It’s November 11th, and Birdland is getting antsy.

The Orioles are coming off a season where they managed to lose 115 games.

The organization has moved on from Dan Duquette at Executive VP, and Buck Showalter at Manager.

Without a formal announcement, it seems clear that during this past year Ownership has moved from Peter Angelos to his Sons John and Lou.

Will John and Lou operate any differently from their Father?  How consistently will Ownership’s actions match their words?

What structure will exist with their Front Office? Will they allow the professionals to operate without interference and organizational constraints? Will they allow the professionals to build the Baseball Operations Department as those professionals deem necessary?

The longer there is silence from the Orioles, the louder these questions get.

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

Earlier this week, MASN’s Roch Kubatko again reported that the O’s will be making a two-tiered hire regardless of what titles the hires get.

Right now, I find that encouraging.

Ultimately it’s only encouraging if they get the hires ‘right’, and the Angelos Brothers embolden those hires to tell them (Ownership) what the organization needs to be doing.

When we initially heard that the Orioles were looking to hire both a President and a EVP / GM; my ideal tandem was Farhan Zaidi at President, and Amiel Sawdaye at EVP / GM.

I didn’t believe those were going to be the hires, but those were who I hoped the Orioles would pursue.

Zaidi has since joined San Francisco as their President, and Sawdaye is seemingly off the O’s radar.

Some people seem puzzled by what the O’s are doing, and the names which have emerged so far.

In my opinion, it seems pretty clear.

I think they’ve internally identified some options that make sense as a Team President, and they’ve identified some options which would make sense as a EVP / GM.

They are interviewing a pool of candidates for President.
Who they hire as President will hire who they want at EVP / GM.

They are also interviewing EVP / GM types. Not with the intent of hiring, but to have done their own initial diligence.

With Zaidi off the board – and Sawdaye seemingly not being considered – my current hope is that the O’s hire Ben Cherington at President, and Mike Elias at EVP / GM.

Cherington and Elias would be lauded throughout the baseball community as plus hires.

With those two alone the Orioles would have an infusion of brain power and philosophical changes to the organization. Then you’d get their subsequent targeted hires for the positions underneath them within Scouting, Player Development, Analytics, etc.

Cherington and Elias have seen and been a part of success elsewhere.
They are viewed as being at the forefront of innovation and current analysis.

The O’s are staring at a rebuilding process that figures to last at-least 3-4 years.

If you want your fan-base to be engaged during that period, and not waste away to apathy; then you need hires your fan-base can buy into. You need your fan-base to believe you have the right hires in-place to lead you.

Cherington and Elias would be that for the Orioles.

Pull the trigger John & Lou, and let Ben & Mike get to work.

 

Some Questions I Have & Things I’m Looking Forward To In ’19

1) I’m not sold on Mullins, but there are things to like. I’m looking forward to seeing him play over the course of a full year, and having a better understanding of what he is as a player. BTW, the defensive metrics in his 376.2 innings were poor. Something to watch there.

2) What reports do we see on Sisco when Spring Training arrives? Is he focused? Does his glove look better? If he is strong mentally from the time pitchers and catchers report, I’m not opposed to the idea of him coming North to start the year. If he has to go back to the Minors, and earn his way back; that’s fine too. ’18 sucked. In ’19, he has to take advantage of any opportunities he gets.

3) I like Austin Hays. I think he’s going to be a productive ML player. You want him healthy in ST, and you want to see him go produce in the Minors and get back to Baltimore. I’d be pleased if he could get 3-4 months in the Majors next year. Ultimately when he gets back, you just want him up for good. He’ll go through an adjustment period and struggles in the Majors.. but I’m looking forward to him getting (earning) some extended time.

4) Mountcastle should be spending every day this Winter working on his glove. Yeah, it’s the bat that is going to keep him in the Majors, but it would be exciting if he can become an average ish 3rd baseman, and doesn’t have to moved off the position. Once the O’s have gained the additional year of service time, I want to see him up (provided of course that he is producing).

5) Similar to Mountcastle, once the O’s have gained the additional year of service time, I want to see Diaz up.

6) Would be fun to me if by June 1st, you have Hays in LF, Mullins in CF,  Diaz in RF, and Mancini at DH.

6a) Trumbo was relatively productive before the knee injury ended his year. He will have to prove he’s healthy, and the O’s will have to eat some of the $13.5M owed to him in ’19, but he should be movable somewhere. If he is on the roster to begin the year – proving his health – you hope you can move him when has his first ‘hot’ spell. Once moved, I’d be looking for Mancini to take over DH.

6b) If you get to mid-season next year and Davis hasn’t rebounded at all, maybe the O’s do look at eating his deal. Would be surprising, but possible. If so, Mancini could go to 1st, and Stewart could take over at DH.

7) If Bundy rebounds to begin ’19, and Cobb is replicating his ’18 2nd half… do the O’s look to trade them?

8) Givens ended the year pitching well.  Scott racked up the k’s (and bb’s). Those two can be two legitimate bullpen pieces. Givens in-particular could be a trade piece. I believe in the talent of both at-least.

9) Not really sold on Yefry Ramirez, or Hess as ML starters.  But do think they can help a team. If you can get to a point where they are swing guys for you, or you went with ‘Openers’… I think they’d have value.

10) Cody Carroll has big velocity, but no movement. He’d be well served to dial it back some and find some additional movement.

11) Castro, Wright, Fry, Rogers, Phillips, Yacabonis, Meisinger, Bleier, Luis Gonzalez…  this isn’t a group to be overly excited about, but there are some usable arms here. You’ve got some pieces here to build a bullpen out of.

11a) I hope Kline gets a long early look next year at making the pen. I also want to see Zach Pop in the Majors quickly.

12) Wilkerson and Valera should not be guys that start for anyone, but I think one of them might start for the O’s to open ’19. I do think they could be usable UTI types. Wilkerson flashed a lot of leather in his limited time this year.

13) Luis Ortiz, Dillon Tate, Keegan Akin, Dean Kremer….  I’m not sure any one of that quartet will ever be a reliable ML starter, but think each has a chance to be a 3rd to 5th starter.  What I really think, is that you could build a staff where you target these guys for 80-110 innings, and get production from them. In a more traditional capacity, Ortiz is in my projected rotation to start ’19.

14) I’d be surprised if the O’s completely ignore FA.  I’m interested to see what names the new leadership shows interest in.  Here is a list of FAs.

15) Who the O’s select #1 next June. What do the O’s do IFA wise?

16) After the AS break next year, I want to see glimpses of a quality future team. Better fundamentals. Better defense. Better athleticism. Ability to manufacture. Improved plate discipline. If you are missing the front-end stars, I want to see the other pieces of the roster (back of the rotation, bullpen, bench, secondary regulars) start to come together.

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

Owner

Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.

X