky that 2 of the Yankee games were rained out. Later in the year, hoipefully we will have ourselves together and give them a fit when it hopefully really counts.

We are also lucky that 2 of the Yankee games were rained out. Later in the year, hopefully we will have ourselves together and give them a fit when it hopefully really counts.

Garbage in, garbage out. GIGO. Every computer professional knows it. Too bad the O's haven't learned this basic lesson over the last 30 years.

I like your GIGO there Ferg. I made that point above. As Eintein once said: Insanity is doing the wrong thing over and over again and expecting different results

But here is one for you:

McDonalds has sold garbage since 1940, but it is one of the most successful businesses in the history of the world.

@not brooks,

Should we be that lucky, for MacPhail to get the boot. I'm afraid that as insane as Angelos is, he will extend his contract.

Mcphail is buying bats and growing arms right? well then why is our starting pitching giving up 2-3 runs and they are still losing when they get pulled because the bats are silent juggle the order or bench someone make a statement showalter or mcphail because i got 1 name that is the worst baseball signing in recent history and it was made by Andy Mcphail, "garrett atkins"

Peter,

I would generally agree with your assesment of this years version of the O's. They are better on paper. Unfortunately, as we know, being better on paper doesn't help get 27 outs. Right now, it seems to me that we are really not much different of a team than last year. Sure we added Vladdy and Lee but they have done nothing to really help. Heck, with Matusz out, its possible we might not be as good a team as the one that we ended the year with last year. I went to the first two World Series games in 83 and have been pulling for the O's for over 35 years now and let me tell you, it is so frustrating, it feels like a nightmare and watching the last 13 games feels like it could have been a stretch from any of the last thirteen seasons!!! Help!!!! I need therapy!!!!

So PA dumps AM and then we get another PA Special. The GM makes no difference because he's going to fit within PA's business model

For all the faults AM has, replacing the GM is not the answer. We can only hope PA sells the team, and to a local owner like Bisciotti.

In the meantime, more of the same. Curious why Buck and Pressly have not altered the lineup and/or sat a player or two along the way. Something to mix things up and find a spark.

Cursed teams do not win no matter who plays for them.

The reason......

AM kept Trembley around (and would still have him around) was to take the emphasis off of himself.

How can any of you not see that now?

Yes, PA owns this organization, and deservedly so is ranked the worst owner in MLB every year in SI. But after 4 years.... this is AM's team.

Allow me to give you just one example.

The O's desperately needed a veteran starting pitcher to join Guthrie.... Someone who could help take the pressure off of the young guys who are still getting acclimated.

Freddy Garcia was out there.... A serviceable 12 game winner last season who could have been gotten 'cheap'.

Younger and much cheaper than Millwood who he picked up the previous season, Garcia should have been a definite target.

But AM and his (team) went in a different direction.

They went for Duch.,,, a pitcher with so many issues, it was impossible to believe he could contribute in 2011.

So you have Duch, who basically didn't pitch last season for 700k versus Garcia, a 12 game winner (with a respectable era and whip) for 1.5m.

AM chose the cheaper option with the far greater risk. The is the kind of move and decision AM has been known for for over 20 years now.

Garcia's no stud.. trust me. But the team with the highest payroll in baseball took a 1.5m flyer on someone who made the Orioles look like minor league hitters yesterday.

In the meantime, AM hopes people will forget that Duch was ever on the team.

No.... this is AM's team folks. No longer is Dave Trembley getting all the blame.

The spotlight is now his...... and he doesn't like it at all........

bob,

Remember what I said about 2012. Try not to think about it or you will get a headache. Let's hang with 2011 as long as we can. There is still reason to believe that there is enough talent on current roster to be competitive this year. When I was growing up I couldn't wait to get the latest copy of the sporting News and follow many of our home grown prospects all the way to the Major Leagues. John Powell, Jim Palmer, Dennis Martinez, Curt Blefary, Mark Belanger, Dave Johnson, Merv Rettenmund, Don Baylor, Doug Decinces, Eddie Murray...I could go on and on and on.

Now the Oriole farm system has deteriorated into one of the worst in MLB. You really can't blame it on any one GM....it;s been a combined effort of futility supervised by Peter Angelos. He is the one constant when it comes to losing. Don't think abount 2012 bob. Let's live for this year and hope that everything comes together somehow.

PLEASE keep this up, wayne. Keep telling us the REAL deal. It's so frickin awesome watching Pete smack you down for the 1000th time. Now Steve is warming the pimp hand up for you.

*****

Well, it's OFFICIAL.....

On good authority at the game today, I learned that The Schmuck Stops Here will be ending by the second week in May.

The reasons are for everything Gil and I have been saying for a while now. The owners and AM do not like how the SUN allows posters to freely speak negatively about the team. They want the SUN to control which post are shown and which aren't.

In the meantime, Pete is NOT allowed to respond to posters speaking the truth about the O's. At the same time, he is to post regularly on the Insider Blog.

What that means is........

Unless we kiss up and lie about the O's, posters like Meso, Gil, Bob and myself will never be be heard from at the Insider.

Those of you on the fence will get in some of the time, but only when you're positive or display stats, etc about the team or baseball in general.

Other posters like smitty and paulie will be regulars if they so choose.

Peter S and I may disagree at times, but I think he's a really good guy. The fact that he has to give up the most popular Blog the Sun has (as attested by the # of post) surely must aggravate him to no end.

But don't be upset at Pete...... He's only trying to keep his job.

The reason for waiting until may is so it looks like a seamless transition. They will promote the Insider more and more, and Pete will eventually only post there.

In return, the O's will guarantee additional advertising (at the Insider).

This is your Baltimore Orioles at their finest ladies and gentleman.

There ya have it.......

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: Wayno, where do you get this stuff? Do you just make it up or are you hearing voices? And, do you even know what the word "official" means? I started posting on Orioles Insider several months ago, so I guess the transition was really seamless. Let me ask you something that will require you to use logic. If we didn't want you to post negative stuff on the blog, why isn't the blog filtered? I opened it up so you could post faster. Very few other blogs are like that, yet you imagine someone is trying to stifle you. Quite the opposite. I have to admit that you're amazing negativity generates blog clicks, so thanks, I guess. Why would you imagine there is some conspiracy to silence you after letting you vent your spleen for the last two years. I fear your ego has really run away with your common sense on this. Can't wait to hear your explanation when the blog is still running in June.

Posted by: wayne | April 24, 2011 8:02 PM

*****

Steve,

You are simply not being truthful. You know it, Pete knows it, the Orioles know it.....

And I know it......
_______________________
Response from Steve Gould:
Believe whatever you want, but what earthly reason would I have to not be truthful?

...............................................................................................
Pete's comment: Steve, don't waste your time. Wayne lives in his own alternate reality. He used to believe the Orioles run the paper because we haven't adopted his jaundiced view of the team as the official Sun editorial policy. Now, he thinks that I'm being phased out because I have been too negative about the team, even though he has spent the past year blasting me for being ridiculously positive about the team. If you're starting to get a headache, welcome to my world.

Posted by: wayne | April 24, 2011 9:15 PM

Bob,

Passionate post. You speak for allot of fans.

Of the young pitchers, AM is only responsible for Matusz and Tillman.... with no one of real promise in the pipeline. How said is that? He's been here four years...... and well.......

Hahahaha,

I LOVE IT.......

Please re-post those every day.

'jaundiced view'? What kind of view is appropriate for this team?

And because Pete reads post so infrequently..... He incorrectly claimed I said what i said because HE was too negative. Obiously, I said something different from that altogether.....

The timing couldn't have been better to re-print my post.

Goodness.... Perfect!

I blame Dave Trembley for this team so far...It's "residual subpar performance syndrome"...It should wear off tomorrow...

I guess managers aren't as big a deal as everyone thought...

I'm still sticking with 97 wins....am i a hoot ar what?

i only notice one person on Peter's blog who seems to enjoy the last 11 games...

i'm guessing the person who has enjoyed this would not really be a fan after all?

Your bad offseason predictions looks like it's not getting any better during the season the Weine....

Thats alright, there's still the trade deadline for you to redeem yourself and your predictions.

"On good authority at the game today, I learned that The Schmuck Stops Here will be ending by the second week in May."

Boy you hear alot of things down at the park huh dude?

Too bad they all originate from your own mind.

This team is much better than the last two weeks showed. Hopefully, Matusz will return in good form. They should hit much better, although Derek Lee is a major question mark. Reynolds will hit for more avg. and power, and his defense has been very solid for the most part. You can always think negatively when a rough spell is upon us, but I truly believe that this team has a lot of up-side we haven't seen yet.

smitty..... all that work re-posting. Man, you did some digging.... Good form my friend.

Favor.... Will you post all my stuff on how this season would evolve?

Will you re-post what I said about Duch, JJ, Reynolds, Lee, etc....?

And you're right smit... The manager doesn't matter all that much.... not when AM is running things.

People are seeing that now.....

Harold,

What are you smoking? You think this is just a rough spell? Why is it different than any other period during this 13 year rough spell? That may be the craziest blog entry I've seen in a long time.

Tim,

What were you doing when O's were 6-1? Did you forget the end of last season? Guess you thought Bosox and Yanks were done two weeks ago. Wake up and smell the roses...we got a lot of season left. You gotta have heart.

Go O's !!

I'm loving this 20/20 hindsight on Freddy Garcia. You'd think it was 2001 again!

Did anyone here actually think of Garcia as an option for the O's this winter? Now, remember, I'm talking about this winter, before he put up a 0.69 ERA in 13 innings with the Yanks.

This winter, Garcia was damaged goods. He made just 23 starts over a three year span from 2007 through 2009. And when he was healthy-ish in 2010. he posted an ERA of 4.64.

Man, what a stud!

Look, I don't mean to imply that Justin Duchscherer was a better choice than Garcia. Not at all. Let's just stop writing this revisionist history about a guy that not many teams were interested in a few months ago. Heck, the Yankees signed Garcia, what, two weeks before pitchers and catchers reported to camp?

Cool off, guys. It sucks that this guy looks so good and signed for just $800K more than our lotto ticket starter. But let's not pretend like anyone here was calling for the O's to sign Garcia.

Should we blame Andy and the O's for completely ignoring every healthy, legitimate starting pitcher on the market this past winter? Sure. Should we blame Andy and the O's for not signing Freddy Garcia? No.

The timing couldn't be better? You say that as if that was written in 1968. It was written 24 hours ago.

smitty "digging"? You mean turning the mouse wheel once and clicking once? Good God, smitty, you're tireless! Did you have to go to the microfilm at the library to find that hidden gem?

If you're trying to deny that you have called Pete an apologist, shill, etc., have at it. We all can remember what we read.

If you're trying to deny that after the 500 posts on the subject of Pete writing a hard-hitting piece about what's REALLY goin' on, then he wrote something you interpreted as negative, you said welocme to the basement with me and Kieth Law and whomever, have at it. We all can remember what we read.

Then you tried to say he's being silenced. "Somebody at the game" says the blog is being silenced by whomever this week's conspirators are and you buy it completely. When Pete and Steve, who unlike you and OPACY Deep Throat have credibility, say you're wrong, you don't believe it.

It's just like Pete said. You have your own little reality. Nothing will sway you from you GlennBeckian conspiracies.

Keep up the good fight, wayne. Keep telling us what's REALLY goin' on. When June rolls around, spin it into you keeping the blog alive by calling it like it is.

If Freddie Garcia signed with this team he would be 0-3 with a 7.23 ERA and a 4.23 FIP

There should be a sign outside the Oriole clubhouse: "ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE."

Through me you pass into the city of woe:
Through me you pass into eternal pain:
Through me among the people lost for aye.

*Courtesy of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy.

Baseball fans are so impatient. The Orioles are at a much better place right now than the Red Sox were starting off 2-10, and the Red Sox are looking good now. Things come and go. The seasons ebbs and flows. That's why they play 162. Yes, it's damn frustrating to see this team playing the way it is, but people saying "stick a fork in them"? That would be like saying stick a fork in the Ravens after starting 1-1 and being down a touchdown after the first quarter of the third game, because it's nearly the equivalent. And Derrek Lee? Does he stink right now? Yes. Is he hitting 40 points higher than Carl Crawford? Yes, yes he is. Do you think Carl Crawford will turn it around? Than why not think the same for Derrek Lee?

Look, I understand why Orioles fans are pessimistic. Years of bad teams has broken our spirit. But please stop with the predictions that this team is terrible at 8-12 after having played only one team so far that wasn't expected to contend for the playoffs (the one team that wasn't is Cleveland, who are 13-8). They very well might end up being terrible, but they may also finish over .500. Just wait and see before you throw this baby out with the bath water.

nb,

I went out of my way to say he wasn't a stud. So what do you do? Attempt to make it look like I said he was. Typical misleading bs by one mr nb.

I was basing things off of 2010. I said his numbers were respectable...and they were. No revision going on there nb.

Revisionist? Did it really take that much of a genius to say that Garcia was worth 1.5 while Duch was not worth 700k?

Revisionist nb? What... .about Duch? Maybe to you... but anyone who knows anything about the game saw that this guy had almost a zero chance of making it onto the field.

Revisionist? I said at the time that the 700k would be better spent on additional scouting.... an area the O's lack in compared to contending teams.

Keep throwing out your bs nb. You now have become a borderline liar with how you misrepresent my post in order to make yourself look smarter.

And that's wjat it's about, isn't it nb.... making yourself look smart. Keep trying smart man....

Meanwhile, it was obvious back then, as it's obvious now...that the AM brainiacs would have been wiser to take a flyer on Garcia than Duch. The fact that you and others didn't suggest such back then only reinforces that it would have been the right move.

Now have fun revising my post......

smitty,

Thanks for the post my friend. I'll put a good word in for you so Pete may respond to you one day. In the meantime, feel better big guy....

Ben, meet Harold - Harold, Ben.

You guys should line up at the warehouse and tell them you're two of the only delusional fans left of the orioles. You could head up their marketing efforts.

Impatient? Thanks Ben. Now that we know that's what we are we can all rest better tonight. The team is in last place like they always are. The fact that they got there after only 20 games keeps everyone from having any idea's of better days ahead. So thank you for that Birds. And Harold, where was I when they were 6-1? How about the same place I am now since they've been 2-11 since. Same place all impatient and awake fans are.

wayne has insider info on smitty, too. I'll bite: what's wrong with smitty?

wayne has insider info on Pete's blog, too.

So if this is true, it tells us that wayne is talking about this blog in his general life. To "somebody at the game" and to "someone I ran into who knows smitty".

You talk about this blog to people you run into? Really? Seriously? You need a girlfriend or a hobby or something, bro.

Weird response there, wayne. I honestly have no idea where you pull this stuff from these days. Is it sleep deprivation? Paranoia? Just a fervent quest to be right all the time?

I'll post the key line again for you: Look, I don't mean to imply that Justin Duchscherer was a better choice than Garcia.

Here's another key line: Should we blame Andy and the O's for completely ignoring every healthy, legitimate starting pitcher on the market this past winter? Sure. Should we blame Andy and the O's for not signing Freddy Garcia? No.

Got it? Cool.

Anyway...

Get a grip, man. I wasn't revising your post. I wasn't lying. I wasn't misrepresenting you.

I was just saying that it's pretty backwards to come on here, a few weeks into the season after Garcia has performed well, and talk about how he should have been a target. If you can dig up a post of yours from the winter where you were calling for Garcia as a cheap, serviceable starter, then you have every right to do so again.

But I don't remember anyone talking about Garcia this winter, and I think it's stupid to talk about how he should have been an option back then, just because he happens to be pitching well now.

What you never tell people nb... what you attempt to make people forget by your sensational breakdowns, splits, comparisons, etc, is how you always justify the likes of players like Duch and Reynolds. You even did it for Atkins... remember nb?

I would say you should interview for a gig working with Bill James nb. The problem is though, James prides himself with being accurate.

The good news? The law of averages is clearly on your side....

So,

Anonymous people and a lot of posters I know have jumped on the bandwagon to trash wayne and divert the fact that the Orioles have sucked for 13 years and are still sucking. Even the blog owner was starteled into defending his lack of participation for months. Then Pete gave a late night defense to Ferg listing more issues why he he abandoned his own blog than you could find than on Meet The Press. Sorry Pete, I too have aging parents and a lot of balls in the air. Do your job. No more excuses.

It is what it is and as I have always said, until the Orioles win, wayne is right.

No, I never mentioned Garcia.... I didn't think of him actually.

That's what scouts are for? If the team was going after CHEAP, Garcia was there for the taking... After 4 years, AM should have an elite scout team around him...especially when a team is rebuilding. Who is that team he has again? Led by who?

One thing I did post nb... from day one.... was that Duch was just a stupid move. No revisions... just common sense. Same with Lee, JJ and Reynolds.... and Gonzo last year.... and - oh nevermind.

And when they win Gil, I'll be leading the black and orange charge.....

I'll get in the face of any Yank or Sox fan that comes near me at the Yard (I'm too outnumbered now).

Can't wait for that day......

Why would anyone in their right mind think this team will finish above .500? That's insane. They're going to improve by more than 15 games from last year..with this offense, this bullpen and 2 maybe 3 solid starting pitchers. O's have what, 14 games left with NY and 18 with Boston. How many wins there? 10, maybe 12 tops. We also can't beat Cleveland and Minnesota.

nb,

I mentioned Garcia. I mentioned Gallaraga (he has 3 wins for the Dbacks). I mentioned Millwood. Duch was a fool's chance, everyone knew that. That's the kind of guy you sign to be your 7th starter, not 5th.

I was sticking up for MacPhail this Spring. I hope his free agents start sticking up for him, and themselves...

You think I tried to make a case for Garrett Atkins, wayne? Seriously?

I don't remember most of the specifics of how I trashed Atkins, but I do remember two things:

1. I consistently commented on how his OPS had dropped over the three seasons previous to his arrival in Baltimore.

2. Prior to the season, Gil made a prediction about Atkins hitting his 6th home run sometime in August and I responded: "You think he'll hit six?"

Sorry, wayne. If your comeback is to blame me for trying to justify Garrett Atkins, your credibility is absolutely gone.

"AM chose the cheaper option with the far greater risk. The is the kind of move and decision AM has been known for for over 20 years now."

On the money, and he did the same with Atkins. His strategy for building this club makes sense only on paper, because he is not even following his own plan. I still think AM has some value as an organizational leader, but for personnel decisions, including decisions like retaining Trembly, he is flat out awful.

I was still holding out hope that the Orioles could turn it around, then I looked at the stats. The O's are dead last in ERA and dead last with OBP. Whikle this 20 game sample may not end up being representative of the season, you can't win games like that.

The only positive I can see is that Lee, Reynolds, and Markakis are al on pace for historically bad seasons. We know that isn't going to continue, but that still won't be enough improvement to overcome last in ERA.

Was Mark Reynolds one of these so-called "additions" who were supposed to turn our poor Orioles into the Fightin' Birds again cause if he was, i don't get it.
I know he's hit the long-ball pretty good but so far he's a career 240 hitter who's working real hard so far to drop that number.
Besides, he strikes out 1 to 2 times a game. That's older-guy DH, pinch-hitter stuff like the Big Bopper, Lee May; not younger hitter material. In his fifth year he should be putting the bat on the ball more often. His far too-frequent whiffing has caught up to his power. If anyone, as a big-league GM has to chase after a young guy, who hits .240 (and heading downwards)with a HUGE rally-killing # of whiffs then that GM is in trouble and reduced to desperate moves. He's not trying to pound the ball through the dry air of Arizona, anymore. He's going to end up with a lot of deep fly-outs with under 20 homers, and that's IF he keeps hold of his spot.

Garcia and Duchscherer both have a history of injuries. Both are a high risk.

for garcia, 2010 was the first year he pitched more than 100 innings since 2006, by pitching 157 innings in 28 starts. He's still a huge injury risk and I doubt 2011 will be any different.

I'm not saying signing Duchscherer was smart, but lets be honest with ourselves. Both would be viewed as cheap, although sign Duch and depending on him was just horrible

"You think I tried to make a case for Garrett Atkins, wayne? Seriously?" - not brooks

This is nothing new. This is why I keep my interplay with him to a minimum. This is why this blog gets tiresome. This is why I understand Pete not always having the enthusiasm for this blog.

Too bad, too. I can't post at Orioles Insider from work if I wanted to. With barmaid Dan doing some of the censoring there and posts not going up in real time, there's really not much point.

With all that's wrong with the team, we're still arguing Duchscherer? I suppose if my goal were to stir up the dust rather than to make a point, I'd bring up bringing up Britton and losing a year of contractual control over him -- a perfect opportunity for a certain someone to now misrepresent me. Again.

154 days remaining

Geez, thirty five pages of comments and not one intelligent baseball conversation.

It sounds like a bunch of three year olds fighting over who gets to play with the Barbie doll next.

You clowns need to start your on blog where you can spend all day pissing in each others wheaties. Get a life.

Go O's

Actually, the team is incredibly unlucky. They are hitting much better than the runs that show up on the scoreboard. If you look at our balls hit in play, we are among the highest in the league, which suggests that we will start seeing more runs at some point (although for some reason god seems to hate the Orioles).

Add on to that all the injuries, and the fact that we play the toughest schedule in the majors in April, and things are not as bad as they seem. We are 0-4 against the Yankees, but 3 of our 4 best pitchers have not pitched against the yankees at all yet this year.

All in all, It is to small a sample size to take any sort of conclusion.

Hey, we're all frustrated with the O's right now, especially after a promising start but why even bring up a guy like Freddy Garcia? If we signed him or Bartolo Colon, there would have been hundreds of negative posts/potshots hurled at McPhail. Before praising these veterans, let's wait until they pitch a little more first!
MacPhail does deserve some criticism if the offense does get it's act together sometime soon. As we all know, he may have rolled the dice too much on vets/projects etc. Right now,of all the new signings only Vlad is somewhat productive. Lee doesn't look like he can catch up to a decent MLB fastball any more and the word is already out around the league. Reynolds looks lost up there and I am already getting tired of all the K's(although he does mix them up-take a few/hack away at bad pitches etc). JJ Hardy looked OK but his history of injuries is haunting him so all in all, not good now.
You can use the old cliche-it's still early-but then again, an extensive bad stretch like 3-18 can put you out of any race in a hurry. It's time to step it up or the Buck magic will lose it's shine pretty quick. As much as he is an upgrade over the mediocre managers we've had, you still need the horses.

@Waspman,

What in the world do you say? I never had a problem posting at the Insider. Never! And I have said some pretty crazy stuff at least according to one person. Plus, there was an Anonymous poster who ripped the Orioles today. He/She got thru although it was Jeff Z story.
Dan C has never not posted whatever I had to say. Dan C has told me I am a little off with the facts. Which is probable true sometimes =P. I do have to accept defeat begrudgingly. Jeff Z doesn't agree with me half the time and that's fine. You should be able to argue on a blog, that's what its for!

Anyway the "Duck of Death" should go! Let him hit tennis balls or something.

PS- what Andy Mac should have done was sign two pitchers. If you're going to sign a pitcher like the "Duke", have a back-up plan, I hear Kevin Millwood has an opt out clause. Boy, I can't wait for him to re-sign lol. Or I would take a serious look at Pedro Martinez. If healthy, he still knows how to pitch! I am willing to bet he could teach our pitchers a thing or two. Plus, he would give Vlady a buddy, a fellow Dominican to chit chat with. I would be for it!

The Phillies can't use Pedro
Nor can the Red Sox. I say we do it! Plus Willie Randolph knows him well. Pedro had bad luck as a Met. I can't see Willie R holding that against him

So after 2 starts by Garcia, suddenly the O's should have targeted him during the winter? Completely disagree.

If you want to blame AM, then blame him properly. Garcia's 34 with a lot of mileage on his arm, and in recent years has been out with injuries. The definite target I suggested several times during the winter was Garland. 31, always healthy, and for $5 mil, is cheap for what we needed. We needed someone to rely upon every 5th game besides Guthie.

The Duch signing was a flyer - many teams take those risks. Harden, C Young, Garcia, Bedard, etc... you take the dare and see if you get lucky. I don't fault AM for that; I fault AM for not signing a proven commodity and having 1-2 guys like Tillman and Britton in Norfolk ready to replace the weak link or the injured starter.

Make a case for Garcia because of 2 starts? Come on, man!

if the yankees win the division or make the playoffs with Colon, Garcia, and Nava in their starting rotation, and with Gardner(138) and Posada(150) and an aging Jeter(who can't seem to hit anyone but the Orioles)in their lineup, it's time for the AL hang it up.

Duch a flyer?

Sure..... Let's take a pitcher who basically hasn't pitched in 2 years.. a pitcher who has.....

1) an elbow problem
2) a hip problem, and
3) is dealing with clinical depression

A flyer? How about insanity........

Garcia is NO stud. But in 2010 (last season), he pitched 156 innings, won 12 games, had an era under 5 and a respectable whip of 1.3. Nothing to write home about y'all, but he was on the market the entire off season.

And guess who was desperate for a veteran starting pitcher?

Of course I would have rather have had Lee or even Garland. But AM wasn't going to spend 18m, much less 5m. He was looking for CHEAP.

So of the CHEAP options, people are going to sit here and say that Duch was a better option for this team than someone like Garcia?

It has NOTHING to do with what he's done with the Yanks so far. Instead, it has EVERYTHING to do with making continued BAD decisions.

Look at the bad decisions over the last r years people..... LOOK AT THEM.

AM is clueless when it comes to player personnel. It's his MO around the league and it's the reason he is the biggest failure of any executive in the game over the past 20 years.

And waspman........ love ya dude.

.............................................................................................
Pete's reply: So, you're saying you don't like Andy?

@jim66,

The Yankees and the Rangers win with their bats. You can assemble ANY pitching staff when you have hitters like those two teams. Offense wins championships, in ANY sport.

except for the giants last year

meso, i hear you but if you told one of the great prognosticators that the yanks were marching that rotation out, what would they think?

if offenses win, why are the big trades at the deadlinesa revolve around pitching?

Garcia - out for shoulder injury (2x), tendinitis, back, and cut by several clubs over the past few years. If we sign him and he goes 0-2 with a 5.00+ ERA, you'd be saying "AM should have signed (fill-in-the-blank)".

You're talking Garcia ONLY after his 2 starts. Must have missed your posts praising him during the offseason (not sure how that happened..you only post very rarely...). Or is it just coincidence you bring his name up right now...

It is soooooo easy to make claims after events happen, isn't it.

As for me I never wanted Garcia. I know the O's were kicking it around. They got the health file on Garcia and yadda, yadda, yadda. He stinks! The Phillies gave up a lot to get him and they got nothing out of it except a headache.

The one guy I like is Colon. Which reminds me of a line from "Al Dente" (Law & Order). Artie is fat, not stupid.
Colon might be fat, but he still can pitch.
Actually, I don't think he's that fat at all.He's lost weight and looks good!

If his arm holds, he might be the steal of the year. I think it will! That's why I am kinda high on signing Pedro and help shore up the rotation.

The Yankees have what seems to be unlimited funds. So they don't have to worry about getting it right (judging talent). Just buy them all and worry about talent later. Andy has to be careful with the money spent. However, he never seems to get it right. I wouldn't invite him to the Track with me to help hanicap horses thats for sure! =P

That's "Handicap" the Horses.

Darn typos.

Offense wins championships?

Seriously?

Then why haven't the Yankees won the World Series every year since 2000?

Why did the Yanks lose the 2001 World Series to the Diamondbacks, who saw Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson put up historical pitching performances?

Why did the Yanks lose the 2003 World Series to the Marlins, who saw Josh Beckett dominate that Yankee offense in his two World Series starts?

Sorry, Meso. Pitching and defense win championships. Heck, you bring up the Yankees and Rangers as examples, and both of those teams have lost a recent World Series to a team with superior pitching.

wayne -

No one is saying that Duchscherer was a better option than Garcia.

No one is saying that MacPhail isn't clueless.

No one is saying that the O's front office hasn't made a monumental amount of bad decisions over the past decade.

Everyone is saying that it's stupid to say that the Orioles should have signed Garcia in February just because he's pitching well now. And that's exactly what you're doing.

Sure, Garcia wasn't as big of a gamble as Duchscherer, but he was still a gamble. And if he had put up a 5.30 ERA in his first 13 innings with New York, you wouldn't even be talking about him. Furthermore, if the O's had signed him, and he was putting up a 5.30 ERA here after two starts, you would be complaining about how Andy signed an injury prone flyer instead of [insert SP name here].

Jeff Z. just confirmed what I had reported on an earlier blog about a large cyst on Nick Markakis wrist. Jeff said he has noticed it for several years and has asked Nick numerous times about it. Nick says that it doesn't bother him so he sees no reason to have it removed. I'm not a doctor but a cyst in that spot can cause a lack of flexibility and a slow weakening of the strength in the hand and wrist. I lived with one as a result of an injury for ten years until my right wrist was about 50% strength of my left wrist and finally had it removed. After the surgery it took about 6 months before I regained most of the strength in the wrist and hand. Of course I was 50 years old and not an athlete in his prime like Nick is.

@PeteyPablo,

I hear you brother, about hindsight being 20/20, but here is some foresight:

Any acquisition who puts on an O's uniform is guarantied to suck. The whole team is guarantied to suck, no matter who the GM, manager or players are. Care to take a guess why?!

People say that there are 3 sure things: life, death and taxes. I say: life, death, taxes and the O's sucking are guarantied, every time.

@not brooks,

Yea offense wins championships. Last I checked the point of the game is to outscore the opponent in offense. Those teams that you mention beating the Yanks and the Rangers have actually out hit them.

Nobody one a game by not scoring runs and outscoring their opponents.

I get what you're saying brother, but the Rangers and the Yankees have always shown that it can be done with mediocre pitching if you have a great offense.

The Redsox do it with great pitching and great offense. Tampa did it with good pitching and a whole lot of offense. I think offense is the most underrated thing in baseball.

The Orioles when they were winning championships were doing it with 3 run homers. Granted they had great pitching too. But as Steve Stone and Jim Palmer always say: they weren't worried about how many runs they gave up, because they had an offense that could outscore anyone in the game.

Hi Ben, i admire your optimistic outlook but are you perhaps related to the guy who was the Captain of the Titanic? Cheers, rick

It's a lot easier to score more runs than your opponent if you're only giving up three or four runs, isn't it?

The Rangers haven't shown that it can be done. The took their studly offense into the World Series and it was absolutely dominated by studly pitching.

The Yankees took their studly offense to the World Series three times in the 2000's, and they only won it once.

@not brooks,

The Rangers can play 10 series against the Giants and beat the snot out of them 9 times against that same pitching. I think it was more luck than anything for the Giants that the Rangers bats went cold for that one series.

Nevertheless both our points are valid. It never comes down to one thing only in any team sport, unless you're the 2000 Ravens for course.

Roy Halladay couldn't carry Toronto no matter how good he was, and A-Rod cannot carry the Yankees no matter how good he is. But if you have a line up like the Yankees, 1 great pitcher (CC), one mediocre (Burnett) and 3 no-names, washed out, what have you, you can still go a long way into the playoffs.

@Meso,

I've said all along the issue is PA, and only if he sells the team to a local owner with some management skills will we see things change. Until then, new GM won't matter because it'll be a PA-type guy.. maybe Buck can make a difference, and with that in mind maybe some players will start breaking out a bit. But highly doubtful.

I discussed this with a friend who's a Skins fan (I know, poor guy). We both agree that owners like Snyder and Angelos will always fail because they have no management and/or people skills. A lawyer and a marketing guy don't make the best sports owners.

In meantime, mayeb we win a few against the Sox this week. Stranger things have been known to happen!

Everybody move your cars, change your seating assignments to which ever seats Red Sox fans leave up purchased,, and be prepared to be surrounded by Boston fans who come down to take over Camden Yards and outnumber us 50-1. Be prepared to look up in the stands at the sea of red and blue, bold with confidence and no fear of an argument from Os fans or worries of a fight.

@PeteyPablo,

Dan Snyder doesn't lose because he is not trying. He loses because the NFL has a salary cap. Angelos on the other hand is not trying to win. There is a big difference there. There is no bigger Redskin fan than Dan Snyder. I don't know that I can say with confidence Angelos is a baseball fan or an Oriole fan for that matter. How many times has anyone spotted him at the stadium in any given year? How about his sons?

Maybe if the BAs go up some more, the slg. will come from more confidence. 4 runs on 12 hits is the definition of station-to-station. At least the win tonight should quiet those negative voices who have a football, not baseball, mentality...you can be very good in baseball even losing 41% of the time. Gotta give this team a chance, as they don't quit. With the program all the way....Go O's !!

Squirrel, you see the type of posts I make. I may disagree, but I make a strafing run with the stats and/reasoning I have, then leave. I hardly think anything I write is offensive.

With Connolly, it started last year when he called out Oriole fans (forgot the words he used, but they were pretty offensive), and praised the long-suffering Cub fans.

Besides pointing out the number of actual winning seasons the Cubs have had -- yeah, I know, 1908 with the confetti and no WS appearances since the silly goat incident -- and a simple comparative attendance/results study between the two teams since 1954, my post couldn't have been accused of anything more than being dry and boring.

It didn't get posted. Twice. Then, thrice.

Oh, there were discussions about other stuff being posted. But my rebuttal on Dan's passing attack on the locals (which he claims to be one) never got posted.

I did a copy-and-paste of one of my own posts here a few days later as Dan was discussing something similar. It, too, didn't get posted.

The only time I got ever posted by him was (1) once I pretended to agree with him (or maybe I actually did agree), and (2) once I played along with his daily "think" specials -- you know the kind, stuff like Zach Britton reminds me of (complete the sentence).

The rest of Oriole Insider is worth the read. I've posted there on a couple of other occasions, I think. But with it not being posted in real time, comments tend to repeat themselves and sometimes it takes a long while between being considered to be posted and being posted.

While I understand why OI takes that stance, it also depletes my enthusiasm to be a part of it. As for Connolly, I am now hugely offended that someone who should be thanking his lucky stars he is not in an unemployment line goes out of his way to exert his self-important power to censor. What's the point in having a blog if only a select few get through? Reminds me of the Iraqi war minister declaring "We're winning" during Desert Something.

In the larger picture, The Sun is becoming less and less of a local newspaper. Way less local. And the size of the print edition is less than some local papers in towns less than half Baltmore's size. If the Internet is meant to be the vehicle to keep what's left as being viable, Connolly is causing a bigger disservice than just me walking away. Pretty scary for someone who adds so little to begin with.