If the shoe doesn’t fit, then don’t wear it. Andy MacPhail discussed the O’s yesterday and their consistent lack of focus in the batter’s box. In particular he was asked about Garrett Atkins and whether there was anything there could be done to reverse the trend. MacPhail continued his stance on “This is not a suicide pact” and was quite honest about his thoughts of first base production.

“We’re not getting enough out of first base,” MacPhail said. “That’s one of the reasons we’re trying to add to our options. We need to get more production out of that than we are. We’ll go the way we are for the time being, and we’ll see how things evolve.”

— The Baltimore Sun

With that lack of confidence vote from the general manager, I think it’s safe to say that Atkins may be sitting the bench more frequently in the coming weeks. With absolutely no offensive production from first base, who could blame MacPhail. Batting .236 with no homers, 6 RBIs and an on base percentage just barely above .300 is the bottom of the barrel for first baseman.

Where do the Orioles go? MacPhail is hinting at bringing someone in to pick up the slack, but who’s next on the depth chart? Salazar? Reimold? Gonzo? If Gonzo can’t pitch maybe he’ll be more effective as hitter. Trades aren’t heating up yet and the O’s aren’t going to get much for him anyway unless they packaged him with other players. Where do you think the Orioles move to shake things up?