At some point in this rebuilding process the Baltimore Orioles are going to have to make a splash in free agency. Whether that’s a bat or an arm remains to be seen. However if you look down the pike at the World Series Champion Washington Nationals, it seems that the emphasis should be on pitching.
And it just so happens that the World Series MVP, Steven Strasburg, just opted out of his contract. Admittedly the optics aren’t great; Strasburg opted out only hours before the team’s championship parade. So technically he attended that parade as a free agent. However contractually that couldn’t be helped.
Is it ridiculous to think that the Orioles might consider making a major splash this offseason and go after a stud pitcher like Strasburg? Let’s back up for a moment; would a pitcher of Strasburg’s pedigree even consider signing with the Orioles, no matter what the terms of the deal were? Why would a World Series MVP sign with a franchise that’s nowhere near being ready to compete for a title?
Ask former National Jayson Werth. He signed with Washington for seven years in 2011. I thought the exact same thing at the time; why would someone like that (who had won a World Series and could have his pick on where to go) sign with a team like that? First off Washington overpaid him – in theory. But…did they?
Werth was a veteran and he made the guys around him better. Odds are Washington doesn’t win the title without Werth (now retired) having been there. So in that sense, did they really overpay?
I suspect that Strasburg opted out of his contract, and will sign a bigger one with Washington. However the Orioles would have to overpay well above what Washington overpaid for Werth. Both in terms of years and dollars.
I’d put the odds of the Orioles going after Strasburg at about 5%. The odds of him signing here even lower. But at some point the Orioles will need to go after a big ticket item on the free agent market. And personally I think pitching is a great place to start.
Former Baltimore Orioles’ manager Buck Showalter was under consideration for several managerial jobs. He actually interviewed with Philadelphia, but was also being considered for the NY Mets and possibly even the Anaheim Angels. To this point, no soap in terms of finding a team.
Technically the Pittsburgh Pirates’ job is still open. However oddly enough, Dan Duquette is also under consideration for the GM job there. Duquette and Showalter reportedly didn’t always see eye-to-eye in Baltimore. So odds are if Duquette ends up being the guy they hire, I wouldn’t look for Buck to get the job in Pittsburgh – who incidentally appears to be going about their managerial search the right way in that they’re looking for a General Manager first.
So what does that mean for Buck? It probably means that he won’t be managing in 2020, as of right now. All of the aforementioned teams have hired someone or are on the verge of doing so. Thus I suspect that Buck Showalter, who brought the Orioles out of the depths of the doldrums, is heading home.
I have to say that I’m surprised. While there was certainly interest by several teams, I would have thought that a manager such as Buck Showalter would have been one of the first hired. So what exactly worked against him?
Odds are we’ll never know. However Showalter does have the reputation of doing things his own way. I always recall the story of when he managed the Arizona Diamondbacks and raised a hullabaloo about the fact that the red on the carpet in the home clubhouse didn’t precisely match the red on the jerseys. Buck’s a perfectionist; to a fault, as many might point out. To the point that he almost becomes a burden.
And it wouldn’t shock me to hear at some point that part of what moved the Orioles to move on from him was that type of attention to detail. And I say that with admiration – because I’m the exact same way. And I’ve seen it in my own life; I’m told that I get a little too in your face when it comes to attention to detail. And sometimes that drives people away. So while it sounds like I’m calling Showalter out, I’m actually not. Because I have a similar worldview in that regard.
Another knock on Buck is that he doesn’t really buy into any of the new-age analytics, which caused the majority of his downfall in Baltimore. However I would also say this; look at what happened to Houston the other night. They picked a heck of a time to have their computer analytics fail them – in game seven of the World Series. So while old school, can we really say that the game’s passed Buck by? Apparently many GM’s and owners feel that it has. But again, when you put all of your faith in computers as opposed to people…sometimes that’s going to happen.
I do think that if he wants to do so, Buck will manage again. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him called in as an interim manager when and if a team dismisses their manager early in the season. But for now, while not set in stone, it appears that he’s staying home.
The Baltimore Orioles now find themselves in a situation in which several other teams have been – sharing a regional area or a market with the World Series Champions. The Washington Nationals defied all odds in winning the World Series, to their credit. But where does that leave the O’s?
First off as I alluded above, the Orioles aren’t the only team to whom this has ever happened. Both NY teams, both LA teams, both Chicago teams, and the two Bay Area teams have all dealt with this. As did incidentally…the Washington Senators. When the Orioles won their first World Series in 1966, here were the Senators right down the pike having to share their area with the World Series winners.
The question a lot of Orioles fans are asking is whether or not Washington being the world champs will negatively effect the Orioles. And my response to that question is and always has been the same (back when this scenario was only “in theory): unequivocally, the Orioles’ fan base will not be affected. Some people disagree, and that’s fine. But I just don’t see it happening.
And I say that on two fronts. First off is a semi-emotional one. Little Johnny from Dundalk isn’t going to grow up with a Washington Nationals pennant on his wall. Sure, anything’s possible. However regardless of geographic location, most people want to raise their kids to root for the same teams for whom they root. So if you’re from an Oriole family, odds are you’ll remain as such.
But does that argument apply to areas not quite as defined as BALTIMORE or WASHINGTON as Dundalk? In places such as Laurel, Davidsonville, Frederick, etc, you might have kids with Oriole fan parents who might rather pull for the world champs. But whether that lasts forever is another story. But regardless of who’s good and who isn’t, you aren’t going to have people in the Orioles’ primary area converting. Just like had the O’s won the World Series odds are people in Fairfax, VA wouldn’t become Orioles fans. (Or perhaps return to Orioles’ fandom is the better term.)
That’s the semi-emotional argument. The second one is purely logical. I mentioned teams above who have dealt with what now faces the Orioles. Did the NY Mets gain a better stronghold as opposed to the NY Yankees after 1969 or ’86? How about the Los Angeles teams? Most recently, did ChiSox fans become Cubs fans? Or vice-versa when the Sox won the World Series?
A friend of mine is a Chicago Cubs fan. I asked him about this when the ChiSox won the fall classic, and his response was over my dead body (would he ever root for the Sox). He’s always seen the Cubs as “Chicago’s team,” whereas the Sox were just another run-of-the-mill American League team. That may be a bit narcissistic, but that’s his view and I think it’s shared by a lot of people in the Cubs’ fan base.
There was a portion of the Orioles’ fan base that did pull for Washington – in this World Series. But will they remain on the bandwagon and abandon their childhood team? That I think is doubtful. And I say that based on the fact that other fan bases that have been through this didn’t seem to waver. But time will tell.
The Baltimore Orioles hired GM Mike Elias from the Houston Astros, who of course just lost the World Series to the Washington Nationals. However Orioles fans should be encouraged given that Elias brought a lot of people over from Houston, and appears to be setting up the Orioles’ culture in the same manner.
However there’s also a cautionary tale in this. Part of what Elias is all about is bringing analytics to the Orioles. But Houston showed last night that it can’t all be about analytics. You still have to have a feel for the game itself, which is played by human beings.
With Houston leading 2-1 in the seventh inning, manager A.J. Hinch lifted started Zach Greinke, who’s pitch count was in the 80’s. That seemed odd to me given that Greinke had only just given up his second hit of the game. He seemed to be in a zone.
Hinch probably should have gone to Gerrit Cole, however instead opted to use reliever Will Harris – who allowed the base runner to steal second, and then surrendered a homer to Howie Kendrick. That gave Washington a 3-2 lead, which they never relinquished, winning their first World Series.
Why leave a Cy Young candidate in the bullpen? Furthermore, with first base open, why pitch to Kendrick? The hitter behind Kendrick was Astrubal Cabrera, who’s a switch hitter. Whether or not that was the most favorable matchup or not, with one out if you can set up a ground ball double-play you can get out of the inning. Why do these things? Then it hit me: computer analytics.
I’m not suggesting that analytics have no place in baseball. Because I don’t feel that way. And for the record, I don’t think that A.J. Hinch should lose his job for this. But allowing a computer program to decide the best course of action based on probability of success might well work in a lot of situations. But again, we’re talking about human beings here. Things don’t always work out the way the computer says they will.
As egregious as pulling Greinke and not going to Cole was, the act of leaving first base open to pitch to Kendrick is the worst decision in my view. You have an avenue by which you can get out of the inning. Use it.
So the hope is that Orioles’ manager Brandon Hyde watches that and that it helps to reiterate the fact that you have to keep your feel for the game. Because if you don’t, you might find yourself allowing the computer to think you out of a game. Unfortunately for A.J. Cole, it happened to him at the worst possible time.
The Baltimore Orioles have seen their share of bad calls, both over the years and in 2019. We’ve also seen our share of that in the ongoing World Series, last night being no exception. I’m not going to explain what happened in the seventh inning, because I’m going to assume that most fans saw it or are aware of it at this point. If you aren’t, google it – you’ll find it!
Here’s my take; if you really want to go by the letter of the rule, the base runner’s foot was inside the first base line. So again by the true letter of the rule perhaps it was correct. However it was really borderline in the sense that it was close. Does MLB really want to make that close of a call in an elimination game in THE WORLD SERIES?
To make matters worse, it appeared that the umpires went to review the situation via instant replay. This on a play that isn’t reviewable to begin with. However according to the umpiring crew, they were never reviewing the play. They were looking for a rules clarification. Yet, once they got off the radios one of them signaled OUT.
And that might be the most incriminating part of this. If the play was never under review why would they need to reaffirm the call? End of the day, I think home plate umpire Sam Holbrooke knew that he made a mistake. And at the end of the day, it wasn’t one that could be covered up.
The Houston pitcher retired the first batter after this fiasco. He then proceeded to surrender a two-run homer. Pitchers are conditioned to be in the moment among other things. So when delays happen, it does affect them. That four to five minute delay in essence froze the Houston pitcher. Thus both teams should have a beef with the situation.
If I were either manager in tonight’s game seven, I’d make it clear in no uncertain terms that my expectation is that nothing shady will be occurring on behalf of the umpires in the game. And if it does, I’ll be pulling my team off the field. If that sounds draconian, keep in mind that you’d be daring MLB to declare a World Series Champion by forfeit. And it would serve them right.
Two years ago the Baltimore Orioles made a minor switch to their traditional start times, and changed Sunday games to 1 PM (instead of 1:30 PM) starts. It’s unclear why this switch was made, however I thought it was a good one. It gets people home earlier, among other things.
However should the Orioles consider changing start times more across the board moving forward? In effect, Monday-Saturday games start at 7 PM, and then the aforementioned Sunday afternoon starts. There are exceptions, as some Saturday games start at 4 PM due to national television, and on occasion the Birds will have a weekday matinee.
And let’s start there; the Orioles aren’t one of the teams who play a lot of day games during the week. Usually if the team is heading out to the west coast they’ll schedule a getaway day matinee or something along those lines. But it happens once or twice a season. The Orioles conclude home series midweek on April 1st, 15th, 30th, May 13th, June 11th, July 1st, 22nd, August 6th, and September 24th. July 1st against the Yankees is followed by a road game in Oakland the following day – I would expect that to be an afternoon game. But might they consider having a few others?
Teams have presumably done studies showing what game time maximizes potential attendance. However especially once schools let out, I think they would have a unique chance to schedule a few day games so as to perhaps get kids more involved. And the same might be true on Saturdays. I admittedly am not a fan of the 4 PM games when national television dictates that start time. So maybe perhaps do the Orioles consider making their Saturday start times 1 PM along with Sundays?
I suspect that Saturday nights are big revenue-generators in terms of the box office as well as concessions. But again, I think that you have a better shot at getting more kids in the stands. Why is that an issue? Because you’re paying your future forward. You want lifelong fans and customers coming out of attendance. The more often you make it easier for kids to come to the park, the more lifelong fans you’ll create moving forward.
The Baltimore Orioles have seen their share of bad calls over the years. And the fact of the matter is that we all know balls and strikes are one of the toughest things to call in sports. As a home plate umpire, you have to keep your strike zone consistent for nine innings. The good ones make it look easy. The subpar ones struggle. And we all know who they are.
Anyone who watched last night’s World Series game knows that the Washington Nationals have a serious beef with the strike zone. While that wasn’t why they lost, it is incredibly frustrating when you can’t buy a call. Thus today we’re hearing a lot about robot umpires taking over balls and strikes.
Unfortunately for purists such as myself, that’s something which is probably coming. But I hope that ends up not being the case. Yes folks, there is and should always be a human element to the game. But there’s another reason as well.
MLB and all professional sports are about to jump into bed with the gaming industry. Legalized sports gambling is becoming a thing. While there will still be a home plate umpire to make safe/out calls and to operate the machines, the balls and strikes will be called by computers. In this age where sports gambling is becoming a thing, do we not think there’s a chance that people could abuse the system and find a way to hack into the systems?
In terms of fixing results, when there’s a will there’s a way. As long as someone stands to make or lose a lot of money, there’ll always be someone out there willing to cheat. And with the know-how to do so. And yes, robot umpires take away from the tradition and the human element of the game. That’s not something that should ever change.
When the Baltimore Orioles were in the World Series in 1979, President Jimmy Carter came to Memorial Stadium and threw out the first pitch in game one. Numerous other Presidents have thrown out first pitches at the Fall Classic, including Richard Nixon and George W. Bush. President Donald Trump will not be throwing out the first pitch at tonight’s World Series game in Washington – to my knowledge. But he will be attending the game.
The President announced that if the series required a game five he would attend – and here we are! While I’m not going to get into political debates here, whether you support his policies or not we’re all aware of the controversy surrounding President Trump. I recognize that he’s not just some run-of-the-mill President. Whether I support him or not is irrelevant. But I support him attending the game.
No sport has a relationship with the White House like baseball. Mainly that’s due to Presidential First Pitches. However Presidents have always taken an active role in America’s pastime. And I think the fact that the World Series is in our nation’s capital tonight almost mandates the presence of the sitting President. Again folks, this isn’t about politics. This is an act by the President very much rooted in tradition. As Americans, we should be all about that.
President Trump will become only the second President to watch a World Series game in our nation’s Capitol. President Calvin Coolidge attended World Series’ games in three different years at Griffith Stadium, original home of the Washington Senators. This happened most recently in 1925. My late grandfather, Dr. Anthony Launi (who later played semi-pro and had a tryout with the Senators), was three years old! So it’s been a long time since a sitting President has seen a World Series game in the seat of the nation’s power. My hope is that the Nationals and Astros put on a good show this evening for the Commander-In-Chief.
The Baltimore Orioles are lucky in that with the exception of the Gulf Coast Orioles, all of their minor league affiliates are semi-local. The Frederick Keys, Bowie Baysox, Delmarva Shorebirds, Aberdeen Ironbirds, and Norfolk Tides are accessible by car from Baltimore. However there are rumblings that MLB might be proposing a new Professional Baseball Agreement for 2021, which would eliminate up to 42 minor league franchises.
On top of the four Orioles’ affiliates, Maryland has five minor league baseball franchises (affiliated with a big league team, that is) – the fifth being the Hagerstown Suns, the Washington Nationals’ low-A affiliate. According to an article written by Nathan Ruiz this week in the Baltimore Sun, Bowie and Aberdeen were well positioned to keep their team affiliation. However Frederick, Delmarva, and Hagerstown (which again is Washington’s affiliate) could be at risk.
In essence, those three teams could be among the 42 teams which COULD be slated for becoming unaffiliated. Mr. Ruiz’s article also went to great lengths to say that the process is only beginning, and that nothing was definitive as of yet. This process is just beginning. As written directly in Mr. Ruiz’s article:
The league also believes the proposal would allow for a better overall geographic layout for minor league baseball, generally eliminating lengthy bus rides and undesirable hotel stays for players while putting top affiliates closer to their parent clubs. The decrease in teams and players would also allow the major league teams to better compensate the minor leaguers.
Although the locations of Frederick, Delmarva and Hagerstown are favorable, MLB desires improvements to their facilities, per an MLB source.
It’s unclear what the intended improvements to these stadiums would be. In my view both Delmarva and Frederick have beautiful parks. I’ve admittedly never been to the ballpark in Hagerstown, however I do know that it’s older. However in terms of fan amenities, site lines, food options, etc, Frederick and Delmarva are great places to watch a baseball game.
Regardless of anything, I am in favor of every team having a setup like the Orioles – with all of their affiliates being semi-local. Washington’s triple-A team is in Fresno, CA. That’s too far. However there’s another impact that this proposal could have, and one that’s a bit more sinister in a sense – an economic impact.
A state such as Maryland which has a big league team in the state, another which is technically out of state (but only about five miles from the state line – give or take), and yet another about an hour north of the state line may not feel a major negative economic impact if they lose three minor league franchise. At the state level, that is…
…but what about at the local level? I’ve had and still have various aunt’s and uncle’s who have lived in and around Frederick, and I know it’s a great place to live and a great place to raise a family. I also know that the Keys are a huge part of living there. The local community supports the Keys, and they support the local community. What would happen if the Keys suddenly ceased to be what they are?
And you could ask the same of Salisbury (Delmarva) and Hagerstown. Salisbury I think would be okay given the fact that Ocean City is so close. But you get my point in writing this…would these communities not suffer en masse in some manner if they ceased to have viable minor league teams? Because I know Frederick would given how embedded the Keys are in that community.
So…is it really fair to contract three minor league franchises from one state? That’s part of the problem when it comes to the business of sports. Especially at the minor league level, these sports are a public trust. And when the needs of the business start to outweigh the needs of the public, these things can clash. However if three of it’s five minor league franchises ceased to be affiliated with a big league team, make no mistake that the state of Maryland would feel an impact.
Baltimore Orioles fans will see the Chicago Cubs and their new manager, David Ross, in April next year at Camden Yards. (The Orioles will also head to Chicago and play two games later in the season at Wrigley Field.) Yesterday I made my view known that while Ross is a good baseball guy, he shouldn’t be given a job as a manager. Plenty of good candidates have put in their time in the minors and are deserving of an opportunity, and instead Chicago picked someone who had never coached at any level.
While this tactic worked for the New York Yankees and Aaron Boone, it’s also worth mentioning that Boone inherited a championship-caliber roster. I not only think that it’s unfair to gift a position as such to someone with no experience, but it’s also a bad idea. Chicago fans should be prepared to witness a manager who’s never coached before. My prediction is that it’ll show on the field.
But is there a method to this madness? Is there an advantage to hiring someone like this, who has no professional coaching experience? Again, I say that there isn’t. But I’m just asking for the sake of asking.
I can’t imagine what that advantage could possibly be. Unless you want to argue that a guy hasn’t had the “norms” of the game cloud his vision for what his team could be – or something to that effect. What possible advantage could come from having an inexperienced hand at the top?
Birdland Crush 