Orioles News - Winter Meetings

A slight change has been made to my blog. I will no longer put yesterdays date in the title, a habit that was useful during the season when the O's were still playing games. From now on, my blogs will not include a date in the title.

For all of Major League Baseball, the Winter Meetings will begin Monday in Nashville, Tennessee. So, what are these Winter Meetings? It's where GM's and top executives from all of the Major League teams go and talk baseball. They talk about trades, rumors, etc. So, which Baltimore Orioles players could be moving? Well, Andy MacPhail has said that no Orioles player is untouchable, but there are a few leading candidates to go. Disgruntled Oriole Miguel Tejada will probably be traded at the meetings. Ace Erik Bedard could also be traded. Several teams have offered good packages for him, and since contract negotiations between his agent and the O's have stalled, it is more reason to believe that he will be dealt. Also, Aubrey Huff, Jay Payton, Ramon Hernandez, and Melvin Mora could also be traded. What will the O's be looking for in return? The Orioles will most likely try to add a few relievers. The O's had their worst bullpen ERA in franchise history last year. Plus, Dany Baez and Chris Ray will be out for most of this year, leaving the O's short two more relievers. The O's will probably try to add some young arms. That's a good start... - John T.

Orioles News - 11/17/07 - A Look At The Lineup

The Baltimore Orioles haven't made many moves this year in free agency. The O's haven't had any significant players leave either, besides outfielder Corey Patterson. So, will they make any big moves this off season? Probably not. But, if you look, the base of the Orioles roster is still set. Here is a look at the Baltimore Orioles lineup for next year, as of right now.

The O's still have their lead off man, Brian Roberts. He isn't moving spots. The person who is hitting second is still a little iffy, since Corey Patterson is no longer on the team. It's also still iffy due to all of the trade rumors whirling. The man hitting third is pretty obvious - Nick Markakis. He led the team in batting average, home runs, and RBI's last year. Nick stays in the number three spot. Now for the fourth spot. If Miguel Tejada has a change of heart and decides to stay, and that's a big if, he will likely hit here. Miggi can still hit, it's just that his fielding is declining. A lot. In the number 5 spot, Aubrey Huff is a likely candidate. Huff hit .280 with 72 RBI's last year. Those numbers are OK, even if Huff does run his mouth. Now batting 6th, Melvin Mora. Mora, if he is still in Baltimore, should hit about here. Kevin Millar could hit in 7th, with Jay Payton hitting 8th. Rounding out the lineup, Ramon Hernandez should hit about 9th. - John T.

Orioles News - 10/7/07 - Looking forward to 2008

Now that the Baltimore Orioles season is over, some of the many questions on every one's mind are these: What will the O's everyday lineup look like in 2008? What will the Orioles' pitching rotation look like in 2008? What changes do the O's need to make to compete? Should Miguel Tejada leave or at least move to 3rd base? Should Daniel Cabrera leave or at least head to the bullpen? Today I will answer the first question, What will the O's lineup look like in 2008? The rest will be answered in the coming days.

What Will the Baltimore Orioles Lineup Look Like in 2008?

With Brian Roberts locked down in a contract, his place at second base is secure. Unfortunately, that's about the only spot that's secure in the Baltimore infield. Shortstop Miguel Tejada is unhappy and is likely on his way out of Baltimore. The O's want him to move to 3rd base, but Tejada is not going willingly as he has said that he would rather be traded to another team and continue playing shortstop. There's not much more certainty at 3rd base either as Melvin Mora's play has declined and Scott Moore is waiting in the wings to play. As for 1st base, Kevin Millar has played well but is obviously not the long-term answer. The catcher position is currently held by Ramon Hernandez, and it appears as if he will continue to hold that position. Now on to the outfield. Center fielder Corey Patterson is eligble for free agency this year, and it's not clear yet whether Baltimore will bring him back. The free agent pool is weak this year, so I think it would be wise to bring him back. In right field, Nick Markakis is holding down that spot and will continue to for years. Left field is a different story. Jay Payton wasn't spectacular and left field has been a weakness for years. That will probably continue this year unless the Orioles pull off a move to bring in someone new.

Coming tomorrow: What Will the Orioles Pitching Rotation Look Like in 2008? - John T.

Orioles News - 10/5/07 - Grading the Position Players in 2007

As a part of the 2007 season wrap-up for the Baltimore Orioles, I will grade the Orioles position players. Here are my grades. (Note: Players who finished the year on the disabled list or not with the team are not included.)

Grading the Baltimore Orioles Position Players in 2007:

Player: Grade: Key Stat:
Nick Markakis A .300 batting average.
Tike Redman B More triples then 11 players.
Miguel Tejada C 15 errors at Shortstop. Time to move?
Luis Hernandez C+ Drew only 1 walk.
Brian Roberts B 50 stolen bases.
Aubrey Huff C- Only 15 homers.
Melvin Mora C- 10 errors. Time to leave?
Corey Patterson C- 37 stolen bases, but otherwise a bad year.
Freddie Bynum C Didn't get a whole lot of chances.
Ramon Hernandez D+ Only 9 home runs.
Jay Payton D+ .256 batting average.
Scott Moore D .260 on base average.
Kevin Millar C+ 2nd highest on base average on the team.
Paul Bako D+ 1 homer in 156 at-bats.
Brandon Fahey F 9 hits in 54 at-bats.

Wow. That is bad hitting. I gave out one "A". You can't compete if you can't score...

Coming tomorrow: The Final Part of the 2007 Season Wrap-Up: Looking Back at 2007. - John T.

Orioles News - 9/28/07 - O's win in extra innings

The Baltimore Orioles won last night, 10-9 over the New York Yankees. It took 10 innings and a great rally by Baltimore to pull it off...

Coming into this game, the Yankees were 85-1 when leading after the 8th inning this year. Throw in the fact that future Hall Of Fame closer Mariano Rivera is on the mound, and the game seems to be over for the Orioles. Now throw in a 2 out, bases loaded triple by Jay Payton, and the O's sent the game into extra innings. Then in the 10th inning, Tike Redman hit a 1 out double, eventually moving to 3rd base on a passed ball. Nick Markakis and Miguel Tejada were intentionally walked to load the bases. Kevin Millar then came up to bat with the game on the line and... he struck out. Ok, lets try this again. Melvin Mora came up to the plate with 2 outs, the bases loaded, and a chance to be the hero. And Mora.... laid down a bunt to bring in the game winning run! A walk off bunt! (How many times do you hear that?) It was a gutsy call by the O's, but a call that paid off.

Our starting pitching wasn't much last night, as Jon Leicester went 4 1/3 innings, allowing 7 earned runs and walking 3 batters. But, our bullpen did a nice job after that, as they allowed only 2 more runs all game in this rare Orioles win. - John T.

Orioles News - 9/27/07 - Guthrie returns as O's win

Sorry I couldn't post this blog yesterday, my internet was down. So here it is.

A win! The Baltimore Orioles won last night, 8-5 over the Toronto Blue Jays. Rookie Jeremy Guthrie did great after coming back from a strained oblique. Guthrie allowed 3 runs (all earned) in 5 innings. Guthrie threw only 80 pitches due to the fact that he was on a pitch count. Guthrie was left with a no-decision because left fielder Jay Payton misjudged a fly ball which allowed a run to score. He also dropped a line drive which allowed a run.

Geez, Guthrie can’t catch a break anymore. Most of the time, the O’s aren’t providing him enough runs to win. But when they do, like last night, defensive mistakes cost him a decision. The rookie pitching sensation now has 7 no-decisions in his last 9 starts.

Jay Payton did make up for his mistakes in the field, as he drove in 3 runs. Also, Luis Hernandez hit his 1st major league home run last night. Congratulations to him. Hopefully this will be the 1st of many homers from him. J.R. House also homered, his 2nd this year.

So, a good day for the Orioles. – John T

Orioles News - 9/26/07 - 8 run Toronto 1st inning leads to O's loss

The Baltimore Orioles lost last night, 8-5 to the Toronto Blue Jays. This game was terrible. The Blue Jays began the game with a 8 run 1st inning. Yes, an 8 run 1st inning. With the pitchers we have, I'm not surprised. You can tell the game is going to be bad when on the 1st pitch of the game, you hit your opponet with a pitch. The Blue Jay who was hit was Reed Johnson. That was followed by a walk and then a single. So now the bases are loaded with Frank Thomas up and no outs. Great. Thomas crushed a pitch deep to left field but was robbed of the grand slam by Jay Payton (In picture). A run did score on that sacrifice fly though. After that, there was a single, a walk and another single. Then there was a fielder's choice and the O's got their 2nd out!!! Only 1 more out to go, right? Yes, but in the meantime, Toronto scored 3 more runs to run their total to 8 before the O's even went to bat.

So, after that 8 run inning by the Blue Jays, the O's were now down 8 runs against former Cy Young award winner Roy Halladay. But we can still rally to win, right? Fat chance. We did get some runs though, as Ramon Hernandez, Jay Payton and Tike Redman drove in runs. Redman drove in 2, as a matter of fact.

Just thought I'd share this with you: Victor Zambrono's line yesterday: 2/3 innings, 8 earned runs, and 3 walks. I'll leave you with that. - John T.

Orioles News - 9/19/07 - O's swept

Swept. The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles last night, 2-1 to sweep the O's. The O's wasted a great pitching performance by Brian Burres. Burres went 7 1/3 strong innings, allowing only 2 runs on 5 hits. But, Burres' effort didn't matter because the Orioles only scored 1 run, on Melvin Mora's single to bring in Brian Roberts. It's tough to win when you only score 1 run. It's not like the Orioles didn't have chances to score. They had plenty, leaving 7 men on base. The Yankees scored only twice, once in the 2nd inning on a home run by Hideki Matsui and on a wild pitch by Burres in the 5th. If you have any kind of good run support at all, you can expect to win a game when holding your opponet to 2 runs.

Also in the game, Jay Payton was ejected in the 5th inning after striking out on a 3-2 pitch, a called third strike. Payton said something to the umpire, and as he walked away he tosed his helmet in the general direction of home plate. The umpire didn't like that, ejecting Payton from the game.

The O's play a 4 game road series with the Texas Rangers, the O's last road series of the year. Remember one of the last times the O's and Rangers faced off? If not, the final score was 30-3. Hopefully that won't happen again... - John T.

Orioles News - 9/10/07 - Off-season needs

The O's didn't play last night, so here is a look at what the O's need this offseason.

What do the Orioles really need this offseason? They have several young pitchers, (Jeremy Guthrie, Brian Burres, Garret Olson, Radhames Liz) that could be great starters for the rotation in a year or two. So what do they need? Run support. Right now, the O’s aren’t driving in many runs. They are terrible. We need the run support for the pitchers, so we can win games. Also, a power hitting left fielder. Our left field now is Jay Payton, who is good but we need some more runs. If we got a power hitting left fielder, then we would be in a much better spot right now. Also, we need a first baseman. Aubrey Huff is good, but if we had a power hitting first baseman, we would be in much better shape. Preferably Mark Teixara, a free agent soon and a Baltimore native. And a better bullpen. We need a better bullpen, one that doesn’t blow games all the time. Those are our main needs, and the O’s really need to address them this offseason. - John T.

Orioles News - 8/22/07 - O's lose in doubleheader 30-3

Last night was a terrible night for the Orioles. They lost the first game of the doubleheader 30-3, which was the most runs scored in a game since 1897. They lost the 2nd game too, 9-7. But there will be more on that later. Heres how game 1 was.

Game 1.

This was the worst game in Orioles history. They were absolutely crushed, 30-3. It was ugly. Just to show you how ugly it was, here are some stats from it:

The Rangers set a record for most runs ever in a doubleheader-BEFORE GAME 2 EVEN STARTED!!!

This is the most runs the Orioles ever allowed in a game.

The 29 hits the Rangers had were the most the O's have ever given up in a game.

The 27 run margin was the largest that the Orioles ever lost by.

Erik Bedard, an O's pitcher, has given up 30 earned runs in his last 18 starts....The O's bullpen and Daniel Cabrera gave that up in 1 night.

The bullpen allowed 24 earned runs.

Brian Burres' ERA went from 4.45 to 5.24 in one game.

Rob Bell's ERA went from 4.18 to 6.14 in one game.

Paul Shuey's ERA went from 6.75 to 9.49 in one game.

The 8 and 9 hitters for the Rangers each had 7 RBI's.

So, all this leaves me with a question. What happened to that 40 million dollars that the Orioles management spent this offseason to "revamp" the bullpen?

Game 2.
This game was a little more respectable, but the O's still lost to the Rangers, 9-7. The O's had the lead but lost it in the 8th inning. Chalk another loss up the bullpen. The O's fought the Rangers early in the 2nd game, a homer by Jay Payton, and a 2 run shot by Nick Markakis, to tie the score at 3-3 in the 3rd inning. Down by 1, Miguel Tejada and Kevin Millar got on base for the O's. A few batters later, with the bases loaded and 2 outs, Jay Payton hit a 2 run single to give the O's the lead. Unfortanetly, the Rangers came back in the 8th to get the lead. They hung on to win the game though. Also, Kevin Millar tied the O's record for consecutive games reaching base with a single inthe 2nd game. So, all in all, a terrible day for the Orioles. - John T.