Author Archives: Domenic Vadala

Welcome to Birdland Crush! Yes folks, for the record it's a spin off of the popular summer beverage native to the Mid-Atlantic Region - "orange crush." Nevertheless, I've been covering Orioles' baseball since 2009 in some capacity, and it's basically the greatest gig of all time so far as I'm concerned! But for those who aren't familiar with my work or bio, I'm familiar with pretty much every sport out there. But baseball is king - we all know that. So my hope is that you come back and check in after every Orioles' game, and throughout the off-season. I'm always on duty!

Baltimore Orioles: Flu bug biting the Birds

One thing that manager Brandon Hyde had learned about managing the Baltimore Orioles is how precarious guys’ health can be. And I’m not talking about labrums, quads, knees, etc. I’m talking the flu.

Pitchers and catchers reported last week, and sure enough so did the flu bug. All it takes is one guy to have something, and suddenly the entire clubhouse is at risk. All the Orioles can really do is send guys home when they’re taken ill. And that’s exactly what they do.

However the problem is that with any virus you’re at your most contagious in the 24 hours before you show symptoms. So you could be exposing other guys and not know it. Kind of a big issue.

This happens to almost every team on an annual basis. Last year it happened to the O’s in April – during the regular season. That’s certainly worse than having it happen now. It just goes to show you that players aren’t superhuman. They’re just as susceptible to germs and virus’ as you and I.

Baltimore Orioles: Houston’s embarrassing themselves

Along with the rest of the fans around the league, I have to imagine that Baltimore Orioles’ fans were appalled earlier this week when the Houston Astros offered their apologies for the cheating scandal. Various players spoke from the team’s spring training facility in West Palm Beach. As did ownership and manager Dusty Baker.

Baker came off as genuine. And why not? He’s the one guy who legitimately had nothing to do with this. All he can do is talk about the future, and how the organization’s going to move on.

But players and ownership sounded like they were reading from prepared texts. Odds are they were. I’ve said since the beginning that I thought the penalties were appropriate. However the situation’s only gotten worse since the news broke. More people were involved and knew about it. There was obviously an attempt to hoodwink every other team in the league. And they did, because they won the World Series.

Am I saying that the lack of remorse should make MLB dish out more discipline? No, I’m not a fan of doing that either. I firmly believe that you shouldn’t “re-discipline” people if it was unpopular the first time. But Houston’s really testing the limits of that point.

Another sentiment that’s circulating is that teams are going to target the Astros this year. And it wouldn’t shock me to see their players plunked more than often. And ultimately a guy could face more discipline for that than the Houston players did for the cheating to begin with. Where’s the justice there?

Baltimore Orioles sign Tommy Milone

The Baltimore Orioles have made what appears to be a minor signing, but one that could have implications for the 2020 season. They signed LHP Tommy Milone to a minor league deal. The contract also comes with an invitation to spring training.

Milone, 33, made his debut with Washington in 2011, and has pitched for six teams since then. He has a career 4.47 ERA, and a record of 50-47. Now a veteran, Milone has primarily been a reliever the past couple of seasons after being a starting pitcher before that.

My understanding is that the Orioles are going to attempt to work Milone out as a potential starter. And why not, given that he’s started before, and he isn’t costing them too much money. And on a minor league deal at that.

But Milone has the potential to be a veteran back-of-the-rotation presence who could eat some innings. A guy to whom perhaps the Means’ of the world could look for guidance. The rotation is the biggest question mark for this organization going into Grapefruit League play, so if Milone can step up and look good in spring outings he has a real shot at breaking camp as a starter for the Orioles.

Baltimore Orioles: MASN to air seven spring games

Baltimore Orioles’ fans are in luck if they want to get an early look at the team. As per usual, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) will be airing seven spring training games in 2020. Whatever your reason for tuning in, be it to see the regulars gearing up for the season or to see the future of the team, I suggest you tune in.

The seven games aired by MASN are as follows:

  • February 23rd vs. Boston (1 PM)
  • February 26th vs. Atlanta (1 PM)
  • March 2nd vs. Tampa (1 PM)
  • March 8th vs. NYY (1 PM)
  • March 12th vs. Toronto (1 PM)
  • March 20th vs. Boston (6 PM)
  • March 22nd vs. Philadelphia (1 PM)

That first game against Boston of course is the Orioles’ home opener in Sarasota. There might be other games that are aired on television in the sense of them being picked up by ESPN or MLB Network. But that remains to be seen. The Orioles presumably will also have a slate of games air on the radio, and we’ll report on that list as soon as we get it.

Baltimore Orioles: More comes out on Houston

As the Baltimore Orioles gather in Sarasota for their preliminary workouts, the baseball world’s eyes are once again on Houston. As time is going on, it appears that the cheating scandal is getting worse and worse. Yesterday we heard alleges of the cheating continuing past 2017, and that it went back well before that year as well.

As we know, Major League Baseball already handed down it’s punishments to Houston. But could there be more on the way? The players presumably were given immunity from punishment, and I believe that regardless of anything else the league should honor it’s commitment. (Legally they might have no choice.) But could this change things?

If in fact it turns out that the cheating continued past 2017, perhaps there’s some leeway. The league may well be able to hand down suspensions because in theory the players were only talking about 2017 in terms of the immunity. Maybe what happened after 2017 is still free game.

It sounds like a lot more people knew what was going on than we initially though. And the fact is that the league’s been under pressure by more and more fans to issue further discipline. Again, I don’f favor that per se. But if the scandal went further than previously though, I think that does make a difference.

Baltimore Orioles’ pitchers and catchers report amidst potential playoff changes

Today Baltimore Orioles’ fans can utter one of the most beautiful phrases in the English language: pitchers and catchers report! Many of them, along with many position players, are probably already in Sarasota working out. But today’s the drop dead report date. It all begins today.

I’ve said this before, but all this week pitchers and catchers will work out at the Ed Smith Stadium complex. Early next week position players will have to have reported, and Grapefruit League play begins next Saturday, February 22nd. The Orioles will open the home portion of the schedule on Sunday, February 23rd in Sarasota against Boston.

One thing to watch between now and then is who gets the start, specifically in that home opener. It’s understood that the “road opener” might have a different roster set for the game, however who starts that home game might give us some insight as to who’s looking to burst into the rotation. Or where someone stands in the rotation. Regardless, I’d only look for the starter to go two innings or so. Nothing major.

Pitchers and catchers report however after a report that came from the NY Post yesterday saying that commissioner Rob Manfred is considering the concept of changing the postseason structure. Before I go into the proposed changes, I want to mention that I like the way it is now. I liked the addition of the second wild card team, because I felt that the wild card games put more onus on winning the divisions. And over the years those wild card games were usually very compelling. 2019 was no exception.

However the new alleged proposal would scrap the wild card games, and expand the playoffs to seven teams in each league. The top seed would get a bye, and the divisional series’ would be a best-of-three (at the same ballpark). Here’s the kicker: the highest possible seed would get to pick their opponent.

Let me state for the record, I’m against this. It’s unfathomable to me that a team should get to choose which opponent they’ll get to play. This isn’t a schoolyard kickball game whereby captains pick teams. I think this would be a big mistake.

Baseball’s a game that always has been and should always be about tradition. You don’t get to pick your opponent – that’s ludicrous. And expanding the playoffs? This shouldn’t be the NBA or the NHL where half the league gets into the post season. That’s just not how baseball’s supposed to work. But I’d gladly let more teams in it meant avoiding teams picking their opponents.

This is an obvious attempt by the league to spice up the post season and make things more interesting for casual fans. And as a purist, I resent that. You don’t spit at your base customers just to draw in casual customers. We’ll see where this goes, but hopefully it’s nowhere.

Baltimore Orioles: Calm before the storm

One might argue that today’s the final day of the off season for the Baltimore Orioles. I wouldn’t go quite that far. However it is the last day before we start getting real Orioles’ news coming out of camp.

This because pitcher’s and catchers report tomorrow. Again, one of the best phrases that can be uttered in the English language. It means that baseball season is in the process of beginning. And it means that once again, hope springs anew and eternal.

It’ll be interesting to see what the early camp battles are this year, and how things fall at the end. Many of the players are already at the Ed Smith Stadium complex in Sarasota, but tomorrow is the date that they’re required there – pitchers, catchers, and injured players.

All roster players and invites will have to report by early next week, and Grapefruit League play begins next Saturday (February 22nd). I’ll only mention this about 100 more times before the midway point of camp, but just keep in mind that the pitchers will be ahead of the hitters for the first half of camp. This because they’ve been there working out for an extra week.

Furthermore, the spring games are supposed to help coaches decides who’s on the team, and for regular players to get their timing back. So if you see guys flailing at balls and so forth, that’s the reason why. These games are designed to help them get that out of their system.

Baltimore Orioles: What makes for a good camp?

Pitchers and catchers are due to report for the Baltimore Orioles in Tuesday. That’s the day after tomorrow. Many players are already in camp and working out, but nevertheless Tuesday’s the report date.

What will make Spring Training 2020 a success? Well first off I’ll tell you what WON’T define it’s success or failure. That would be wins and losses. While you want to look crisp in games, the team’s spring record should be viewed as irrelevant. It’s more about how the team looks than it is the final score.

But what I just said above will decide the success or failure of this year’s camp. As I said, you want to look crisp in games. It’s more about training for the season and looking in mid-season form – for now. If the Orioles look and play the part, it’ll have been a good camp.

So as we progress from pitchers and catchers reporting, to full squad workouts, and into games, keep that in mind. If the presumed starters look great in a game that ends up being a loss because a minor league farmhand blew the lead late, that’s still a good day. Ultimately, you play like you practice. So practice as if it’s for real.

Baltimore Orioles’ GM Mike Elias will not be implicated in cheating scandal

Baltimore Orioles’ GM Mike Elias was a guest on Baltimore’s 105.7
“the fan” (WJZ-FM) earlier this week, and he spoke to Dan Connolly of The Athletic. In both interviews, the topic of the Houston Astros and the ongoing cheating scandal came up. Elias of course was the former Asst. GM in Houston. Elias on his role there:

But I have said, and I will say, that my role there was running the minor leagues, running the international scouting, running the draft. And I was very focused on it. I’ll leave it at that

Quote courtesy of Dan Connolly, The Athletic

In short, Elias is saying, it wasn’t me. However MLB’s investigation found similar things to what Elias is saying. Now he was also silent on whether he knew what was going on. Odds are he would be subject to the league’s discipline had he said he knew it was happening. And obviously did nothing.

However this should put some Orioles’ fans minds at ease. The league has bigger fish to fry than Mike Elias, and they aren’t going to hand him out to dry just because he’s now a GM and he was there in Houston at that time. Elias also said that the Orioles would be doing things the “right way,” so again fans should be at ease that the franchise isn’t doing something that could come up later on and be investigated.

Baltimore Orioles: Where does Chris Davis fit?

We heard a lot about Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles this off season. Some reports had him changing his workout regiment, and some had him keeping it the same. I would argue that he should change something up given his results the past few years.

But that aside, what are the Orioles’ plans for Davis in 2020? I’ll throw in the fact that there’s always the chance that he could be traded (including this year he has three seasons left on his contract). I think that’s really a long shot at best, but anything’s possible. He’s still a reliable glove at first base; if a team loses it’s first baseman to injury or something along those lines…as I said, anything’s possible.

But assuming he remains an Oriole, they have to have an idea of how they’re going to use him. Last year he didn’t play everyday, however needless to say he was still a “regular” player. Again, he’s a good defensive first baseman. That does mean something.

However the O’s would like to see more production at the plate. And keep in mind, if Davis does get hold of a pitch, it can still travel a long way. However I think at this point the Orioles would take him just hitting over the Mendoza Line. But it’ll be interesting to see how often he’s in the lineup during Spring Training, and at which position.