As I continue to follow the Orioles off season moves and get geared up for Spring Training and the Birds 2010 season one thought continues to pop into my mind. That not only is Andy MacPhail building a successful team here in Baltimore from the ground up, but the personalities he brings into Baltimore are just as important as the talent.
On this week episode of Birds On The Wire, Jeff Pilson, Dave Vatz, and myself discussed the signing of Miguel Tejada and we were all equally impressed with the overwhelming support that Miggy received from fellow team mates. Brian Roberts told the media that Tejada was one of the best team mates he ever had.
It’s great to hear the support, but it’s even better to see it. Adam Jones said he would be willing to give Miggy number 10 back in exchange for a Rolex. Tejada understands that Jones is part of the future so he turned down the offer…Or maybe he doesn’t want to buy him a Rolex.
While I was at Fan Fest last Sunday I was also impressed with the Orioles three new signings, Garrett Atkins, Mike Gonzalez, and of course the O’s new ace Kevin Millwood. In their Q&A with the fans I really enjoyed what each of the new O’s had to say. Mike Gonzalez complimented the Orioles and said he is eager to get involved with the young talent and meet to guys on the staff. Kevin Millwood had great things to say about the Orioles lineup, he said he’s eager to mentor the young pitchers in Baltimore, and he told Dave Trembley that he doesn’t like coming out of games early and pays no attention to pitch counts.
The lineup looks solid, but I think the Orioles are a solid pitcher away from being truly competitive. Which brings us to the Erik Bedard debate. We know that one of the big problems with this talented pitcher is his attitude. Jeff Pilson mentioned a story on our podcast this week where Bedard told Seattle media he would take three questions, a reporter responded with “why three questions” and Bedard came back with “that’s one.” Erik is frequently hurt, takes himself out of games, and isn’t exactly friendly with the media. However, he is a huge talent.
Assuming that I am not reading too much into the Orioles signings, I would say that MacPhail steers clear of Bedard. Old school Orioles fans should rejoice at the thought of what Andy Mac is doing here in Baltimore.
Update: According to Roch on MASNSports.com, Miggy will be wearing number 9 this season.
Andy McPhail is building something.
The problem is I'm not sure what exactly he is building. I'm sure I'll catch hell for some of this but I just can't understand how people are so convinced of this plan.
You say that the Orioles are a solid pitcher away from being competitive. Now, maybe my definition of competitive may be different from yours. My definition is being in contention for a playoff spot in September. In my opinion, this team is FAR from being a solid starter away from that.
McPhail stated that this offseason he wanted to get at least 1 and preferably 2 power type bats for this lineup. I was all for that. Well, those 2 bats are Garrett Atkins and Miguel Tejada. Color me disappointed. The lineup itself isn't that bad but it still lacks legit power and depending on Atkins and Tejada isn't exactly ideal. Let's not forget that now our corner INF spots will be very suspect on defense.
There are so many "ifs" on this team that it's hard to list them all. Let me just say this. McPhail and Co. are depending on a ton of "ifs" and some of them will not pan out. That's just the truth. Millwood isn't an ace, he's just our #1 starter. The whole franchise is depending on some very young pitchers to come through and come through now. McPhail said this year the team will be judged on wins. Of course, that's a pretty vague statement. We all know he'll never come out and give a number of wins he expects but we can all speculate. I mean, it can't be any worse than last year. But winning 5 more games isn't anything to celebrate.
I'm an old school fan and I'm far from rejoicing.
I guess I don't understand what you don't see. MacPhail is building a team from the ground up. He came in and re-established the farm system.
The fact of the matter is that Orioles fans that want Baltimore to go after BIG names are being unrealistic. Even if the Orioles do go after big names the big names aren't going to want to come to Baltimore because of the reputation in the pre-MacPhail previous decade.
Any GM that establishes their team on young talent, which is the only way the Orioles can, depends on "ifs". If we draft a stud catcher, if our two or three of our six talented pitchers work out. And if the Orioles start to win more games then they will be able to go after free agents.
I guess what I don't see if what fans that don't see the big picture do see. It takes time to build a baseball franchise, unlike football.
If these things don't work out, then I guess we can say MacPhail didn't get the job done. Until then I think we just have to wait.
Pretty sure the O's put the nix on the number switch.
There's been alot of marketing done with the Jones #10 associated with it.
And I have a Jones jersey.
Very glad it's not changing.
Yeah I'm glad it isn't changing too. Miggy did say that he would let Jones keep it though. As far as jerseys go though I would be worried having a Wieters jersey. I think he's going to change his number to 32 soon.
Zach
I understand what you are saying. But I think what many people are missing is that the Orioles do in fact have a TON of money. They see TV revenue not only from the Orioles but from the Nationals. They will never see less than 66% of the Nationals TV revenue through MASN. That is an incredibly luxury.
It is absolutely NOT unrealistic for fans to want this team to go after the big boys.
They offered Texeira $150 million dollars. They have the money.
And my argument is that this team will not be competitive until they do get an influx of talent from outside the organization.
I get that the major changes need to come from within. But at some point you need to go outside and get things done. The team has the resources to do it.
This idea that we will win and then go after the big boys is flawed in my opinion. We are now basically through another offseason with very little activity in the free agent market and certainly nothing very impactful.
I truly believe this team will lost close to 90 games again. Then where will be? You cannot keep kicking the pebble down the road with regards to winning. Again, we are hearing that this team will be judged on wins this season. What does that mean to you?
I just cannot stand the thought of sitting here a year from now hearing about how this team isn't ready to go after big name free agents. But I'm afraid that's exactly what will happen. It happened this year.
A guy like Holliday was available and both the Yankees AND Red Sox weren't in the running. You can bet they will in the running when the next big bat becomes available.
I think it's difficult though. I'm not saying it's a money issue. I'm saying it's a reputation issue. Sure, they have the money to get Holliday and certainly the trade bait, but does he want to come to Baltimore (a team that is building for the future) or go somewhere we he can win a World Series next year?
I don't think this team will lose 90 games this year. I think they will begin to be competitive, if they remain healthy. Another "if" though.
The Orioles are going about this building process with young talent. The only way they can. Young talent will be trade bait for big names when they build a winning reputation.
And there is where we fundamentally disagree.
I don't see them building a winning reputation in the AL with depending almost completely on the young talent.
Also, Tejada signed his big deal here prior to the 2004 season. The reputation was pretty bad then as well and there was certainly not the optimism that there seems to be now.
I just don't believe this is the "only" way they can rebuild.
How do they rebuild then?
By supplementing their young talent with legitimate free agent talent.
How are they gonna win in this division any other way?
I don't think they will this year.
We're going around in circles though. If we have to discuss this in a year or two then you're absolutely right. For now I'm just gonna have faith and hope it works out.
The Orioles have to show that they can be a .500 team this year or perhaps a game or two above. They need 2 of their young starting pitchers to really emerge and show some real promise. No free agent wants to come to Baltimore and get their heads bashed in 38 times a year by New York and Boston. Once the free agents see the light at the end of a 13 year tunnel (remember Mark, that tunnel was only half that deep when Miggy originally signed) free agents will be a little more inclined to accept an offer in line with what other competitive teams are offering and not WELL above market value as the Orioles would have to offer now. Also, Mark, remember most of the baseball world thought the Orioles overpaid for Tejada back when he signed, as well. It'll be a domino effect – show some true promise this year; sign a marquee free agent to show the baseball world you are serious about contending in the Big, Bad Al East; then entice other free agents to fill your remaining holes. Patience is key. McPhail should not be expected to totally rebuild a franchise- everything from the lack of a spring training home some 20 years before he got here, to a depleted minor league system in just a few years. He's getting there…
Look, I hope everything you guys say comes to fruition.
I'm just not getting my hopes up.
I've said it before and I truly believe it. I don't think we'll see a winning season, let alone a playoff berth before I retire. I turn 33 on Monday.
I know that's a very pessimistic thing to say and think. But I really believe it.
And let's not forget that Peter Angelos is still the owner of this team.
I guess I believe the onus is on the organization to prove it to the fans and not on the fans to sit on their hands for years and years waiting for this plan to be complete.
I think a winning season is a lot closer than you think…unless you retire in a few months.
I'm curious as to what you mean by that.
2011?
I just mean that a winning season for the Orioles is much closer than your retirement.
Not to belabor the point but going into last season the O's had a starting rotation of 1) Guthrie 2) Koji 3)Simon 4) Hendrickson 5) Eaton. This season they are looking at a rotation of 1) MIllwood 2)Guthrie 3) Bergesen 4) Matusz 5) Tillman. That lineup shows some promise and long-term potential. Will they be any better than last years staff, probably but not significantly. At least you can look it and see progression.
That's a really valid point. They're using less guys as stop gaps and more of the faces they want to see in the future. By the way, Hendrickson is back this year. Birds just resigned him to a one year deal.
I agree with Zach and I hope I'm understanding his point. Why sign these one year, washed-up players when they have players in the minors. The Orioles are talking about a youth movement and rebuilding the farm system and that to me means, no extra spending on hasbins such as Milwood and Miggy and bring in all the young farm talent. This way, the orioles will understand whether they have a legitimate player in guys like Josh Bell. at the same time, it will create a vacancy in the farm system for the front office to go out bring in another young guy. You win both ways, understanding the caliber of your current talent and continuing to stockpile young guys in the minors. The front office has convinced us fans that they are bringing from within and now they need to stick with it.
I agree with most everyone on this thread…Hendrickson, Tejada, and Atkins aren't the answer…But Bell likely isn't ready, and Berken and Hernandez aren't ready for significant roles, either…All that said, I like the general direction of where their headed (though not enough to renew my 13-game season ticket package last year or this — I'd had one since way back in '91 before giving it up last year (tickets are just too easy to come by to have the club tell me I havta see the A's on a c-c-c-c-old Wednesday in April))…As for this year, I'm posting 83 wins…Toronto, Cleveland, Kansas City, Oakland all look to be terrible…Texas ain't gonna be great…Tampa isn't the Tampa of 2007…There is some reason to hope, for the first time in quite a while!
I like the logic Bruz and I couldn't agree more. The Orioles aren't getting stop gap players the way they used to, they're getting stop gap players to hold the place for the guys they want in those positions. The beauty of Andy MacPhail's plan is that when the pitching clicks this team is going to really turn the corner. He preaches pitching and defense, the defense is well on it's way and the pitching is beginning to come together. The Orioles are really strong offensively, with an under rated lineup due to bad pitching. I like 83 wins, but I'm also fine with 82!
Thanks, Z Man! Wieters and Reimold from Day One…Tejada instead of Mora (assuming he actually runs out routine grounders this go-round and doesn't get benched for lack of effort)…Guthrie can't be as bad as he was last year…Millhouse is no Ace, but nor is he a mid-30's Japanese reliever expected to start in the Majors for the first time…Three youngsters in the rotation with some experience to go with their up-sides…Adam Jones healthy….And they did NOT sign Milton Bradley! Come on, Spring Training!
Yeah I'm ready for some baseball. Baby steps, but that's all a part of the plan. Go O's!