Baltimore Orioles: The winter progresses

This is the last full month where the Baltimore Orioles won’t be playing games. Let that sink in for just a moment. Pitchers and catchers report two weeks or so after the Super Bowl, and the Florida Grapefruit League opens on February 22nd.

The O’s will travel to the Atlanta Braves’ new spring facility (in Sarasota County, no less) to play Atlanta at 1 PM that afternoon. That’ll obviously be a road game, which means that many of the Orioles’ “regulars” (whomever those might be at this point), probably won’t make the trip. Instead they’ll most probably make their spring debuts the next day at home against Boston.

January always strikes me because while it’s really only the beginning of the “winter doldrums,” it is in fact that last month without live baseball. That doesn’t mean we’re anywhere near Opening Day – because we aren’t! But it sure gives you more to which to look forward than say Thanksgiving Day!

Baltimore Orioles: Who becomes the next Birdland hero?

The Baltimore Orioles had Adam Jones as their “Birdland hero” for most of the last decade. In using that term I probably mean more the face of the franchise than anything else. And there’s no question that Jones filled that role admirably.

However one year plus into a rebuild, who’s going to be the new “Birdland hero” for the next generation? I suppose it’s kind of set up to be Trey Mancini. And he took steps to solidify that in a sense last year. Being voted Most Valuable Oriole is no joke. But is there or are there others who could also fill that role?

Rio Ruiz comes to mind. While he’s not a high impact player per se, I think he could develop into one. You might also look to Austin Hays. Or even John Means. Mentioning these guys shouldn’t take anything away from Mancini. If anything it compliments him.

Being the face of a franchise for an “era” has a lot to do with being a star player. So that goes without saying. Any of the aforementioned guys will have to be a superstar on the field if they’re going to get that distinction. We all know that Adam Jones was that and then some.

But it’s also about attitude. And again I’ll point back to Jones; the guy’s work ethic and his attitude towards the team, his coaches, and the city was unquestionable. That’s the type of attitude any of the guys I mentioned above will have to adopt if they’re going to be thought of as the face of the franchise, or Birdland’s hero. And again that’s why Trey Mancini’s name comes to mind right away, because he took steps to become the team leader off the field last year. Time will tell.

Baltimore Orioles: What does 2020 bring for the Birds?

Today is the first non-holiday day of 2020 for the Baltimore Orioles. And for the rest of the world. What will this year bring for the O’s?

For starters, I think that the Orioles will have to explore the pitchers out there on the free agent market. They need arms in spring training. Veteran arms to be precise. If they could find a veteran to anchor the starting rotation, that would go a long way towards a productive 2020 on the mound.

They also need to address their middle infield. With Villar having been dealt, the O’s are going to need someone to play short and second. Will that person come in free agency? Or from within the organization? That remains to be seen.

It’s worth mentioning that Mike Rosenbaum of MLB.com recently named the Orioles’ farm system in the top five most improved in baseball. Last year they went from 22nd to 8th in terms of their farm system ranking according to Baseball America. There’s obviously no guarantee that translates to the big league level at some point. But it shows that the organization is going in the right direction. No matter how you spin it.

Baltimore Orioles: This is 2020!

2020 is officially “this year” for the Baltimore Orioles. And everyone, for that matter. Every year from the end of the season until the end of December I find myself using terms like “this past year or season.” But once the calendar flips the next year becomes “this year.”

And in this case, it’s the beginning of a new decade. And here I was thinking that I’d need Doc Brown’s DeLorean to have a shot at seeing “The Roaring 20’s!” Incidentally talk about a great era of baseball…the now 100 years ago 1920’s was pretty special.

But I digress. Happy New Year to all of Birdland. Enjoy the college bowl games today, and stay rested. Baseball’s coming.

Baltimore Orioles: All-decade manager

The Baltimore Orioles and the rest of the world find themselves on the last day of the decade today. Tomorrow begins the 2020’s. Here I was thinking that “the ’20’s” were a thing of the past – as in the decade in which my grandparents were born. Little did I know that they’d be in my own future!

However it goes without saying that Buck Showalter is the Orioles’ unofficial manager of the decade for the 2010’s. If for no other reason, he was the skipper for the majority of those ten years. But it goes deeper than that.

Showalter brought pride back to the Orioles’ organization. The O’s has gone through perhaps a decade or so of faceless teams in a sense, where guys perhaps were cashing a paycheck more so than trying to win. Showalter put a stop to that.

He embraced the Baltimore community, saying on more than one occasion that he “got Baltimore.” But the sum of the parts were that he won. The pride that he restored to the clubhouse and that he restored to the community (pride in the team) all came to a head on the field. He returned the Orioles to the postseason in 2012, won the AL East in 2014, and went to the playoffs again in 2016.

Granted, that era in Orioles’ history is always going to be absent a World Series title. But given what the previous decade plus had been in Birdland, these years will be seen as extremely meaningful. And the cost of it all? ONE BUCK.

Baltimore Orioles sign RHP Kohl Stewart

The Baltimore Orioles have signed a major league free agent. Yesterday they inked RHP Kohl Stewart to a contract. Now while it’s a major league deal, he can be optioned. Assuming he’s at the big league level, he’s set to make $800k in 2020.

Kohl was outrighted by the Minnesota Twins in November, and elected free agency. He was drafted with the fourth overall pick by Minnesota in 2013, but has mainly been a farm hand to this point. He did appear in nine games (with two starts) in 2019.

I would assume that Stewart’s being brought here to compete for a starting job. That’s the idea, at least. How he looks in spring training will largely dictate his future with the team and where he starts the season. However I’m sure that Mike Elias and company are hoping that he’s able to crack the starting rotation. It would certainly make for an easier start to the season if so.

Baltimore Orioles: The forgotten 2010’s Bird

As the Baltimore Orioles close out the decade of the 2010’s, there’s one player I would submit is being forgotten: J.J. Hardy. That might sound a bit strange to say, however for one reason or the other it seems that people remember the Machado’s, Jones, et al, of the world, but not the Hardy’s. Not that those other players shouldn’t be remembered, but you get my point.

J.J. Hardy was a quiet leader. He was a driving force in the clubhouse, and helped to tie things together. Furthermore his prowess with a glove could be unquestioned.

I suspect that Hardy gets forgotten on occasion because he wasn’t there at the end. His contract expired after the 2017 season, and it wasn’t renewed. Hardy’s been out of MLB since then. One also has to wonder if that’s part of why 2018 went as far south as it did.

As I said, Hardy was a clubhouse leader. When you remove an influence like that, things can come unraveled easier. It’s tough to say what would have or could have been. All that we know is what happened.

Personally I think J.J. Hardy would make a decent coach. If he’s willing, it would behoove the Orioles to bring him back in that type of capacity. However that’s up to the organization and up to Hardy.

Baltimore Orioles: Remembering the late Don Imus

With not much to say about the Baltimore Orioles here during the holiday season, I wanted to take a moment to remember the late Don Imus, who passed away yesterday. Imus was a radio pioneer, who while controversial was also one of the most philanthropic people on earth. We know his faults, specifically the remark about the Rutgers Women’s Basketball team years ago. But does that outweigh his merits? I don’t think so, and I hope not.

Imus has the interesting distinction of having the vast majority of his career on the same frequency in New York: 660-AM. However it was for two vastly different stations. 660 was home to the legendary WNBC forever and ever, also home to names such as Howard Stern, Soupy Sales, Alan Colmes, and “Cousin Brucie.” However in 1988 660-AM became WFAN radio, the nation’s first true sports station. Imus traveled with the frequency, and continued his program.

I listened to Don Imus on WTEM out of Washington DC (now an Orioles’ radio affiliate) for years. I was a fan. I also respected his career, especially his Imus Ranch for kids with cancer. Did he have faults? For sure. But Don Imus also gave back to society.

To tie this to baseball a bit, as I said Imus worked for the first sports station in America (which existed on another frequency previously). Obviously that was out of NY. Yet Imus wasn’t a Yankee fan if you followed him. He followed the Yankees because they were relevant to his job and the city in which he lived. But he wasn’t someone who took to rooting for the New York Yankees. For anyone other than Don Imus, that could be a death sentence in a market such as NYC!

Don Imus was a radio pioneer, and someone who made a huge impact on the radio industry over a long period of time. He was a true American original. His brother, Fred, was a frequent caller to the show. Fred passed away in 2011; I remember Don being devastated, and quite frankly he was never the same. So when I heard of Don Imus’ passing last night, I immediately thought to myself how happy I was for him that he was with his brother again. May Don Imus Rest In Peace.

Baltimore Orioles: Is New York powering down?

The Baltimore Orioles play in a division that had New York as it’s class in 2019. The question is whether or not that will continue to be the case in 2020 and onward. I only say that because New York has lost some powerful players thus far this off season. They lost Didi Gregorius to Philadelphia earlier this off season. And the other day Edwin Encarnacion signed with the ChiSox earlier this week.

Make no mistake that both of these players were role players. The Judge’s and Stanton’s of the world are still on the roster. New York in theory should be good for some time. But will they be as good?

Again, I want to be up front. Unequivocally, New York is the favorite to win the AL East. However between Gregorius and Encarnacion, that’s almost 30 homers that they’re going to be missing. Now knowing New York, they’ll replace that with guys of whom we’ve never heard who’ll produce 40 home runs. That’s generally how things work for New York. But you get my point.

Is it not possible that they feel the burn just a bit in losing those two? Between the two of them, they produced just shy of 100 RBI as well. So there’s a semi-decent amount of runs that are being lost by way of them no longer being there.

This is not to say that a team such as the Orioles will contend for the division crown. I just don’t see that happening, unfortunate as it is for most readers of this column. But it could make the division more competitive, and perhaps a team such as Boston could make a run at it. Whether they’re in a position to contend remains to be see, however anything’s possible.

Baltimore Orioles: Should Trey Mancini go?

The Baltimore Orioles have made it clear that they’re still somewhat in sell mode. Maybe that’s the wrong way of putting it, however they’re willing to sell pieces off if they’ll net a return. This seems to bother a lot of fans, but that’s the tactic that the Orioles are taking.

Trey Mancini, is a guy who people wonder is possibly for sale. The question is whether or not the Orioles would trade him. And the answer to that is that I think they would. But that doesn’t mean they’re actively trying to unload Mancini.

I suspect that they’re willing to listen to offers – as they should be. But are they actively shopping Mancini, who’s a budding star for the Orioles? One would hope not. He’s the type of player that can congeal a clubhouse together, and one for whom people should pay admission to see play.

Again, hopefully they’re willing to listen to offers. But the deal should be that a team would have to blow the Orioles away in order to pry Mancini away from their grasp. This front office has proven that they’re unwilling to leave any stone unturned in order to make the organization better – in the future.