Excuse me while I get this off my chest...The orioles have finished higher than 4th place in the al east one time in the last 10 years... 3rd place in 2004, 20 games behind the red sox and 23 behind the yankees after leading the division in june.
The orioles draft in the top 10 picks virtually every season, yet teams like the red sox and yankees who are known mortgaging their future on veterans are the ones pumping out promising young studs like pedroia, bucholz, joba, hughes, melky, and cano. The hitters in the orioles farm system are pathetic!! Our top draft pick from 3 years ago was a high school catcher who can't hit, tore his labrum, and now platoons at single A at 1st and 3rd. That is just the tip of the iceberg. With all the top-flight picks the o's have, there should be at least 2 or 3 PREMIER prospects in our system, and we don't have ONE. The closest is Radhames Liz, a big dominican who racked up some wins and K’s at Double A and came up and got his tits lit in September. He looked like he was years from being an impact pitcher. Going into the 2006 season, according to baseball america, our top prospect was Billy Rowell, who hit an unimpressive .273 with 104 K's in 91 games in low A ball this year. The #2 prospect, Brandon Erbe, went 6-8 with a 6.26 ERA in A ball. Our top power prospect was Nolan Reimold, who only played 50 games, hitting 11 bombs with 47 K's at Double A. The guy with the "best strike zone discipline," Jeff Fiorentino, has the face and physique of that earned him the nickname of fuckin Screech. You get the idea. The most promising guy by the numbers is 25 year old 1B Luis Antonio Jimenez, who managed 22 bombs (highest total at any level for an oriole prospect) while hitting .328 (also highest for a regular). He wasn't even on the list going into the year and I've never heard an orioles exec mention his name.
As for the current orioles... the pitchers: Chris Ray just got Tommy John, and he couldn't get anyone out BEFORE the fuckin surgery. Our two best relievers, Jamie Walker and Chad Bradford, don't throw 100mph combined. Daniel Cabrera is not that young anymore, he'll be 27 next year, and as long as he's been in the league, he is now a proven loser. Jeremy Guthrie had a nice year, but as an O's fan, you got the sense that the league started to figure him out as the year went on. He's still got good stuff, but he is what one might call a "max effort" pitcher, and arm troubles definitely look like they are in his future. Erik Bedard is a free agent after next season, and given the market for starting pitching, this is just a lose-lose for the o's. Overpay for a guy that has never had an injury free season, or let the bona-fide ace you need to build a winner on get away. Adam Loewen has shown me nothing in his time in the bigs, medicore stuff and bad command, and he's behind on development after missing the bulk of 2007.
The orioles draft in the top 10 picks virtually every season, yet teams like the red sox and yankees who are known mortgaging their future on veterans are the ones pumping out promising young studs like pedroia, bucholz, joba, hughes, melky, and cano. The hitters in the orioles farm system are pathetic!! Our top draft pick from 3 years ago was a high school catcher who can't hit, tore his labrum, and now platoons at single A at 1st and 3rd. That is just the tip of the iceberg. With all the top-flight picks the o's have, there should be at least 2 or 3 PREMIER prospects in our system, and we don't have ONE. The closest is Radhames Liz, a big dominican who racked up some wins and K’s at Double A and came up and got his tits lit in September. He looked like he was years from being an impact pitcher. Going into the 2006 season, according to baseball america, our top prospect was Billy Rowell, who hit an unimpressive .273 with 104 K's in 91 games in low A ball this year. The #2 prospect, Brandon Erbe, went 6-8 with a 6.26 ERA in A ball. Our top power prospect was Nolan Reimold, who only played 50 games, hitting 11 bombs with 47 K's at Double A. The guy with the "best strike zone discipline," Jeff Fiorentino, has the face and physique of that earned him the nickname of fuckin Screech. You get the idea. The most promising guy by the numbers is 25 year old 1B Luis Antonio Jimenez, who managed 22 bombs (highest total at any level for an oriole prospect) while hitting .328 (also highest for a regular). He wasn't even on the list going into the year and I've never heard an orioles exec mention his name.
As for the current orioles... the pitchers: Chris Ray just got Tommy John, and he couldn't get anyone out BEFORE the fuckin surgery. Our two best relievers, Jamie Walker and Chad Bradford, don't throw 100mph combined. Daniel Cabrera is not that young anymore, he'll be 27 next year, and as long as he's been in the league, he is now a proven loser. Jeremy Guthrie had a nice year, but as an O's fan, you got the sense that the league started to figure him out as the year went on. He's still got good stuff, but he is what one might call a "max effort" pitcher, and arm troubles definitely look like they are in his future. Erik Bedard is a free agent after next season, and given the market for starting pitching, this is just a lose-lose for the o's. Overpay for a guy that has never had an injury free season, or let the bona-fide ace you need to build a winner on get away. Adam Loewen has shown me nothing in his time in the bigs, medicore stuff and bad command, and he's behind on development after missing the bulk of 2007.
The hitters: highest paid guy is miguel tejada, whose offense has declined each year since he's been here, and infield coach Juan Samuel said this about his D: "He doesn't move real well. I don't know how we can fix it." Brob is 31 next year and plays like Iverson (i.e. takes a beating). Melvin Mora is 36 and we've seen his production fall off a cliff as one would expect of a guy that age. Kevin Millar is the only true leader on the team and had a great year for him by hitting .260, which are 2 pathetic statements that I’m saddened to make. Ramon Hernandez can no longer hit or throw out runners consistently. Corey Patterson plays great D, swipes bags, and is an atrocious hitter who probably won’t be back next year. In left, Jay Payton is old (35), has zero power (7 dingers), and is a psycho (tried to fight melvin mora). Markakis is obviously a stud (112 rbi in this shit lineup), but he just isn't a player that is gonna carry a team since he doesn't have to power to hit 40 bombs.
The past, present and future are all bleak, and I'd only estimate that the realism/pessimism split in this post is 80/20.
And the Ravens still don't have a qb that can complete a 15 yard pass, yet I somehow remain optimistic about that.
Yimmy, I'd love to get your thoughts.
God I hate Boston right now with their Red Sox, NFL dominance, 4th ranked college FB team, and Garnett carrying hoops squad.
The past, present and future are all bleak, and I'd only estimate that the realism/pessimism split in this post is 80/20.
And the Ravens still don't have a qb that can complete a 15 yard pass, yet I somehow remain optimistic about that.
Yimmy, I'd love to get your thoughts.
God I hate Boston right now with their Red Sox, NFL dominance, 4th ranked college FB team, and Garnett carrying hoops squad.
7 comments:
Billy Rowell got drafted in '06 at the ripe age of 18, give him a minute would ya.
I had NO IDEA Melvin Mora was 36 fucking years old. Jesus Tits!!!!
The Ravens cant complete a 15 yard pass yet they throw between 40 and 50 times a game. Doesnt make sense.
As bad as the picture you just painted of your farm system is, I think mine is worse. Which is really encouraging. You could at least trade a Billy Rowell and get something for him. You know who we took like 7 picks later in that draft? Kyle Drabek. Sucked terribly his first year, started pretty well this year, and immediately got Tommy John.
I see where youre coming from though the Orioles would finish last in the NL East. They got out fanned 2-1 by the Red Sox at Camden Yards this summer. Thats never refreshing.
Yeah I agree about Rowell's age, it's just frustrating that we can't seem to land a Cameron Maybin/Andruw Jones-esque prospect who dominates the minors right away and rockets through each class after a year or 2. Part of that probably has something to do with the losing mentality/climate in the organization.
Also not refreshing when your team loses 30-3 2 hours after your new manager gets locked up for 2008 to begin an 8 game losing streak. Or when you break up the losing streak in fenway only to get no-hit by a 16 year old the next night.
Yeh, wow that stinks, that really stinks...
The Mets had a rough year but have young and old and a promising future...to have a weak system is brutal and makes no sense...
What about money...aren't the O's one of the upper echelon $$$ teams? Is at an unwillingness to spend? Is it bad expenditures?
Concerning money, it's a really a little bit a frugality and some bad expenditures. Angelos will open his pocketbook very sporadically, at least enough to keep up the illusion of making an effort to win. Even with all the losing, the O's have still been a profitable venture, so the wins don't really matter to Angelos.
The problem is, when he does front the money to pull in some talent, the o's execs have failed to put get the right guys. Last year they spent 50 mill on the 'pen and came away with danys baez, chad bradford and jamie walker. In '04 they went after vlad, miggy, pudge and javy, and miggy and javy were OK signings at the time, but what they really needed (and still need)was pitching. When moves like that don't work out, Angelos loses faith in our decision makers, and he ends up vetoing trades like Tejada to Houston for Oswalk, Ensberg, and Everett. This whole depression really started in '98 when the O's carried over a huge payroll from their wire to wire division winning '97 team only to finish 79-83 thanks to brutal seasons from roberto alomar, Brady anderson, mike bordick, doug drabek, and even Cal. The next year they went out and signed Albert Belle, Charles Johnson, and Will Clark to try to turn the ship around, they finished under .500 for the 2nd straight year and the rest is history. They never recovered, and Angelos has never really shown a committment to winning since then. Check out some of the players they had on those 2 teams:
Roberto Alomar
Rafael Palmeiro
Cal Ripken
Albert Belle
Mike Mussina
Jimmmy Key
Scott Erickson
Juan Guzman
Doug Drabek
Mike Bordick
Eric Davis
Joe Carter
BJ surhoff
Brady Anderson
Harold Baines
Will Clark
Jeff Conine
Mike Timlin
Arthur Rhodes
Jesse Orosco
You'd think these guys could put together a few dubs, no?
Orioles top draft picks from 1998 to 2001:
1998 Rick Elder, of Out of baseball
1999 Mike Paradis, rhp Out of baseball
2000 Beau Hale, rhp Out of Baseball
2001 Chris Smith, lhp Out of baseball
That is unbelievable!!
hahahahahaha oh man that is brutal
Post a Comment