Ok......I want to know who forgot to give the Boston Red Sox the memo? You know the one....letting everyone in the American League East know the Orioles got rid of the reason for losing....Dave Trembley... I guess the Red Sox didn't realize the Orioles were all better now that Trembley was made a scapegoat.............Amazing how the first 2 games against the Sox were much like the first 55 games of the season..........no offense, no imagination, starting pitchers who all throw 89 mph fastballs with no movement, and shal we no forget the worst bullpen in baseball..... I'm depressesd! I thought when Trembley got fired the O's were gonna go undefeated the rest of the way and make the biggest comeback in history!
I guess when the smoke clears we see it wasn't Trembley who signed Garret Atkins and Mike Gonzalez as 2 of their biggest signings in the off-season, no addressing of the needs in left field or for a viable back-up catcher, keeping Mark Hendrickson who can't break a paper bag with his fastball, and putting pieces like Cla Meredith in an already terrible bullpen........Was it also Trembley who works with hitters?.......that hasn't helped Adam Jones stop swinging at every pitch 6 inches off the outside of the plate......or Markakis have less than 5 homers at this point in the season?
Oh well, wait til next year........
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I agree with most of what you have to say about the O's.
ReplyDeleteI dont see Trembley as the "scapegoat" exactly, but it was a move that needed to be made. Its true he was not the one out there playing like shit all year but did have his own impact on some of the games lost.
To me the most blame starts with Angelos and McPhail for not atleast trying to bring in top level players to help the Major League team compete. I never thought i would say this but i actually think its McPhail refusing to get top guys and not Angelos.
Then i think the coaches and players all get equal share of the blame.
Most of the Players are underachieveing with the exception of Wiggy and Ohman, and maybe Markakis though he has no power.
AS for the coaches, for as bad as the team is playing i dont think they have helped them much either. Trembley needed to go, i dont think the players respected him enough and managers should win a couple games for you not lose them. The Crow i am mixed on, the hitters have not improved from last year but he also cant teach guys not to swing at pitches that arent close to the strikezone. As for Kranitz he did a good job with the Marlins but i cant name a pitcher that has improved greatly since he has been with the team, most have declined.
For the players i know they have all these options and other reasons they cant move guys around, but bench some, send the ones you can to AAA. Send a message and see who wants to play.
With the orioles their is no one place to point at as for the reason they are losing. It starts all the way at the top with the owner and goes threw the minors. You have to start somewhere and Trembley needed to go, i just hope this isnt the only move made this year.
One thing i will bet on is the O's somehow go on a run and not even get the 1st pick in next years draft cause i think they are just bad enough to screw that up.
Da Booth hit on something I haven't been able to put my finger on before...coaching and something I already stated....off-season signings/moves.
ReplyDeleteI am a loyal Orioles supporter and am loyal, maybe to the wrong of former Orioles. I would give Rick Dempsey a chance at managing before Juan Samuel. I like having Scott McGregor managing down in the minors and in the past a supporter of Terry Crowley. However, something is going on....our prospects are making noise working their way up to AAA, but then they seem to be going backwards, instead of forward. We have a boat load of young pitching talent, but once they get called up to Baltimore, they seem to go backwards. Tillman does well until he gets to B-more. How about Bergesson? The longer he stayed in B-more the less effective he gets. As little as 3 years ago Markakis had a decent homerun total for a young player and every year since in Baltimore has hit less with this year only having 3 to date! Then what about Adam Jones? Talk about talent. Last year I thought this guy is gonna be a superstar. Now he makes flubs in the outfield because he refuses to play a little deeper and you don't have to throw him a strike to get him out. Reimold.....my god, he's hitting .143 since being sent down to AAA.
You know, at some point last year I really thought with Reimold, Jones, and Markakis we had the makings of maybe the best outfield in baseball!!! And, all in their young 20's. Now, I wouldn't care if you sat any of them down.
Then look at off-season additions. I would have thought a seasoned veteran player with some leadership qualities would have been a good addition to help lead these young players. Instead, we got Mike Gonzalez who had a history of not wanting to be coached. Garret Atkins who was a long shot chance and has just been a waste of money. Julio Lugo is a nice bench player, but has been forced into playing full-time. Tejada has some gas left, but not enough to be a difference maker.
I could go on....there once was such a thing as the Oriole "way", but for the last 13 years the only way I see has been to not pay any attention to the bullpen. Until the O's decide to address that area, I don't care who's managing...
Gonzalez has found a way to hurt the organization even when not playing. I just saw while watching the O's that we lost our 2nd round pick because we signed him.
ReplyDeleteGreat work McPhail!!!!
Well let me first start off by saying that Super Dave was not a scapegoat. He was a nice guy that appartantly had no sack. The day he was fired Jim Palmer was on XM radio and he said that one of the Orioles coaches told him in spring training that he would be very hard pressed to walk around the field and find one player working hard or putting extra work in. There were also many reports that the inmates were running the asylum while Dave was standing in the dugout. So I feel bad for Dave the person as he seems like a nice guy, but Dave the manager I feel like he was stealing money to last as long as he did.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the rest of the coaching staff, I am not becoming a fan of Terry Crowly. Even though Palmer also said that Crowley was a great hitting coach and that the hitters on this team leave everything the learn and work on in the on deck circle before stepping in the box. I just think it is time for a change at that position. As far a Kranitz is concerned, I think hje has done some good things, but the main thing is these young pitchers need to attack the strike zone more. They get to afraid of throwing strikes and try and get to cute and nibble at the strike zone, but the more they pitch at this level, the better they should get which is why they should all be getting as much innings as possible this year.
As far as our GM goes, last offseason was not that great, but at the same time none of us would say that the younger players would have ALL struggled as much as they have this year. I didn't like the Gonzalez signing, not so much for losing the pick, but for the fact that he is more of a set-up guy instead of a closer. The strategy in the draft is really to draft guys in later rounds and over pay which is not a bad thing. Its what they did with Arrieta and have done so in the last few years. The thing that concerns me though is the lack of hitters coming through the system, which they might draft a shortstop this year but I bet they go with the Taillon kid who throws 98 in high school.
Now I am convinced that this franchise will never make a compltete turnaround until Angelos sells the team because he wants to win, the only problem is that he wants to win with as cheap as he possibly can and with this team and system thats not going to happen.
im watching game 2 of the 1983 World Series on MASN. (i was a senior in H.S.) Line-up for the O's:
ReplyDeleteCatcher - Rick Dempsey (Gold Glove)
1st Base - Eddie Murray (Gold Glove and Hall of Famer)
2nd Base - Rich Dauer (Gold Glove)
SS - Cal Ripken (Gold Glove, League mvp, Hall of Famer)
3rd Base - Todd Cruz
Left Field - John Lowenstein
Center Field - Al Bumbry (Gold Glove)
Right Field - Dan Ford
Pitcher - Mike Boddicker
Notice how many gold glove winners? O's used to be known for their defense
Good discussion and overall I agree with most of the points. Here's my two cents.
ReplyDelete1. Bullpen has been a major issue for years. This year I really feel like the bullpen was okay, but when you lose 5 guys to injury, any team will have a hard time absorbing that. However, I almost think these injuries will be a good thing for the future of the team. Why? Glad you asked. Now, they have moved Hernandez to the bullpen, where I feel he can be a complete stud. Bergesen is right behind him, and he is a groundball machine. Berken is already proving his worth as a strike throwing machine. My point is that the O's were forced to go back to the old school plan of a bullpen. Put your best pitchers on the roster, whether their role had been a starter or not. These situational guys are only situational guys because they can't get 80% of the batters out. That has been a major issue with the O's bullpen the last 5 years anyway. You could only count on a couple of guys to carry the load, and then they break down halfway through due to overuse. When Simon and Gonzalez come back, assuming we get rid of Hendrickson and Albers, the bullpen could be actually quite strong.
2. Commish you mentioned how Dandy Andy did not make a move to address the left field situation. Then a little later you mentioned that you had thought the outfield of Reimold, Jones and Markakis could be the best in baseball. This is a pretty bold contradiction. I think you were right in your high expectations for the outfield, so much so that I think this was the thought around baseball. Don't you think McPhail thought the same thing? Why would he make a move for left field when that looked like a strength. Even if Reimold was not healthy, Pie was there. So I think that is a little unjust critisism.
3. I really think the problems with the offense boils down to 2 major things. First, BRob getting hurt has paralized this team. This guys does so much. He hits 50 doubles a year, steals 30 bases, and really scores runs all by himself. The pressure he puts on opposing pitchers and defenses cannot be replaced. So that alone has really cost us so far this year, and there wasn't much Andy could do about that. Secondly, we really needed (and still need) a big, consistent bat in the middle of the order. Sophmore slumps are very common in this game (see Joe Mauer and Chris Coghlan), and some of these guys struggles was to be expected. The reason that it is magnified so much on this team is because "The Plan" had these guys carrying the load. This was an unrealistic expectation, and my major beef with McPhail. If we put a guy in the middle of the order that can rake, along with BRob being healthy, I think are lineup is very good. But without one, we are relying on too many young guys to be real good real fast. History will show that that is not likely to happen. And I think it is having a negative impact on their careers.
Mass...I agree...what has happened this year has had a negative impact on the careers of these young guys. Some of the things that have happened may be the cause of some of these guys never becoming the players we wanted to think they could become....there actually could be some careers ruined by this.
ReplyDeleteLet me make my self clear on the outfield issue. Last year until Reimold got hurt I did think the O's had the chance of having the best young outfield in baseball. However, it was clear this spring training that something was wrong with Reimold. He was still struggling to recover from injury and I'm not sure we was ever clearly healed. With that, I feel Andy had plenty of time to do something. Instead, we went into the season with Reimold, who again clearly wasn't ready, and the only backup Pie. Once Reimold drowned we were stuck with only Pie. The chances of someone not getting hurt were slim and then yes Pie got hurt. We didn't have enough depth in the outfield to withstand an injury along with the fact that again Reimold clearly showed in S Training he was not the same player.
I liked Reimold. I am pulling for him. I wonder if he was rushed back too soon with his injury? I think he was.
Yes, Roberts is a catalyst. But this too shows the lack of offensive depth in the organization. You mean we have absolutely no other leadoff hitter ready to play? I guarantee you the Yankees would have someone ready to plug in or would go get. J Roll with the Phils has been down all but 12 games and he does the same things. Yes, the Phils have struggled lately, but they are at least in the hunt. (and they've got 90 yr old Jamie Moyer pitching for them)
I don't want Mike Gonzalez to come back! I never want to see him again! He has an attitude and doesn't want to be coached.
I am not sure I buy into fact that this year will hurt their careers just yet. I just think these guys are getting alot of on the job training and the results arent there yet.
ReplyDeleteFor example, Adam Jones is suffering this year due injury to Roberts. He has benefited from hitting behind and threat to steal bases and made on All Star game last year thanks to all those fastballs he was getting. This year, he has not had that luxary and is having to learn how to work the count and lay off breaking pitches which he was brutal at the beginning of the year. He is now hitting around .250 which isn't bad. I would also go out on a limb and say that this type of thing is normal, as another young CF who has alot of talent is also struggling at the plate this year but you don't really know it because his team is winning games. Thats B.J. Upton. He is hitting around .220, but his power numbers are a little better than Jones.
I think Markakis is suffering because there is absolutely no prtection for him in this lineup right now. Why would anyone give him anything to hit as he really is the only threat in this offense. He also tends to warm up with the weather so lets see if his power bat wakes up in the coming months.
Wieters concerns me a little at this point, but I think in the long run he will be fine. Alot of expectations have been placed upong his shoulders at this stage of his career due to the lack of success in the organization and the lack of hitting prospects.
Reimold still confuses me to this day. I have talked with Mass on a couple of occassions that it made no sense why he continued to play with the injury last year. He sholuld have been shut down and had surgery earlier to prepare for this season. I think he is going through a funk right now and had some baby mama drama off the field but has hit a couple homers in the last week. Once he starts hitting they need to get him back up and part ways with Montanez (yes he is still on the team)
Then we get to Da Booths favorite player. Felix Pie. Poor guy is apparantly dumb as a brick, but I really would like to know what kind of number he would be putting up at this point if he was healthy right now.
In regards to the young pitchers, they all need to be on this team right now. Whether it be in the rotation or the bullpen, these guys need to be getting as many innings as possible under their belt and learning at this level how to get major league hitters out. Free Arrieta