The Rundown, Orioles Stuff and Random Thoughts
Well, we are in day two of a long off-season for the Orioles and rather than wait, changes have already been ushered.
Jaret Wright and Victor Zambrano have been released from their contracts, and the news should not have come to any surprise for fans. Wright only lasted three starts before his shoulder injury flared up, and although he tried to come back in September, it was for nothing.
Victor Zambrano -- need we say anything? There's a reason why teams have dumped him. He's not good, and his performance against the Blue Jays and on against the Yankees on Sunday show that's he for the most part is washed up.
Rock Kubatko has more on the developments in his blog, Roch Around the Clock.
Spencer Fordin has an Orioles Year in Review piece up. It's a nice little read; however, it does not tell us anything we do not already know.
The Baltimore Examiner reviews the Orioles' season, and columnists Sean Welsh and Matt Palmer argue who should be the team MVP - Markakis or Bedard...
The Orioles minor league system has made great strides over the past few years; however, it is still barren and a lot of their prospects are not ready for the big leagues as evidenced by the callups in September. As well, the Baltimore Sun looks at the organization's best and worst prospects.
Pressbox Online has an interview with ESPN's Tim Kurkjian and he laments about the state of baseball in the Baltimore-Washington area. He's a bright man, and a great baseball mind and the series of quotes you see below describe
"I am discouraged about the Orioles for the Orioles’ sake. I really thought they had started to get things moved around, and maybe they have as far as developing young players, and now they have to keep them healthy for once. But just the way they have played in the last couple of months, they just don’t look as competitive as a major league team should look. I’m not sure anybody is to blame, and maybe everybody is to blame.
I worry about them for one very big reason. People in
I don't think anymore needs to be said.
As well, if you have a moment, check out Jim Henneman's piece on the site...
- Anyone catch the Rockies-Padres game? Wow. Boy, can you count on old Jorge Julio or what. Considering his mind and focus has never been on the game, he imploded when the season was on the line and when everything counted! If not for Trevor Hoffman being that much worse than Julio, he would be a guy whose name would live in baseball infamy. Now, Julio's implosion will most likely just be forgotten.
- Yet another fool is implicated in the Signature Pharamacy probe, and this time it is New York Met reliever, Scott Schoenweis.
According to the AP, "Relief pitcher Scott Schoeneweis received six shipments of steroids in 2003 and 2004 from the Florida pharmacy under investigation for illegal distribution of performance-enhancing drugs, ESPN.com reported yesterday."
I have no idea if the Mets and their fans feel better about things considering they choked this weekend and lost the NL East pennant.
Now Schoeneweis is denying he ever got steroids.
From Fox Sports: "New York Mets reliever Scott Schoeneweis says he has never heard of Signature Pharmacy or received shipments from Florida in response to allegations that he got steroids from the company at the center of an investigation into illegal prescription drug sales.
"I don't even know what that is," Schoeneweis told The Daily News in New York late Monday. "Steroids in Florida? I never received anything from Florida. I'm not going to comment. I never even heard of it."
Good lord. If that's the case, when why were you hooked up with Signature Pharmacy and why is your name on the orders?
Just say you did it.
However, I am wondering about the timing of these announcements. Why was this not done earlier, and why do we hear about these things at the most convenient times (ala, the Mets imploding and the News coming out a few days later...)
3 comments:
I've enjoyed your honesty this season. Unlike a certain writer for the Sun (rhymes with schmuck,
oops), you understand that this is a bigger mess than anyone thought and getting Alex Rodriguez will
not solve anything. Anyway, here is what I wish for this off-season:
1, HONESTY, IT'S SUCH A LONELY WORD.
A week after returning from their organizational meetings in Florida, Andy MacPhail should hold a
press conference and say something to this effect:
" After observing this team over the last four months of the year, I realized that this is worse than I
could have imagined. Good God, what a mess!!! I'm sorry, but damn!!!
Oriole fans, those who are left, thank you for your continued support. We are going to follow the
path the Indians, Tigers, Diamondbacks, and Rockies took. You know, rebuild. Not signing Aubrey
Huff, Jay Payton and trade for Jared Wright rebuilding, but REAL rebuliding. Trading overpriced
and overrated veterans for prospects as well as rebuilding the farm system. I know you've been
patient, but we are gonna stink for at least three more season, but we promise you will see a
difference in this team. We hope you continue to support us as we are officially under construction.
If he does something close to that, he will be a hero in this city. Unlike Syd Thrift, who thought us
too stupid to understand his plan (whatever that was), and Mike Flanagan and Jim Beattie, who
were too stupid too come up with a plan, this would be a stroke of genius. Now that that's done,
let's start with...
2. CUT THE FAT.
Fire Jim Duquette. Why? Because of his unhealthy obsession with Victor Zambrano. Period.
Fire Mike Flanagan. Why? Have your been asleep the past two seasons?
Fire anyone who has been here five years of more. Why? Just for the sake of change.
Fire Terry Crowley. Please.
3. FALL BACK, SPRING FORWARD.
On to the players:
Get rid of Jay Gibbons!!! If you have to eat the rest of his contract, it serves you right, but the days
of keeping slugs on this team because of their salaries have to end. Who would you rather see, J.R.
House or a player so bad that HGH can't help him?
Same with Daniel Cabrera. I don't even have to explain why. When Dustin Pedroia says you stink
and you can't argue, it's time to ship him out.
Same with anyone whose last name is Bako, Bynum, Payton, Bell, etc. You get the drift.
4. HARD TIMES CALL FOR HARD CHOICES.
We have an idea who's safe on this team: Bedard, Markakis, Mora (because of his no-trade clause,
typical Orioles). One person is missing, I'll get to him later. The first order of business:
Miggy. Second in Batting Average, home runs, and RBI's. But for his broken wrist, he would have
reached his usual Oriole numbers. Has his defense slipped? You betcha, but Miguel Tejada has
more than held up his end of the deal, the Orioles let him down. Trade him for what you can get.
Ramon Hernandez. I know he was injured, but his mind was somewhere, anywhere else this
season. Has more value on a winning team than a rebuilding one. Has value. Trade.him.
Corey Patterson. Played okay. Great speed, excellent defense. And exactly the type of player
the Orioles always overpay. I'd rather see Jeff Fierentino hit ninth and play CF for the league
minimum than see Patterson hit .269, steal 40 bases, and strike out 110 times for $25 million
for three years, but that's just me. Good Luck on the free agent market.
5. OH, I FORGOT...
Trade Brian Roberts.
He's one of the ten best second basemen in the game, he's one of the most popular players on
the team, and a guy who could help a winning team.
And that's why he should be traded.
Roberts has seen nothing but losing his entire career, and it's starting to get to him. And since
he has trade value, I would trade him now before he becomes another Brady Anderson and
takes on the as-long-as-I-got-mine attitude. Do it for his sake, he deserves to play for a
winner in his prime.
I have more ideas, but I don't have time. But after ten years, we don't have time to tip-toe around
this mess, it's past time to do what should have been done years ago. Your thoughts...
Anon, thanks. Despite the spelling errors sometimes and the lack of proof-reading (only because I am work when I do this most of the time), I try to tell it like it is.
Well, I am just a fan who follows baseball intensively, and I love the team, hence my honesty. I have no vested interest in the Orioles, besides being a season ticket holder.
I try to stay fair and balanced, but as the season wore on, the problems just became far more noticeable.
I was going to do a review and assign the players, along with the team my own grades.
Your post alluded to some of the topics I wanted to add, but there will be a whole lot more.
I'll follow up your comments starting tomorrow in bits and pieces; however, I agree flat out that MacPhail should do like the Nationals did and say, "we are rebuilding and it will be a process that takes X years"...
If anything, fans will appreciate the honesty and respect MacPhail even more. Baltimore is a gritty, blue-collar, proud town - people who tell it like it is go farther than someone who more or less just feeds the masses bulls**t.
Thanks for your comment, btw.
Send me an email if you have one.
Good Morning,
Name's David, and I
wrote that out of ten years of
frustration. Thanks for the love.
You can reach me @ desjr1211@
earthlink.net. I'll be looking
out for your post. Have a good
one.
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