O's GM & President Andy MacPhail Photo by Icon SMI

Less than two weeks ago, Baltimore Orioles president Andy MacPhail said that the team was in no hurry to hire a new manager because “it’s not like the barn is on fire right now. The players are doing a nice job for Juan [Samuel].”

Over the last two weeks, the Orioles have won just two of 13 games and suddenly there is again reasonable doubt as to whether the Orioles can muster enough victories over the final two months of the season to avoid eclipsing the modern record for baseball futility established when the New York Mets went 40-120 during their inaugural 1962 season.

So, my question to Mr. MacPhail is whether the barn is burning now?

The energy the team showed early in the tenure of interim manager Juan Samuel has disappeared.

Since staging a dramatic comeback on July 20^th to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays 11-10 in 13 innings, the Birds have managed just one win in eight games and been outscored 52-20.

Despite some speculation that the hiring of former Yankees, Diamondbacks and Rangers manager Buck Showalter was inevitable, MacPhail doesn’t seem significantly closer to having a permanent manager than he did when firing Dave Trembley nearly two months ago.

As I have written several times before, in my opinion, every day MacPhail waits to hire a full-time manager is another wasted day.

If the Orioles’ manager for 2011 turns out to be Showalter or anyone else who is not currently working as a manager or coach, MacPhail will have wasted significant time that could have been used to evaluate players and set the tone for change that is desperately needed in Baltimore.

While the team president may not be alarmed by the current play of the Orioles, it is obvious that a growing number of Oriole fans are tired of the methodical indifference that seems to be exhibited by MacPhail.

In their recent 10-game home stand that included two weekends of baseball, the Orioles averaged 18,820 fans with only three of those 10 games drawing crowds in excess of 20,000.

For a team and city that has such a great baseball tradition, that is sad and simply not acceptable.

I certainly am not blaming Baltimore fans for voicing their displeasure with the current team by leaving plenty of empty seats at Camden Yards. Considering the current economy and exorbitant cost to attend a professional sporting event, the Orioles are probably lucky to be averaging that many fans.

Of course what has made it worse is that losing is unfortunately no longer a new thing in Baltimore. The 2010 season will mark the 13^th straight losing campaign for the Orioles. And barring a shocking late season turnaround, the Orioles will likely have the worst record during that stretch and have a very good chance of eclipsing the team record for losses in a season set in 1988 when the Orioles went 54-107.

Astute Oriole fans know that team began the season with 21 straight losses. However, that team actually had a better record after 100 games (32-68) than the current Orioles (31-69).

Following that season, the Orioles jettisoned a number of longtime veterans, including future Hall of Famer Eddie Murray, and in 1989 Baltimore surprised the baseball world by contending for the division title into September and finishing with an 87-75 record.

It would be great if the Orioles could repeat that kind of turnaround in 2011, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

In the first place, baseball has dramatically changed over the last 20 years. While every team was generally on a level playing field in those days, we all know that baseball today is setup so that the Red Sox and Yankees are pretty much guaranteed of being contenders every year.

The Orioles have the misfortune of not only being in the same division as both of those teams, but also with two solid teams with lots of young talent in the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays.

That means the Birds play a guaranteed 76 games every year against teams that have legitimate playoff aspirations.

That is a big reason that when Andy MacPhail took over as team president in 2007 he recognized that the answer for the Orioles was not a quick fix.

However, after three years of making moves designed to help the Orioles contend for the long haul, Baltimore is not only nowhere near contending, but they seem to be making steady steps backwards.

The victory total for the Orioles has declined every year since 2004 with no sign of team improvement in any area. In 2009, the Orioles won 64 games while scoring 4.57 runs per game and having a team ERA of 5.15. So far in 2010, the Orioles are scoring 3.61 runs per contest with a team ERA of 5.18.

MacPhail has staked the future of the Orioles on building a stable of young pitching arms designed to give the Birds enough talented pitchers to contend with the Yankees and Red Sox.

So far, that plan has been a complete disaster. The five members of the pitching staff who are 25 or younger have a combined record of 14-34 with a 5.72 ERA.

SP Kevin Millwood Photo by Icon SMI

MacPhail has tried to supplement the staff with inexpensive veterans, but that hasn’t been too successful either. In the last two years, Mark Hendrickson, Koji Uehara and Kevin Millwood have all been brought in with the expectation they would be inning eating starters.

Hendrickson and Uehara are now members of the Baltimore bullpen and Millwood has a 2-10 record with a 5.96 ERA this season.

Though not as prolific as a year ago, the Baltimore offense still has some solid components. However, if the Orioles ever want to become a contender, they must make major upgrades at the pitching position and cannot expect that fix to come from within the minor league system.

What MacPhail doesn’t seem to understand is that this is not the same Baltimore Orioles farm system that produced Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, Storm Davis, Mike Flanagan, Dennis Martinez and Mike Boddicker. Even though the Orioles have been loading up on young arms, there is no guarantee that any of those pitchers will emerge as legitimate major league starters.

The game has also changed quite a bit since the Orioles were producing all those home-grown starters. Of the 11 primary starting pitchers for the Yankees and Red Sox in 2010, only four came up through the minor league system of either organization.

Top teams may have one or two starters who came up from within their organization, but they do not expect the entire staff to be homegrown talent. They supplement the home grown pitchers with top level starters from other teams. Not with aging veterans who are well past their prime.

I have applauded Andy MacPhail for trying to patiently build this team, but at some point he needs to become aggressive and signal to the Orioles, Baltimore fans and the baseball world that the Orioles are ready to win today.

It will take more than hiring a manager to signal that, but it would certainly be a good start. Then Baltimore needs to identify the top five available free agents for 2011 and make a legitimate attempt to add at least two of them to the roster.

Unless significant steps are made to jump start the franchise the cry of every season will be “wait until next year.” Then when “next year” finally arrives (if it ever does) it won’t matter because there will be no one left to care.

Related posts:

1. Does Anyone Want To Manage The Orioles?
2. Now Should Be The Time For the Orioles To Remove Trembley
3. Have the Baltimore Orioles Hit The Bottom?

Image via Wikipedia

After enduring one of the most disappointing first halves to a season in franchise history, the Baltimore Orioles headed into the All-Star break with a surprising four-game sweep over the West Division leading Texas Rangers.

What makes the sweep particularly shocking is that Texas entered the series with a 31-15 home record while the Orioles were an abysmal 9-34 on the road before heading to Arlington.

Though not as hot as they had been in June when they won 13 straight games, the Rangers still entered the series against the team with the worst record in baseball riding a two game winning streak and 16 games over .500.

On the other hand, with the exception of one stretch in late June when they won four straight and five of six games, the Orioles have been abysmal throughout 2010. Baltimore entered the series with baseball’s worst record and having lost six of their previous seven games.

So, while everyone in baseball knows that anything can happen when you get between the white lines, what transpired in Arlington over the final four days leading up to the All-Star Game would have been difficult for anyone to predict.

It almost seemed like the two teams switched uniforms. For four straight days, the team with the orange bird on their hats looked poised and confident while the team with the big T on their hats seemed to get worse as the weekend went on.

Things started as could be expected with Texas jumping to a 4-0 lead in the opening game of the series. After asserting their dominance, it almost seemed like the Rangers put it on cruise control and expected the Orioles to wither away.

Though Baltimore has been awful all year, their one strength in recent weeks has been comeback victories.

Trailing 4-1 entering the seventh inning, Baltimore rallied with five runs over the next two innings to pull out a stunning 6-4 triumph.

Figuring the Orioles were just proving the blind squirrel theory with their victory, there seemed to be no reason to expect the Rangers wouldn’t rebound and dominate the remainder of the series.

In the second game, Texas again jumped out to a 4-0 lead and then led 6-2 entering the ninth inning. Shockingly, Baltimore scored four runs in the ninth inning to tie the game and won it with a run in the 10^th inning.

After consecutive games in which Texas had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and the Orioles had rallied like a playoff contender, you couldn’t help but start to wonder if this was going to be one of those strange weekends.

Because Texas was rolling out their new weapon in lefthander Cliff Lee, acquired a day earlier from the Seattle Mariners, for the third game there was still an expectation that the Rangers would right the ship and restore order.

Chris Tillman Photo by Icon SMI

However, someone forgot to relay that message to the suddenly confident Orioles. Baltimore jumped out to an early lead with a first inning run and then made the score 5-0 before the Rangers were even able to get a hit off Baltimore starter Chris Tillman.

Looking like the All-Star pitcher on the mound that night, Tillman didn’t allow a hit until the seventh inning and left in the eighth inning having allowed only two hits and one run. The 6-1 victory was the first of the season for Tillman while Lee fell to 8-4.

After three straight shocking games there was little doubt that destiny was on the side of the Orioles for the weekend. Sure enough, Baltimore scored three runs in the second inning to erase an early 1-0 deficit and held on for a 4-1 victory and a series sweep.

Jake Arrieta Photo by Icon SMI

Rookie pitcher Jake Arrieta allowed just one run in six innings to earn his third victory since joining the Orioles in early June. He now has as many wins (three) as any other starting pitcher on the staff.

Even with the reversal in fortune for the four-game series, it is doubtful that much of consequence can be made from the baseball anomaly. The Rangers maintain a four and a half game lead in the AL West entering the break. Baltimore still holds the worst record in baseball though they now have just one less win than the Pittsburgh Pirates.

For the Orioles, the key will be to take the confidence earned during this series and use it to build toward a strong second half of the season. One of the unfortunate characteristics for the Orioles in recent years has been a solid start to the season followed by a horrible swoon over the final two months.

This year the Orioles started out horrendously, but now show signs of turning things around. If they can maintain a solid level of play over the final three months of the season they could be able to build some momentum for 2011.

Related posts:

1. Have the Baltimore Orioles Hit The Bottom?
2. Baltimore Orioles 2010: What Will Define Success?
3. Baltimore Orioles: Keys for a Successful 2010

Buck Showalter Photo by Icom SMI

Considering that the Orioles are now 24.5 games out of first place in the AL East, there clearly is no need for urgency to bring in a manager who can right the ship and get the team back in the playoff chase.

However, it can be argued that every day the Orioles wait to name a new manager is one more day the once proud franchise is not using to turn things around.

The Orioles need a new skipper who will shake things up and light a fire under a team that has been sleepwalking through the season since April. It is true that 2010 is a lost season, but if the Orioles make the right move, they can start setting the stage for 2011 with a strong second half of the season.

If, rather than their traditional September swoon, the Orioles can spend the final three months of the season rebuilding their confidence, then the team could enter 2011 with realistic expectations that they can be a contender.

There is no question that more is needed to truly get the Orioles back to respectability than just a fiery manager, but it has been more than a decade since the O’s were led by a manager who was truly willing to mix things up.

While it is doubtful that Davey Johnson, who led the Birds into the playoffs in each of his two seasons as manager, would get the nod to return to Baltimore, what the O’s need is someone like Johnson who is not afraid to make the tough decisions needed to turn around a woeful squad.

Since Johnson’s departure, the Orioles have endured a stream of managers content to ride the wave and watch the team bathe in mediocrity.

Juan Samuel Photo by Icon SMI

Though there is little reason to believe that Juan Samuel can or should be the permanent manager, at least he has shown a willingness to let his players display some aggressiveness and prove that they are still capable of playing hard.

Bringing in someone now would give that skipper time to assess his team and determine which pieces will be part of the puzzle come 2011. Instead of continuing to go through the motions as they have been since Samuel took over (4-12 in his first 16 games), you can bet players would play with more purpose if they know they are auditioning for a spot on the roster come next season.

Yet it appears that team president Andy MacPhail is content to take his time and be deliberate in his decision. There is certainly nothing wrong with that, but at some point you have to stop thinking and start acting.

In some respects, MacPhail’s lack of a sense of urgency in this decision mirrors his attitude related to the entire rebuilding process for the Orioles.

Instead of aggressively spending money to bring in marquee veterans to help propel the team to immediate contention, he has instead been deliberate in his intention to use the minor league system to restock the squad and then once he feels the team is ready, use free agency to push the team over the top.

Unfortunately, that strategy has taken a major step back in 2010 as the Orioles have done little to justify the sense of optimism that existed at the start of the season. Instead, they have reached 50 losses before getting to 20 victories and are earning comparisons to the 1962 Mets.

At some point MacPhail must pull the trigger and bring in a new manager and hopefully a new attitude.

If he waits too long, he may not have only let 2010 slip away, but also 2011.

Related posts:

1. With Trembley Gone, What’s Next For The Orioles?
2. Now Should Be The Time For the Orioles To Remove Trembley
3. Have the Baltimore Orioles Hit The Bottom?

Brad Bergesen Photo by Icon SMI

Considering that he has just been demoted to the minors, it might seem strange to now be comparing struggling Baltimore Orioles pitcher Brad Bergesen with Hall of Famer Jim Palmer. However, it is often forgotten that like Bergesen, after early success Palmer also struggled before eventually becoming the best pitcher in Orioles history.

In 1966, the 20-year-old Palmer won 16 games and pitched a shutout against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. Yet by 1968, Palmer ‘s future was in question due to arm troubles. He pitched only 49 innings in the majors in 1967 and didn’t appear for the Orioles the following season.

Fortunately for Palmer and the Orioles, the tall right-hander was able to regain his form in 1969 and won 16 games as Baltimore reached the World Series. In 1970, Palmer began a string where he won 20 or more games in eight of nine seasons and captured three Cy Young Awards.

Though Bergesen’s first period of success in Baltimore didn’t include a World Series title, he was without question one of the best rookie pitchers in the game during 2009 and the most promising among a cast of rookie pitchers for the Orioles.

As a 23-year-old rookie, Bergesen won his major league debut against the Chicago White Sox and registered a 7-5 record and 3.43 ERA in 19 starts for the Orioles.

He appeared poised for a strong final two months of the season when he was struck on the shin by a line drive during a victory over the Kansas City Royals on July 30^th.

Though initial thoughts were that he could pitch again in 2009, Bergesen was eventually shelved for the year.

Entering 2010, expectations were that Bergesen was completely recovered from his fluke injury and ready to continue his ascension to the top of the Orioles rotation.

Unfortunately for Bergesen and the Orioles, the young right-hander has struggled so far in 2010.

After allowing 14 earned runs in 10 innings during his first three starts of 2010, Bergesen was sent down to Norfolk where he won his only start before returning to the majors.

He looked strong in winning his first three starts after returning to Baltimore, but after continuing to struggle, Bergesen was moved to the bullpen and then again sent down to the minors.

Jim Palmer Photo by Icon SMI

Speaking about Bergesen and his own struggles as a young pitcher during a recent Orioles’ broadcast, Palmer said that giving Bergesen time at the minor league level to regain his confidence should be just the tonic for the young pitcher.

Instead of trying to regain his form coming out of the Orioles’ bullpen, Bergesen will be able to spend the next couple weeks going through his normal routine as a starting pitcher.

If he is able to regain his previous confidence and form, then Bergesen can again be part of what the Orioles believe is a talented young stable of starting pitchers.

Many have compared the talent of today’s Orioles pitchers to that of the late 1960s when Palmer joined Mike Cuellar and Dave McNally to give Baltimore one of the best staffs in baseball history.

Only time will tell if this group of hurlers can repeat the history of the past, but Oriole fans are hopeful that Bergesen can recover from his struggles and at the very least regain the form he illustrated in 2009.

Related posts:

1. With Trembley Gone, What’s Next For The Orioles?
2. Now Should Be The Time For the Orioles To Remove Trembley
3. Have the Baltimore Orioles Hit The Bottom?

It is difficult to remember that this is the same Orioles’ franchise that between 1966 and 1997 was arguably as significant and successful an organization as any in professional baseball.

During that span, the Orioles won three World Series, played in the World Series six times and reached the playoffs 10 times. Only the Oakland A’s with four World Series titles for their 10 playoff appearances and six World Series trips had a better showing during that stretch.

From the beginning of divisional play in 1969 through 1997, the Orioles won the American League East eight times while the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays each claimed the division five times.

In addition, with the opening of Camden Yards in 1992, the Orioles completely changed the landscape for how teams approached new stadiums. Most of the new ballparks opened over the last 18 years have been patterned after the ballpark in Baltimore that was the first to combine modern amenities with a retro feel that makes going to a baseball game a special experience.

So, given that impressive history, it illustrated just how bad things have gone over the last decade that in recent days a number of members of the national media have characterized the Orioles as the least relevant team in Major League Baseball.

Given that Kansas City and Pittsburgh have been worse than the Orioles for significantly longer, I’m not sure I completely agree with the characterization, but sadly they aren’t far from earning that distinction.

While the Red Sox and Yankees have become the dominant teams in the American League with a combined 11 division titles and six World Series titles in 12 years, the Orioles haven’t posted a winning record since 1997 and last won as many as 78 games in 2004.

For the first few years of this stretch the Orioles seemed to refuse to recognize that they were no longer close to title contention and spent wildly to try and compete with the Yankees and Red Sox.

Eventually, management realized that the problems within the franchise were greater than what could be fixed by a couple free agents and they stopped spending lavishly on veteran players.

Instead, they have tried to rebuild through the draft and by getting quality prospects in trades for marquee veterans.

Though the result was a short-term reduction in victories, it seemed that the long-term dividends would be worth it as the Orioles looked like they were building a team that could eventually contend regularly with the Yankees and Red Sox.

At least that seemed to be the case before 2010.

Prior to the start of this season, team president Andy MacPhail boldly claimed that the Orioles were no longer simply rebuilding and that the success of the 2010 team would also be determined by success on the field.

If that is the case, then the 2010 team has been a complete failure.

Trembley was fired after winning just 15 of their first 39 games. The Orioles are currently on a pace that rather than contending with the Red Sox, Rays and Yankees for a division title, they are in contention to join the 1962 Mets and 2003 Tigers as the worst teams in baseball history.

What is perhaps most disappointing about the 2010 Orioles is that many of the talented young players that created the atmosphere of optimism during spring training have taken distinct steps backwards in their progress this year.

Photo by Icon SMI

Catcher Matt Wieters is the cornerstone of the young Orioles. After a great rookie season and solid start to 2010, Wieters has been in a horrific slump over the last month and looks like a player with absolutely no confidence in his abilities.

It is doubtful that Wieters will be sent back to the minors, but that has already happened to the other top rookie for the Orioles from a year ago, Nolan Reimold. After hitting .279 with 15 home runs as a rookie, Reimold was hitting .205 with two home runs when sent back to the minors.

There is now talk that rather than joining Adam Jones and Nick Markakis to form one of the best young outfields in baseball, the Orioles are now looking at first base as the future position for Reimold.

While Markakis has been solid so far in 2010 (.288, 3 HR, 17 RBI), Jones has been off to a slow start. The 2009 All-Star and Gold Glove winner is hitting just .248 with six home runs so far in 2010.

Much of the excitement about the future for the Orioles has been centered around a bevy of young starting pitchers that many have said could give the Orioles their best starting rotation since their glory days in the 1970s and 1980s.

So far in 2010, the young pitchers have looked more like batting practice pitchers than future All-Stars.

None of the young starters have an ERA under five runs per game and have taken turns being moved to the bullpen.

The Orioles still have a solid nucleus of players that could one day be the core of a contending squad. However, it is obvious that the Orioles still have a number of weaknesses that must be addressed if they hope to eventually end their growing streak of losing seasons.

It was obvious that Trembley was not the manager capable of getting the Orioles to the next level. However, before finding the right leader, the Orioles must continue making moves that give the next manager enough weapons to contend in the toughest division in baseball.

The Orioles may not be ready to contend, but if this tough start has taught the O’s anything, hopefully that they cannot just assume that building through the farm system is going to guarantee future success. They must be aggressive in bringing to Baltimore the right mix of veterans and young players to contend.

It doesn’t look like the O’s will snap their streak of losing seasons in 2010, but hopefully over the final four months of the season they will truly show enough progress that when MacPhail claims that 2011 is the year for them to contend, he won’t have to eat his words before the season is two months old.

Related posts:

1. Now Should Be The Time For the Orioles To Remove Trembley
2. Have the Baltimore Orioles Hit The Bottom?
3. Baltimore Orioles 2010: What Will Define Success?

Dave Trembley Photo by Icon SMI

Given our tough economic situation, I am not generally in favor of seeing anyone lose their job. However, given the outrageous salaries in professional sports, I don’t have the same sympathy for anyone in that field. So, I have a clear conscious when I say that it is time for the Baltimore Orioles to finally put their fans out of their misery and fire manager Dave Trembley.

By all account, Trembley is really lucky to have made it through the first two months of the 2010 season.

Prior to the season, team president Andy MacPhail claimed that the rebuilding was over and that Trembley and the 2010 Orioles were ready to contend in the American League East.

As it has turned out, the 2010 Orioles are neither rebuilding nor contending. They are simply stinking.

Facing one of the toughest early season schedules in the league, the Orioles struggled out of the gate with a 5-18 record during the month of April.

Unfortunately, things didn’t get much better against an “easier’ schedule in May as the Orioles won just 10 of 28 games.

At this rate, they will be mathematically eliminated by the end of June and better get moving if they don’t want people to start comparing them to the 1962 Mets.

As a lifelong Orioles fan, I lived through the debacle of 1988 when the Orioles lost a record 21 straight games to start the season.

I never really believed the Orioles would ever steep to a lower level, but they are really very close right now.

What has made 2010 so disappointing is that like many Orioles fans, I agreed with MacPhail that the Orioles really could be contenders in 2010.

On paper, the Orioles opening day starting lineup was not appreciably worse than that of any contender in the American League. While they didn’t have any superstars, the Orioles fielded an opening day lineup with very few weaknesses. The potential weakness for the Orioles was on the mound, but they had a plethora of talented young arms.

So what has gone wrong over the first two months?

First of all, like many teams the Orioles have their core players that are very hard to replace. One of those is sparkplug second baseman Brian Roberts. One of the best, and most underrated, leadoff hitters in baseball, Roberts entered 2010 having scored more than 100 runs in each of the last three seasons.

Roberts was injured in just the fourth game of the season and the Orioles have struggled to find a leadoff hitter capable of replicating Roberts’ ability to get on base and score runs.

But, injuries are a part of the game and to say the Orioles are 15-39 because they don’t have Brian Roberts is probably giving one player way too much credit.

Quite honestly, even if Roberts had been playing I’m not sure it would have made much difference over the first month of the season because the O’s just were not hitting.

During the month of April the Orioles hit .242 as a team and scored only 75 runs in 23 games. They weren’t much better in May hitting .255 and scoring 100 runs in 28 contests.

Nick Markakis, one of the most undervalued players in baseball, is the only Baltimore regular hitting near .300, but the lack of having men regularly on base ahead of him has resulted in only 17 RBI through the first 53 games.

Utility player Ty Wiggington, who has seen most of the action in place of Roberts at second base, has been the leading power hitter with 13 home runs and 33 RBI.

The new additions to the team for 2010 have pretty much been a bust. First baseman Garrett Atkins, who the Orioles hoped would regain previous form after a disappointing 2009 season in Colorado, is hitting only .209 with one home run and eight RBI.

Miguel Tejada, who was reacquired and installed at third base, has started to show his advancing age with a .259 average and only four home runs.

Pitching was expected to be the greatest struggle for the Orioles, but while they haven’t been great, they have been better than their record indicates.

The starting staff is averaging nearly six innings per game and has a 4.83 ERA. Jeremy Guthrie (3.84) and Kevin Millwood (3.89) have been excellent, yet Guthrie has a 3-5 record and Millwood has yet to earn a victory for the Orioles and has a 0-5 mark.

The bullpen got off to a shaky start, but has stabilized to have an ERA of 4.34. That is a significant improvement over a year ago and again should result in a better record than what Baltimore current has posted.

So, short of fast-tracking Brian Roberts back to health and bringing back Boog Powell to play first base, what can the Orioles do to get things back on track?

First and foremost, they need to change the culture on the field and in the locker room.

This season it seems like many of the Orioles have already packed it in and started going through the motions in a manner that the team usually doesn’t show until their annual swoon in August and September.

That starts at the top and in the portions of four seasons that Trembley has been the skipper, Baltimore has never illustrated the kind of killer instinct and ferocity needed to be a contending baseball team.

By all accounts, Trembley was good as the nurturer of the young talent, but now it seems that he is no longer nurturing, but instead serving as the enabler for a team that is significantly underachieving.

I know once Trembley is finally dismissed they will likely allow third base coach Juan Samuel to pilot the team, but I wish they would instead go in a different direction.

Rather than installing a caretaker, I think the front office should send a strong message that they are not pleased with how things have gone this season and that dramatic changes are underway.

This could be started by immediately bringing in a proven winner to shake up things as the manager. Someone like Bobby Valentine, Buck Showalter or Davey Johnson could come in and make everyone in the clubhouse uncomfortable as they looked to rekindle the fire.

The Orioles don’t need to take it slow and easy, I think that has been part of their problem. The Orioles have been rebuilding for five years and have never made the one big move that would signal to the world that they were done building and were instead ready to win.

While they have chosen not to pursue the top free agent pitchers or position players, maybe bringing in a high profile manager would help light that spark.

The Orioles were once one of the most respected franchises in baseball and played to a full house every night. They are now in jeopardy of becoming the biggest laughingstock in the league (short of the Pirates) and already play most home games in front of more empty seats than fans.

The time has come for the front office to stop playing it safe and instead go out of the box and make a statement.

If they don’t, by the time they are ready to contend, nobody will be left to care.

Related posts:

1. Does Anyone Want To Manage The Orioles?
2. With Trembley Gone, What’s Next For The Orioles?
3. Have the Baltimore Orioles Hit The Bottom?

For that reason, the start to the 2010 season has to be about as disappointing and disheartening as anything I have experienced during my long journey as a fan of the O’s.

Considering that I still have nightmares about the collapse in the 1979 World Series and endured lots of strange looks when I wore an Orioles shirt to parties during the 21-game losing streak to start the 1988 season, you can get a sense of just how hard it is to take the current state of the Birds.

All Baltimore fans have struggled with the disappointment of the last decade. It seems that since the O’s lost to Cleveland in the 1997 AL Championship Series the team has been going around in circles while the rest of baseball has been moving ahead.

Those of us who have followed the Orioles for decades still remember when we were even with, or for a long time ahead of, the Yankees and Red Sox. The biggest rivalry in the American League East in the 1970s and early 1980s wasn’t the Red Sox and Yankees, it was the Orioles and Yankees.

But now the gap between the Orioles and their two division rivals seems wider than the Grand Canyon. And to make it worse, the upstarts from Tampa, who despite the fact that they have a very good team can’t even get 15,000 people to a game on a regular basis, have also moved past the Orioles.

Like many other Orioles bloggers and fans, I have spent the last year in a state of cautious optimism.

Unlike previous management teams, Andy MacPhail seemingly had a plan for the future and was building a team that could return to contention with the Red Sox, Yankees and Rays.

Even though Baltimore again struggled with only 64 victories in 2009, MacPhail declared that the team was ready to start winning in 2010 and I think most of us shared that same opinion.

Even knowing that the Orioles had the toughest schedule in baseball during the first month of 2010, my hope for the Orioles during April was that the team would play near .500 baseball and display a confidence and attitude that they were ready to contend.

To say that the results so far in 2010 have been the exact opposite might be an understatement.

Not only has Baltimore won only two of their first 18 games, but they have given few signs that they can dig out of the giant hole they have dug for their season.

Entering the season the general expectation was that the Orioles had a strong offense and their level of success would be based on how their young pitching staff adapts to the majors.

However, their slow start in 2010 has been primarily the result of an inability to consistently put runs across the plate.

I have spent the last 12 years still believing that at some point the Orioles would come out of the funk and life would go back to the way it was in the 1970s and early ‘80s (even also in the early and mid 1990s) when you couldn’t win the division without worrying about the O’s.

However, the start to the 2010 season now has me wondering if this is simply the bottom and the rise is about to come or if the Orioles are forever destined for the second division.

Photo by Icon SMI

On paper, the Orioles have a pretty good baseball team. Adam Jones, Nick Markakis and Matt Wieters are stars in the making. Though the injury to Brian Roberts definitely hurts, the team still has a lot of talented players.

Yet, through 18 games the entire team has scored only 55 runs (3 per game) and has almost as many strikeouts (120) as hits (148). They have been held to three or fewer runs in 13 of their first 18 games.

Sure teams go through slumps, but it seems like the Orioles have been in a slump for 13 years.

Pitching has been the Achilles heel in recent years, but MacPhail has been stockpiling young arms that have drawn comparisons to the great Baltimore pitching staffs of by-gone eras.

So, the fact that several of those young hurlers are still struggling makes it hard to believe that the end of the frustration is in sight.

When the Orioles started the 1988 season with 21 straight losses, it seemed to be a wake-up call that led to some tough player decisions that ultimately helped the franchise. As a result, the team won 87 games in 1989 and by 1992 were back in regular playoff contention.

However, this time around because the Orioles have spent the last couple years purging veterans and getting younger, making radical changes is probably not the answer.

Instead, I think they need to start at the top and make a change at manager.

MacPhail insisted when he resigned Dave Trembley at the end of last season that Trembley had been the right manager to work with the young players and that he deserved a chance to lead the team back to glory.

I’m sure that MacPhail would like to give Trembley more than a month to prove if he is capable of managing a winning team. However, I’m not sure that even those of us who have been patient fans are willing to wait much longer.

I believe that if MacPhail lets the mediocrity (I’m being kind with that word) go on much longer, he will be jeopardizing his entire rebuilding plan.

Before the season started, I wrote a column and ran a poll that asked what would be considered a successful season for Baltimore in 2010. Most respondents said that the year would be a success if the O’s had a winning record.

Right now, it seems quite a long-shot that the team can right the ship and play well enough over the remainder of the season to reach that mark.

Photo by Icon SMI

The thing about building for next year is that if next year never comes all you have been doing is wasting time.

If MacPhail decides to keep Trembley as his manager and the team does not improve to that level, then will it be time to replace both MacPhail and Trembley?

I will keep wearing my Orioles shirts and displaying my Orioles license plate, but one of these years I would like be able to wear them in October to celebrate a Baltimore playoff appearance and not just to remember the past.

MacPhail has been strategic and methodical in building the Orioles, but at some point he has to make a radical decision that hopefully will jump start the forward movement.

I contend that time is now.

Related posts:

1. Now Should Be The Time For the Orioles To Remove Trembley
2. Baltimore Orioles 2010: What Will Define Success?
3. Baltimore Orioles Announce Return of Dave Trembley For 2010

With the start of the 2010 baseball season now upon us, those around the Baltimore Orioles are cautiously optimistic that after more than a decade of decay, the team is ready to turn things around. The big question, given their current streak of 12 consecutive losing seasons, is what would be considered a successful season for the O’s in 2010.

While contending for the playoffs would certainly be an ultimate goal, given the fact that Baltimore will be playing 57 games against three of the best teams in baseball (Yankees, Red Sox and Rays), is it realistic to believe the Orioles can post the kind of record needed to compete for a playoff spot?

Considering that the Birds start the season with arguably the toughest early schedule in the league, the initial goal for Baltimore may need to be simple survival.

Facing series against the Rays, Red Sox and Yankees during the opening month as well as a challenging West Coast swing, the key for the Orioles during the first month will be to not dig too deep a whole and let the entire season spiral out of control.

Unlike recent years where the mantra has been rebuilding, team president Andy MacPhail has claimed that this year the goal of the team is to move into contention in the toughest division in baseball.

That means that manager Dave Trembley, who has received praise and kept his job because of his work grooming the young players, must now show that he can manage a team that is looking to challenge for the playoffs and not simply grow for the future.

To his credit, MacPhail has developed a team that looks to be significantly stronger than any team Baltimore has had in recent years.

However, while the Orioles are unquestionably talented, they are very young at crucial positions and have veterans being asked to play new roles at some of their other spots.

The vaunted young pitching staff seems to have enough talented young arms to make things tough for opponents. However, having success at the major league level is much tougher than showing glimpses of future potential at the minor league level.

Many of the young pitchers received a taste of life in the majors last year with a mix of success.

Brad Bergeson was the best pitcher on the staff with a 7-5 record and 3.43 ERA before suffering an injury that cost him the last two months. Brian Matusz was 5-2 in eight starts and many are picking him for a breakout season in 2010.

On the other hand, Chris Tillman (2-5, 5.40 ERA), Jason Berken (6-12, 6.54 ERA) and David Hernandez (4-10, 5.42) struggled in 2009.

MacPhail is counting on veterans Kevin Millwood and Jeremy Guthrie to serve as the mentors for the young staff and to eat up innings so that the Baltimore bullpen will not be as taxed as they were in 2009 when they were asked to pitch more than three innings every night.

If the Orioles are to improve on their 64-98 record from a year ago (and they better), the pitching staff cannot use the crutch that they are young and learning.

When you look at the everyday lineup for the Orioles, it is arguable that they have a lineup that is favorably comparable to any in baseball.

The outfield of Adam Jones, Nick Markakis and Nolan Reimold has the potential to be the best in baseball.

Leadoff hitter Brian Roberts is one of the most unsung players in the game and second year catcher Matt Wieters has the potential to be one of the best catchers in baseball.

Considering the 12 straight losing seasons, simply finishing above .500 could be considered a step forward.

Even more important, in my opinion, is that the Orioles don’t sink into their annual pattern of sleepwalking through the final two months.

While Baltimore faithful are ready for the Birds to return to contention, after such a long dry spell it is unrealistic to believe the Orioles can go from afterthought to contender overnight.

So, as we look toward the goals for 2010 perhaps the biggest is that when the season ends the Orioles aren’t talking about how they will turn things around in 2011.

If the Orioles can use 2010 as a season when they illustrate consistency throughout the season and give the Red Sox, Yankees and Rays some genuine heartburn, then they will be moving toward their goal of returning to relevance in the AL East.

Related posts:

1. Baltimore Orioles Sweep The First Place Rangers: Not a Misprint
2. Have the Baltimore Orioles Hit The Bottom?
3. Baltimore Orioles: Keys for a Successful 2010

With Spring Training starting and the 2010 baseball season only weeks away, it is the time of the year when fans of the

The Orioles were not among the most aggressive or highest spending teams in the offseason, but they did make a number of lower-key moves designed to make the team better in 2010.

Considering that they went 64-98 (including a 20-39 record to end the season) in 2009, it shouldn’t take much to illustrate improvement.

In the first of a three part series looking at 2010, we will look at some of the keys for the Orioles if they hope to show significant improvement and perhaps even register their first winning season since 1997.

· Make a Statement Immediately that it is a New Era – Even during their decade of despair, the Orioles have often started the season hot. Since 1998, the Orioles have registered a .500 or better April record in seven of 12 seasons, including five of the last seven. A year ago, Baltimore started the season with a 6-2 record, but quickly cooled off to finish April with a 9-13 record. In 2008 the Orioles started the season with a 16-12 April, which was their best opening month since starting 16-7 in 2005.

While a strong early start may not transcend into success later in the season, if the 2010 Orioles want to be seen as a different team than the squad with 12 straight losing seasons, they must demonstrate from the very beginning that they are not the same old Orioles.

That means starting the season aggressively and hovering near the top of the AL East for at least the first few weeks of the season. It is up to Dave Trembley and the veterans on the team to get the young players moving early and create a culture of expecting success, rather than mediocrity.

· The Young Pitchers Can’t Act Like Rookies Anymore – Last season the Orioles seemed to be starting a rookie pitcher just about every night. It provided good experience for the young hurlers, but it is one explanation for their 98 loss season.

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The rookies had various levels of success in 2009. Brad Bergesen (7-5, 3.43 ERA) was unquestionably the best of the group and looked like a contender for Rookie of the Year honors before missing the last two months of the season after being hit on the shin on July 30th.

The other rookies had flashes of brilliance, but also took their typical rookie lumps. It is doubtful that they all will start the season in the majors, but expect Jason Berken, David Hernandez, Chris Tillman and Brian Matusz to all have a chance to earn a spot in the rotation.

For the Orioles to be successful, at least three of the young guns must shed their rookie inconsistency and emerge as the All-Star caliber hurlers many have predicted.

Image via Wikipedia

· Brian Roberts Must Remain Among the Best Table Setters in Baseball – One casualty of the Orioles poor performance in recent years it that Brian Roberts has not received as much recognition for his greatness as a leadoff hitter as is deserved.

Since 2004, Roberts has had a .290 batting average and averaged 101 runs scored, 46 doubles, 35 stolen bases and 62 RBI each season. Yet, he has been named as an All-Star only twice and is often overlooked in the discussion for the best second basemen in the game in conversations about the best leadoff men.

Now 32 years old, Roberts is at the peak of his career and the Orioles will need a big season from him if they are indeed going to improve their record. The Birds have a number of players capable of driving in runs and it is Roberts job to be on base for them to bring home.

One concern about Roberts is that his strikeout numbers have increased in each of the last three years (112 in 2009). Last season his on base percentage actually declined to .356 after consecutive seasons above .375. If he can return to his previous form in 2010, the Orioles should see a corresponding increase in their run production.

· Kevin Millwood Must Lead On and Off The Field – In a conversartion with Orioles’ broadcaster Buck Martinez late last season, he mentioned how important it would be for the Orioles to bring in a veteran pitcher for 2010 to serve as the staff ace and example for the young pitchers. While I don’t think Kevin Millwood can be considered a quality staff ace, I do think bringing him to the team can be very helpful for the young pitchers.

If you will recall, Millwood started his career with the Atlanta Braves and learned from all-time greats Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz.

Though his pitching numbers since leaving Atlanta following the 2002 season have been average (80-75 record, 4.25 ERA), he has pitched primarily for losing teams.

He is the kind of veteran pitcher that can come in and teach the young pitchers what it takes to be successful while also eating up some innings and producing victories. Millwood has started at least 29 games in each of the last five seasons and 10 times during his career.

His days as a staff ace may be over, but he can be a quality starter while helping to build one or more of the young guns into future aces.

· Miguel Tejada Must Produce – I’m not exactly sure what to think of the Miguel Tejada signing. On one hand the Orioles can use a veteran presence in the clubhouse and at the important position of third base. However, on the other hand Tejada has a significant amount of baggage and his departure two years ago was a good move for both the Orioles and for him.

Hopefully in his return Tejada, who will turn 36 (four years older than when he left Baltimore two years ago, but that’s another story) during the season, will recognize that his role now is not to be the superstar, but instead to be the steady veteran player that enables the young studs to develop into superstars.

If he can embrace his new role and still produce as he has on the field in recent years (.298 average, 152 RBI the last two seasons) then the Orioles can consider his return to be successful.

· Bullpen Must Make It Through The Year – Each of the last three seasons the Orioles have brought in quality pitchers to enhance the bullpen and try to make the team competitive on the mound in the late stages of games. For a while the bullpen shows improvement, but eventually over use catches up and the Orioles go back to their old routine of imploding late in games.

Obviously if that is to change in 2010 the starting pitchers must do their part by throwing more innings. In 2009 the Orioles had only two complete games and the relievers pitched 551 innings (38%). In comparison, the relievers for the Boston Red Sox pitched only 479 innings (33%) and their ERA was a full run lower than the relievers for the Orioles (3.80 compared to 4.83).

However, it is also partly the onus of the relievers to illustrate that they are capable of finishing games and keeping opponents off the scoreboard.

Newly acquired Michael Gonzalez has already been anointed as the closer and is a great acquisition for the Orioles. Look for former starters Koji Uehara and Mark Hendrickson to provide long inning support out of the bullpen. Jim Johnson can be a superstar as a middle reliever when not overused and Matt Albers is also capable as a middle inning pitcher when used appropriately.

If the Orioles are to be successful in 2010, the bullpen must be used in a way that allows them to be successful. That will mean that Dave Trembley and pitching coach Rick Kranitz must work with the staff to ensure that the starters are capable of throwing at least six innings per game (they averaged 5.5 per game a year ago).

· Wieters, Jones, Reimold and Markakis Must Keep Moving Forward – One of the reasons for optimism in Baltimore is that the team has finally cultivated some talented young position players capable of becoming superstars.

The key for these players in 2010 will be to continue taking steps forward instead of leveling off or taking steps backward.

I believe this will be especially important for Nolan Reimold and Adam Jones. Both players had glimpses of greatness last year.

Jones got off to a hot start and made his first All-Star team before tailing off in the second half of the season and then missing the last month with injuries.

Reimold finished strong (.364 average over the last month), but had dips at times during the season as he finished with a .279 average, 15 home runs and 45 RBI in 104 games.

Matt Wieters made consistent improvement following his call-up in late May. If he can continue to develop, Wieters could become a superstar during just his second season. He also finished strong in 2009 (.362 average, 14 RBI in September) and in just 96 games posted a .288 average, nine home runs and 43 RBI.

Nick Markakis is the closest thing the Orioles have to a current superstar, but he has not yet even made an All-Star team. In 2009 he finished the year with a .293 average, 18 home runs and 101 RBI. However, he hit only .198 with seven RBI over the final month of the season. For the Orioles to be successful in 2010, he cannot have extended periods without offensive production.

· Cesar Izturis Must Continue His Solid Shortstop Play – One position where there was noticeable improvement for the Orioles in 2009 was shortstop. After struggling at the spot in 2008, Cesar Izturis came in and provided much-needed consistency (especially defensively) at the position. He made only eight errors in 112 games and also gave the added bonus of hitting .256.

Though he missed several weeks following an appendectomy, Izturis was still a key performer for the Orioles in 2009 and will continue in that role in 2010.

Check back in the coming days (or weeks) for part two of our preseason look at the Orioles as we will focus on each position and look at where the strengths and weaknesses lie for the Birds. We will then wrap-up our preseason series with a look at what would qualify as a “successful” season for the Orioles in 2010.

Related posts:

1. Have the Baltimore Orioles Hit The Bottom?
2. Baltimore Orioles 2010: What Will Define Success?
3. Baltimore Orioles Announce Return of Dave Trembley For 2010

After enduring another long and disappointing season on the field in 2009, the 2009-2010 off-season was supposed to be the start of a new day for the Baltimore Orioles. With enough quality young pitchers to fill two rotations and a nucleus of talented young position players, this was to be the off-season in which the Orioles finally started playing with the big boys on the free agent market as they looked for the veteran pieces, potentially including a couple franchise-changing players, needed to actually become a contender for the first time in a decade.

But a funny thing seems to have happened on the way back to contention. So far, Baltimore general manager Andy MacPhail has forgotten that the Orioles are supposed to be playing to win now, not just continuing to bide time in preparation for a run in a couple years.

As far as I can tell, the first six weeks of the off-season haven’t looked much different than off-seasons of the past. Championship contenders like the Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies have been busy pilfering talent from less endowed franchises while also lobbing multi-million dollar contracts at the prized free agents.

At the same time, the Orioles and other want-to-be contenders have mostly been on the sidelines either unable or unwilling to toss money into the ring.

While the Yankees were adding All-Star Curtis Granderson, the Red Sox stockpiled more talent in Mike Cameron and John Lackey and the Phillies did a bait-and-switch to secure top pitcher Roy Halladay, the Orioles made the earth-shattering move to acquire 35-year-old pitcher Kevin Millwood from the Texas Rangers.

Now making a move to get Millwood might have enjoyed blockbuster status five or six years ago, but that is no longer the case. Twice an 18-game winner with the Atlanta Braves between 1999 and 2002, Millwood has won as many as 16 games only once in the last seven years. In four seasons with the Rangers, Millwood went 48-46 with a 4.57 ERA.

Don’t get me wrong, adding Millwood and his average of 190 innings per year to the young and talented Baltimore pitching staff is a nice move, but Millwood is not the ace that the Orioles needed and quite frankly that the fans of Baltimore deserved.

With Halladay and Lackey available this off-season, the Orioles were supposed to be shopping for an ace, not for just another veteran who can eat up innings. They should have been going after both.

Instead, Lackey signs with another AL East team and Halladay is off the market after signing an extension with the Phillies.

At the very least, the Orioles should have tried to muscle their way into the trade that sent Cliff Lee to Seattle for prospects.

Heck, if the Orioles PR machine is to be believed, the team has so many future star pitchers poised to make a mark on the majors that trading a couple of them for an ace like Cliff Lee would have barely been noticed.

Once the chance at securing an ace pitcher was blown, fans of the Birds could at least hope that MacPhail would open the purse strings to bring in a stud at the two positions where the Orioles badly need an upgrade, first base and third base. Right?

Well, don’t get too excited waiting for that to happen.

Word is that the Orioles will likely sign former Colorado Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins to fill the void at third base created by the decision not to resign Melvin Mora.

Atkins had four solid seasons for the Rockies from 2005-2008, but the 30-year-old tailed off miserably last season as he hit .226 with nine home runs and 48 RBIs.

Knowing that offensive numbers are generally inflated for players in Colorado, there seems to be no guarantee that Atkins will bounce back to his form of averaging 25 home runs and 110 RBI from the three previous seasons.

The Orioles have yet to make any inroads at first base and this could prove to be the chance MacPhail needs to redeem himself for the inability to sign a star pitcher.

Still available for the right price is San Diego Padres slugger Adrian Gonzalez, who hit 40 home runs and drove in 99 runs for the Padres a year ago.

Just 27-years old, Gonzalez has hit 130 home runs over the last four seasons and the Padres, who don’t believe they can sign him long-term, are very interested in dealing him for the right price.

Crafting a deal to bring Gonzalez to Baltimore would be exactly the “we mean business” message that MacPhail badly needs to send to his own fans as well as the rest of the AL East.

However, while this seems to be a “no brainer” move for the Orioles, there is a familiar tune that could be getting ready to be played.

Word is that the Red Sox are also interested in trading for Gonzalez. While they don’t seem to have quite the number of top prospects available as the Orioles, with the acquisition of Lackey they now again have enough quality starting pitchers that they could trade one to San Diego without having much impact on their rotation.

If Andy MacPhail really ever wants the Orioles to return to contention in the AL East, he cannot let that happen. After playing around the edges during the first weeks of the off-season, the Orioles must go for the throat and show that they mean business.

Adding Gonzalez might not make the Orioles instant contenders in 2010, but it would signal to the players, fans and opponents that the Orioles are ready to turn things around.

After more than a decade of losing, the Orioles can’t expect to necessarily become instant contenders in baseball’s toughest division in 2010, but by making a move for Gonzalez they can instantly start acting like contenders and that is the first step.

Related posts:

1. Now Should Be The Time For the Orioles To Remove Trembley
2. Have the Baltimore Orioles Hit The Bottom?
3. Baltimore Orioles 2010: What Will Define Success?