Not getting Miggy with it
I'll be heading to Ocean Pines later today with my daughter, who retains complete control of the radio, to spend the weekend with my parents, sister and niece.
I barely moved from my couch yesterday while going 1-2 picking against the spread. I guess somebody woke up the Broncos. Just my luck.
I allowed my daughter to accept an invitation to spend Thanksgiving with her best friend's family. The kid suffers enough from my cooking. I figured that she deserved a break. And I knew she'd have a lot of fun over there, so we'll celebrate the holiday a day late.
She did surprise me around 4 p.m. by delivering a plate filled with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, mac and cheese, green beans, sauerkraut, yams and two rolls. Pretty much emptied the kitchen. The gesture really warmed my heart - and filled my stomach.
That plate was empty at 4:10 p.m. I was drooling on my pillow at 4:15 p.m.
It may not have been a traditional Thanksgiving moment between a father and daughter, but it's one I'll never forget.
I wish that I had some Orioles leftovers to serve today, but my notebook is pretty empty. It's slow around here.
You can check out more from Steve Melewski's interview with Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail.
I read Buster Olney's blog entry from his interview earlier this week with MacPhail. Olney mentions that the Orioles haven't burned any bridges with Miguel Tejada and would be open, theoretically, to bringing him back to Baltimore. And that Tejada could, theoretically, be a fit at third base.
Olney also points out that Tejada wants to stay in Houston, and the Astros would like to keep him at a reduced salary.
Count on that scenario playing out long before Tejada holds up an Orioles jersey at a press conference this winter.
Tejada has never played third base. The Orioles aren't expected to trade for the Marlins' Dan Uggla because they don't know whether he can make the switch from second to third. I doubt that they'd take a similar gamble with Tejada, who also brings some baggage that is better left outside of Camden Yards.
Tejada was a historic free-agent signing for the Orioles. Executives Jim Beattie and Mike Flanagan wore smiles that stretched from ear to ear as the six-year, $72 million deal was announced at the winter meetings. But I will be floored if he winds up back here. As I've written so many times, that ship has sailed.
When Tejada reported to spring training in 2004, he exclaimed that the losing had ended.
"We're going to be a winning team," he said, as reporters crowded around him in the dugout and hung on his every word. "We're not a losing team no more. I'm going to be playing in the postseason in Baltimore pretty soon."
I wonder how he did picking against the spread yesterday.
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Categories (click for archive)Roch Kubatko | Roch Kubatko Orioles |
Roch,
Do you keep a running taly of your record against the spread? I've been tracking my picks this year to see if there is any sense in actually placing a bets. 58-58 after yesterday's events. Not very good but I guess I could do worse. I'm thinking I will stay away from betting real money though.
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I was 86-73 before yesterday. I'm in a pool where you have to pick every game every week. I finished tied for first last year. - Roch
Roch, sorry I was away from a computer and didn't get to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving yesterday... but since you're officially celebrating it today then I guess that makes me right on time. Enjoy and have a safe trip!! Sounds like you've got a pretty smart and special girl you're raising there, good job. :o)
I adored Miggy while he was here, but I agree that ship has sailed and there is no room at the port for a return.
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Thanks Tracy. I hope you had a special day. - Roch
Before people start on about Cal Ripken moving from SS to 3rd, remember he came up as a 3rd baseman so the real surprise was how well he could play ss.
I am making up a rumor that since the Orioles will have trouble signing free agents that in collaboration with a number of Baltimore area biotech companies (I am not at liberty to name them) the Orioles are starting a cloning project to bring back the greats of old. So far DNA samples of the Robinson brothers (see ancient Miller Lite commercial), Jim Palmer and Baltimore native Babe Ruth have been acquired. Future DNA samples to be revealed at a later date. Needless to say this is not a minor financial investment for the front office who are imagined to justify this by saying the in the long run cloning is cheaper than scouting.
Roch,
Hold on to that great memory of your daughter because (I know from experience) there will be some rough spots over the next few years. It will be those kinds of memories that will get you through any heartache.
I didn’t get to contribute yesterday because I was traveling, but I wanted to say how thankful I was to be able to share one more holiday season with the ones I love. I won’t see my children this year but I am going to spend Sunday with a special group of people who will be giving up their day to fill boxes with special treats for some service members in Afghanistan. If your local Costco is short on individual packs of cashews, honey roasted peanuts, and Rice Krispie bars; blame me. Any of your readers that want to pass along some good wishes to some brave young men and women whom will be far from home this Christmas, I will happy to print them off and include them in one of the boxes.
If you have a few extra dollars left over from your shopping this weekend, please consider a donation to the United Services Organization (USO). I promise that the money will be used well.
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Sounds like quite the plateful Roch, I'm still full from yesterday. I was pretty surprised how the Broncos rolled, Brandon Marshall was making some amazing catches.
It was a good read on Olney's blog, I thought this part was pretty interesting as well:
3. MacPhail thinks the market for late-inning relievers will develop slowly, but sounded confident that in the end, the Orioles will have a chance to get some help. And MacPhail does see value in a strong closer. "I still think the impact the closer can have on your club is underrated," said MacPhail. "I don't know why it took the writers a long time to put them in the Hall of Fame. ... Those guys are invaluable, and they have an impact on the psychology on the game."
The Orioles have a lot of young, developing starting pitchers, who would have a greater chance of being rewarded if Baltimore has a shutdown closer. Some of the closers on this year's market are Type A free agents, meaning that if those pitchers are offered arbitration by their 2009 teams, the Orioles would have to surrender a second-round pick in order to sign them. MacPhail indicated that if the circumstances were right -- if the Orioles had a shot at the right pitcher, for the right price -- this is something he would be willing to do. In recent drafts, the Orioles have spent money in later rounds, and if they surrendered their second-round pick, this is something they could do again in an effort to make up for what they lost.
Billy Wagner would seem to be one possible fit for the Orioles, depending on the cost. "He's on our radar, as are other closers," said MacPhail.
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I still think Koji is a great candidate for closer.
Roch: Moreno did me good, and my opponent had Eli and the Giants D, so I won all of those battles.
At this point there aren't any free agents I'm interested in overspending for, not even Lackey. If they are going to make a trade for an impact player (and all trades depend on signing the new player to a long-term contract extension), then we have the pieces to do that. However, just because we have money to spend doesn't mean that we should. I'd just as soon take my chances with Wigginton and Aubrey for a season than to sign Glaus and Delgado for two each.
I agree that Tejada has too much baggage to come back. Bedard, on the other hand, apparently doesn't. Let's sign Bedard and Sheets. We can go with a five man rotation until Bedard is ready to go, then go with a six man rotation to protect the young arms and the injury prone. Ok, maybe a bit ridiculous, but 35 years ago the five man rotation was laughed at. Perhaps MLB should permanently raise the regular season roster limit to 27.
Ocean pines...?...do i see a trip to seacrets in your future? If not, i would recommend it.
Enjoy those moments with your daughter. They will disppear soon enough as she turns to her frends and future "honeys" as she gets older. But it does return at a later time, making it a special bond.
If the O's won't go after Uggla for 3rd, could they consider him for 1st/DH like Nady, Glaus, and maybe Dye, and put Wigginton on 3rd? Perfect bat for the line-up if they can find a place for him.
Based on Beltre's (Boros') desire for a mutli year deal, that eliminates him. And Feliz can't hit a lick, which is not the type of bat AM is supposedly looking for. Who would you bet to be at 3rd next year?
Roch:
Great moment in your short life and something you'll always remember. You must be doing something good raising your young wonderful and thoughtful daughter. I'm sure your proud of her and for thinking of you in a nice moment. If it would have been me, I would have had trouble eating my food from the tears running down my face. Have a great time today with the rest of your family. Happy Thanksgiving, one day late. But, who's counting.
JO
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Thanks JO. It really was a sweet gesture, and it definitely lifted my spirits. - Roch
One reliever option the O's should consider is Kevin Gregg. He was discussed recently on mlbtraderumors.
Roch,
Happy Thanksgiving.......will your daughter be driving you to OC? Over the bay bridge? I can actually see your hair going gray! Enjoy. I am only kidding you, I have two 20 year olds.
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I'm imagining her steering with one hand, changing radio stations with the other and still trying to text. I planted her in the passenger seat. - Roch
Roch I hope you are having a good thanksgiving, I hope the O's try and pursue John Lackey I know he is expensive but he would benefit these young arms, who are learining major league pitching. He has playoff experience, we don't need a cheap pitcher like Bedard or Garland or others we need a talented pitcher, a rotation OF Guthrie, Lackey, Tilman, Matusz, and Bergesen sounds good. Anyway hope you are eating good, and enjoying your holiday. Also plesae keep in mind the troops who are overseas Iam very thankful for their sacrifice. I am also thankful for your patience and this blog.
It's starting to sound like MacPhail is pretty confident he can get put together a descent bull pen. If he could do that and bring in either Bedard or Sheets, I think the pitching could be ok. I still think he needs to find a short term 3rd baseman, like Glaus. I'm ok going with what we have at first for one more year, Aubrey started to look good at the end of last season.
Roch, what is your thought on John Smoltz? I know he's getting up there, but the guy knows how to win. We could sign him a put him in the pen. He could teach these young guys a lot. Just a thought, what say you?
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I thought he was finished, but maybe not. He looked better in the NL. I wouldn't count on him as a No. 1 starter, but I could see a club wanting him to close. - Roch
Hey Roch, Happy Tardy Thanksgiving!!
You guys mentioned your record and I had to share mine, I'm in the same pick 'em type league. Yahoo, Fans of Baltimore & Fans of Maryland (Slice of Gold.) My record is 109-54, pretty sick but I'm not sure how I'm doing so well??? When I place my money where my picks are it doesn't turn out the same?? Lol!! Enjoy the Weekend!
Ravens 16
Steelers 9
Roch: Crack the Sky at the Recher on Saturday Night. Or will you opt for a night at Seacrets instead. Decisions, decisions.
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I'll have to pass on CTS, though I'd love to see them again. Will you be there? And since my friend Dave Ginsburg isn't down here with me, I'll also skip Seacrets. It'll have to wait until next summer. I'll be sporting a nice tan by then. - Roch
Can I go on a quick "mini-rant" ????
Brandon Jacobs is terrible. Averaging me about 3-4 points per week and I continue to wait on his "break-out game" that's probably never coming.
Horrible first round pick and losing Ronnie Brown definitely didn't help either.
Im not sure if ive asked you this in the past Roch, but have you played Ocean Pines Golf Club course by your folks? That used to be my home course of sorts in the summer, my brother and friend worked there and could get us on that beautiful course for free. Its real nice.
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I haven't touched my clubs in a long, long time. I really want to get back into it, but I desperately need a few lessons. - Roch
This organization really couldn't move forward until it moved Tejada out of town. It was an absolutely magical feat by AM.
He tortured this franchise with is sullen attitude, lies about his age, and of course his role in the Palmeiro steroids fiasco.
Not to mention, he was consistently one of the worst defensive SS's in baseball and was too selfish to move to 3B.
AM is always the diplomat, but he is way too smart to ever let that guy back into baltimore.
I liked this quote from Buster's blog:
"It was in the middle of the afternoon, the day before Thanksgiving, and yet Orioles president Andy MacPhail was at his desk, answering his phone. That's what happens after your team finishes 64-98, MacPhail said dryly."
(Of course, that's all I could read without the insider subscription.) But that would seem to refute the frequent assertions from some parties that Mr. MacPhail spends an inordinate amount of time playing golf.
Did someone invoke the name of Mike Flanagan? Whatever happened to that guy?
CSB Jack,
I posted the rest of Olney's insider blog with the closers are important quote from MacPhail. You can email me and I'll send you the whole blog:
bms46and2@yahoo.com
Roch,
I've taken a look at the recent interviews that MacPhail has done with Steve and the rest of the media. What I find interesting is that MacPhail seems that he wants multiple bats (he's insistently mentioning BOTH first base and third base, even though they have prospects that are close to the majors at the corners) and multiple pitchers (MacPhail mentions an innings-eater and an injury risk-type pitcher). Going into the offseason, I thought that MacPhail's No. 1 priority may have been to find an experienced closer to solidify the bullpen, but it appears as though MacPhail is content to keep the closer position in-house, given that there is virtually no free agent closer market, save for injury risks like Wagner and Putz.
I'm very interested to see what MacPhail does at the corners. Logically, he would not do anything besides sign a one-year stop-gap player at each position because two well thought of prospects -- Bell and Snyder -- are inching closer to being major league ready. It does not seem as though MacPhail would want to lock into any free agent for more than one year given that you would presumably have cheaper, more productive players on the way (the free agent market at the corners, for lack of a better word, sucks this year. No free agent at the corners who comes to Baltimore will be terribly productive.) The only player at the corners whom I like is Chone Figgins, as I really enjoy watching him play. But he does not fulfill the power that the Orioles need at third.
But MacPhail seems intent to do something at the corners besides just wait for Bell and Snyder. A trade perhaps? I don't know.
As far as the starting pitching, I honestly believe we'll see Erik Bedard back in Baltimore. Just a hunch, though. The starting pitching looks bleak this offseason. Lackey is the only top of the rotation pitcher on the market, and he may only be a No. 2 starter. Lackey is going to get wildly overpaid by some team.
I thought this offseason would be a slow offseason for the Orioles, as the free agent market isn't very good, and the young guys still need more seasoning. I thought we would see Wigginton at third base every day until Bell is ready, and have a rotation at first until Snyder is ready. I thought that MacPhail would go get some cheap stop-gap not named Adam Eaton to fill in until someone like Arrieta is ready to go.
One last thing...Buster Olney's article is for insiders...can someone enlighten me as to what he had to say about MacPhail and the Orioles as far as how close they are to competing? Thank you.
Luke
I want to read that "Oriole Rising" Buster Olney article, but damnit, I'm no part of the insiders ring.
If any of you insiders feel like posting it, it would be much appreciated!
Roch, I always felt Miggy was misled by the Orioles' front office; not at first, but after he started getting testy about the lack of improvement. Had the trade for A.J. Burnett not fallen through in 2005, the O's might have begun to turn a corner that took until 2008 to get going. When in the winter of his discontent Tejada was starting to make the "nobody cares about me around here; I think it's time I move on" (or similar words) clamor for a trade, he was asked what it would take to keep him in Baltimore.
Amd I remember very clearly hearing him answer that question by saying that the team needed to get an ace to lead the pitching staff. He was absolutely right, but instead of listening to an All-Star and getting a hurler of quality, the f.o. was content on getting the ususal scrap heap retreads.
Maybe the contracts of Tejada, Javy Lopez, Palmeiro and a few others made it tough to spend that kind of money, but a front of rotation guy was a need the O's clearly and deperately had. So some of the fault lay with Miggy, no doubt, but if the good ship Tejada sailed, it sailed just as much because the inaction of the front office to make substantive improvements.
Putting aside the question of whether or not he could ever play for the Orioles again (and you seem pretty sure that's an impossibility), I will say that the club could do a lot worse than him playing third for them. I think it could be a plus, but if there's too much bad blood now, then so be it.
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You raise a very good point about Tejada becoming frustrated that the front office didn't make the improvements that he expected. He wasn't surrounded with the kind of talent that he anticipated. - Roch
I'm surprised that Brummie hasn't made the obvious "maybe you can get ANDREW to get you some lessons at Bulle Rock" remark. Or perhaps he did, and Roch deleted it. Hope so, yay Roch!
I think that AM keeps talking about 1B and 3B because he's ok with getting one or the other. I think he'd be ok with Aubrey OR Wigginton starting, but would rather not have both. Me, I'm ok with it if it prevents the O's from overspending on Beltre, Glaus, and/or Delgado.
For those not going to see Crack The Sky in Towson, on Saturday, Kix is playing at the Greene Turtle in Aberdeen (or so I heard on the radio).
ok, I'm late on this but real bored. Not getting Miggy good! Although the other options that have been discussed, not much better. We should follow the red soxs (they do win). First they want to trade for Hanley R. - I think -why don't the O's get in on that! Squashed. Then they want Roy Hallaway - I know the O's wouldn't get in on that. Now I hear they want Miguel Cabrera. Once again, why don't the O's get in on that! Best right handed bat in the league. Can play 1st or 3rd. Tigers are looking for an affordable DH (Luke Scott). They don't need a first base prospect because they were talking about moving Cabrera to LF. They will need a third base prospect when Inge is a free agent 2011.- (Josh Bell). THe O's would have to give up a pitcher as well, probably (Tillman). All worth it. If it is money they want maybe we could not only take on Cabrera's full contract but take Willis off there hands and give them a lesser pitching prospect. It is a long shot but maybe Willis could come back w/a change of scenery. I would like to see Cabrera at 3rd (fielding % same as Wiggy). Take a one year chance on Delgado. Line up looking real good!
Then sign Harden or Sheets as a #1. Risky but we're not the Yankees, got to take chances to win. Oh, and if you are worried about Cabrera's drinking - come on! it's baseball!