Guthrie Continues the Orioles Winning Ways

Guthrie got off to a hot start tonight as he aggressively attacked the strike zone early in the count.  He quickly got ahead of the first three hitters of the game as he retired the side in order.  He was able to get all of his pitches working early as he effectively kept the Tampa Bay batters off balance by moving the ball from side to side while mixing in his fastball, slider, and change up.  His control was pinpoint accurate for most of today.

Unlike much of last year, Guthrie was able to enjoy early run support today.  The Orioles were able to capitalize on Nemann’s early wildness as they capped a five run first inning with Melvin Mora’s first home run of the season, a grand slam to left center field.

Taking advantage of the early run support, Guthrie was able to continue to attack the strike zone in the second as he got another 1,2,3 inning.  There is nothing worse than when a pitcher is handed a big early lead, then comes out and tries to nibble around the plate resulting in multiple walks which allows the opposition to get right back in the game.  Guthrie did not allow this to happen as he continued to look sharp with his mastery of the strike zone as he pitched 6 complete innings.  The key to his success today was the location and movement of his pitches as he successfully kept hitters unbalanced as he navigated through tough jams in both the 3^rd and the 4^th innings. 

In the end the Orioles bullpen finally pitched to their expectations as they worked 3 scoreless innings.  Walker came in and looked good in his 1 1/3 scoreless innings.  Chris Ray pitched the 9^th using a sharp moving slider to strike out the side. 

I can’t wait to catch the game tomorrow to see if the magic continues as the Orioles send Adam Eaton to the mound and they look to sweep the defending American League champions right out of the yard.  

So far, there’s not much to complain about. If the Orioles can just get a dozen more starts like Mark Hendrickson’s gem last night, this might turn into an interesting spring. There once was a time when beating Tampa Bay in April was meaningless. No mas…

As I watch the rain fall today — and I can’t believe that they’ll actually play this evening but the forecast is for a late afternoon clearing and an “ontime” start –  the pitching advantage certainly benefits the Birds tonight with Jeremy Guthrie taking the ball against Jeff Niemann. The Orioles are now 3-1 and have managed to hold on late in all three games, contests that in previous years might’ve gone the wrong way. And the bullpen has really kinda stunk all week, which usually means “death knell.”

Here’s all you need to know about the offense: Brian Roberts is hitting .438 and Adam Jones and Nick Markakis are stroking it at a .429 clip. The table is being set. I don’t love Jones in the No. 2 hole — he strikes out too much — but if he can continue to make contact and maybe even use his speed to bunt and hit behind runners (and Roberts will be on base plenty) there will be RBI opportunities for Aubrey Huff, Melvin Mora or whomever is in the middle of the order. And, of course, there’s always the mystery of where Matt Wieters will bat once he’s summoned from the Tidewater Basin.

The difference between the Orioles winning 65 or 75 games this year will depend on the pitching. Heck, Hendrickson just MAKING it into the sixth inning is a victory if he can do that every five days. Resting the bullpen, which no doubt will be taxed, is essential. Especially with Adam Eaton-up-innings looming on Easter Sunday.

They’re 3-1. It’s raining. Guthrie wants the ball. They’ll be wearing BALTIMORE grey sweaters on Monday night (please join us at Padonia Station for a combo “Billick-DeCosta” draft show and BALTIMORE viewing party at 7 p.m. as the Birds travel to Arlington to take on the Rangers). A split over the next 48 hours and they will have taken two series against  “elite” teams in the AL East to start the season. And the reasoning goes: if they can beat these teams, they can beat anyone.

One more thought for the weekend: WOW, Evan Longoria is solid. If Wieters is HALF this good it’ll be fun watching when he gets called up, no matter their record.

Rain, rain…go away! We gotta play the Rays today…

Hope to see you at the Blast game tonight! (I’m DVRing the Birds in “low def” on MASN).

The sky is gray across the horizon in downtown Baltimore this morning as the Orioles kick off their 2009 campaign amidst a city full of Yankees fans and the inaugural appearance for Baltimore’s homegrown Mark Teixeira as a pinstriper. It was a dark day even before the clouds and scattered showers moved in from the south.

The Orioles, who haven’t played a meaningful game since October 1997, appear to be about to put another 162 insignificant games into the record books as the “dark era” of Birds baseball continues, the longest stretch of inepetitude in the history of the storied franchise. The Las Vegas oddsmakers have the Orioles “win/loss” total at 71 1/2, which means if the Orioles play just “18 games under .500″ you win the bet.

I’m not a betting man, but based on what I’ve seen for six weeks in spring training regarding their pitching, I’d be jumping at the “under” on this proposition. That said, I like this team, these position players and the quality of the character it appears Andy McPhail has assembled.

I want to cheer for Brian Roberts. I like Luke Scott and Adam Jones. I’m interested in Felix Pie, although I think he’ll probably be this year’s version of Jeff Stone. I think Aubrey Huff looked inspired for six months last summer and I’m not convinced he won’t rebound with another big year. I’m not sure what to make of Melvin Mora at this point in his career and I think Cesar Izturis will be fun to watch field the ball. And Nick Markakis is just a solid ballplayer, almost a throwback.

On the rare nights that the bullpen will be delivered a 7th inning lead, it’ll be fun to see if they’re as good as advertised.

Some things I’m watching for this season:

When will Matt Wieters arrive for good and how will he perform? It’ll be the biggest franchise mid-season debut since Ben McDonald, which was a very, very big deal.

Let’s be honest: these current starting pitching is a joke and if Jeremy Guthrie, Koji Uehara, Mark Hendrickson, Alfredo Simon and Adam Eaton are the real five starters we’ll use all season, this team is probably 10 games under .500 before Memorial Day and then it becomes a “what to do?” for McPhail.

How will Brian Matusz, Brad Bergesen, Jake Arrieta and Chris Tillman do on the farm this year, especially before the All-Star break. If the current O’s veterans are as bad as we think they’ll be, which of these guys will be heatlthy, effective and ready to promote?

And will the Orioles start the M.L. service time on any of these kids with a summer call up? Or will McPhail allow the current veteran group to get their heads beaten in night after night? Or will Danys Baez or Brian Bass or David Pauley step in and perform? Or not?

That’s why we watch and certainly I’m poised to talk baseball every single day on WNST and AM 1570.

I just hope in these tough economic times, perhaps the people of Baltimore will return to baseball this summer and come to care again about the Orioles, if not in the stands perhaps on their TV’s around town. Of course, it would help if the franchise actually did its fair share and “came back to the people.” During the last six months, the team did exactly two events to promote their team. One of them was two days ago.

They continue to do foolish, selfish and mindless things that almost go unnoticed by the media that is in the business of making excuses for their sins so they can benefit financially.

Today’s starting pitcher — their No. 1 guy and big “hope” for the season — had his paycheck cut by 15% four weeks ago. Happy Opening Day, Jeremy Guthrie!

They continue to ban free speech, even daring their current players to not speak out about unsafe playing conditions in spring training.

We’ll see how much “progress” the organization has over the next six months. Let’s see how the puppies do on the farm. Let’s see how the young emerging stars perform in a mostly empty stadium and with starting pitching that no one can takes seriously as a team that will compete in the AL East in 2009.

But, let’s see how the season goes. My prediction: 65-97. Probably worse if someone doesn’t come in and save the rotation by July.

There are two types of Orioles fans left in the Baltimore area and they are distinct groups:

Those who drink the Kool Aid…

And those, like me, who have examined the big picture of what’s happened to this franchise over the past 13 years and are pretty angry about its impact on our fun, our lives and the community.

With Opening Day looming, everyone who has EVER loved baseball perks up and pay attention. Even if it’s only to notice: “Hey, its’ Opening Day!” Most people in Baltimore realize this team won’t contend but if you love baseball you’ll at least open one eye on Monday afternoon to catch the score. I’d venture to say that 75% of the city will wake up Tuesday morning at the office and know whether the Orioles won. (That number used to be more like 98% in 1998!)

Those who unconditionally still drink the orange Kool Air or “want” to drink the Kool Aid probably went down to Fan Fast today at Camden Yards. I opted to not give Mr. Angelos any more money that he won’t spend to get the team a quality spring training facility.

Instead, I’m sitting here watching the Fan Fest festivities on MASN HD television and getting some of my WNST “CEO work” done and thinking about baseball season and how it’s going to go for the Orioles and Matt Wieters and these young players and what inevitable drama will unfold.

The only real “punishment” I’m getting for not having a press pass is being “banned” from knowing the Orioles players, which is almost ludicrous because as you saw last week, Jeremy Guthrie and Brian Roberts were happy to chat with me at the World Baseball Classic at Dodger Stadium. Charley Eckman would’ve called them “right guys” and they are decent, solid dudes. (As an aside, I also exchanged pleasantries with Davey Johnson, which is always fun.)

As a media member – well, at least I was for about 23 years until I was banned – I got to know so many of the players and what kinda guys they are. So I guess that’s my “price to pay” — I don’t get to report to you what good people the Orioles have on their team this year. Or not…

While it looked a tad bit chilly and windy at Camden Yards, the event was a “made for TV” informercial/season preview with interviews between co-workers Jim Hunter, Jim Palmer and the like of Andy McPhail, Aubrey Huff, Adam Jones, Dennis Sarfate and Ryan Freel.

They did a nice job with “get to know you” chats with these players and  I especially like that I can see Jim Palmer in high def. For a well-compensated network to finally “discover” HD in 2009 tells you all you need to know about the vision people at MASN.

But I digress…

Here are a few observations, because my seat is the same as yours at this point, which is its own unique point of view watching Jim Hunter and Amber Theoharis and others interview their co-workers in black hats that say “O’s”.

I honestly didn’t know what Ty Wigginton or Koji Uehara looked like until today. Ditto Freel, who really seemed to be a pleasant “aw, shucks” kinda guy. He reminded me of Bob Backlund back in the late 1970’s when he was a baby face.

Freel freely thanked the fans several times and seemed genuine. (As an aside, why doesn’t the owner of the team ever do that? Just come on the TV and say “thanks” on his own network that he’s making over $100 million this year on?)

Andy McPhail did a stand up with Jim Hunter and said all of the right things. He made it clear he expected a big improvement in Adam Jones. He also talked a lot about character and what kind of players — “gamers, blue collars guys, character guys” — he wants on the team. Fair enough.

I like hearing that the Orioles want good people in their organization. From what I know of the 2009 Orioles, they’re pretty good guys and they clearly dislike Angelos’ management and ownership style as much as the rest of us. (Again, this is one of the reasons the Orioles banning legitimate media isn’t a good thing for the fans. The fans never get to know the truth unless, like yesterday in The Sun, they speak out.)

I’ve known Gregg Zaun for 17 years. I’ve cheered – VERY hard – for Zaun for 17 years through his days in Kansas City, Florida, Toronto and Houston. He’s a great person and loves Baltimore and the Orioles. That’s an upgrade there no matter how you look at it and he’ll keep the seat plenty warm for Matt Wieters, whenever the Orioles decide to promote him to the bigs.

Even today on TV, a couple of the young players talked about what a cool guy Zaun is for them to be around and how he tells great stories (which he does!)

I must say that I didn’t envy Buck Martinez’s press pass today, interviewing his co-worker, Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara, whose only word in English was “Thank you!”

Uehara had an interpreter and the answer to the first question regarding Camden Yards was this: “Right field is pretty shallow.” That was the first of several laughs.

Honestly, it was like I needed an interpreter for his interpreter. It was borderline hilarious. It reminded me of my four days in Tokyo where communication was definitely at a premium.

I don’t care how much Uehara speaks. The Orioles need him to be a rock star if they’re going to win 75 games. But he seemed pleasant enough and thrilled to be at Camden Yards in a big-league uniform. Good enough for me.

If the only “communication” I’m going to have with the players is to see their co-workers ask them questions I might as well think they’re nice guys. Even if they’re complete turds, at least this won’t spoil it for me.

I’m ready for Opening Day. I’m ready to get to Hooters and have a Bud Light. I’m ready for baseball.

I’ve been saying for years that Fort Lauderdale Stadium and the Orioles’ sub-par Florida spring training situation is by far the biggest sin of all of their many sins and finally the folks over on Calvert Street are doing some “investigative journalism” with the orange birds. The club’s No. 1 promise to the public is that it’s doing everything possible to commit all of its resources to fielding a winning team.

That’s the goal in baseball: winning a championship. You always want to give your team the best chance to compete.

The Angelos family hasn’t done that for the entire tenure of their ownership in regard to the significance of spring training as anything more than a line item expense. The mere fact that they’re the only organization in the sport to have “two camps” in Florida that sit three hours apart is telling enough. It’s bad business. It’s bad baseball. It’s just inexcusable, unacceptable and dumb.

Fort Lauderdale Stadium is a dump. It’s a disgrace. It’s been a disgrace for the entire balance of the 15 years they’ve played there. I’ve worked many, many a morning and pulled many 12-hour days at Fort Lauderdale Stadium doing radio and covering baseball back when I was a “real” media member. I’ve spent 100 days of my life at that facility over the years before the team banned me from having a press credential.

Most of the fans here in Baltimore never make it there and it’s not like the team does anything to market having fans come south with their off season efforts. So it kinda goes unnoticed and when I bitch about it – and again, I think it’s probably the most obvious and lousy “white elephant” of all of their many sins – the fans don’t really care or “get it” but it’s so bizarre and so blatantly “bush league” in the eyes of anyone who knows anything about baseball from management to players to coaches to the locker room attendants that it defies description.

Just the mere fact that the visiting teams come in and see the situation and don’t lay down negative comments day after day is astonishing. Apparently, according to The Sun, the situation over at the minor-league camp is even worse. I haven’t personally been to Twin Lakes Park in Sarasota since 1995. It was “amateur” then, but not in disrepair. It was “minor league” but it wasn’t “unsafe” as several of the opposing teams indicated in contacting MLB and refusing to schedule games against the Orioles farmhands.

But the quotes in The Sun aren’t from Nestor. Or Drew Forrester. Or the glowing crap you’ll hear on MASN from Jim Hunter, Fred Manfra and the “boys club” who all take their paychecks from Peter Angelos.

They’re from the players themselves, who also take their paychecks from Peter Angelos. And it’s precisely these types of stories that makes Angelos ban a guy like me from having access. Because the players would be talking my ear off to get their message heard in the public eye.

Today’s whoppers and haymakers from their best people and players are “instant classics” and are sure to have the Angelos family in “flip out” mode on this Friday before Opening Day. It’s almost like all of the players just got together and decided to give the team’s ownership a rectal examination of unprecedented proportions.

This morning, it’s like Brian Roberts, Aubrey Huff, Melvin Mora, Dave Trembley and Jake Arrieta are on the front page of the local newspaper wearing FREE THE BIRDS shirts!

Here come the quotes:

Dave Trembley: “I think we’ve finally reached the point where it’s fish or cut bait. We’re in the business of developing players. What would enhance that development is a facility that is more conducive to us all being all together and being on an even playing field with the other clubs.”

Brian Roberts: “I think most of us would be lying if we said this is what any of us would expect from a major league organization.”

Aubrey Huff: “When you have a big-league team that has a weight tent with rented weight equipment located in the parking lot, that’s pretty sad.”

Melvin Mora: “That’s the worst field I’ve ever played on in my life and I’m from Venezeula.”

Chris Ray: “I don’t know what to say about the facility other than that it just needs to be leveled and rebuilt. It’s a shame. You draft someone, hype them up and then they go to that facility and they’re like, ‘Wow.’ I think that’s a little bit embarrassing.”

Jake Arrieta: “We’re all very blessed to be in the situations that we’re in, but it also comes with the territory that you expect to have nice facilities to work out in. Not that we’re tired of Twin Lakes, but I all think we deserve something better.”

And here is my favorite, from a minor-league farmhand named Mike Costanzo, who was given the “Nestor treatment” by the franchise: “We were told to not say anything about the field, but if nobody says anything, it’s never going to get fixed. It’s tough to get quality work in here.”

I guess Nick Markakis must’ve been in the shower or “unavailable for comment” on this one.

Costanzo’s quote is almost poignant to me because that’s EXACTLY what FREE THE BIRDS was all about.

“If nobody says anything it’s never going to get fixed.”

It almost brings a tear to my eyes. I’m a BIG Mike Costanzo fan all of a sudden. I’ll be monitoring that young man, who showed some big-league bravery for that quote but will undoubtedly be in the corporate “doghouse” for life after that one.

Aside from being quality journalism by Jeff Zrebiec and Dan Connolly, it’s the kind of story in this economy that will piss off Angelos so much that you might even see the fireworks ads get pulled from the May editions. Mr. Angelos reads The Sun every day and will be ripe and randy today, no doubt about it.

I can hear him now…

“The insubordination. These ungrateful millionaires. How dare they speak this way about our franchise to the media!”

There’s one thing Peter Angelos hates the most and that’s hearing the unfiltered truth about how bad this franchise is in so many ways in print or in the media. Seeing his highest-paid employees flipping him the bird in the morning fishwrap – well, that’s gonna make for an interesting weekend.

Of course, Angelos and his son John declined to speak about the “Fort Lauderdale situation” in the media.

The worst part are the paper-thin and almost silly quotes from Orioles spokeperson and huge WNST fan, Greg Bader, who knows less about P.R. than any P.R. person I’ve seen in 25 years of doing journalism for a living.

Now, apparently, a baseball expert and groundskeeper, Bader officially deemed the field in Sarasota “perfectly safe and adequate” after a handful of visiting MLB teams refused to show up and play games there.

I’ve only met Greg Bader twice, but my guess is that he never played an inning of baseball in his life. Or pitched on unmeasured mounds? Or caught a two-hopper after it hits a rock in the dirt? Or had to work out to get into shape for a 162-game Major League grind that baseball demands.

(As an aside, the first thing I learned when I began doing sports radio in 1992 and hanging around baseball players was how HARD the job was. As a kid it sounds like a fun gig, but being a Major League Baseball player is HARD, HARD work. These guys make millions of dollars and if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. Baseball players live pretty difficult, complex lives from April 1st through October 1st. I have great respect for the work they do, which can only come when you see it first hand.)

Bader also said the club has “always had the urgency” to find a new home. That is just a stupid, silly thing to say. Urgency? They’ve had 15 years and roughly 80 percent of the MLB teams in South Florida have relocated or found better situations since the Orioles landed in Fort Lauderdale by sheer accident in 1996, after going several years in weird and bad situations in Miami and St. Petersburg.

They’ve been offered at least five sites that I can think of over the years – from Sarasota to Orlando to Vero Beach to Jupiter to Winter Haven — and have never done anything to rectify the combination of the major and minor league camps, which should have been done in 1997 or 1998 at the latest. No other team would DREAM of having a split camp and say they’re serious about a winning organization. It’s just unconscionable.

The 2009 season has already gotten off to a rocky, rocky start.

They have absolutely zero starting pitching. Jeremy Guthrie has been dreadful. Koji Uehera certainly bears watching but the rest of the retreads from Adam Eaton to Mark Hendrickson to Rich Hill to Danys Baez to the soon-to-be-celebrated Alfredo Simon are just arsonists of varying degrees at this point.

Brian Roberts isn’t healthy.

They’re still banning free speech in the media and being miserable and unprofessional to deal with at every level.

And now, every level of their organization from manager to players to minor leaguers are popping off in the morning newspaper about how “bush league” their ownership is in regard to spring training and a commitment to winning. It’s like a scene out of “Major League” but the Orioles have become the Indians.

Next Saturday’s game against Tampa Bay still doesn’t have a starting time and the Ravens are expecting 20,000 people at M&T Bank Stadium that morning and afternoon for an Inside Lacrosse doubleheader and no one in the city knows what the parking situation might be. The game is eight days away. You’d think they’d announce to the Tampa Rays, their season ticket holders and their employees when the game will be played. (Again, this kind of management is just unheard of in professional sports in 2009.)

Oh, and the Yankees are bringing 30,000 obnoxious fans into town on Opening Day to cheer for Baltimore’s greatest homegrown player in a generation as he takes the field at Camden Yards wearing pinstripes.

Oh, and advance ticket sales have been abysmal and they’re having a “Fan Fest” tomorrow that feels like a rumor around town.

Other than that, things are just fine in Birdland.

It’s been a chilly trip all the way around. It’s cold in California this week. It was freezing at Dodger Stadium last night and Laguna Beach is no better.

I’m spending the next three days here in Dana Point at the NFL Owners Meetings, chatting with coaches, executives and owners from around the league. Most of the media has commented that it’s “quiet” here this week, with no major rules changes or negotiations to be held. The only potential “landmark” concept is the notion of making the regular season a 17 or 18-game affair, with the elimination of those dreadful preseason games. It appears that changes to overtime possession aren’t coming right now. There’s too much support to keep the current (yet flawed) system.

But it’s truly the calm before the potential financial storm as the NFL Players Association has named its new leader in DeMaurice Smith last week.

Commisioner Roger Goodell is addressing the entire contingent this morning with a “State of The NFL” speech, which no doubt will be addressing the sagging economy and the paramount issue of a new collective bargaining agreement with the players, which could be a dog fight over the next 18 months as both sides are preparing for a tremendous battle that could go either way.

Lockouts, strikes, posturing – it’s all on the table as both sides look to divvy up the riches and spoils of a league that has basically had 25 years of labor peace and prosperity. Right now, the players get 59.5% of the total revenue pool. The owners want to make it less; the players, of course, want more. We’ll be following this story for the next two years but this is the beginning of a long race that will decide the fate of the league for the next decade.

I spent the evening last night up in Los Angeles (about an hour north of here) at Dodger Stadium at the World Baseball Classic semifinal between Team USA and Japan. Obviously, it wasn’t the greatest night for Brian Roberts in field but he did begin the game with a grand home run off of Dice K. I caught up with Brian Roberts, Davey Johnson and Jeremy Guthrie prior to the game and saw more celebrities than I can name. The videos are just to the right of here in the wnsTV video vault.

Because of the “Angelos ban” I never had the chance to meet of chat with Guthrie. He was a super good guy and was truly excited about wearing a USA jersey. My five minutes with him made it very easy to pull for him when he takes the ball at Camden Yards in two weeks.

(And for the record, I had no idea Kelsey Grammar was such a nice guy. I did, however, fully confirm that Alyssa Milano is smoking hot!)

Dodger Stadium is still a religious experience for any baseball fan and it’s nights like last night that really make me love my job and my career in sports. As I’ve been posting my baseball book about my Pop and his love of the game, it’s nights like last night that remind me about why I chose to do this for a living 25 years ago.

I also ran into some very old and dear friends from the “early days” with the Orioles. Dr. Charles Steinberg and Evelyn Ehlers – both “lifer” Orioles fans and Baltimoreans are working in the Dodgers’ front office. Former Ravens V.P. Dennis Mannion is now the president of the Dodgers. And Baltimorean Jamie McCourt (nee Luskin, as in Jack Luskin, the “cheapest guy in the town”) is the C.E.O. of the team, owner by her and husband Frank McCourt.

It’s almost like the Dodgers are Baltimore’s West Coast connection.

I’ll be shooting videos here on WNST.net, blogging and potentially grabbing some guests for Drew Forrester, Bob Haynie and Ray Bachman, who will be filling in for me all week from 2 til 6 p.m.

I’ve already chatted with virtually every NFL coach that has a Baltimore connection and John Harbaugh told me that his brother – former Ravens QB and current Stanford head coach Jim – and his dad will be here this afternoon. We’ll be doing a little wnsTV of that in the next 24 hours.

It’s also the first NFL Owners Meetings for longtime WNST supporters, Rex Ryan and Jim Schwartz, who will both make some time for Baltimore.

Stay tuned…I’ll be working hard here in California.

Did I mention the weather kinda sucks?

With only Jeremy Guthrie and Koji Uehara guaranteed rotation-life as starters for the Orioles, each spring training game gives another pitcher an opportunity to impress manager Dave Trembley.

Today, among others, it was David Pauley’s chance to shine.

It wasn’t pretty.

Pauley – out of options and therefore, a must-keep for the O’s on their opening day roster – gave up eight hits and a walk in three innings of work today as the Birds lost to Minnesota, 4-3.  He’s now allowed 20 hits and 22 baserunners in 9.1 innings of Grapefruit League work – and his e.r.a. is a not-so-swift 7.71.

If Pauley’s spring ERA was 2.35, the O’s would be excited.  Instead, it’s his WHIP (walks/hits allowed per inning) that’s 2.35.  

They’re not excited about a guy with a 2.35 WHIP.

With Rich Hill sore-arming it through spring training and still looking for his first real action – and Brad Hennessey shelved with an arm injury as well…the pickins’ are pretty slim for the O’s as they try to complete their starting rotation before the April 6 opener. 

Apparently, if nearly 10 innings of spring training work can serve as a fair barometer — David Pauley is probably not the answer.

One thing for sure, the economy didn’t affect the Orioles and their off-season efforts.

They kept almost all of their money.  It’s hard to feel the pinch when you don’t spend any of it.

The Birds acquired Rich Hill today and he’s likely to battle Jeremy Guthrie and Koji Uehra for the right to lose to the Yankees on either day one, two or three of the regular season in April.

At least Hill has more career wins (18) than Guthrie (17) and Uehara (0).

Granted, the Cubs got one good year out of Hill, who made 32 starts in 2007 and was 3rd in the national league with 183 strikeouts.  Last year, they got five starts out of him before he was shut down in early May.

Sounds like he’ll fit right in with all the other question-marks the O’s signed this winter.

Did I mention he made $445,000 last year?   

Like I said, he’s a perfect fit.

Here’s a list of the pitchers the Orioles COULD have had this winter:

Jon Garland, Derek Lowe, A.J. Burnett, Ben Sheets, John Smoltz and C.C. Sabathia

Those pitchers each have TWO things in common:  1) They’re expensive and, 2) They have a history of success.

Here’s the pitchers Baltimore wound up acquiring this winter:

Brad Hennessey, David Pauley, Mark Hendrickson, Koji Uehara and Rich Hill.

All of those pitchers have TWO things in common:  1) They’re all relatively inexpensive, except Uehara, who will make $1.25 million LESS than Jon Garland despite the fact Garland is younger and has 106 more major league wins than Uehara…and 2) no one else in the league wanted them…

I said at the beginning of the off-season that I would wait until February rolled around to determine the success level of the O’s winter efforts.

February is here.  I’m unimpressed.

Naturally, the O’s apologists will prattle on about how much “upside” all of these n’er do wells like Hennessey, Pauley and Hill have…”upside” is code word for: “at one point people thought they were going to be good and then they turned out to be not-so-good but maybe there’s still hope…”  

Bottom line:  The O’s could have spent money on pitchers. 

Bottom line:  They didn’t.

The only reasonable off-season move the team made was re-signing Nick Markakis and even that $66 million contract is backloaded to pay him nearly $16 million six years from now.  In 2009, Nick The Stick will perform his services for $3 million as part of his staggered payment schedule.  They also added slick-fielding shortstop Cesar Izturis, but I would have used that money to bring Garland in and would have given the no-hit, good-field shortstop position to Juan Castro.  What do I know? 

I can’t figure out for the life of me why the Orioles are afraid to spend money on quality players.  They have the money at their disposal.  They just don’t want to spend it.  Why not?  If only I could ask Andy MacPhail that question without having him scurry off to the soda table.

It’s obvious the team’s star-studded minor league pitching roster isn’t yet ready for prime time.  Had the likes of Arietta and Tillman been thought of as “opening day ready” the Birds wouldn’t have gone out in search of a journeyman like Hendrickson and a throw-away like Hill.  

With Arietta and Tillman NOT ready, why wouldn’t the O’s have invested some money on Garland, Lowe, Sheets, et al?

Is losing just so acceptable these days that we’ll take the lesser-of-two-evils (inexpensive) and be satisfied with that no matter what the results might be?

I don’t get it.

It’s clearly been an off-season of save and purge for the O’s…

There’s only one way we’ll all be able to determine if the fans buy into the team’s off-season efforts.

Butts in seats.

The green seats at Camden Yards will have the loudest voice in 2009.

If it’s anything like last year, or worse, the silence will be deafening as the customers give a dismissive wave and say, “no thanks”.

OK, so I can’t wait to hear why Jon Garland wouldn’t have been a good fit in Baltimore.

The big excuse this year – relative to spending money on free agents – has been “age”.

That’s why the Orioles passed on Derek Lowe.  Evidently, a 12-year veteran pitcher who has made 32 or more starts in seven consecutive seasons is “too old”.  Lowe’s career ERA is a half-run lower than the league average for his career – but who cares about when you’re – ahem – too old?

So, $60 million for Lowe (he eventually signed in Atlanta two weeks ago) was out of the O’s age range price range, right?  Fair enough, $60 million is a lot of money for a team that claims “we’re not going to win anyway”.

But what about Jon Garland?  Here’s the story about his move to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Anyone else find it interesting that he signed for roughly $6.25 million for ONE season?

How could the Orioles not throw him a 3-year/$20 million bone?

Is Baltimore really that far off the radar screen that Garland wouldn’t take a guaranteed sum of $20 million from them?  

Or, as I’m now starting sniff out, did the O’s just not want Jon Garland because, well, because trying to get him would perhaps show winning DOES matter to them?

Here are Jon Garland’s numbers (notice the age: 29).  You’ll note that he’s NEVER been on the disabled list as a starter.  If you’re trying to be fair (even if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool O’s fan), it’s probably worth noting that Garland is actually YOUNGER than Jeremy Guthrie.  You’ve heard of Guthrie, right?  He’s the team’s incumbent #1 starter for 2009.  Guthrie has 17 career wins.  Garland won 18 games in a season twice in his career.  

I don’t get this.  Then again, I’m obviously not allowed to ask Andy MacPhail a legitimate question about his player personnel decisions.  I tried to do that last week at the press conference for Nick Markakis and when I brought up Derek Lowe, MacPhail scooted off and fired a “let’s just say he’s out of our preferred age demographic” comment as he headed to the refreshment table.

I can’t figure out – after seeing Garland sign for one year at the bargain-price of $6.25 million – how the Orioles passed on him.

Maybe baseball has changed since last September.  Don’t teams still need 5 starters?  Right now, we have two for sure in Baltimore.  Our #1 starter is a guy who has 17 career wins and would fight for the #4 spot in New York or Boston.  Our #2 starter is a Japanese pitcher who has as many career major league strikeouts as me, little Ethan and Bruce Springsteen – combined.  

Why not sign Jon Garland?

If he gets 3-years/$34 million from the Diamondbacks, I’d say, “OK, I realize why the O’s didn’t get him…we’re afraid of paying any free agents decent money for fear that we might actually get production out of them and – God forbid – give the fans reason to think the team might be trying to win.”

I can’t come to grips with the fact that we have no starting pitching, pitchers have been available, and arguably one of the three best free agent hurlers out there commanded $6.25 million for one year and we didn’t land him in Baltimore.

Oddly, the name Braden Looper keeps popping up in rumor circles.  Forgive me for a second:  Are they talking about THIS Braden Looper?

Math wasn’t my best subject at dear old Glen Burnie High School, but isn’t Looper 34 years old?  He’s a two-year starter and 34 years old.  Lowe is 35 years old and has produced four straight years of a below-the-league-average-ERA and we won’t take him?  And, on top of all of that, the O’s will take Braden Looper but WON’T take Jon Garland.

I know the old saying, “where there’s smoke, there’s fire”, but I’m really hoping the Braden Looper rumors are just that…and nothing more.

If Looper signs in Baltimore – and Garland and Lowe didn’t – I’ll have to really start to wonder if the team is HONESTLY interested in winning.

I already wonder that…

But I’d have to SERIOUSLY wonder about it if they wind up signing Looper because it would appear they’re almost trying to lose on purpose with this string of puzzling no-signings and (potentially) signings.

“Too old”…”too expensive”…”too risky”…that’s the O’s notepad list of excuses when it comes to signing quality free agents.

Here’s what I’m writing on my notepad:  ”too many games lost”…”too many unsold tickets”…”too many excuses”.

I guess if you can’t get the guy from Mount St. Joe who can play and put people in the seats, you should at least still get someone from Mount St. Joe.

The Orioles are evidently considering a trade that would send the organization’s best employee, Brian Roberts, to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Baltimore native Gavin Floyd, a 5-year major league veteran with a 4.98 career ERA.  A year in Chicago, he had his best season ever, going 17-8 with a 3.84 ERA.  

Floyd, like Teixeira, attended Mount St. Joe before being drafted by the Phillies.

I also assume, much like Tex, that Floyd grew up following the Orioles and enjoyed the thought of perhaps one day playing for the hometown team.

That is, until they started losing 90 games a year and lost 70% of their fan base over a half-dozen years.

As for Roberts, the way his career has unfolded here is nothing short of a bad movie.  

Eight years in the big leagues and Brian Roberts has never, ever, ever – not once – played a meaningful baseball game with the Orioles.  He has put that jersey on 976 times in his career and none of the games have ever really mattered.  Such is the life when you play for the Orioles in the 21st century, I guess.

In the end, though, Floyd would help the Orioles.  They have no real starting pitcher right now with the exception of Jeremy Guthrie and for all the talk and rhetoric about how great “Guts” is – might I remind you he has exactly 17 more wins in the big leagues than you, me and my Aunt Betty.

In fact, there’s probably an argument that Floyd would be the team’s #1 starter if the deal is made.  Or, at the very least, he’ll compete for that spot in spring training.  Don’t forget, we also have Mark Hendrickson in the fold now.  He’ll be good for a 5.00 ERA and a bunch of balls into Boog’s BBQ in ’09.

As for Roberts, he’s now nothing more than a rented mule.  The harvest is over with and it’s time for the farm owner to make a decision.  ”Do I keep him around for another year until the corn grows again or do I just ship him off somewhere and start fresh with another mule next year?”

In a decade of darkness, Brian Roberts has been the O’s brightest light.  He’s been superb ON the field and active and heart-warming OFF the field.  Of the 12,000 or so who still manage to convince themselves to attend home games at OPACY, many of them have been attached to the team in some small way due to Roberts.  He’s the only guy on the current roster worthy of working for the Ravens.  That’s how much he “gets it.”

But, at age 31 now, Brian Roberts is also realizing that it’s one thing to play in the major leagues and reap the benefits of that stardom.  It’s another to play for a team that tries to win.

You can bet everything you own that Roberts is at church right now, praying that the deal sending him to Chicago gets done.

They’ve probably given him the key to the church and said, “Let yourself out when you’re finished talking to God, B-Rob.”  That’s how much time he’s spending there this off-season.

So, the Orioles are evidently considering a trade that would send their best asset to another organization.

Somehow, that’s fitting.

Why hold on to the one or two gems you have and treat them right, now, when you’ve never done it before?