Photo Credit: Keith Allison
We here at Baltimore Sports and Life try our darnedest to bring you the best possible content we can. Whether that’s through written word or through our regular podcast shows (BSL being host to the number one ranked Baltimore Orioles show on iTunes – sorry, can’t help but brag just a bit). My point is that we enjoy what we do and every once in a while we’ll try something different for you, our readers.
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This column is the first, in what I hope to be a long running column, of this idea to bring you commentary on good ideas as well as the bad ones in the sports media world and blogosphere when it comes to the Baltimore Orioles.
There is no shortage of ideas and comments floating around this thing we call the inter-web about what the Orioles should, or must, do to improve the team and get into the playoffs. Some of those ideas involve trading scraps for golden eggs while other ideas involve calling up specific players from the minors and benching specific players on the major league roster.
So here we go, brace yourselves for the misadventures of ‘Good Idea, Bad Idea’.
Good Idea
The Baltimore Orioles must upgrade the rotation in order not to waste the best lineup in baseball per ESPN MLB Insider.
If the O’s are able to land one dependable starter, they could be a force come the postseason, should they reach it. They won’t need five starters in the postseason, and could conceivably shift Gausman into a high-leverage role similar to how the Rays used David Price in 2008. This would strengthen an already solid bullpen. But first the O’s need to get to the postseason, and they must upgrade their rotation to make it there.
No arguments here. The Orioles could certainly use an upgrade to their rotation to make a stronger push in the second half but so could every other contender out there. There will be plenty of competition out there for some of the ‘top tier’ starters available on the market but those guys will be pretty damn expensive to acquire.
The best bet for the Orioles is to go after a guy like Bud Norris or Travis Wood – two pitchers who play for unexceptional teams and don’t have the name recognition like Matt Garza, Cliff Lee, or even Jake Peavy and would thus require a vast over-payment.
Bad Idea
The Orioles should trade J.J. Hardy, shift Manny Machado over to shortstop, and then call up Zealous Wheeler to play the hot corner in his place.
Ryan Pollack over at Camden Chat he suggests that:
With Machado at SS, who would play 3B? Honestly, I’ve put less thought into that. Maybe Duquette calls up Zelous Wheeler to man the hot corner. He’s 26 and has a .370 OBP in 2900 minor-league PAs. Maybe the O’s stick the Valencia/ Betemit platoon at 3B instead of DH and hope the pair doesn’t embarrass themselves too much.
Admittedly I’m a big fan of Zelous Wheeler and would love for the Orioles to call him up and see what he can do with the bat. However, that’s about where his contributions would end in my opinion as he’s never been a particularly good fielder and why should the team take a major step down from what they currently have on the left side of the infield?
Machado is a gold glove caliber third baseman, Hardy is a gold glove caliber shortstop, and both are hitting incredibly well for their positions at this point in the season. Trading Hardy would only create a major hole at the hot corner that a contending team cannot afford to deal with. Furthermore, having Machado make that transition back to shortstop mid-season, in the middle of a pennant race, may not have quite the desired impact.
Good Idea
The Orioles hosted a baseball clinic for inner city youth on June 29 at Radecke Park in northeast Baltimore.
This is one of those events where there is no loser involved. The children get to learn about the game of baseball, get instruction and guidance from major league players who they are likely to look up to (such as Adam Jones) and get to walk away feeling good about themselves.
Baseball has long had problems appealing to inner city youth, especially among the African American population across the country, and it’s nice to see the Orioles continued involvement in trying to appeal to all children but especially in areas where opportunity and exposure to the game is limited at best.
Bad Idea
There has been no progress, according to Buster Olney of ESPN, on extension talks between the Orioles and catcher Matt Wieters. Olney stated that “Unless something changes dramatically,” the team believes that Wieters will forego a long-term deal and hit the free agent market after the 2015 season.
Sure, Wieters hasn’t exactly lived up to the lofty expectations placed on him by fans and even some talent evaluators with the bat – and not to mention his high draft pick status. But that doesn’t mean he’s not worthy of an extension for his work behind the plate alone and let’s face it, catchers tend to take longer to develop that bat than any other position.
If a long-term deal isn’t worked out soon then the Orioles may find themselves without a quality backstop for a good while because there is nothing, and I do mean nothing, of serious quality available on the free agent or trade market in the foreseeable future.
Be sure to check me out on Twitter: @BSLLanceRinker and also check out my show, ‘Bird Talk’, on iTunes.
