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Roch:

Do you know when MLB will release the O's spring training schedule for 2010?

Thanks
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Don't know the date, but I'll pass it along as soon as I get it. - Roch

So is Papelbon the ptbnl in the Gathright trade?

I keep reading give Reimold some ground balls at first, why not third hes got the arm for it?
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It takes a lot more than a strong arm to play third base. - Roch

By the sounds of the papers and writers here in Michigan, Rodney will not be resigned by the Tigers.

Roch, do you think he would be a good fit for the O's. His ERA is a little high for a closer but most of those runs were during non save situations.
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At this point, he'd be an upgrade, but I'm not a huge fan. Maybe I'm just remember him more as an Armando-type with a blazing fastball, but not all the intangibles to close. That was earlier in his career. - Roch

Roch i am giving my 4 star pick tonight miami + 1 1/2
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Wouldn't surprise me, given that I'm 6-7 against the spread this week. - Roch

Hey Roch, your fanclub at the Meyerhoff ticket office wants to know if you're going to the Brooks tribute.
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It's hard for me to plan my life too far in advance, but that's certainly the plan right now. I'd love to attend. - Roch

Roch, I couldn't agree with you more on Jason Bay; that's exactly what the Orioles need. He is a high fastball hitter, and O's mostly are low ball hitters. It would cover a major hole in O's armamentarium. But the Red Sox - ousted in the very first round - would throw the bank at him to keep him.

colts 56 packers 0 in 1958 i think that's the first colts score i remember hearing.

Does MLB or the Orioles have a policy concerning texting during a game? I would imagine it is frowned on if not forbidden in the dugout but I can only imagine for the bullpen it would be a welcomed diversion.
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I don't know about MLB, but no way the Orioles are allowing players to have their cell phones during games. - Roch

Agree with your take on Rodney. I too see him as a Benitez/Julio clone. Yeah, Bay would look good in left at the Yard next year but it will probably be for the damn Yankees. Matsui is no longer an outfielder and Johnny Damon has an arm like Barney Frank. You know the Yanks would love to have him.

But even to just imagine Papelbon as an Oriole is difficult--I've had so many daydreams about a line drive knocking all his teeth out and lodging itself in his throat as a broken bat severs his jugular . . . well, I just don't think my brain could handle the switch.

For the price he will command, forget about Bay. He will never have another year as good as this one. And giving 31-year-old outfielders five-year contracts coming off career years (and in a shallow free agent market) sounds like something the old (stupid) Orioles would have done.

Roch, Bay is a poor defender in LF. His offense would make up for it but I just don't see him fitting in defensively with what we are trying to do.

If you want a LFer, go after Holliday IMO, even though he's a Boras client.
He's younger and a better defender.
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I'd rather have Holliday, but the chances of landing him are even slimmer. - Roch

Schoolman,

Based on all the evidence to which we have been made privy -- your own testimony, Schmuck's comments about your spring training gallivanting, and, now "your fan club" at the Meyerhoff has been heard from -- it is safe to say that you have as much "talent" as Eisenberg has; your talent just flows from a different skill set.

Dear Roch,

We all choo-choo-choose you, of course. To Jack and Brummie -- Let's Bee Friends! We’ve all been looking at the (lack of) APPROPRIATE aggressiveness on the basepaths and fundamentals. However, it seems that Dave had been shying away from “dropping the hammer” this past year, so its difficult to know if these things will change on their own or with new coaches.

Chris in Hawaii re: “gladiator movies”…very funny. ”Billy, have you ever been in a –- Turkish prison?”

Mark C: Interesting take on your alternative luxury tax for baseball, giving teams incentives not to spend without caps. Obstacles pointed out by others, but interesting food for thought…

Jack Dunn’s Baby: Thanks for the bio of Trembley. While he may not be the best choice for the O’s, his minor league resume looks quite good (Top 5 over the last 20 years?). Some have argued that Dave “was not a winner” in the minors, using I assume his win-loss record. While this is certainly gasoline on the fire for this blog, this is yet another example of when wins and losses don’t always matter so much (especially as a MINOR league manager). Re: TBS pitchtracker, I did appreciate the whole sequence being shown during the at-bat, but only after noting how ridiculously off-kilter the TBS pitchtracker as a measuring tool is (fitting with their other failings as a baseball broadcast). The Northrop Grumman model at MASN appears to be much more accurate.

A side note re: “Cubs rejects” –

Just thinking about the position the Cubs occupied upon McPhail’s departure and comparing it to how Jim Hendry has employed the “win now” philosophy since. Since McPhail left, they have completely depleted their minor league system, rushed prospects like Hill, Pie, and Samardja, made poor free-agent choices like Bradley, Soriano, and Fukudome, lost valuable assets like DeRosa, Howry, Eyre, and Wuertz, and made awful tactical choices with their (lack of a real) closer and lead-off hitter, and they are getting further from contending, now likely needing a new manager and lots of hope. That 66 win season was certainly not a bright spot on McPhail’s resume, but he lost Wood and Prior for that year. McPhail rejuvenated the franchise and minor-league depth, put a big-wallet team in a position to contend perennially, and he should shoulder his share of the blame for bad choices and bad luck as well. Hendry should be credited for getting (keeping) the team in the playoffs (Lilly, Edmonds) on McPhail's organizational fumes, but Hendry’s attempt to win a century’s worth of pennants in three years has destroyed the work McPhail did to build the Cubs as a long-term franchise, and I predict that they’ll need either a major shake-up or to start all over again to get back to where they were just three years ago.

All this is to say: in recent history, whatever is the opposite of what the Cubs are doing (the old George rule from Seinfeld) looks pretty good. Their reasons for “rejecting” people could be like their reasons for doing anything else – not very sound and costing way more than they are worth. “Cubs rejects” could simply mean “prospects from a franchise and manager that doesn’t know what they’re for”.

Jon and Roch: Plus Holliday's numbers are terrible in the American League. Look at his numbers in Oakland, compared to St Louis and Colorado.

Hi Roch;
What do you think abour Gerrero for DH? We need someone for clean-up hitter.After seing Ramirez record this year and how Ethier hit 31 homers, I think he can improve the rest of the team just by being there.
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Guerrero's still got a little left in the tank, but he's not the same feared hitter he used to be. I'd take him for a year if the Orioles can't find more of a long-term solution. - Roch

Michigan O's Fan,

I do agree that Rodney looked better this year, and that most of the runs he gave up were in non-save situations. I'd still be much more inclined to go after Jose Valverde, Bobby Jenks (if available), or Billy Wagner before I went after Rodney. Rodney would be an upgrade to Johnson, but I'd much rather see the O's sign Valverde or Jenks.

Roch, since you brought you your fantasy, here's a question for the rest of the class. If you had $45 million (to bring the O's payroll up to $75m) to spend (in 2010 salaries, not total), and could sign any players out on the free agent market, which ones would you sign?

My picks would be....
1. John Lackey $16m/yr (4 year deal)
2. Jose Valverde $8.5m/yr (3 year deal)
3. Mike Gonzalez $4.5m/yr (2 year deal)
4. Adam LaRoche $7m/yr (2 year deal)
5. Mark DeRosa $7m/year (2 year deal)
6. Mark Hendrickson $2m/year (1 year deal)

Rotation: Lackey, Guthrie, Matusz, Tillman, Bergesen/Arrieta
Bullpen: Valverde (closer), Gonzalez, Johnson, Uehara, Mickolio, Hendrickson, Hernandez
Lineup:
2B Brian Roberts S
3B Mark DeRosa R
RF Nick Markakis L
C Matt Wieters S
CF Adam Jones R
1B Adam LaRoche L
LF Nolan Reimold R
DH Aubrey/Scott L/L
SS Cesar Izturis S

Strong defense, solid pitching, not many holes in the lineup.

Okay class, who's next?

What would we do if the Orioles traded for Papelbon and he blew a save in the playoffs? Oh, that's right - we'd love to have that problem.

At some point there have to be guys that would be an upgrade for the Orioles that won't fit onto the Yanks/Sox rosters because they are just too full, right? I mean, at this point I don't think they Yankees are looking for 1B or 3B, and the Sox can only fit so many guys into LF/DH. What's the likelihood of some of their surplus trickling down to the dregs of the AL East and landing in Baltimore?

Actually, what the Orioles need is to get and develop their own talent so that they don't have to be trying to outbid those other teams. I can see it happening, eventually.

Jon - It's a major stretch to say that Holliday is a better defender than Bay. In six seasons Holliday has 40 assists, 31 errors, and a .980 fielding %. Jason Bay in 7 seasons has 54 assists, 22 errors, and a .988 fielding %.

Bay is one year older, but has proven that he can hit in the AL, and I might add the AL East. Holliday's numbers were significantly off his norm in his half season in the AL.

Does anyone else here notice that Brummie/Jack are (is) the only people (person) that uses LOL???

Bay's BA did not exactly impress anyone, and his stats in my opinion were more a product of the Boston lineup than a representation of his sheer talent.

Every Boston player's stats must be put in perspective; They played against the 4A Orioles 18 times.

$15m a year is way too much for a slightly above average guy and I've heard his agent is a bit of a headcase, firing off comments to the press ghat Bay is as good as Tex.

Arrogant agent + arrogant GM= TROUBLE down the road.

Besides, we all know what $15m would do to the Profit/Loss statement.

LOL

When you date a woman, sometimes it's nice to hear a perspective from her ex.

Same with GMs/Presidents of whatever operations...............here is one from a Chicago columnist who experienced a 12 year relationship with a certain baseball man now in Baltimore.

"Everyone thought in April that the Cubs were a lock to win the Central again.So Hendry wasn't the only one mistaken.

"Perhaps this is a painfully low bar and a faulty barometer, but Hendry's track record is still much better than the men who preceded him, including Andy MacPhail, Ed Lynch and Larry Himes."

Hmm, sure seems some people in the Chicago press are not very high on Dandy Andy and his "Plan". After 12 years of ANDREW, do you think they might know something we don't?

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=327604

What is Mike Flanagan doing these days? I haven't heard his name mentioned in over a year.

Thanks.
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I'm asked about him quite a bit. He's not in the organization. Haven't talked to him in a long time. I assume he's just home these days. - Roch

While I've always liked Bay as a player, I don't see any reason to go after him this offseason. We don't need to strengthen our OF at the moment. It's shaping up very nicely.

I'm not opposed to a big trade but there is really no reason to break the bank on anyone this year in FA. See what some of our internal options can do, then go for the homerun next offseason.

Hey Roch, Do you think Dye would be a fit at DH/part-time OF? He hit lefties at a .292 clip.
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I could see him as a fit. Short-term. Not the 40-HR bat I want in the cleanup spot, but a fit nonetheless. - Roch

Brummie,

How was signing Markakis and Roberts to long term deals cheaper than trading them for a grab bag of cheap, team controlled prospects?

Oh wait, it wasn't, you just want to make the same repetitive, ridiculous statements over and over so people will notice you. It's a sad, pathetic life you lead.

Also, Jason Bay hit .236 against the AAAA Orioles, well below his season average of .267. At least if you're gonna pretend to be a journalist on this blog, also pretend to know how to look up the facts.

Roch,

At this point, I think I'd enjoy next season more if we could just get an ignore feature on this blog instead of John Lackey. That's gotta be good for the profit / loss statement, right?

"Jon - It's a major stretch to say that Holliday is a better defender than Bay. In six seasons Holliday has 40 assists, 31 errors, and a .980 fielding %. Jason Bay in 7 seasons has 54 assists, 22 errors, and a .988 fielding %."

What you've established is that Bay commits fewer errors and has a stronger arm. (we should note anyway that Holliday's fielding percentage significantly improved after his 3rd season). But there is a third, very important characteristic that you've ignored - range.

One of the most often cited statistics for range is Ultimate Zone Rating. Here's a ranking of regular starting left fielders over the past 3 seasons:

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=lf&stats=fld&lg=all&qual=y&type=0&season=2009&month=12

The actual value you should be looking at is the number under "UZR/150". This is a representation of how many runs a player "costs" or "gains" in a 150 game season compared to an average left fielder. Taking into account range, errors, and arm, I think it's fair to say that Holliday is a significantly better fielder than Bay.

Nevertheless, I think if we sign Bay he will play the outfield because that's probably the only way we could lure him here. Riemold isn't a great fielder himself, so moving him to DH or 1B isn't a problem for me.

No no no no NO. Don't YOU jump on the "Nolan to 1B" bandwagon, TOO. Grrr.

StrawDog, there are plenty of cellphones that make it to the bullpens. In the minors, it's what the Covert Cellphone Transport Apparatus (in English: Pink Backpack) is mostly used for. That and sandwiches.

*cough cough* So I've heard. *cough cough*

Sudhir... I don't remember what you said on the earlier thread about coaches. But I do remember agreeing with you. Wow, how's that for one thought cancelling out the other? Sorry to bring algebra into the class today.

Random... do post season umps get chosen because they're the suckiest ones available or how does this work? I haven't seen more baseball in the last week with a bigger percentage of crap calls. My dog does not understand that when I throw her toys at my television, it's not for her to chase them and bring them back to me. Although, that's been an unintentional added bonus.

Big John,

You are the master at perfect timing, sir! LOL. Ha!

(Based on Average of 162 game on baseball refrence)

That would be such a nice lineup Dont you think?

Runs HomeRuns RBI's AVG
2nd- Brian Roberts 104 11 63 .284
RF- Nick Markakis 95 20 94 .298
LF- Matt Holliday 109 29 112 .318
1st- Prince Fielder 92 38 109 .284
3rd- Dan Uggla 105 32 95 .257
C- Matt Wieters 59 15 73 .288
CF- Adam Jones 83 16 70 .268
DH- Nolan Reimold 76 23 70 .279
SS- Cesar Izturis 60 2 42 .259

Ahh the joey belle post really brought back some memories. like the game when he hit 3 homers. or the game when he flipped off the fans. and the other game when he flipped of the fans. and...

I love it in the cuba article that the O's had an outrageous payroll of $78 million. ahh the good old days when you could reach outrage w/ only 2 digits.

Thanks to the poster who brought back the memory of grimsley breaking into the umpires' room to steal back that corked bat. its such a fantastic story i still almost don't believe it.

Ok so I'm not a fan of the "If this was a perfect world, my 2010 lineup would be..." posts, but I will go ahead, becasue im waiting for dinner to finish cooking.

Obviously the Orioles will have some holes to fill this offseason, but if you compare it to last year, and the year before last, its a HUGE improement. All we need this year is a Clean-up hitter who can play 1st or 3rd, veteran proven legit starter, and some bullpen help.

Last year we needed guys like Eaton, Zaun, Freel, ect, but this year we will have our starting rotaion pretty much set. Guthrie, Bergesen, Matusz, Tillman, Arrieta/Hernandez/FA Starter or Trade. We have a dangerous outfield that will be here for many years to come. We are set with Wieters behind the dish, Roberts at second, and Izzy at short*

So in no particular order here goes nothing.

SS Izturis/Hardy*
2B Roberts
3B Glaus/Bell
1B Lee
C Wieters
LF Pie/Reimold*
CF Jones
RF Markakis
DH Guerro/Reimold*

*We might try and get Hardy from the Brewers for next to nothing, if they say Pie, we say no. He has too many assests. Then is Hardy is proving worthy, trade Izzy at the break.

*In LF platoon Pie and Reimold, both are great defensivly, Pie with the edge, but Reimold can possibly put up 25+ HRs.

*When Pie is in LF let Remold DH, when Reimolds in LF, let Vlad swing away at DH. We can use Luke scott as a trade chip for Derek Lee at 1B, BTW you think Chicago wants Pie back? :)

Bench
Pie
Hardy
Moeller

Rotation
Carlos Zambrano*
Jeremy Guthrie
Brad Bergesen
Brian Matusz
Chris Tillman

*Possibly pick up Carlos? We won't sign Lackey, I promise you. Maybe Harden? Pinero, Marquis, or Wolfe? Zambrano is a workhorse though. He is a proven winner. And don't tell me he can't get a clubhouse fired up, or that he can face the Sox or Yanks.

Bullpen
Berken
Uehara
Johnson
Mickolio
Meredith
Sarfate/Castillo/Perez
Valverde
Hendrickson
Tanka????

This look like a dangerous team, look for MacPhail to make a splash at the end of next year when all of the FA's will be big time and legit.

I think, however, that we are going to give the AL East a run for their money (no pun intended). It will be interesting.

BTW! Just saw an article on LaRussa that reported he was "unsure" about returning next year after the Cards early exit. Might come back to bite Andy...

Roch whatda think about the above 2010 lineup, and the LaRussa news? IMO he won;t leave St Louis
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The lineup might be do-able, though I wouldn't hold my breath for Lee. I don't see Zambrano pitching here. Don't know what will happen with La Russa, but he has a pretty sweet gig there. Not sure why he'd want to leave. - Roch

There is really nobody the O's should go after in FA. THey missed their chance w/ Adam Dunn. He could have been our 1B & filled the cleanup role for years.

Hopefully people watching the playoffs see a couple of things. First, baserunning is a lost art. The number of stupid mistakes is inexcusable. Secondly, consistent and good closers are a rarity. Although he seems like he must be 50 by now, Rivera is still in an elite class.

I love that Papelbon will spend all winter thinking about that egg he laid yesterday. He is by far one of the biggest d@$%he bags in all of professional sports.

I hope he will soon be enjoying ice fishing with A-Rod, one of baseball's other mega market megalomaniac jerk...

Is there a reason why Ken Rosenthal is incapable of writing longer than a two sentence paragraph?

Brummie with some baseball insight? LOL ...

OK, on to some worthy issues. Bay in LF? If we had a legit shot? Absolutely!! The guy is just a rock solid ballplayer. And that includes his years in Pittsburgh. Got decent wheels and plus power. Oh, and he bats from the right side. I believe we are looking for some RH power.

I'm with you Rock as far as Guerrero is concerned. I'd even go 2 years, but he's not the same player he was a couple of years ago. His body seems to be aging at nearly the same clip as Will Clark's did a few years back.

Speaking of "The Thrill" Roch, how do you think Markakis's swing compares to that classic one of Will's? As far as the O's go, who do you think had the smoothest swing?
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I guess they're pretty similar. I'd have to watch video of them both. Haven't seen Will's in a quite a while. Baines had a pretty smooth swing. - Roch

Adam Dunn wanted to play defense, and I believe he specifically prefers playing in the outfield. He knew if he signed here, he'd most likely end up at DH the majority of the time... and we certainly didn't need him in the outfield. Neither team was any good, so he picked where he'd have more fun playing.
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Thanks. I've explained that more times than I can count. I'll just pass the next Dunn statement to you. - Roch

And while I'm in a surly sort of mood. Hells to the no on Crapelbon coming to Baltimore. I have a hard time dealing with weird. Similar reaction to my dog tilting her head and looking at me to say "Wait.....wut?"

I could start a Derek Shelton for Hitting Coach campaign, but I'm not a huge fan of his. Though the testosterone on this blog would be in huge favor of his eye-candy-enough-for-tv radio wife. (sorry, that was a big deal and fabulous gossip here)

Ahem.

Roch:
An interesting coincidence related to your Albert Belle post the other day. On Sunday I was channel surfing in all those upper cable channels that I had no idea we got, and I ran across the MLB Network, which is apparently included in our package.

They were replaying the 1995 ALDS game 1 between Cleveland and Boston, where Red Sox mangager Kevin Kennedy accused Belle of corking his bat after he hit an 11th inning home run to tie the game. And of course we saw Belle responding with his usual amount of tact by flexing his arm and talking about his "freaking" cork.

In the part of that inning I watched, look who Mike Hargrove sent to the plate:

Albert Belle
Eddie Murray
Jim Thome
Manny Ramirez

Not a bad 4-7 to have. And Jim Thome could apparently play 3rd back then... sadly the years of playing haven't been kind to his body. It makes my knees hurt watching him try to run the bases nowadays.

I think Aubrey will hit around 20 hrs, close to 40 doubles, hit close to 300, and play GREAT D. Get Blalock or Fields for 3rd, and if they don't do the job, we have Bell waiting. Keep Luke at DH, and let Reimold hit there once a week. Let Pie spell Jones, Markakis and Nolan each once every 10 games or so, that way he will get 300 ABs. Get a stud starter, and fortify the bullpen.

Roch -
No problem on the Dunn comments by the way. They're getting just as old as the "we should have signed Tex" comments.

Related to your post, here is a different perspective on signing Jason Bay:

http://ussmariner.com/2009/10/08/sorry-jason-we-dont-want-you/

It seems to me that Bay is at a junction in his career where he could turn either way. If he signs a huge contract and feels like he doesn't have to work as hard anymore, his skills are going to drop and the contract would be a disaster. On the other hand, if he is dedicated to working hard and performing, it would be great to have him.

I don't know much about him so I have no clue which is more likely to happen.

That's former Portland Beaver, Jason Bay.

Why platoon Pie and Reimold?

I don't understand some of the fan base. I guess it's because of the 12 straight losing seasons, but I just don't get the willingness to trade some of our possible firepower for people who tend to sizzle out.

We've had some legit people here in the past, and we've just been too impatient to let them mature into the solid players that they had the potential to be. Curt Schilling comes to mind first, Steve Finely, and a few others.

It blows my mind when people are willing to throw away a guy like Jones WHO makes it seem so effortless, and yes at times doesn't put in the effort that's needed, but he's in his second season. Second season!! It really seems idiotic to give up on a guy who you have control of financially and has such a high ceiling, and has raised his level of play the past year.

Then there's Reimold, he hammered the ball and has as much hustle as you could even ask for. He's been in the majors for 3 months? Guys, three months. He got injured cause he plays with so much effort. That's the kind of guy that you want on your time. I like Pie, and the Pie project, because there's some part of me that loves the redemption story, and he's done great, but it's taken him so long to even get where he's at. He also seems to have a very fragile psyche, crush that and you're back to square one with him. If we could find room to play Pie, that's fine, but I want a gamer like Reimold on my team, pushes to be his best and if we find the place, play Pie, or trade him for another piece because his value is slightly better than what it was.

And then the platoon stuff.

I'm 23, so I don't really know a ton of stuff. However, I've never seen a platoon situation ever work out. If you can tell me some time that it has, I'd love to know. Put Scott at first or DH, keep Reimold batting everyday, and keep these guys consistent. You don't see teams that are contending for a spot in the playoff's and World Series nod ever using a platoon.

Don't trade your kids, be patient and consistent. That's what Andy McPhail, and Trembly have been doing and saying, and I feel like we're the better for it. Let's not slip back into the days of Frank Wren, Syd Thrift ( great guy, not a great GM ) Jim Beattie, and Flanny.

Seriously, we've got our field set.

Seriously, don't ever approve any comments from me that come after 2 in the morning. Nothing good comes from decisions (to hop on the internet or otherwise) made after 2am.

That said, I was watching the end of Sunday's game thinking "Well, in just a few short hours, it'll be time for Monday Night Football!!" I'm only glad Monday's game was a few minutes shorter. And started a bit earlier.

Wait, there was a point to this. I'm sure of it.

The Orioles themselves have used a platoon and made it to two world series winning one and finished 2nd to the Brewers.

The O's used to platoon Gary Roenicke and John Lowenstein. In '79, they combined for 36 HRs and 98 RBIs in 573 ABs (Roenicke had 25 and 64 in 376 ABs). In '82, they combined for 45 HRs and 140 RBIs in 715 ABs (Lowenstein had 24 HRs and 66 RBIs in 322 ABs). In '83, they combined for 34 HRs and 124 RBIs in 633 ABs (Roenicke had 19 HRs and 64 RBIs in 323 ABs).

So the platoon system has worked for the O's in the past. I think it could work with 4 outfielders. Reimold, Jones and Markakis would be your normal OFs, but I could see a situation where everyone gets a day a week off and Pie plays. Over the course of a 162 game schedule, if each were to get a day off every 7 games, then Reimold, Jones and Markakis would all play 139 games and Pie would play 69 (close to 300 plate apperances). This would aid in keeping everyone healthy and fresh. If Reimold, Jones or Markakis is on a real hot streak, I could see Pie's time being lower.

Devin - since you are too young to remember, back in the early 80's the Orioles had one of the all time great platoons in left field, using the righty Gary Roenicke and lefty John Lowenstein. In 1982 they had their best combined season, going .292/.398/.545/.944 (BA/OBP/SLG/OPS), with 209 H, 40 2B, 45 HR, 140 RBI. Quite often one would start the game and the other would pinch hit for the starter late in the game if the other team brought in a reliever that would warrant a change. As a result, Lowenstein played in 122 games that year and Roenicke in 137.

As with most things in Orioles history, some of us older fans always refer back to the good old days and want to do things the same way. (Why can't we go with a four man rotation? It was good enough for Palmer, McNally, Cuellar, and Dobson. For instance. Just an example, I am not personally advocating that.) So we yearn for a platoon like Rhino and Brother Lo, a slugging leader like Frank, a young pitching star that will be a lifetime O like Palmer, a fiery manager who wins like Earl, etc.

Someday you'll be old enough to reminisce about the good old days of Matusz, Wieters, and Reimold and how they led the Orioles to renewed glory (or not).