Orioles have purpose and direction
Posted: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 5:34 PM
Andy MacPhail had a plan from the start. He had been offered a handful of attractive baseball jobs after his departure from the Cubs. But he chose Baltimore, the team of his youth, the team once run by his father, but now a team whose perception with a loyal fan base had bottomed out.
MacPhail stepped in as the team president. Owner Peter Angelos would stay in the background, and allow MacPhail to be the public face of the Orioles.
MacPhail's plan: speed and defense. The Orioles had a failed record of spending in an attempt to match the Yankees and Red Sox in the AL East. They still can't, evidenced by their futile pursuit of Mark Teixeira, a Maryland native.
So MacPhail knew the Orioles needed a different approach. If you can't go dollar- for-dollar against your direct rivals for the big bats, then you must fight them with assets that aren't the object of top free-agent bidding. Thus, the Orioles began to focus on legs and gloves.
Player development would also be revitalized. And this week, for the first time in two decades, the Orioles have the No. 1 prospect as judged by Baseball America. Matt Wieters will soon inherit the catching position, the reason why MacPhail traded Ramon Hernandez over the winter.
There is a crop of talented young starters in the pipeline. But they won't be rushed. MacPhail, who signed Gregg Zaun to avoid rushing Wieters, inked Japanese veteran Koji Uehara to provide rotation depth behind Jeremy Guthrie, and afford the young arms time to develop.
The team's core is in place. Both Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts signed long-term deals. In Roberts' case, the Orioles kept a popular player, who had been long rumored in trades. Adam Jones is the team's center fielder, the centerpiece of MacPhail's first big trade last winter. Jones was terrific until an August injury. He must improve his walk-strikeout ratio, but at 23, there is reason for the Orioles to hope big things from him.
An approach featuring speed and defense can seem odd in Camden Yards, a hitter-friendly park. But the old Orioles’ way didn't work, and the bones of Albert Belle, Marty Cordova, Jeff Conine, Jay Gibbons, and Tony Batista litter the landscape of 11 consecutive losing seasons. Attendance has dropped in nine of the last 11 seasons.
The Orioles needed a different way, and MacPhail has provided it. There is evidence that the baseball organization is on its way to health (look at the Cubs and a solid representation of homegrown players from the MacPhail era that populate their consecutive division title teams). But their climb is steep. Each of their AL East foes won at least 86 games last year. The Orioles were the division gimme games. Competing against the New York and Boston money machines is daunting. It has yet to translate to wins, but the Orioles have purpose and direction.
FIVE MORE SWINGS:
1. SPRING TRAINING GAMES STARTED TODAY… which is truly insane. Exhibition games start on Feb. 25, and the season opener is on April 5. Someone please stop this madness.
I know the World Baseball Classic is the main reason. And I know the owners make money in spring training games, although this spring some teams are learning there is a ceiling to their ability to grab cash. But this schedule is senseless, and sadly, we may all witness the true craziness of it when the World Series is played this November.
2. THE FINAL STAGE OF MANNY RAMIREZ’S OPERA… began today. Agent Scott Boras' last stand is to hope that games without Ramirez will heighten the talk, and thus the pressure, from players and fans to their teams.
Rafael Furcal was the first volunteer yesterday, suggesting the Dodgers might not have made the playoffs without Ramirez. Mensa membership is next for Furcal.
Giants president Larry Baer tap-danced around the issue in a radio interview Monday, although he did directly state the Giants won't make an offer knowing it would be immediately shopped to the Dodgers.
Finally, Buster Olney makes the point I have tried, in a less eloquent manner, to express all winter -- signing Ramirez requires pleasing Ramirez. How much do you have to pay Ramirez to guarantee that he tries hard? Does anyone think Ramirez would play with any intensity on a Bobby-Abreu-like deal (one-year, $5 million)?
Ramirez’s situation is eerily similar to the latter years of Barry Bonds’ career. He didn't discount. Bonds would have stayed home before playing for Abreu’s money. I don't know if Ramirez is of the same mindset, but I know that the Dodgers have to weigh the merits of paying Ramirez more than the market bears to make sure of his dedication. I hope Ramirez realizes this is truly a great country.
3. BACKLASH IN THE METS’ WORLD…after manager Jerry Manuel made Daniel Murphy his regular left fielder. Problem is that Manuel said Murphy was a "better hitter than Ryan Church." No surprise that Church was stung, although a check of Church's career stats does not take one's breath away. This makes for a juicy spring training story. The offshoot of the interminable spring training is six weeks for the NYC tabloids to try and fill their back pages. But my take is that the Mets still haven't solved EITHER corner outfield spot.
4. BUSINESS OF BASEBALL SWING…the A's officially ended their attempts to build a ballpark in Fremont, only six miles from downtown San Jose. That last phrase was the key to the deal, the A's attempt to move to San Jose without infringing on the Giants' territorial rights. But the deal actually died over the winter when Cisco Systems, their partner and landlord (the acreage was Cisco's), quietly pulled out.
Why should we care? The A's are stuck in a horrid stadium that was handed over to football. Only two teams (A's and Marlins) still play in shared stadiums, and the Fish are about to get their new home. In this economic climate, there appears no easy answer to the dilemma of the A's long-term health.
5. TENNIS UPDATE…since our last post the WTA did well in compensating Israeli player Shahar Peer, her doubles partner Anna-Lena Groenefeld, and in muscling the United Arab Emirates to assure there would be no repeat of this year's travesty when the Dubai Tennis Championships cited security fears because of potential fan anger at Israel’s recent incursions into the Gaza Strip as the reason for a last-minute visa denial for Peer.
Completely underplayed this week is Andy Roddick's decision to boycott the men's event in Dubai this week. Roddick is often criticized for his on-court tirades with umpires, and some off-court brusqueness. But he is bright, and has a conscience. And remember that Roddick did not hide behind injury. Rather he stood tall, and said exactly why he passed on a big payday.
