In an expected move following the signing of T.J. Houshmanzadeh, the Ravens have traded former first round selection Mark Clayton to the Rams for a late-round draft choice. This leaves Baltimore without a possible solid slot receiver and with a trio of strong possession receivers with their top receiver spots while Donte Stallworth recovers and can possibly become the downfield threat the Ravens hope he can be. I understand why it was done, but I also can’t help but think that Clayton was never properly utilized in this offense, one that forced him to play as an outside receiver for his entire career while he was so clearly better suited to play in the slot. It also gives the Ravens with 4 top receivers either approaching or beyond 30 years of age, which raises questions about durability over the course of a season. READ MORE >>>
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This final round of roster cuts got the Ravens down to their requisite 53, not including their practice squad moves, but there were casualties that will give this team a very different look than in past seasons. The drama of Troy Smith is now officially behind this team, and he is welcome now to look in Cleveland or anywhere else for a potential starting job down the road. The hope and disappointment that followed the enigmatic Demetrius Williams through years of injuries and ineffectiveness is also over after failing to impress even when the Ravens were devoid of receivers. On the other hand, receivers Marcus Smith and Justin Harper (the latter on the practice squad) still remain a couple years after flashing just enough talent to make them late-round and free agent pickups of this team. I wanted to take a moment to look at these moves and more as the Ravens gear up for Week 1. READ MORE >>> Well, so much for that. Brad Bergesen’s problem has always been that if he loses his delivery for just a second, he is a batting practice pitcher. When he has his location down, he is almost unhittable. Unfortunately, that is not particularly reliable, at least not this season. The 5 runs he allowed in the second inning doomed the O’s, though it was nice to see the team battle back. Seeing Josh Bell strike out with runners at 2nd and 3rd was painful- you expect it from Cesar Izturis (there was no one else on the bench to take that at-bat?) but you hope that maybe Bell will use this as a breakout moment. Alas, he instead continues to struggle. He needed a lot more time at AAA, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him start the season at Norfolk in 2011 if he doesn’t start pulling it together over this last month. Now football season is officially upon us, and so I am more excited than ever to line up for the kick… READ MORE >>> There was something different about last night’s 5-2 win over the Red Sox. No, it wasn’t just the fact that the Orioles won, though that is always a pleasant surprise when taking on a team in the AL East. I seemed to notice something in this team that I thought I was going to see back in April. It wasn’t even that Luke Scott set a career high for home runs in a season last night. With all the talk that goes on about what an incredible power threat Scott is, I actually found myself a bit surprised that this was his career high. But that’s beside the point. This was the first time I noticed that the Orioles have had- and used- every part of the roster they hoped would win games back at the beginning of the season. READ MORE >>> Josh Wilson is coming back to Maryland… Baltimore, specifically. The former college shut-down corner and second round pick of the Seattle Seahawks has been traded to the Ravens for a conditional pick. The move bolsters a shaky Ravens cornerback unit that was relying only on high hopes for Fabian Washington, Lardarius Webb, and a host of also-ran cornerbacks hardly worth counting on for a Super Bowl caliber team. At worst this team has answered a glaring hole with a stable placeholder- at best this team has found another turnaround story a-la Fabian Washington. Either way, it is hard to argue that a move like this wasn’t sorely needed and answered well. READ MORE >>> The Orioles have swept the Angels- not just for the series, but for the season. Then again, if they were going to do it, they might as well do it in a year when the Angels have hovered around .500 rather than taking control of the division. Baltimore pitching allowed a total of 1 run in the entire series, coming in the 3-1 win on Friday night. No, the bats weren’t great, scoring 3, 5, and 1 runs in their three wins this weekend, but it was another display of how great pitching seems to get it done more often than great hitting. Not only did Kevin Millwood return to form, but Brad Bergesen remained on a hot streak and Jeremy Guthrie made a strong case for yet another Opening Day start in 2011. But there was more than starting pitching to this series sweep. READ MORE >>> Okay, so maybe that wasn’t Jake Arrieta’s best performance, nor was it the best outing this lineup has ever had. There isn’t much to glean from an 8-0 loss except that this team has a long way to go, as if you didn’t know that already. However, it is good to see Felix Pie continue to rake- he went 1-4 last night but his average still sits at .304, by far the best on the team ahead of Nick Markakis at .287. He still isn’t drawing enough walks (just 6 in 51 games this season), but he has been a welcome addition to this team, particularly considering that MacPhail picked him up for next to nothing. He may be a late-blooming player, and with his defense continuing to improve, the O’s may have one more position that they won’t have to shop for in the offseason. But thankfully for Baltimore fans, there is a lot more going on in the sports world to cover. So on this lovely Friday (which may be lovely for no other reason than that it’s Friday), let’s line up for the kick… READ MORE >>>
Just one away from the inevitable, and I wish it bothered me more. The Orioles’ record stands at a shockingly awful 44-81, a record that one can lose in the trees when you are tracking this team game-by-game. With one more loss, Baltimore will clinch what fans knew they would clinch back on April 30th- their 13th consecutive losing season. Now I am not sure if it is my job to put a positive spin on this or to rage against the dying of the light, but it feels odd to think about this team as one big season when there have been three managers, ups and downs of O’s prospects, and an organizational message that was at first lost then modified to give fans hope. This 13th season is unlike any of the others, and whether that is a sign of things to come may be a good thing- or something a bit more ominous. READ MORE >>> Well, Brian Matusz finally has his ERA under 5.00. Of course, the flip side is that we actually had to wait for the O’s “Ace of the Future” to get his ERA under 5.00. After all the lofty expectations for him entering this season perhaps he will be able to end the season on a positive note. However, I won’t use this space to write a homily to his greatness or how Matusz’s 8 scoreless innings of 5-hit ball are a sign of things to come. He has teased on other nights this season before falling apart in his next start. String together 4 more good starts then we can get excited. And while I love the O’s racking up hits, they still aren’t getting enough men past home plate relative to all the hits they are getting. Whether it is still RISP problems or just not tying the hits together, they seem to leave a lot of runs on the table (or on the basepaths). Whatever, I am just glad they got a W. As for me, I have been running around all week and would rather line up for the kick… READ MORE >>>
Well, the honeymoon had to end some time, it’s clear it’s all over for the O’s under Showalter now. Not really, the guy is still 8-2 as a manager. If he guides this team to anything resembling a .500 team over the last 6 weeks of the season, the will have more than enough confidence from me. Remember, this team is known for its epic swoons at the end of August into September- just avoiding an all-out collapse would be victory enough. I suppose it’s easy to impress when the standards have gotten so low. Well maybe not the standards, because just reading the comments on this blog tells me people still expect great things- the results just haven’t been there. Yes, Ravens lined up last night but I can’t lead Free Kicks with that- as we know, preseason games are nothing but glorified practices, a day of training camp you don’t have to drive to Westminster to see. Interesting, certainly, but not news. Once the games start I will be excited, but in the meantime I just want to line up for the kick… This morning I caught myself trying to dig up every ounce of video from last night’s game, trying I can’t wait to see the Lovely Totals for this series, I will be honest with you. While this team won’t become a contender overnight with the arrival of Buck Showalter, there is certainly a different tone to this team when they know they have an experienced, winning manager who will be around for a long time. There wasn’t a moment where they were allowed to get complacent, and at least for now haven’t lost their focus or allowed games to fall away from them. They aren’t as good as 3-0 just as they aren’t as bad as 35-73. Until Showalter leads his team at least to a .500 record we can’t break out the confetti, but as a fan I will relish every win this team can muster. A one run walk-off win to complete a sweep? That makes it just a bit sweeter. However, I will leave it to my compatriots to talk about these last three games, and I will try to line up for the kick… Juan Samuel has officially decided to step down from the Orioles coaching staff upon the arrival of Buck Showalter, and I don’t think any of us are particularly surprised. While fans and the front office were impressed with the way he handled this team, his record was almost identical to Dave Trembley’s on the field, and Samuel likely didn’t want to take a #2 spot for a team he just ran. Personally I don’t see how it wouldn’t cause at least a bit of confusion in the clubhouse; having the new and former managers on the same staff, particularly with the “new brand of leadership” that Showalter hopes to bring to bear on the young Orioles. You don’t want to have a situation where players can look across the dugout to Samuel for a sympathetic ear when Showalter starts to grate on their nerves. The entire coaching staff has to be on the same page, and it would have at least appeared on the outside that that wasn’t the case. |
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