This is the time of year to remember what you are grateful for in your life. Orioles fans have much to celebrate, though admittedly the majority of that which is baseball-related happened before the first Bush administration. There may not be a more loyal fanbase than O’s fans, but after a few decades even the most loyal fans could be forgiven for getting tired of hearing about plans for success while watching the opposite of success happen on the field night after night after oh holy night. It’s time for the Orioles to show their fans something besides plans, vague statements about “the process,” and zoom meetings with degrees from Yale prominently displayed in the background. It’s time for the Orioles to make some noise.
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Chris Stoner has advocated for what I feel is a very reasonable timeline for Orioles contention. That is, in essence, be better in 2021, make some moves, bring some young guys up, and be competitive in 2022, then go big and make the playoffs (and maybe more!) in 2023. If that’s about right, it’s certainly more than fair from an ownership standpoint, being how owners always want you to buy things. Promising to support the team, watch games, buy merchandise, and attend games (when prudent and available) and in return not even require the team to be any good for another calendar year seems generous at the least. On the whole I agree with Chris here, but I’d just like to introduce one wrinkle into the discussion. I think the Orioles need to make a big move. Now. Soon. This offseason, at least. It’s time for the Orioles to show they are serious about winning, even if that doesn’t mean actually winning.
Back in 2010 the Washington Nationals won 69 games. They were, in a word, bad. That off-season they went out and signed star outfielder Jayson Werth to a seven year contract anyway. Nationals GM Mike Rizzo explained the signing by saying something about showing people they were serious. I dismissed the signing at the time as wasteful and Rizzo’s statement as ridiculous, but I was wrong. I believe it is true that the best way to entice fans is to win, but sometimes winning isn’t an option quite yet. Sometimes you have to do something to show your fans that you are trying, that you care, and that the plan includes winning sometime soon, preferably this damn century. That’s what the Werth signing did. The season after signing Werth, the Nationals won 80 games. The season after that they won 98. That started a run of Nationals teams with winning records that lasted eight seasons and culminated with the franchise’s first World Series title.
The Nationals didn’t win the 2019 World Series because they signed Jayson Werth who stopped playing the year prior, but signing Werth did what Rizzo said. It sent a message to the league, to their players, to other free agents, and most importantly to Washington’s fans that the Nationals were trying to win baseball games. Yes, there was a plan in place, yes the winning wasn’t going to commence right then and there, but it was coming. It was coming soon. There is real value in that message, especially when you’ve asked your fans to accept losing for so long, and asked them to pay for the privilege of watching some pretty bad baseball for a long, long time.
The Nationals aren’t the only ones to employ this strategy, either. In 2014, the Chicago Cubs went 73-89. That off-season they signed star starter Jon Lester to a six year deal. The next season they won 97 games and made the National League Championship Series. The year afterwards they won 103 games and their first World Series title since one of the ice ages.
Understand the Cubs didn’t sign Jon Lester for show. They needed a very good starting pitcher and he was the best available. But it didn’t hurt that it had the additional benefit of being a showy move that told Cubs fans this team was for real, that they intended to compete and to do so soon. It also didn’t hurt that having Lester throw 200+ innings for the team made them a better team, a more watchable team, a more winning team, just as Werth did for the Nationals.
There are numerous examples of this in action. The Dodgers traded for and then signed Mookie Betts after the 2019 season. The next season they won their first World Series since the early 80s. After the 2016 season the Red Sox traded for star starter Chris Sale, who had three seasons remaining on his contract. Boston won the World Series in that third season after also signing JD Martinez.
Of those teams, all except the Dodgers were coming off of last place showings. Of those teams, three hadn’t won a World Series in decades if not longer. Just because the Orioles have a losing record, just because they haven’t won in a long time, that’s no reason not to go get a good player who can help the team win and draw in fans right now.
There are some good players available on the free agent and trade markets right now. I’d argue the free agent market’s players probably don’t line up with what the Orioles need as much right now but the point is to get good players. Show the fans the team cares, the organization is serious, and they want to win as much as the fans do.
There is one player who would be a perfect fit in Baltimore and for some reason (I know why, but it’s stupid) the Indians are looking to deal him: Francisco Lindor. The Yankees need a shortstop. The Blue Jays have been sniffing around as well. Ask yourself this: how would you feel if Lindor joined the Orioles? How would it make you feel as a fan? Now, how would it feel if he was traded to New York or Toronto? Yeah.
The Orioles have asked a lot of their fans and to their credit, Orioles fans have endured. They’ve been there. Now it’s time for the team to show their fans they’re paying attention, they care, and they want to win. Badly.
Do something. Make the team better. Give the fans a reason to get excited beyond some guy in Double-A they’ve never heard of. It is, after all, the season of giving.
Orioles Analyst
Matthew Kory is a Orioles / MLB Analyst for BSL. He has covered baseball professionally for The Athletic, Vice Sports, Sports On Earth, FanGraphs, and Baseball Prospectus. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife, two boys, and his cats, Mini Squeaks and The President. Co-Host of The Warehouse.