Baltimore Orioles: Buck Showalter third in Manager of the Year voting

Baltimore Orioles’ manager Buck Showalter finished third in the manager of the year voting in the American League. He finished behind Texas’ Jeff Banister, and Cleveland’s Terry Francona. Francona ended up taking the award home.

For the record, these awards are voted on prior to the post season, so the fact that Cleveland made it to the World Series wasn’t taken into account. The Orioles were picked to finish last by many pundits this past year, and with 89 wins they obviously smashed that prediction.

So did Showalter get screwed out of the award? I would say no in a sense, as Francona was just as deserving. I might argue that he should have placed ahead of Banister, however at the end of the day it really only matters who finishes first. And ultimately Showalter isn’t a guy who cares too much about accolades for himself.

However consider this for just a moment; as the season wound down and the Orioles remained in the race, the fact that they were picked by many to finish last became a popular point of discussion. Buck Showalter always brushed that off, saying that they never thought of themselves as a last place team, and they always knew they were better than that. Again, this might register for someone who cares about these awards, which Showalter does not…

…but in saying that they always knew they could be competitive, did he kind of talk his way out of an award like this? Most people, myself included, love Showalter’s aw shucks type of folksy talk. However it’s entirely possible that voterson the committee hear that at various points along the way and that perhaps it registers with them. If they really weren’t a surprise team in the race, how good of a job did Buck really do?

That may be a bit of an unfair way of putting it. Probably it’s better stated to say that Buck may have done his normal run-of-the-mill good job. As Showalter himself says, these awards usually go to the manager of a team that comes out of nowhere and surprises people. In reality it’s actually a team award, because it involves the players playing for the manager and so forth. And there’s been nobody in Baltimore who hasn’t wanted to play for Buck since he’s joined the organization.

Ultimately, Showalter doesn’t really care about these awars. He’d probably say that it’s an honor to be considered at all – and he’d be right. But I guarantee you that he’s not losing sleep over it now. He’s focusing on 2017.

Baltimore Orioles: Mark Trumbo rejects Birds’ qualifying offer

In a move that wasn’t unexpected, Mark Trumbo rejected the Baltimore Orioles’ qualifying offer. Trumbo is turning down a guaranteed $17.2 million contract for one year because both he and his agent feel that he can get a longer term deal on the open market. And who can really blame him.

As I said, this wasn’t unexpected. The Orioles would like to keep Trumbo, and in a rare example of a player showing a bit of his had Trumbo said at the end of the season that he’d like to stay. Obviously he doesn’t want to stay long enough to take the qualifying offer. And again, nobody can really blame him.

The Orioles of course will get a compensatory draft pick from whichever team signs Trumbo, assuming that it isn’t them. However here’s a word of caution on that for you; don’t assume it’s a first round pick. In general, yes it will be a first round pick. However the rule is that the draft pick is the signing team’s best possible pick.

So let’s say for example that Trumbo happens to sign with a team that’s already signed someone else as a free agent who had a qualifying offer tied to them. That team would have already surrendered their first round pick for the first free agent, meaning that Trumbo would cost them their second round pick as a compensatory pick to the O’s.

So that’s something that Dan Duquette needs to monitor. It’s not necessarily a huge point per se, however it goes without saying that you’d rather have an extra first rounder than second rounder. So if a couple of free agents are already gone and the same teams are sniffing around Trumbo, that might make the Orioles consider offering a contract.

At the end of the day, the expectation is that Trumbo will be elsewhere in 2017. And that’s not necessariy a knock on the Orioles in terms of not being willing to spend the money. Funds aren’t unlimited, and it’s unclear if Trumbo can duplicate what he did this year moving forward.

Furthermore, would Orioles fans want Trumbo back if that made it more difficult to keep the likes of Machado and Schoop in the future? All of these contracts add up, and the fact is that it’s fair to say that the team can’t keep and pay everyone. That aside, Trumbo is now officially a free agent – as if he wasn’t before. Teams now know that there’s an additional price of a draft choice attached to him. So in theory, the Orioles won’t be left out in the cold if he walks.

Baltimore Orioles: Is Dan Duquette tough to get along with?

With so many changes having already come down the pike for the Baltimore Orioles, there’s a question that needs to be asked about Dan Duquette. Is he tough – maybe too tough – to get along with? Why would I be asking that about Duquette and not Showalter?

And the answer to that second question is because Duquette’s the one who hands out the contracts. It seems that a lot of guys are choosing to walk away for whatever the reason may be. Dom Chiti said that Duquette never returned his calls (Duquette disputed this fact). Rick Peterson bizzarrely seemed to be bounced from the organization. Among others.

Looking specifically at Chiti for a moment, he’s the type of guy that was never afraid of expressing his views on where the organization was going and so forth. So if he felt Duquette was erring in judgement, he would say so. So again given that, is Duquette possibly too tough to get along with?

It’s hard to say for sure what goes on behind closed doors. Needless to say, Duquette’s record speaks for itself – he’s had the Orioles in the playoffs three years out of five. He’s gotten very good at finding diamonds in the rough for the Orioles, and that’s to his credit. Many detracts will also point to the likes of Jimenez and Gallardo as quite the opposite. However mind you that not one expeert/writer (myself included) thought those were bad moves at the time.

However the fact is that we now live in a world where people are increasingly wary of working for someone who’s thought of as being a “pill.” And that may not necessarily be a bad thing per se. Nobody wants to take on additional struggles in their life. However I would submit that the character of one’s boss is probably weighed more heavily now than ever in the past in deciding whether to take a job or stay at one.

If in fact Duequette himself if an issue, undoubtedly he probably knows that he has this reputation. And if that’s the case, he might want to soften up just a bit. Granted I recognize that there’s an incredible amount of pressure in all of these jobs to succeed and succeed now. But if good people refuse to come to your organization, it’s tough to do that. Worse yet, if you continually lose good people from your organization, things become all the more difficult in the immediacy of today.

Baltimore Orioles lose Rick Peterson as Director of Pitching Development

The Baltimore Orioles will not have the services of Rick Peterson as their Director of Pitching Development moving forward. Peterson has worked behind the scenes with Oriole minor leaguers (and a few big league guys) since joining the organization in 2012. And speaking for myself, I think that the results have been fairly decent.

Some would take issue with that assessment, and perhaps they have a valid point. The Orioles’ starting pitching (at the major league level) is inconsistent for the most part. However compared to what it was prior to 2012, I would submit that it’s been pretty good. And to me, that’s the context into which anything needs to be put.

Vice-President of Baseball Operations Dan Duquette confirmed this news yesterday (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):

I appreciate Rick Peterson’s effort and good work for five years to develop pitching at all levels and wish him well. Rick has a solid track record helping pitchers and is well-respected throughout baseball.

I’m not exactly sure what to make of that statement, as it somehow comes off in the form of someone saying the right things. I know what you’re thinking – gee Domenic, are you saying that there’s more than meets the eye? The fact is that there generally is more than meets the eye.

Running an operation such as a major league baseball team and bringing everything together isn’t easy. So when you look at how things were run prior to Andy MacPhail’s arrival and then how things have been since (up to and including Duquette’s stewardship of the franchise), there’s no question that things are better. However needless to say, the changes on the pitching side of things of late are of interest…

…and that’s something into which we’ll delve perhaps this week. But right now the big news is that Rick Peterson is out. You have to wonder what’s next for him, as you may recall that Boston was interested in him as a pitching coach a few years back. My personal opinion is that he’s very good at bringing out the best in pitchers, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he ends up in a dugout somewhere.

Time will tell, however for the time being he’s out of the Orioles’ organization. Honestly, I’m not sure why he isn’t being considered for the Orioles’ vacant pitching coach job, but that’s another story for another day. For the time being he’s gone.

Baltimore Orioles’ Mark Trumbo wins AL Comeback Player of the Year award

Mark Trumbo of the Baltimore Orioles has won the 2016 Player’s Choice Award for the American League Comeback Player of the Year. In leading the league with 47 homers, this was all but pre-determined. Trumbo of course has a one-year $17.2 million dollar qualifying offer on the table from the Orioles.

Trumbo rebounded from a 2015 season in which he smacked only 22 homers. He also improved year-over-year by RBI as opposed to 64 in 2015. Trumbo was elected to the all-star game for the second time in his career in 2016 as well.

This of course makes it all the more likely that Trumbo will be a hot commodity on the free agent market this winter. There are rumors that the Orioles are considering a multi-year deal for Trumbo, however I admittedly think that would be a mistake – if in fact it’s being considered. Trumbo might be a big force for another year or two, however whether he’d be any more than a name after that would remain to be seen.

Anything’s possible, I suppose. However assuming Trumbo walks (and that’s only an assumption), the O’s would have to find a way to replace his production in the lineup. And that would be a daunting task. But it could also make the team more productive, if in fact they’re forced to opt for on-base percentage more so than home runs. But then again, home runs is how games are won in the AL East.

The Orioles of course fleeced Seattle in trading a minor league catcher for Trumbo last off season. Given his down 2015, it wasn’t exactly a trade that made huge waves around the league. Trumbo was a name for sure, but he was thought to be past his prime. And it’s important to put it the way I did in that the Orioles “fleeced” Seattle in that trade…

…nothing against Seattle of course. Although their trades with the Orioles do have a historical knack for backfiring on them. However while many fans are complaining about the number of former Orioles that are currently World Series Champions in Chicago, there have been plenty of trades of late in which the Orioles have ruled the roost.

While it’s regrettable that Arrieta thrived after leaving the Orioles, how do you think Seattle feels about losing Trumbo? In that case they very well may have made it over the hump and into the post season had they had his services. How do you think Texas feels about having lost Davis?

The point is that some trades work out and others don’t – it’s the nature of the business. But Mark Trumbo winning comeback player of the year validates this one for the Birds, just in case it needed anymore validation.

Baltimore Orioles: The case for loyalty

On Sunday I wrote about fickle fans and how they’re becoming more and more commonplace – in the Baltimore Orioles’ fan base and elsewhere. And I think I made myself clear in that I firmly disagree with the idea of fan loyalty being somewhat conditional or tied to winning. Anyone who’s read me for some time knows that, incidentally.

Fan loyalty is important – and that’s a blanket statement. But this isn’t just some mouthpiece of the Orioles saying that. There are two reasons for why fan loyalty is important. Yes, the first one admittedly is an emotional one. As I’ve said previously, most people pick their teams when they’re children. So…are people that fickle now to where they’re willing to turn their backs on perhaps their earliest memories?

To me, part of the draw of rooting for a team is the time you spent on your mother’s sofa watching the games growing up, or however you followed the games. That’s why I get frustrated when I hear about fans of any franchise saying they’re switching allegiances. To me, that’s forsaking all of that time spent as a youngster.

However the second reason for fan loyalty is more logical. If fans across the board get frustrated with a team because they aren’t going in the direction that people seem to think is correct to the point that they find a new team en masse, who does that serve? If people are basically going to start supporting someone else both emotionally and financially, doesn’t that in effect create a situation whereby only a few teams are financially stable and able to compete?

Now bearing all of this in mind, there’s also a new kind of fan in a sense: one who’s geographically and thus perpetually up for grabs. I know a few people like this myself; some people who seem to relocate for work reasons every few years seemingly relocate their fan loyalties as well. So if they live in Baltimore at that given time, they root for the Orioles and Ravens. If they pick up shop and move to Chicago, they might start supporting the Bears and the Cubs.

Honestly, while I still do believe in loyalty in perpetuity, this is a bit more explainable than switching because you think your original team is going in the wrong direction. This is the act of someone moving to a new community and trying to fit in right away. Speaking for myself I still think it would make more sense to bring your teams with you given the fact that it’s a link to the old hometown, but as I said I know a few people who fall into this category.

I suppose my main point in bringing any of this up is that fandom should be through thick and thin. Yes the Orioles fell on some incredibly hard times from 1998-2011. But if you were a true fan to begin with, you stayed with them and never wavered. But that’s just my view. The opposing one says that sports are supposed to make you feel good, so if your first team doesn’t work out find one that makes you happy. But these are the times in which we live.

 

Baltimore Orioles: Matt Wieters not given a qualifying offer

Yesterday was perhaps the first busy day of the off season for the Baltimore Orioles. Catcher Matt Wieters was not given a qualifying offer for 2017. This means that he’s truly a free agent in the sense that he’s not a protected free agent – to use NFL terminology.

In essence, Wieters is now free to sign with any other team, and they won’t have to give up a draft choice to the Orioles. My personal opinion is that this is a mistake on the Orioles’ part. Are they worried that Wieters would once again accept the qualifying offer, putting them on the hook for a $17.2 million contract for next year? I don’t think that he was going to accept it anyways, so in my mind the Orioles just gave away a draft pick. With that said, they have as good a shot as anyone to sign him.

The Birds did make a qualifying offer to Mark Trumbo, and he has until November 14th to accept it or turn it down. Most of the time players turn it down and test the waters in free agency. But of course this means that wherever Trumbo signs that team will have to forfeit their top draft pick to the Orioles for 2017. That is of course unless the team that signs him is the Orioles.

Again, this is why I don’t understand why the Birds aren’t giving Wieters a qualifying offer. What do they really have to lose? He’s expected to be the top catcher on the market this year, although obviously there’s always the chance that he stays in Baltimore. If the Orioles are thinking there’s a good shot at that happening, perhaps that’s why they didn’t make the offer. But they also did that with Markakis a couple of years ago – and he walked.

In other news, Buck Showalter is a finalist for the Manager of the Year award, however he wasn’t nearly as happy about that as he was angry about an apparent snub. Closer Zach Britton was not named a finalist in the Cy Young voting. Instead, three starters were named finalists. And Showalter didn’t hide his feelings about the matter (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):

That’s a real poor reflection on the people who are evaluating him. God bless the three guys in front of him. They were doing it every fifth day and he’s doing it every day. I’m not so sure any of those guys could do what Zach does.

This guy had maybe the best year in the history of relief pitching. He should have finished in the top three in MVP, OK? He should. There’s nobody in baseball who’s more valuable to their team than Zach Britton is to the Orioles.

Now I’ve made my opinion clear in another incarnation of this column over time – I don’t think that relief pitchers should be Cy Young award winners. I don’t think you can compare what someone does over one inning to a starter who’s doing this for between 5-9 innings every fifth day. However let’s also keep in mind that Britton saved 47 games this year and didn’t blow one. Over 67 innings of work, he posted a 0.54 ERA. So do we not think he’s at least worthy of consideration?

Incidentally, that quote above is partially why so many players love Buck Showalter. The guy takes up for his team and then some. It would have been simple just to say that the voters made their decision and so forth. But he kind of went the extra mile on this one. But that’s how he’s consistently been – a manager who looks out for his team and his players.

Going back to Trumbo for just a moment in closing, I have serious doubts as to whether he remains an Oriole. But he did express an intent to stay remain with the Orioles towards the end of the season. However whether he’s willing to accept what the Orioles offer is another story. And that’s not to say that the Orioles are trying to low ball him; they just recognize that they’ll need that money more for the likes of Machado and Schoop.

Baltimore Orioles: Are fickle fans smarter than their old school counterparts?

Let me be clear; whether you root for the Baltimore Orioles or some other team, I don’t believe in being fickle when it comes to sports fandom. That’s easy for me to say as a writer who believes he should call things down the middle in a sense. But it goes deeper than that, as is generally the case.

Most people form their sports fandom at a young age, and in fact they generally tend to do so based on who their parents supported – which is generally the home team. Mind you folks, this is somewhat of a blanket statement, however I’m speaking in generalities. The point is that for most people, these sports loyalties run very deep.

Think of comedian Bill Murray, a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan who’s from the Chicagoland area. When interviewed after game seven of the World Series, Murray mentioned that he was thinking a lot about his Dad, grandfather, uncles – people with whom he had attended Cubs games as a kid. And he was wishing they were still there with him to see this. I think that’s something with which a lot of us can identify.

That aside, I saw someone on a message board saying that he was a lifelong Cleveland Browns fan, and that he was switching his allegiance to a new team. Basically, he’s dropping the Browns and offering his services as a fan to whomever wanted them. And I’ve heard similar stories over time with various teams – including the Orioles. What gives?

What people are effectively saying is that they won’t support a loser. And while it makes no sense to support a loser, I think it’s a bit different in sports. Speaking for myself, it’s tough for me to turn my back on a team or tradition with which I had grown up. But…is this new “mentality” actually smarter?

People argue all the time that if enough people defect (which means that they stop going to games, buying merchandise, etc), the team will get the message and mend their ways. So…is that not in essence a smart thing to do? Could you not argue that they’re actually doing more for the team than the loyal fans who support them through thick and thin?

Those fans will make that argument for sure. And they’re within their rights to do so. Who am I to dictate how people spend their money? But my point goes back to the roots of why you rooted for that team to begin with. In my view, that’s turning your back on all of those days you spent watching that team with your family as a kid. And turning your back on your past is a tough thing.

Baltimore Orioles: Is the Birds’ personnel management flawed across the board?

Yesterday I wrote about how Dom Chiti will no longer be a part of the Baltimore Orioles’ organization moving forward. There is undoubtedly more than meets the eye to this, and probably a lot more than we’re ever going to know. And that’s good news in a way given the fact that it means that there are professionals on both sides. Neither Chiti or the Orioles is going to leak anything or bad mouth anyone to the press.

However again, there do appear to be conflicting stories. Chiti says that he left three messages for VP of Baseball Operations Dan Duquette. On the flip side, Duquette says that he never heard from Chiti. So where does the truth lie?

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Chiti did in fact reach out to Duquette at some point. And the reason I say that is because when given the option, Chiti didn’t appear to hesitate to jump over to the Atlanta Braves. In his mind the fact that Duquette didn’t return his calls was all he needed to know.

However as I made clear yesterday, Chiti isn’t without blame for him not to be in the Orioles’ organization any longer. He apparently was asked by Buck Showalter what his interest was in the pitching coach position. Chiti’s response was that he didn’t campaign for jobs but would do whatever the organization wanted.

At the end of the day, not even being willing to say yes I’m interested in the job might have indicated that Chiti wasn’t the guy they wanted. But nevertheless, this isn’t the first time there’ve been questions about how the Orioles manage the human side of things. I’d be the first one to tell you that in my view it’s gutless not to return someone’s phone call. Unfortunately however, it happens all the time – you ever applied for a job? Sometimes you’re calling and leaving messages for weeks about the status of your application, all for nothing.

So here’s my question; should the Orioles take a hard look at their own management style? And I’m not talking about perhaps lowering the standards of their physicals or anything like that. However the reputation that they’re tough to deal with is out there. Heck, the evidence is in the fact that Dan Duquette has fleeced so many other GM’s in trades. But do these things matter?

Perhaps they do and perhaps they don’t. As I said, it’s entirely possible that they decided to go in a different direction from Chiti. I would argue that they should have at least told him that, however it is what it is. And for what it’s worth, once again there are two sides to every story. Chiti’s never been shy about expressing his view on the direction of the organization. Is it possible that rubbed someone above the wrong way?

Baltimore Orioles: The line between winning and losing

We’ve talked a lot about how Buck Showalter was in essence blamed for the Baltimore Orioles being bounced from the playoffs. The whole should he have used Zach Britton argument has been well laid out on both sides. However for sure, it’s something that will lurk in the minds of Orioles fans all winter.

But in my view we saw Joe Maddon commit some pretty egregious mistakes in terms of utilizing his bullpen and even with starting pitching during the World Series. I’ve said this before, but I wouldn’t have used Aroldis Chapman in game six. My personal opinion is that  Maddon committed a pretty bad error there.

Furthermore I would have pulled former Oriole Jake Arrieta after Chicago took a 7-0 lead in that game. It would have meant keeping him fresh so that if he was needed in a game seven, he would have been available. Yet Maddon stubbornly refuses to take anything more than one game at a time, as opposed to looking ahead.

In my view both of those mistakes are pretty bad. But the Chapman one really sticks out. However Maddon isn’t going to get scrutinized at all for that – because he won. At the end of the day, you don’t have to ask those questions when the team wins. That’s why they’re there to begin with – to win games.

Sometimes you can chalk wins and losses up to dumb luck. Showalter committed what a lot of people thought was a bad mistake. He lost. Maddon committed what a lot of people (myself included) thought was an equally bad mistake. He won.

And I’m not suggesting that wins and losses always come from good or bad luck. However sometimes things just work out. And sometimes they don’t. It’s fair to ask why they work out for some and not others, but sometimes that’s just how things go.

In the Orioles’ case, all they can do is keep the fires burning brightly during the winter. And come February and March, hope springs eternal once again. It could be worse – they might have to wait 108 years!