Category Archives: Baltimore Orioles News

Baltimore Orioles: Might the O’s have more than just new players?

As we wait for the promised word on what happens with the Baltimore Orioles’ coaches and front office staff, I read a very interesting article yesterday. Peter Angelos, while in ailing health, is the owner of the Orioles. In reality his sons John and Lou have been running the team from an ownership perspective for much of the year, and appear to be the heirs apparent when their father passes away. But will that truly be the case?

Thom Loverro of The Washington Times published this article in Sunday’s newspaper. You can read the article if you’d like, however the gist of it is that there appears to be no guarantee that the Angelos brothers will be allowed to own the team. And if Loverro’s to be believed, odds are actually against those ends.

Thom Loverro’s a well-respected journalist who’s covered MLB for some time. He works for the Times, as well as WJFK radio in DC – which happens to be the flagship station of the Washington Nationals. But while the Nationals claim they have an ax to grind with the Orioles/MASN, again keep in mind that Loverro does have credibility attached to his name. He also knows a lot of mover’s and shaker’s in the league office; so he might not necessarily be speaking off the cusp.

In short, the Nationals feel that they got a raw deal in the MASN contract. The fact is that they did – but they agreed to it. You can’t go back on a deal just because you wake up one day and realize it’s unfair. However it’s also become evident that the league itself not only wants the Nationals out of the deal, but has potentially been working behind the scenes for that to happen since the beginning.

MLB didn’t want to face Peter Angelos in court (can’t blame them there). So one has to wonder if it’s mere coincidence that this starts to come up in earnest now that he’s in failing health. But that aside, Loverro’s point is a very valid one. 75% of current owners have to approve either a transfer of ownership from Peter Angelos to his sons, OR approve the sons as the new owners upon Peter’s death – assuming that they inherit the team per his will. (For the record, Peter Angelos is simply the majority owner. There are minority owners as well, his partners.)

So the message may well be that the league wants the Angelos’ to play ball in the MASN deal, or MLB could force a sale. Peter Angelos in his prime would tie something like that up in court, and perhaps justifiably so. But his sons may not be him. They may be great people for the record, but they may not be the lawyer that he was.

This is all speculation, of course. But as I said, Loverro is in fact a reputable source. He isn’t the type of journalist who would pick a topic of this severity off the top of his head just to write about it. Incidentally, MLB tends to approve heirs as owners – for the most part. The Steinbrenner brothers of course got approved as owners of the Yankees, and just this year none other than the Washington Nationals formally changed ownership. Ted Lerner (who’s still alive) transferred the team to his son Mark (and it was approved by the necessary 75% vote).

There’s a lot involved in this, and not one party is 100% guilty or innocent. There are a lot of fans who are probably hoping that the league takes the team away from the Angelos’. However there is a flip side; what if it’s sold to a person or group who has no loyalty to the city? There are Baltimoreans such as Steve Bisciotti or Kevin Plank who could probably afford to purchase the Orioles. But…is there a guarantee that’s who would buy it?

Look no further than the Baltimore Colts for what could happen. Robert Irsay, and out of town businessman with no loyalty to the city, owned the team. Eventually he proves his disloyalty to Baltimore by moving the team. A local could certainly do that as well. But it would seem far less likely.

At the end of the day, this is a pretty heavy topic. My personal stance is that it wouldn’t surprise me if part of the whole “cutting payroll” idea is a move being made for the eventual sale of the team. Loverro actually said it could happen as quickly as this winter. That seems awful quick, but at the end of the day who really knows? From the standpoint of the fans, so long as the team heads in the right direction and most importantly remains the Baltimore Orioles, that’s all that’s really important.

Baltimore Orioles: Past the end of the line

Yesterday was both amazing and tough for the Baltimore Orioles and their fans alike. Especially the likes of Adam Jones and Buck Showalter. Neither is expected to return, although we should always throw in the term but you never know. And if the love fest we saw yesterday is any indication, I think most fans would be fine with that.

Specifically regarding Showalter, rumor has it that a formal decision and/or announcement is expected sooner rather than later. So in theory that could come as early as today. If in fact Buck’s out, I wouldn’t necessarily expect a new manager to be hired immediately. Most teams wait until the conclusion of the World Series to make those hires, first off because odds are some of the coaches involved could be candidates. But it allows the post-season to take center stage as opposed to a team not involved.

Showalter’s contract runs through the end of October, so he’s not going anywhere in the immediacy of today. And he’ll still be on hand and have the title of manager on October 27th when he and his wife Angela host the annual Kids Peace Trick-or-Trot. While yesterday’s festivities focused more on Adam Jones, that might be a great opportunity for fans to say goodbye to Buck if in fact he’s out.

This season was trying on everyone involved, yes including writers. There were times back in June where I looked to this day. However the Orioles always have a way of pulling you back in, and we certainly saw that yesterday. And regardless of whether a season was good or bad, there’s always a sad finality when the tarp goes on the field for the final time.

But that’s especially true this year with the circumstances surrounding the end of the season. I said this a lot yesterday, but nobody does nostalgia like the Orioles. And that’s quite frankly due to the fact that Baltimore is special. The people are special, and the teams are special. When the litany of trades went down this past summer I reminded fans that Baltimore really loves to embrace it’s athletes. And the next generation of athletes waiting to be embraced may well have been acquired in those trades.

The nickname “Smalltimore” doesn’t exist for nothing. Players come here, and in many cases become a part of the community. Adam Jones certainly did. They start families here, their kids go to school with your kids, you attend community meetings with them, etc. That’s what makes days like yesterday so hard. But it should also serve as a reminder that this isn’t just any team or any city. It’s the Baltimore Orioles. And they’re a special part of a special community.

There is a silver lining to 2018 for those who love regular season baseball. It doesn’t involve the Orioles, but the regular season isn’t quite done yet. Milwaukee will travel to Wrigley Field to play the Chicago Cubs at 1 PM this afternoon, and Colorado will travel to Chavez Ravine to play the LA Dodgers at 4 PM. Those games will decide the NL Central and West champions respectively. The losers will square off in the NL Wild Card game – tomorrow.

These games are playoff games for all intents and purposes. They’re certainly being treated as such, and justifiably so. But on paper, they actually go down as “regular season game 163.” Former 2018 Orioles Jonathan Schoop (Milwaukee) and Manny Machado (LAD) will be playing today. And the 2018 post-season is littered with former Orioles.

As for me, the season never really ends. Anyone who’s read me for some time knows that I’ll give you a full season recap at some point this week. It may not be pretty, but I’ll do it. I always take a few days after the season ends before doing that however, if for no other reason than to “digest” the entire thing. But you’ll get it – later this week, as I said.

In closing for today, I do want to thank you the fans. Certainly this season wasn’t what we thought it would be, but I appreciate any and all who read this column even once. And stick with me, as in typical Baltimore fashion, I don’t take days off!

Baltimore Orioles: The candle in the wind

Make no mistake that today’s game will long be remembered by Baltimore Orioles fans. And while we can’t say right now that it won’t be remembered for the game itself or for the final score, odds are that’s the case. All of the signs point to today being the final game for Adam Jones and manager Buck Showalter in an Orioles’ uniform.

I’ve touched on this more and more as September’s gone on. And odds are we’ll touch on it more after the season. We’ve seen “heavy figures” come to the end of the line in Baltimore before – Ripken, Weaver, Murray, and others. They were all sent off with a proud hand.

Where today’s festivities rank in Orioles’ lore is up to the individual. However assuming in fact that these two titans in Oriole history are seeing their final moments in the orange and black today, they’ll stand together as the faces of this era of Orioles baseball. And make no mistake, regardless of the team’s record, they go out winners.

In his typical aw shucks manner, Buck Showalter once said that “it was ready to pop when I got here.” Meaning that the Orioles had a good team already, and were on the rise. And that’s probably true in a way. However he added the one thing that had been missing since 1997: PRIDE.

He restored pride in the organization – not only for the players on the roster, but also for the fans. While other managers certainly meant well, it was Buck who pulled the proverbial sword out of the stone. His was a name that came with automatic credibility. And people bought in almost immediately. One of those people? Adam Jones.

Showalter and Jones were the perfect match. Buck was a skilled instructor who took pride in everything he did, and Jones was a willing pupil. However the thing that they both shared was a sense of humor and a joie de vivre that was unmatched. While they both took their jobs seriously, neither took themselves too seriously. Without Buck Showalter, Jones might well have ended up a very decent journeyman outfielder. And without Adam Jones, Showalter might well have been another name in a long litany of failed managers in Baltimore.

Orioles fans returned to the promise land of the postseason on the coattails of Jones and Showalter in 2012 – a season that shocked the world. Two years later in 2014 the O’s once again did what at one time would have been unthinkable in winning the AL East. Tack on a third playoff appearance in 2016, and this duo presided over one of the more prosperous era’s in “recent” franchise history.

But today we light a candle for those times. I’m reminded of T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, which is in reality an epic comprised of four books. The final one is The Candle in the Wind, which deals with the fall of the legendary King Arthur and Camelot…which incidentally, is pretty much what we’ve seen in 2018.

No, I’m not comparing baseball to Arthurian Legend – well, maybe I am. Just a bit. However the crassest of crass fans will see this as an era in which Jones couldn’t hit low-and-away sliders, and Buck left his best reliever in the bullpen in the 2016 AL Wild Card Game. Those people would also probably claim that King Arthur didn’t have what it took to defeat Sir Mordred.

But the really great fans that we know exist in this fan base will see this moment as that of the wizard Merlin peeking into Arthur’s tent at the very end of the story, to comfort him in his moment of need. The era itself is over. It was over the moment trades started going down. But today is the chance to light up the sky one final time and to pay homage to a time that will long be remembered as a Camelot-like era at Camden Yards.

On a selfish note, it’s a time that I’ll personally always remember fondly. I grew up as a writer during the Jones/Showalter timeframe. Many of the great moments and games over that period allowed me the opportunity to wax poetic in a similar manner that I am now. (What, you thought I enjoyed writing blase’ columns about blow out losses?!) Many of those moments will be chronicled as time goes on this off season.

So I encourage fans to buy tickets to this afternoon’s game. Yes, it’s your final chance to see Adam Jones and Buck Showalter (perhaps), but also a chance to see the end of an era. And an era that should be remembered fondly at that. Today’s game is certainly the proverbial candle in the wind for that era. So when we think back on these times, …don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot.

Baltimore Orioles: Disjointed final weekend

The final weekend of Baltimore Orioles’ baseball for 2018 would have in theory kicked off last night, however the game was postphoned due to rain. And rain that wasn’t looking to let up at that. Even though this weekend’s opponent, the Houston Astros, have already clinched their division title, seedings for home field advantage are still on the line across baseball.

So last night’s game does in fact need to be played, and it will be – as part of a traditional doubleheader tomorrow. Game one begins at 4 PM, with game two starting approximately 20-30 minutes after the completion of the first game. It’s a single-admission event, so if you already had tickets for Saturday’s game you’ll get two for the price of one. If you had tickets for Thursday you could certainly exchange them for Saturday.

I can only imagine the Orioles’ view of having to play that game, and in the form of a doubleheader at that. But that’s how it works sometimes. You have no choice but to deal with it. Regardless of anyone’s record, it’s also somewhat fitting in a year that’s seen so many cancellations and postphonements due to weather across the league.

One thing of interest that did come from yesterday was Buck Showalter‘s comments about his contract situation. He outwardly isn’t worried about his situation, even with his contract ending at the end of next month (quote courtesy of Brit Ghiroli, mlb.com):

It won’t be difficult. In the whole scheme of life, it shouldn’t be. Shame on me if it is. Do you know how good they’ve been to me? I’m not ever going to forget that, regardless of what happens.

Interesting perspective to say the least. His underlying point is that there’s more to life than just this job – or any job. And before Orioles’ fans call out ownership or management on anything, I would recommend they heed what Showalter said about how well he’s been treated. He has no incentive to say that aside from the fact that it’s probably how he truly feels.

So the series with Houston will open tonight at Camden Yards. David Hess gets the call for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Houston’s Gerritt Cole. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Who’s the next manager if Buck Showalter is out?

One thing we know for sure: the Baltimore Orioles will have a manager next year. Reports say that it won’t be Buck Showalter, although nobody knows for certain as of yet. I’m on record as saying that I think Buck should be at least offered a contract to manage next year – if he wants the opportunity. And even if the next guy far surpasses Showalter’s accomplishments in Baltimore, that’s a stance I’ll take to my grave.

But let’s assume for just a moment that Showalter in fact isn’t the manager next year. Who is? Speaking for myself, the three candidates that make the most sense are former St. Louis manager Mike Matheny, former New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi, and former Boston manager John Farrell. At least two of those names are going to make Orioles’ fans uneasy. (And Girardi’s turned down an opportunity to manage the Orioles in the past.) But the fact is that all three are accomplished managers and are available.

Notice however that I said the candidates that make the most sense. I didn’t say that those were the best candidates. In general, I like coaches and managers who have done the job before at a high level. I get it that at some point someone has to take a risk on a guy in terms of elevating him to the top spot. I’ve just never wanted to be the person to roll the dice. I’d rather know what I’m getting in someone who’s proven he can do the job at this level.

But I really think that would be the wrong approach for this team – and I don’t say that lightly. A full rebuild is no joke, and it’s not for the faint of heart. The Orioles might really want to consider finding a young manager in the form of someone’s bench coach or a base coach so as to help bring these young Birds along. And here’s the other thing; whomever the manager is (presuming it’s not Showalter) might not be here long. By that, I almost mean he could be a placeholder.

Most guys would jump at a shot to manage a big league team. So if a Sandy Alomar Jr. (currently Cleveland’s first base coach) or if a Kevin Long (currently Washington’s bench coach) were offered a two or three-year deal to manage the Orioles, they might consider taking it. (And incidentally the Alomar family already has some ties to Baltimore.) It would come across as perhaps a provisional type of move. However it would give Dan Duquette and the Angelos brothers a chance to see what they have both in players and in a manager

Obviously if the organization is going in the right direction on the field towards the end of that contract, they would consider extending the manager. Again, in general I like experienced managers – such as Buck Showalter, who again I maintain should be the manager next year in my view. But the Farrell’s and Girardi’s of the world are going to want a big contract both financially and tenure-wise. If after two or three years the rebuild isn’t going as smoothly as the Orioles would have liked, they would either have to eat the remainder of the contract or continue plugging along at that pace.

With last night’s rain out, the O’s will play a split doubleheader today at Boston’s Fenway Park. Ryan Meisinger gets the start for the Orioles in the first game, and he’ll be opposed by Boston’s David Price. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Do chicken little’s actually have the right attitude?

This has been a season to forget for the Baltimore Orioles, although odds are it’s not going to be forgotten quickly. Let me be frank; I’m a stay the course guy in all things. So when people were tweeting at me and commenting on this column after the Orioles blew a lead and had to go to extra innings to win on Opening Day, I shoo’d that commentary away. You can imagine what the reaction was then after they lost 7-1 in game two.

With the exception of the eventual Opening Day win, all of that was a harbinger for the rest of the season. I do believe in the it’s early defense when it comes to sports. Just as I wouldn’t be harshly judging the 1-1 Baltimore Ravens right now, I don’t think you can garner too much from one month’s worth of league play. I’ve never believed that; mainly because I believe in staying the course. But…am I wrong?

In this case, I suppose I was. The chicken little’s of the world who were sounding the alarm back in April were right. Now I would also remind folks that this season was literally the perfect storm. I’m not sure that even the worst chicken little of the bunch would have seen this coming at that time.

Again, the difference between someone like me and a chicken little is that I really believed that this team would progress back to the mean. I believed that after last September when they fell off the map. It stood to reason that they would progress back to the mean numbers of most of their careers going into this year. However that never happened. In fact, it got worse.

People told me back in April and May that the Orioles needed to do something drastic – and quick. I don’t believe in that sort of thing, again because I’m a stay the course guy. But also because most of the time when people say things like that, they do so with very little thought as to what that drastic measure would be. They just say something needs to be done.

And eventually it was, with all of the deals the team made in mid-summer. However even now with the franchise in rebuilding mode, some still question the track. That includes catcher Caleb Joseph, who earlier this week said that the mentality needs to be more focused on winning. Circa 2009 I recall the mentality being that the young players on the team were learning to lose together, which boded well for the future. Because eventually they would learn how to win together. And eventually they did.

What Joseph’s saying contradicts that idea. He’s saying that if you learn to lose that’s all you’re really going to know. And complacency sets in, allowing people to “just be happy to be here,” and you never get over the hump. The chicken little’s of the world would probably agree with that, because you always have to be hungry.

And for the record, you do always have to be hungry, and that’s especially true now. The Orioles are going to be a young team moving forward, so we really don’t know what to expect. While the stay the course crowd such as myself were incorrect at the end of the day, it wasn’t a bad bet to assume that proven veterans would progress back to their career means. It just didn’t happen. Given the same circumstances again, I’d take the same stance.

The Orioles head to the Bronx this evening for a three-game set with New York. Yefry Ramirez gets the call for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by New York’s CC Sabathia. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Some events rock the world

The Baltimore Orioles are scheduled to take on Oakland this evening at Camden Yards in the first of three games. However given the weather it’s unclear whether or not this game – or really any on this home stand – will be played. It’s almost reminiscent of this exact day 17 years ago, when games across MLB would end up being canceled.

Some events rock the world, and the September 11th attacks most certainly did for all of us who were of a certain age. I do believe that sports played a major role in the healing of America in the wake of that terrible day, perhaps baseball being chief among them. The image of the President of the United States throwing out the first ball in the World Series in New York that year was awe-inspiring.

However today is about the victims and their families, as well as about our country. Which is why I won’t give the starting pitching matchup for tonight’s game as I normally do. It’s irrelevant. Not because of the Orioles’ record, but because some events truly do rock the world, rendering the rest of it meaningless.

Baltimore Orioles: Status of Buck Showalter needs to be addressed

The white elephant in the room regarding the Baltimore Orioles is manager Buck Showalter. Or one of them, at least. Everyone knows he’s now in the final month of his contract. As tough as this season’s been, everyone also knows his track record in Baltimore and what he’s meant to the franchise.

I would argue that what he could mean for the franchise in the future should also be evident. If you’re asking whether or not I think Buck Showalter should be the manager moving forward, the answer is yes. Or at the very least I think it should be his job if he wants it. And obviously it goes without saying that my personal view is that the Orioles should offer him a legitimate contract that he would accept if in fact he wants to continue managing. Basically, the decision should be his.

And here’s another opinion of mine; I suspect that there are in fact negotiations going on behind the scenes. Because I do believe that if there weren’t, it would be announced that Buck wasn’t going to be back. However I do believe that something needs to be said, addressed, etc. on this. And soon.

The players on the roster right now do have a right to know in which direction the organization is looking to go. That goes without saying. I do feel that changes in some form are coming, whether that’s Showalter, Dan Duquette, both, or perhaps someone else.

However I also believe that some sort of announcement should be made for another reason…FOR THE FANS. If the organization wants to go in a different direction from Showalter, the fans are going to want to know. Not just for the sake of the direction of the organization, but for the immediate interim as well.

Buck Showalter’s meant a lot to this city since his arrival in 2010. He jumped right in as manager, and immediately engrossed himself in the organization and the city. He spent two weeks prior to being hired scouting the farm system to know what he had to work with. He immediately formed bonds with local charities, and began almost immediately in restoring pride to the organization. It was quite a spectacle…

…and a funny thing happened. They started winning. Not right away, but within two years. That all of course recently came to a crashing halt. However again if Buck’s not going to be back, I think that the Angelos family owes it to the fans to give them an opportunity to show their appreciation to Buck Showalter and his family. That means the possibility of a packed Camden Yards on the final weekend among other things.

Nobody does nostalgia like the Orioles. We saw it when they closed Memorial Stadium, we saw it during the Ripken streak, and we saw it again for the 60th anniversary of the team coming here. Again if Showalter won’t be back, I suspect that the fans would like to see a similar display. However to be clear, my personal opinion is that he should be offered the chance to stay.

The Orioles travel to Tampa tonight to open up a three-game set. Dylan Bundy gets the call for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Blake Snell. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Any trades coming today?

For what it’s worth to the Baltimore Orioles and others, this afternoon at 4 PM is the waiver trade deadline. Teams can make trades through waivers up until that point – in theory. Trades can also occur after that time, and in reality up until the end of the season. However any player traded after 4 PM this afternoon is ineligible to be on a post-season roster.

Most of the heavy trades are made prior to the July 31st non-waiver deadline. As we know, that’s when the Orioles made lots of moves. But the question now is whether or not they’ll do anything further today. Could they possibly acquire a piece or prospect for the future?

Honestly it really boils down to Adam Jones. He’s perhaps the last tradeable player that the Orioles have who would bring back any value. (Unless you want to start trading the likes of Bundy, Cobb, Cashner, et al – which I don’t believe that the Orioles want to do.) It’s been well-documented that Jones hasn’t to this point waived his 10-and-5 status to pave the way for a trade. Might he have a change of heart?

Anything’s possible. However I want to mention again that fans shouldn’t “blame” Jones for his decision. He’s 100% correct in saying that players and the union of the past fought for that right. He has the option and he’s exercising it. And my understanding is that it’s being done partially for family reasons. That right there should tell Orioles fans what they need to know about Adam Jones and the type of person that he is.

With that said, things could certainly change. And I suspect that there would be teams that are interested in Jones for their September stretch run to the post-season. But it hinges on his decision. And ultimately even if he were to agree to it, it also hinges on what the Orioles would potentially get in return. They aren’t going to just give the guy away. Nor should they.

In the mean time, the O’s open up a three-game set in Kansas City tonight. Andrew Cashner gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Kansas City’s Brad Keller. Game time is set for just after 8 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: In memoriam of Mike Flanagan

Today’s a sad day for Baltimore Orioles fans, as on this day in 2011 we lost the late Mike Flanagan. A well-beloved former player and broadcaster, Flanagan’s death is a moment that will nary be forgotten among Orioles fans. On that day I swore that I’d never let this day pass without writing a tribute column of sorts for Flanagan so long as I covered the Orioles.

Please don’t let the passage of time allow you to forget how tough August 24, 2011 (and the subsequent days following) was. The O’s were in Minnesota, and just prior to the game there were reports of a body having been found on Flanagan’s property. As the game wore on the news that many already seemed to fear became official. It was Flanagan himself whose body was found, a victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

None of us who lived through that night will forget the likes of Rick Dempsey and Jim Palmer sorrowfully weaving their way through the MASN postgame show that night. And that moment really shows how close the Orioles family is. All of these guys played together in Baltimore. They adopted the city, and became a part of its fabric. Their families got to know one another, and their kids grew up together.

On this night in 2011, the likes of Palmer, Dempsey, and others lost a brother. And Baltimore lost a friend. Mike Flanagan loved playing here. He loved this community, and he loved raising his kids here. While never far from his New England roots, he became as much a part of Baltimore as crabs and beer.

My hope for the current crop of young Orioles is that they look to that example, and understand what type of organization of which they are a part. It’s an organization who for generations has made family out of total strangers. Look no further than guys like Schoop and Machado, both of whom of course were recently traded. So the likes of Mullins, Nunez, Mancini, and others should take note of the example set by Flanagan, Palmer, and Dempsey. Because closeness with your teammates and your city is never a bad thing.

My hope is that the fans never forget Mike Flanagan. Obviously as time passes he fades further and further into the past. Eventually the generation (my generation) who sat in the grandstand at Memorial Stadium as kids watching him pitch will be old and tired. But there’s another Mike Flanagan out there, ready to find his way to the Orioles, and ready to lead the team back to glory.

The O’s tonight open a four-game set with New York, which features a split-doubleheader tomorrow at Camden Yards. Alex Cobb gets the start tonight for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by New York’s CC Sabathia. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.