Orioles State Of The Union: How Will Showalter Use The Rest Of 2010

For those fans still holding on in Baltimore, tonight will be the beginning of yet another “new era” for the organization, as the team plays its first game under manager Buck Showalter.

While the looming hire of Showalter was perhaps the worst kept secret in all of sports over the last month, the fact that the deal is finally done now means that the (re)rebuilding process can begin now rather than come spring training.

This difference is rarely felt in other sports, but baseball is one sport where it isn’t just helpful, it is vital.

The reason that baseball is unique in this way is that baseball teams get to expand their rosters every Sept. 1 to basically call up anyone in they like on 40-man rosters.

The ability to call these players up and see how they do against top-level competition can give managers an insight into their potential before next year’s Spring Training.

For Showalter, this opportunity to see what he has in his farm system could possibly shave off a year in his rebuilding plan.

Although there is certainly no doubt that Showalter will want to use the rest of the season to assess talent, there is one thing that could prevent a blown up roster – Is Andy MacPhail really willing to have the 2010 Orioles to go down as one of the worst teams in baseball history?

At 32-73, the Orioles are on pace to lose 111 games. To put that in perspective -- only four teams since 1940 have tallied that many.

Accumulating that many losses in a season would be an even bigger shot to the reputation of MacPhail and his so-called “plan.” The question now becomes, “Will the Orioles risk entering that realm in order to try and better their future?”

Either way, guys like Brian Matusz, Jake Arrieta, and Matt Weiters will all stay staples of the rest of the Orioles’ season. The people whose playing time could be sacrificed will be the veterans like Kevin Millwood, Ty Wigginton, and even Luke Scott.

If the Orioles are smart, they will give this season to the dogs in order to look at younger guys. If it works, then the season will be forgotten (the Detroit Tigers 119-loss 2003 season was quickly forgotten when they made it to the World Series three years later).

In this scenario, don’t be surprised to see guys like Brandon Snyder, Chorye Spoone, Chris Tillman and even recent acquisition Rick VandenHurk getting some time in Baltimore for strictly scouting purposes. Even Zach Britton (who is not currently on the 40-man roster) could get brought up from triple-A – he is certainly deserving of it.

Those names are all in addition to Josh Bell and Troy Patton, who were both called up as a result of the Miguel Tejada and Will Ohman trades.

However, in an age where records rule everything, the Orioles could very well decide to play the older vets and try to scrape one or two more wins out of the season. If they do, they could manage to sacrifice the 2011 season before it even starts.

The Hard Truth: Tiger Isn't a Good Putter

Coming into this week’s British Open (or The Open Championship for any European readers), one of the biggest stories on the Tiger Woods front was the decision to use a different style putter because of the speeds of the greens at St. Andrews.

This decision was criticized by analysts, who thought that abandoning a putter that had won him 14 majors and 80+ million in earnings was a mistake.

Then, in a span of the tournament, we heard them go from that view, to Tiger’s new putter is the next piece of technology that will revolutionize golf, back to the idea that he should make the switch back because he isn’t putting well.

I have a better idea about why he is struggling with his flat stick: he isn’t a good putter.

This might be a foreign concept to most, but that is because we spend all of our golf watching with Johnny Morgan in our ear telling us how amazing of a putter Tiger is the instant he makes a simple five or six foot putt.

Take a look at his rankings amongst his peers on putting the last six years:



2009: T20

2008: didn’t play enough to qualify for stat

2007: T48

2006: 137

2005: 33

2004: 20



Would you say those are the rankings of one of the best putters in our generation? I don’t think so.

As you can see, the lack of quality putting over the past tournaments isn’t a recent thing. It has been mediocre his entire career. What separates Tiger from the rest of the field is his amazing ball-striking. Putting is the wild card in the winning equation.

In all three majors this year, Tiger has hit the ball well enough to win-that goes double for the Masters, where he was playing as well as I have seem him play in years. Despite this fact, Tiger doesn’t have a Major Championship this year because of his failures with the putter.

Hell, it only makes sense that he change his putter…his old one wasn’t working for him.

Morgan would like to make you think that he “is having a tough day with the putter” every day that you see him, but the statistics that I have shown say otherwise.

Remember the scene in Happy Gilmore where Chubbs takes Happy to a miniature golf course to work on his putting? We might not be there quite yet, but we are close.

Woods seems to be struggling with reading putts, speed, and even having a consistent stroke. He is zero-for-three in putting skills.

Now, before I get struck by lightening for criticizing Tiger, I must say that I do believe Tiger Woods is still the best golfer in the World and that I do think that he will pass Jack Nicklaus in career Majors.

That being said, if he wins the five more majors he needs, it won’t be because of his putting, it will be in spite of it.

NBA Free Agency: Much Ado About Nothing?

For two years now, basketball fans all over the country have been waiting for the free agency period that we are currently in.

They braced themselves for the max-exodus of seemingly every major player in the NBA and that it would surely mean that the power in the league would be turned upside-down as a result.

However, now that we are actually in the midst of it, the one question that is starting to form in many minds is whether or not anything will actually change.

So much time has been given to LeBron James leaving Cleveland and joining the like of the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls or even the New Jersey Nets, but here we are in July and most analysts are saying he will stay in Cleveland because of loyalty.

Dwayne Wade has also flirted with the Bulls, but as of right now, ESPN’s Chris Broussard has him returning to Miami.

When you add those names to the list of stars that have already resigned with their respective teams (Dirk Nowitski, Paul Pierce, Rudy Gay and Joe Johnson), the question I ask is whether or not this free agency period was completely blown out of proportion.

Yes it is true that Chris Bosh and Carlos Boozer are still on the market and that Amare Stoudemire signed with the Knicks, but are any of those guys the type to put a team over the likes of the Lakers, Celtics or the Magic?

Chicago, Miami, New York, and New Jersey all blew up their teams in preparation for this month and it is possible that New York is the only team that got any better by doing it. (Even if the Knicks can’t lure anybody else to them, they can resign David Lee and have a great front court with Eddy Curry’s contract coming off the books at the end of next season).

That all-or-nothing strategy is going to get someone fired…especially in Chicago where the Bulls actually made the playoffs with a fairly young team.

The only scenario where a shift in power could happen is if Cleveland and Toronto work out a sign and trade to unite Bosh and LeBron for the Cavaliers. LeBron would have the Pippen to his MJ and could overthrow the Lakers (maybe) as the NBA supreme.

Other than that, I honestly don’t see the status quo of the NBA changing all that much.

Even if Miami were to get Wade and Bosh, they wouldn’t have the funds to sign a decent supporting cast around them and beating a deep team like Boston in a seven game series would be a joke.

In conclusion, let me help make the rest of this week very anti-climactic for you; there will be no max-exodus of superstars, the balance of power will not be shifted, and all of this excitement was for nothing.

Sorry to be Debby-Downer.

Black Hole Turns Out Just To Be Ron Artest (satire)

In a disappointing finding, scientists have come to the conclusion that what appeared to be the first documented black hole in the history of Earth, was in actuality, Ron Artest.

The black hole, which was first sighted in early November, only seemed to take place when the Lakers had the ball and appeared to be wearing a jersey with the number “37” on it.

“I can’t explain it,” said Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant.” Every time I pass it to what I think is my teammate, the other team has the ball.”

This is what started to spark the interest of astronomers across the nation. If there was indeed a black hole that seemed to be traveling with the Lakers, huge educational gains could be made by studying it.

However, what was thought to be the mystical disappearance of the ball turned out to be nothing more than Artest being a ball-hog and a momentum-killer on offense.

“At first I chalked up the turnovers to just Artest being inept at running an offense, but the more and more it happened, I began thinking there might be something to this ‘black hole’ story,” said head coach Phil Jackson. “I don’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed. Either way, he is still killing us on offense.”

As the Lakers enter game six of the NBA Finals, Coach Jackson’s game plan is starting to factor in Artest’s knack for handing the other team the ball – whether it be via terrible shot or turnover.

“Coach [Jackson] has told us to treat him just like another defender on offense because giving him the ball is just like turning the ball over,” said Derek Fisher. “Unless he is in the paint, giving him the ball is just a detriment to the team.”

While there is no doubt of Artest’s negative impact on offense, he will most likely remain in the rotation because of Los Angeles’ lack of a back-up plan in guarding Paul Pierce.

“Did you see Luke Walton try to guard me when Artest wasn’t in? Wasn’t that hilarious?” Pierce said. “I didn’t even have to flop like a little girl to score like I usually do.”

Orioles Setting Up Arrieta To Fail

When the Jake Arrieta takes the field tonight against the New York Yankees, it will not be the ideal scenario for a youngster making his debut.

He will be making his MLB debut on one of the biggest stages in sports.

Even though it is at Camden Yards, calling it a home game is somewhat of a stretch. The stadium will be two-thirds Yankees fans and he will also have to go up against the most powerful team in the history of baseball.

Simple put, this isn’t the scenario you would like to put one of your top prospects in as his first start.

Arrieta is the last of the recent swarm of pitching prospects that will be brought up by the O’s over the last year. The list includes Brad Bergesen, David Hernandez, Jason Berken, Chris Tillman, and Brian Matusz. While, there is yet another wave available in class A and AA, they are a few years off—these are the players of now.

Tonight’s game should be a happy occasion for Baltimore; one that should have been the Orioles showing off the last piece of an already impressive stockpile.

Instead, Arrieta joins a group of pitchers that are 31-52 with a combined 5.09 ERA and make up the majority of one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball.

It is true that not all prospects turn into stars, but what the Orioles seem to have in the pros could turn out to be a prospect graveyard. There is still hope for Matusz, but Hernandez, Berken, Bergesen, and Tillman all seem to be struggling and in danger of turning into duds.

Considering how badly the Orioles need Arrieta to be a success, they don’t seem to be helping him out at all.

Look at how the Nationals handled Stephen Strasburg. They not only waited patiently until he was ready, but they waited until they could play a beatable opponent (the Pirates), and could fill the stands with Nationals fans. Every fan in that stadium was rooting for him.

Instead of doing that, the Orioles are calling up Arrieta because it happens to be convenient for them and are risking his chance of being a successful pitcher in the process.

The Orioles have the worst record in baseball. The idea of calling up a player on the organization’s time instead of when it is best for the player is ludicrous and is quite possible one of the reasons the Orioles can’t succeed in cultivating their talent.

Bringing up Arrieta is reminiscent of the Tillman and Matusz call-ups last year; it is nothing more than a publicity stunt.

The O’s are terrible and can’t get fans to come to the ballpark any more. MacPhail is just using Arrieta as a pawn to get Orioles fans to stay interested. He will probably do the same thing with Josh Bell and Brandon Snyder at the end of the year.

These aren’t the actions of man building a dynasty; they are that of a man who is trying to buy himself some time.

Radio Appearance talking Orioles baseball

Sunday night, I had the pleasure to join Matt Falkenbury on the New York Mets 'Stache Radio to discuss the Baltimore Orioles because they start a three game series on Friday.


Considering it was my first radio appearance, I thought it went great.


My segment starts at 34:50 and goes on for 15 minutes or so. Enjoy!

I took this video off because it started by itself whenever you opened the page and was getting quite annoying. If you are still interested in listening to it, the link is:

www.blogtalkradio/stacheradio/2010/06/07/episode-5

What Dave Trembley Did Wrong and What Samuel Needs To Change

By now it is official. The Baltimore Orioles have fired manager Dave Trembley and have promoted third-base coach Juan Samuel to be the interim skipper.

Now that he is gone, the biggest question is what Trembley failed to do and what Samuel needs to do differently.

To Orioles fans, the firing comes hardly as a surprise, considering most of them have been calling for this for months now.

To say Trembley was disliked would be an understatement. Fans thought he was so bad that for the first time in a decade, Baltimore’s failures were not blamed on owner Peter Angelos.

Fans blamed Trembley for everything, especially the under-performing of the offense. Most of them probably have some sort of Trembley Voodoo doll in their closet with a needle in it for every loss this season. After all, baseball is a superstitious game.

While some Orioles fans are just happy he is gone as if he were the Wicked Witch of the West, they should be focusing on what Trembley is actually responsible for.

The answer to this is that doesn’t come from any particular moves Samuel will make, but rather what this change will do inside the clubhouse.

Some are saying that the losing isn’t all Trembley’s fault because of hampering injuries, but that attitude in the locker room is 100 percent on him.

The Orioles have become stagnant in the past few weeks and have accepted losing as an inevitability. Remember Adam Jones throwing his helmet after an out because he was tired of failing? That isn’t happening anymore because they have stopped caring.

Trebley should have been fired right when that feeling started creeping into the minds of the players.

In post game interviews, Trembley basically sits there and has no insight to why this team is bad. If it’s true that he really does have no idea why the team isn’t performing, then he is truly a terrible manager. However, the most likely scenario is that he doesn’t want to call anybody out- this isn’t any better.

This is the Major Leagues Dave…these aren’t kids we’re dealing with here.

Throughout the entire season of losses, I never heard Trembley yell or criticize his players once. He never held any of them accountable for failures and never got up their butts when careless mistakes were made.

There is a difference between nurturing players and coddling young talent. Trembley clearly coddled them and it has hindered their development.

As his first managerial move, Samuel needs to call Adam Jones into his office and light a fire under him. Call him out for his absolutely terrible plate discipline and poor base running. Let him know he isn’t a young talent, but is instead expected to be one of the stars on this team.

After he lets Jones know what every fan in Baltimore is thinking, do the same with Matt Weiters- then Nick Markakis (I know he has a good average, but his lack of power is disturbing).

These guys were supposed to be the O’s strength, not weakness.

If Baltimore is to see any benefit from this, it will be because someone yelled at this team of apparent children.

It’s been 13 years now since the team was any good. How about getting a manager in there that knows that? Let every player know how embarrassing it is that the Orioles organization has been diminished to a laughing matter when it was feared in the 1980s.

If Angelos won’t pay for a manager to do this for him, I’ll do it for free.