Just Gotta have Phaith

I know a lot of people have been criticizing Andy McPhail and his slow non flashy non sexy style, but we all need to remember something this man has done it before setting up the twins powerhouse organization and so has Showalter he set up the Yankees to win for Tore, the Rangers to win now, and the Diamondbacks who went on to make us all happy by beating the Yankees.

This is probably the best, most qualified, and most successful GM/coach combo the Orioles have seen easily since the Pat Gillick Davey Johnson days. They both have proven to be able to build successful franchises.

Lets look at what they have done so far as members of the Orioles organization.
Lets look at the major trades McPhail has made so far with the two most recent first.

1.Hoey and Jacobson for Hardy, Harris, and 500k- Anytime you can get an above average offensive and defensive shortstop for two relievers it is an easy win. with Jacobson never pitching above single a and Hoey having a ridiculously high career MLB ERA and still recovering from shoulder surgery. Even if it is for only one year of JJ Hardy he'll probably have a higher WAR over that season than those two will probably have over the next 5 combined. If he does have a good season he'll still be on the right side of 30 and with Machado still being a ways away he'll probably get an extension. Projected trade outcome-surefire win

2.Hernandez and Mickolio for Reynolds-Like I said before anytime you can get an above average everyday player for two relievers it is most usually a win. Reynolds will easily hit 40+ home runs in Camden Yards and with his defense steadily improving every year he will probably be a plus defender too. Hernandez does have real good potential to be a good setup/closer in the future and he probably will go onto have a nice career but is a good reliever worth 80 home runs the next 2 years, I think not. Mickolio while having great stuff and a big frame he does not have good control and has struggled in the major leagues. He reminds me of another former Oriole pitcher who was also lenghty and had great stuff but no command i think we all remember Daniel Cabrera and how he turned out. Projected trade outcome-another surefire win

3.Bedard for Jones, Tillman, Sherril, Mickolio, Butler-This fore sure was a win for the birds we got our starting all star CF for what hopefully is years to come. We got a good year out of Sherrill as our closer and then we traded him for Bell who could potentialy be a decent starter in the future. We got Tillman who had a so far has been bad but I feel he will probably have a beakout or good year most likely in the pen next season. We got Butler who was kidnaped and disappeared. Lastly we got Mickolio who we just traded to get Reynolds. Meanwhile Bedard struggled a lot with injuries and never was spectacular in Seattle so far. Trade Outcome-Easy win for the rioles

4. Tejada for Scott, Albers, Sarfate, Patton, and Costanzo- This would of been a win if we would of just traded Scott for tejada straight up as he has emerged as a good 30 homer threat each year. Albers was good for one year in relief and pretty much nothing else seeing as how he was just non-tendered. Sarfate was interesting while it lasted but with us never really getting anything special out of him. Costanzo didn't do anything and so far neither has Troy Patton. Tejada did have a few good years in Houston but we eventually resigned him and then traded him for still prospect Wynn Pelzer. Trade Outcome-Win

Those are the 4 biggest trades(i think) McPhail has made while here and they have ended up all being good ones that have shaped the club.

Showalter as you all know went 34-23 as the manager and has shown he can give this club what it need Self Confidence. Both Reynolds and Hardy fit the type of player that he is looking for and if he went 34-23 with players that he didn't even choose imagine how well he will do with players like Reynold and Hardy instead of utility men like Wiggington and Izturis.

Let me leave you with a few parting thoughts:
1. While he's been here have you ever seen McPhail make a bad or really bad trade?
2.The two of the three teams Buck has previously managed went on to win the world series right after he left and the third the Ranger just made it their only 4 seasons removed thanks to a strong farm system which he helped build

JJ Hardy to Baltimore

The orioles officially announced today that they have traded for JJ Hardy and Brendan Harris and sent minor league relievers Jim Hoey and Brett Jacobson. In my opinion this trade is a slam dunk for the orioles they get an above average starting shortstop and a utility infielder for a middle relief prospect and a 27 year old coming off recent surgery and that has had a sky high era in the limited time he has been in the bigs.

Hardy is a good defensive player with a good arm and his UZR ratings are pretty high. He also can hit for an average to above average batting average and has a lot of power.

With Brendan Harris being signed it's highly unlikely now the Caesar Izturis will return to the team with them already have above average starters at second and short with Harris backing them up. Both Harris and Hardy are both used to being trade candidates with the 30 year old Harris being on his 7Th team and Hardy being traded twice within a year.

In my mind we really did not give up anything with Hoey being a triple A pitcher and Jacobson being a middle reliever making him a dime a dozen and easy to replace. It won't be hard for the orioles to find relief help with a myriad of relievers out there and they already have a pretty solid 4 in Koji, Gonzalez, Johnson, and Berken.

The birds really need to focus their attention on getting either Adam Laroche or Derek Lee the two best first baseman options available. They both will probably put up similar numbers Lee might hit for a higher average but Laroche will probably have more home runs.

Koji Returns

A day after learning that George Sherill will not have another go around with the Orioles Koji Uehara has officially resigned with the team. It surprisingly is only a one year contract and you would of thought he would of gotten more than an option for next season with the multiple teams that were interested in him. This is a contract that is right for a 35 year old injury prone reliever.It is no surprise that he resigned with his son going to school in Baltimore and he apparently likes it in charm city.

The orioles are still probably going to go out and find another reliever with them already having made a 2 year 8-10 million dollar offer for former Blue Jay closer Kevin Gregg and with names like Bobby Jenks still out their they will probably be able to land a decent bullpen piece.

The bullpen looks pretty solid at this point with Koji and Mike Gonzalez battling it out for the closers spot. Jim Johnson being the 7/8th inning guy and former starters David Hernandez and Jason Berken being able to provide solid middle relief for one or more innings out of the pen. Alfredo Simon will probably have a spot in middle relief also and hopefully not much more. There are still a couple spots left open for one or two decent free agent acquisitions or you could look at players like flamethrower James Hoey and Chris Tillman coming from Triple A and the rotation respectively.

O's face hometown hero

The orioles tonight will face a Maryland native Aaron Laffey who has never faced the Orioles in 40 plus appearences in the major leagues spread out over 3 years. So far this season he has managed to win 7 of his last 10 decisions after entering this year at a career .500 winning percent. So far over 11 road starts he is 3-3 with a 4.97 ERA

He will face the young David Hernandez who only has one win since July and that came on August 11th against Oakland. Over five home starts he is 2-3 with a 4.23 ERA and ironicly has never faced the Indians in his career.

Young Guns

The Orioles while having one of the most promising young rotations in the bigs right know have had a lot of growing pains with their young starters.

Jeremy Guthrie who is the ace and most experienced member of the staff has had an off year having an ERA of over 5. While he isn't young age wise he is still very young in the number of starts at this level and you have to believe as smart as he is he will figure it out eventually.

Brad Bergeson up until his injury was the most consistent member of the starting rotation and I hope his early success can continue not only until he gets back but the rest of his career hopefully making him a valuable member of the Orioles for a log time to come.

David Hernandez has to be the second best rookie this season with an ERA in the low fours he looks like he has the ability to cement a spot in the starting rotation for next season.

Chris Tillman, Jason Berken, and Brian Matusz have all been inconsistent so far in their first major league seasons with Matusz and Berken having ERA's over 6 and a combined record of 4 and 13

Picture of The day

Summarizes the season so far and so does wtf!!!!!!!!!!!

One month to the trade deadline

Sorry it has been a while since I last posted but now I'm back and better than ever.

Now with the trade deadline approaching there are several players that could be traded due to various reasons.

Aubrey Huff is one of the Orioles that are likely to be traded in the next month because he is nearing the end of his contract and will be a free agent at the end of the season and the chances are slim for him to come back to the O's next season so they will probably see what they can get for him. He could possibly go to the Mets or the Giants to name a few places.

Geogre Sherril and Denyz Baez are two relievers that the O's could trade since they both are performing well and could net them some great prospect for the future. Baez is worth a lot and is in the final year of his contract, while the O's might not trade Sherrill because he a many more years under Orioles control. There are several teams that need bullpenn help and these two will probably be in high demand.

The Orioles have many players that could be traded but I think most of them will not be. Those players are:
Melvin Mora- Old, owed a lot of money, and a no trade clause
Ty Wiggington-Just signed with the team and can play multiple positions
Felix Pie-I don't think the O's have givin up on him yet
Gregg Zaun and Chad Moeller- Not in high demand

Orioles rotation starts to turn it around

With Koji pitching into the seventh inning last night and not giving up vary many runs he has continued a streak of the Oriole starters in which they have started to begin to turn the season around. It all started with Brad Bergesons major league debut in which he only gave up one run and had a 1.59 ERA. That was followed by Jeremy Guthries start which was not very good but he has already proven himself and we should expect him to start to return to his previous form. Adam Eaton who struggle to make it out of the fourth inning in his first two starts even had a stellar start against the White Sox which is one of the better hitting teams. Koji uehara pitched a similar game against probably the best hitting team the Texas Rangers in which he pitched 6 and 2/3rds innings and only gave up 2 runs to lower his ERA to 4.59. These type of starts need to continue in order for the Orioles to have a chance at lowering their team ERA below 5 and contending this year even if it is just fighting to be .500 on the year.

Hendrickson Sharp In O's Debut

Mark Hendrickson came into today's game against the division foe Tampa Bay Rays with very low expectation on him. He greatly surpassed the wildest expectations he had and pitched five and a 1/3rd innings just allowing one run on six hits for a 1.69 ERA.

The Orioles desperately need him to repeat this performance in order for them to have a winning season and potentially compete for the AL East title. According to fan favorite Rick Dempsey if he and the other back of the rotations starters( the 3,4, and 5 starters) can each make 25 starts this season the Orioles will be in contention for the pennant.

Hendrickson has pitched surprisingly well at Camden Yard during his career with a 2.70 ERA at coming into tonight at Oriole Park. And he had a 5.07 ERA away from Baltimore in his career. In his start tonight he gave up just one walk over his five and a third innings which is something that the O's are looking for to reverse the current trend of the past couple years where the finished last in the league both times in walks

Orioles win opening series vs Yankees

Even though the Orioles dropped the final game of the three game set the still managed to take two out of three from the hated Yankees. Brian Roberts, Adam Jones, and Nick Markakis all combined to give the Orioles a great 1-2-3 punch at the top of the order along with some unexpected contributions coming from Greg Zaun, Cesar Izturis, and the bottom of the batting order. The bullpen so far has been the weak link of the team and it is a trend that I would not count on continuing.The rotation has not been alright with Jeremy Guthrie and Koji Uehara combining for a 3.27 ERA and Alfredo Simon proving he can pitch and throw strikes in his first outing where he gave up 4 runs in 5 innings.