Buck Showalter: The exorcist

I'm beginning this post before the conclusion of tonight's White Sox @ Orioles game because the result is irrelevant. That is, the positive shift in attitude and ability we have witnessed since Buck Showalter became manager cannot be negated in the remainder of this game.

This good fortune began, in my mind, the day reliever Will Ohman was traded to the Florida Marlins. The laboring, southpaw middle reliever was as effective of a pitcher as Joslyn James is at keeping secrets.

So it came as no surprise, in fact I chuckled heartily, when I watched the SportsCenter highlight of Ohman blowing a save opportunity against the Phillies in a game the Fins would lose in 10 innings.

In return for mediocre Ohman we received Triple-A pitcher Rick Vanden Hurk, who, if nothing else, has a badass name. Assuming his first name is Richard, I'm definitely calling him Dick Vanden Hurk from the moment he makes it to the majors. The not-so-incredible Hurk has an ERA of 4.68 this season. I won't complain though; the Marlins could have traded Baltimore Jim Abbott with no left hand and it would have been a net gain.

Add to that the fact that we dropped Miguel Tejada, opening the door for Josh Bell to prove himself at third, and Brian Roberts is back from the DL, and I think we have a legitimate shot to win more than 50 games.

Tom Glavine?

Should the Orioles consider signing Tom Glavine?

With all their young pitchers - the best of which are still in the minors - why not bring in this 300+-win veteran/Cy Young winner for the rest of the season to mentor the young players? He's had elbow and shoulder problems, but at the least he could be a middle reliever. Maybe Baltimore can ditch Danys Baez or Scott Williamson to make room.

I need a haircut

I shot myself in the foot yesterday. I wrote on my Frederick News-Post blog that I wouldn't cut my hair until the Orioles get back above .500 (or when school starts on Aug. 27). Tonight's loss/demoralization to the Red Sox ensures that I'll be waiting until at least after the All-Star break to visit the barber shop.

I don't plan on the Orioles bailing me out before school starts so I'll go for the Rickie Fowler look and see if that helps my golf game for the rest of the summer.

The Orioles are two games below .500 with one game left against Boston before the break (that only one player, George Sherrill, will participate in. I think Sherrill has five blown saves in the last two weeks so he's clearly the best choice). Then they start an 11-game homestand. As I said in the blog, if they don't pull it off then I could look like Robinson Crusoe by the time I go back to school.

Big night in Baltimore

It's a big night for the Orioles. With the Blue Jays beating the Red Sox and the Rays taking another one from the Yankees, the Orioles are another win over the Mariners tonight from first place.
The Orioles in first and the Yankees in last would be as rare as an Easter in March, but since that's already happened this year, I say for at least one day, why not?
Baltimore will need a big debut from Adam Loewen and some hot bats to go off against Miguel Batista. This could provide the momentum they will need to face their former best player, Erik Bedard, in the third game of a four-game series tomorrow afternoon.

Gone, Jay G., Gone

The Orioles cut Jay Gibbons today to get their roster to the opening day maximum of 25 players.
I didn't see this coming with the delay of his season-opening 15-game suspension. It looked like the break Gibbons would need as the MLB considers granting amnesty to past substance abusers while putting a new system in place.
Now, not only have the Orioles released their second-longest tenured and most productive (although admittedly inconsistent) player over the past few seasons, but they will also owe him $11.9 million.
The $10+ million salary difference is worth eating to keep a younger player (utility infielder Scott Moore) who may be more useful this year and down the road.
The real question that remains though is, is this the end of the housecleaning? Already two of Baltimore's three best players from last year (Miguel Tejada and Erik Bedard) have been traded for a boatload of unproven prospects and chic pick closer George Sherrill, and now one of the biggest bats in the lineups (relative to the rest of the order) has been released for nothing in return but a little relief from the distractions his appearance on the Mitchell Report was causing.
Considering Brian Roberts was Gibbons' best friend on the team, I think the rumor of him being traded to the Cubs will become a reality very soon. Along with Tejada and Bedard leaving, that would mean that the top three players from last season would be out of Baltimore with Nick Markakis, Jeremy Guthrie and (gasp) Adam Jones leading the Orioles in their pursuit of finishing better than third place before Peter Angelos sells the team to Cal Ripken, Jr.
While the Orioles have been unloading, the other four teams in the AL East have been reloading. Consider it a huge accomplishment if the O's finish higher than fourth and/or within 25 games of first place this season.

Sting Ray

If Erik Bedard had a vote for the AL Cy Young winner, it would go to Josh Beckett. The modest Orioles ace would surely embrace the award, but knows he trails Beckett in one important statistical category--wins.
There is a strong correlation between Beckett's 15 wins and the team for which he plays. The Red Sox after all have the best record in baseball. It is Bedard, though, who leads the league in strikeouts by 33 over Johan Santana. It is Bedard's 2.98 ERA that is second in the AL behind Kelvin Escobar of the Angels (who have the second-best record in baseball.) Bedard is also among the 20 AL pitchers with a complete game shut-out. (Only Jeff Weaver, with two, has multiple shut-outs.) Beckett, for the record, has none.
So what then is holding Bedard from joining baseball pundits across the country in tabbing himself as a favorite for the prestigious pitching award? Statistically it may be the wins, but in reality it's a lack of two things: run support and a closer.
The Orioles will supposedly address the former problem in the offseason. But now with closer Chris Ray having Tommy John surgery performed yesterday the O's have to find a reliable closer for the 2008 season, which Ray is expected to miss.
Not that Ray was becoming the AL East's new Mariano Rivera, but he converted 33 of 38 opportunities in 2006. Now the Orioles have to rely on the unreliable Danys Baez to close out the rest of the season, and hope he proves fit for next year as well.
I don't mean to ruin the ending, but he won't.
Manager Dave Trembley says rookie reliever Jim Hoey will remain in the setup role, despite no earned runs in five appearances this year. Baez, meanwhile, has as many losses as Hoey does scoreless appearances. He was signed as part of the bullpen revamping project the Orioles proudly underwent in the offseason. Now they will be forced to revisit that area this offseason if they hope to find a true closer. Problem is that the market isn't going to be flooded with big names. (Francisco Cordero from Milwaukee may be the best outside option.)
Without someone to finish off what Bedard masterfully starts, it will be hard to convince him he can truly become one of the games elite pitchers in Baltimore. (Statistically anyway, Baltimore fans and others are quickly finding out that his stuff is as good as anyone's.)
Beckett has Johnatan Papelbon (with Eric Gagne setting him up, not a bad eighth and ninth inning rotation) and Escobar, along with John Lackey (15-7, 3.23, 129 Ks) have Francisco Rodriguez.
Erik Bedard has, well, nobody. And unless Peter Angelos makes a big move this winter, neither will the Orioles.

Zambrano, Buehrle, should cue Angelos, MacPhail

Erik Bedard, who leads the major leagues with 207 strikeouts, has his opponent down to its last strike. This time, however, that opponent is Baltimore Orioles.
When White Sox ace Mark Buehrle signed a four-year, $56 million extension, the Baltimore front office fouled off the first pitch. But they must have been buckling at the knees when the team on the south-side of the windy city gave Carlos Zambrano $91.5 million over five years today.
Bedard, who hasn't lost in 12 consecutive starts, will become a free agent after next season unless Peter Angelos and Andy MacPhail step in. Kudos to Angelos for completing a deal for No. 1 draft pick Matt Wieters, but now it's time to sign someone who can help the Orioles now, not in a year or two.
When asked in The New York Times about the possibility of playing for the Yankees, the closely guarded southpaw contemplated the question before finally answering, "I don't know." Well we don't know either because while the Orioles could have locked up their franchise arm long before his stock began spiking in late June, they have instead allowed him to serve notice to the rest of the league that he is a legit No. 1 pitcher, something Orioles fans have known since last year.
If Bedard doesn't stay, neither will Brian Roberts, and it won't matter who is throwing to the heir apparent behind the plate from Georgia Tech, or who is covering at second when he guns down would-be base stealers.
In the Chicago Sun-Times, Zambrano acknowledged that he wanted to stay with the Cubs all along. He's glad the deal was worked out before he went to the market.
‘‘Not everything is about money,’’ Zambrano said in the Sun-Times article. Maybe not where you're from. If the Orioles don't broker a deal this winter, 2008 will be about nothing but money.