Category Archives: Baltimore Orioles News

Baltimore Orioles: Brandon Hyde begins hiring coaches

Baltimore Orioles’ manager Brandon Hyde began hiring coaches yesterday. Tim Cossins was formerly a catching coordinator in the Chicago Cubs’ organization, sill be joining the Orioles. It’s unclear what his title will be, however he’ll be working with the Orioles’ catchers.

It makes sense that Hyde would bring some people with him from Chicago, where he was formerly the Cubs’ bench coach. As I said when the Orioles hired Hyde himself and GM Mike Elias (formerly of the Houston Astros’ organization), if you’re going to poach talent you might as well do so from winning organizations. The experience that these guys bring is incredibly valuable, because they all know organizationally what it takes to win.

Hyde has also hired Philadelphia first base coach Jose Flores. It’s unclear what his title will be, but he’s expected to work with infielders and coach base running. The Orioles made some blunders on the base paths last year, so Flores might have his work cut out for him. Flores also spent five years in the Cubs’ organization, which obviously bears a connection to Hyde.

Baltimore Orioles: Is television hurting sports?

With the Baltimore Orioles’ team offices closed for the holiday season, the only team in town right now is the Ravens. Of course if the Ravens beat the Cleveland a Browns on Sunday, they go to the playoffs as a division champion. However even for such a big game, the team is having to publicly ask fans to come out.

There have been empty seats at Ravens games all year. It’s also been a league-wide problem – attendance is down. There are varying reasons for this, and it’s not limited to one thing. But one common one I hear is that the TV product is so good.

So here’s the question; is this limited to only the NFL? Because baseball has it’s own attendance issues. Similar to the NFL, it also has high definition games with graphics and other features. Would people really rather sit and watch the game at home than in person?

Baseball and football are two different animals. Football’s right home games, while baseball’s 81. Football’s also once a week as opposed to everyday. And I would argue that’s what sustained NFL attendance for so long in so many areas. Ten years ago the Ravens wouldn’t have to beg fans to come to the game on Sunday. But now people look at the forecast, see it’s cold, and look at the benefits to watching at home, and they have a decision to make.

So what can be learned from this? Should the TV packages not be as good? The answer is no. But what teams need to do is to give people a reason to come to the stadium. The Orioles’ idea of letting kids in for free is an example of this. Yes, you’re giving away free tickets. But the more kids come to the games the more they’ll enjoy themselves. And they’ll become accustomed to being there. Watching on television will in essence become a second-tier experience.

That model isn’t going to work in the NFL. But the point is that you have to find a way to generate interest in coming out. Until that happens, people might continue staying home.

Baltimore Orioles: The holly remains hung the day after

The Baltimore Orioles’ offices remain closed. So does the Federal Government – but that’s another story. Is today a holiday also?

The Orioles’ offices are closed through New Year’s. As I said previously, don’t expect any big news until then. Manager Brandon Hyde went to Hawaii with his family for the holiday. However my understanding is that he was treating it as a working vacation, as he brought film and reports to look over in his hotel room.

So my recommendation is that fans enjoy another slice of fruitcake and perhaps another Christmas cookie. It’s still going to be a long winter.

Baltimore Orioles: Merry Christmas, Birdland!

A very Merry Christmas goes out to all Baltimore Orioles fans this morning! I see today as a measuring stick of sorts. By that I mean a measuring stick of time with regard to the off season.

There are still between three and four months before Opening Day. However keep in mind that pitchers and catchers report two weeks after the Super Bowl. The third week of February brings actual spring training games. That means box scores and game recaps!

Point being that the off season is slowly passing. That aside, enjoy your Christmas Day!

Baltimore Orioles: Buck Showalter era is the ghost of Christmas’ Past

As we sit here on Christmas Eve, my thoughts circled back to former Baltimore Orioles’ manager Buck Showalter. First and foremost, I hope that he and his family are well and enjoying the Christmas season. But the reason he crossed my mind is in essence because the era in Orioles baseball that he represents is over. This much we know.

But Christmas is a very reflective time for a lot of people – myself included. But I find myself looking back years as opposed to just into this year. Buck Showalter and the era he oversaw didn’t just bring winning back to Baltimore. It brought pride.

Anyone my age or older had known the Orioles as a winning team in the past. Obviously the franchise fell on hard times – for 14 years. However there were a whole other generation of people who had never known the Orioles as a winner or contender. Buck Showalter changed that.

I would argue that it started in earnest when the Orioles knocked Boston out of the playoffs on the last day in 2011. However they also had two immediate winning months under Showalter when he arrived in August of 2010. 2012 officially returned them to contention and to the postseason for the first time since 1997.

While that’s all in the past now my hope is that the memories last Orioles fans for some time. Those years should never be remembered for the cold and abrupt end they saw in 2018. They should be viewed through the lens of the magical era that they collectively were. My hope is that’s how Orioles fans look at it. And with that said…TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

Baltimore Orioles: Holiday doldrums

‘Tis the season for the Baltimore Orioles. In saying that, I mean the season where nothing happens. The Warehouse is closed, probably until after the New Year.

Point being, you won’t see much news out of the Orioles for the next week or so. New Manager Brandon Hyde took a bunch of film and scouting reports with him and headed for the sandy beaches of Hawaii. I’m not sure whether GM Mike Elias is in town or not, but presumably he’s with his family as well. For his sake I hope he is.

If any news breaks about the O’s moving forward…you know I’ll be on top of it. But don’t hold your breath!

Baltimore Orioles: The case against Manny Machado

Baltimore Orioles fans are well-versed in Manny Machado. Both good and bad. The good is obvious. The bad has to do with attitudinal issues, such as Machado’s comment while he was with Los Angeles about “not being Johnny Hustle.” The fact that comments as such didn’t occur more often while he was in Baltimore is quite frankly a testament to Buck Showalter and his management style.

However quite frankly, the Orioles would be stupid to consider bringing Machado back – UNLESS it were on a 1-2 year contract, enabling them to trade him at the deadline one year. Or after the season. But odds are Machado isn’t looking for a deal like that. He’s looking for a long-term deal, and odds are he’ll get it.

But why would the Orioles be stupid to bring back a player like Machado? The answer is because that would run contrary to the current plan. The Orioles are building a team from the bottom up. If you start bringing in high-priced free agents, you’re moving away from that pathway.

As I’ve said previously, Machado is a piece you bring in if you’re one guy away from winning a title. The Orioles need to trust the process and stay the course. And I suspect that’s what they’ll do.

Baltimore Orioles: Is Manny Machado’s choice down to three?

I hope that Baltimore Orioles fans are following the Manny Machado saga. The former Orioles’ third baseman and shortstop visited New York (Yankees) on Wednesday, and Philadelphia yesterday. Rumors are that the Chicago White Sox are also in the mix.

Obviously if you’re an Orioles fan, you’re hoping that he lands in Philadelphia. To his credit, he stopped on the street there and took a selfie with a construction worker. Already endearing himself to the fan base?!

Conventional wisdom however says that he plays in Yankee pinstripes. Once New York gets involved, it’s usually a done deal. But time will tell.

It’s also interesting that the ChiSox appear to be involved. In New York or even Philly, Machado would be seem as sealing the deal from the perspective of winning a title. I suspect that if he were to sign with the ChiSox, that franchise would still be several years away. For their sake, you have to hope that they aren’t allowing themselves to be played.

But the good news is that there’s nary a rumor of the Orioles being involved. Why is that a good thing? Because signing (or re-signing) a player like Machado would derail the rebuilding process. The Orioles are hoping to re-grow players to replace him. Not spend unnecessary money to get him back.

Baltimore Orioles: 2019 is Spring Training all year

Brandon Hyde‘s Baltimore Orioles will struggle in 2019. And not just in the division, but across the board. Will they win more than 46 games? My personal opinion is that they will. But I suspect the team will still struggle.

That’s why I think 2019 will in essence be spring training all year. And I say that in one very specific context. Over the past few seasons I’ve always told fans during spring training that wins and losses weren’t important. And in reality during the spring they aren’t. What’s more important that you gel as a team.

So if the assumption is that the Orioles are going to be bad this year, are wins and losses really that important? That isn’t meant to be as bad of a comment as it sounds like. There’s most definitely a difference between spring training and the regular season. Good year or bad, there’s always the “urgency of today.”

However the expectation is that this year will be more about getting people in the right places, and then gelling as a team. In effect, building for the future. Some fans will be turned off by the concept of spring training in perpetuity. However if the process is done right and trusted, at some point you go from just competing to winning. That’s what we saw in 2012 from the Orioles. And we could see it again.

Baltimore Orioles: Does greed really cause ruination?

Now that the Baltimore Orioles have their new manager, we can probably put to bed any substantial news surrounding the team before Christmas. You never know what’s going to break, but that’s just an educated guess. So let’s talk above the dugout and the front office in a sense; let’s talk about ownership.

Whenever things go south for the Birds, we’ve always heard fans describe the evils of Peter Angelos and his ownership. I’m not going to argue that the man isn’t perfect. He’s made mistakes that other owners seemingly haven’t made, and in fact many other franchises have benefitted off of his mistakes. However I don’t think he’s the worst owner of all time either.

Obviously while on paper he’s still in charge, we all know that his sons John and Lou are in essence running the team. And so far so good, I might add. However, I do feel that fans of any franchise are too quick to point at the owner and suggest that he’s more about money than winning, or that his greed is running the team into the ground. Can greed really ruin a team or company?

None of us knows what it’s like to run a professional sports franchise. However I think most people would agree that it probably isn’t easy. Each and every one of your customers (fans) thinks he has a stake in every aspect of how the team is run and what they do. And they aren’t shy about saying so.

I would say that greed could ruin any company if the management flat out didn’t care about their customers. As an example, fast food used to be known as such because it was fast (and cheap). But if you go to McDonalds nowadays, you’re paying $7-$9 or so for a burger, fries, and a Coke. And to be honest, it’s not that fast anymore!

When you can go to a regular restaurant and get a better quality burger, fries, and a Coke for $10-$11 or so, is it really worth going to McDonalds? I would submit that it isn’t, and to be honest I back that up by not eating too much fast food in my everyday life. So given that they’ve let their prices creep up, I would argue that McDonalds is losing customers to greed.

How does that translate to sports? I think you have to know your market and the dynamics thereof. Baltimore is a working class blue collar town. People aren’t looking to drop $100 on a ticket, plus food. Most people want a seat somewhere in the grandstand with a reasonable view, and maybe a hot dog and something to drink. Given their ticket prices, I would argue that the Orioles get that, and they price themselves very well in their market.

Look down the pike however at D.C. United, Washington D.C.’s MLS franchise. They have a similar dynamic I suspect in that many of their fans are working class people. So…why does their new stadium sell seats for $80? That seems exorbitant to me, and quite frankly it comes across as pricing out some of your more ardent fans.

There are a million other examples across sports. But if you’re overestimating what your customers are willing to pay your bottom line will eventually suffer. Other than that, owners are in this business to make money. That’s a sordid truth that most fans simply don’t want to understand. It’s easier to paint Peter Angelos as a villain trying to suck money out of your pockets than it is to understand that he’s just trying to provide for his company and his family.

So where’s the line of justice? Tough to say, but I suppose that’s up to the fans.