Tim Kurkjian Talks with Orioles Hangout

by Fernando J. Delgado

http://www.orioleshangout.com/article/4939/tim-kurkjian-talks-to-orioles-hangout

I know you are are all still reading this. But I expect discussion

What I find most amazing is that your post is dated for 7pm and it is only 6:12. You are a time traveler!!! Still reading the article.

Makes a lot of sense but he might be the only one who sees us as having a chance to resign Wieters. You don't to much out of the box thinking with most sportswriters.

Its up to Matt. Pretty much always has been.

Thanks for posting it, Weams!

I did the interview with Mr. Kurkjian. He was very gracious with his time, and he's one of the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with. Hope you guys enjoy it.

I liked the part about Chris Davis and the idea that after success it is hard mentally to deal with failure. I think that is as good as an explanation for what plagued him next year. If he hits .250 with 35 HRs this year, then maybe he replaces losing Nelson Cruz.

Would have like to asked him if he thought the Orioles should try to add any speed to the roster if they lose Cruz. I still believe speed kills and if we had one person with speed who could distract the pitchers, maybe a few more straight fastballs would be pitched and that would increase the HR totals from our other players.

Sounds like Tim thinks the O's are going to have a payroll of 135-140M. Keep Cruz and Markakis and Davis and they can't trade Jimenez. Tim thinks its time to spend money.

Thanks posting it, Weams!

I did the interview with Mr. Kurkjian. He was very gracious with his time, and he's one of the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with. Hope you guys enjoy it.

I hope you gets some rep out of it. It was quite a good article.

Tim K is right on the money here. Cruz needs to be locked up. Have to think Ubaldo and Davis have can only do better than last year. NO mention of Miller. He gone. O's are going to have to get creative if they can't resign Cruz. I feel more optimistic about Chris Davis after reading that. Great work guys.

Thanks posting it, Weams!

I did the interview with Mr. Kurkjian. He was very gracious with his time, and he's one of the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with. Hope you guys enjoy it.

He's always come across that way. Glad to hear that was your experience too.

First of all, it's awesome that you guys were able to do an interview with Kurkjian.

I agree with just about everything he says. The only thing I disagree with him on is Cruz. They don't HAVE to re-sign him. To steal from Moneyball, you don't have to replace a single player's production. You have to get contributions across the board to get those runs. Having a better Davis and a healthy Wieters and Machado would more than make up for the loss of Cruz, especially if they can get a solid DH with the surplus there is on the market.

I liked the part about Chris Davis and the idea that after success it is hard mentally to deal with failure. I think that is as good as an explanation for what plagued him next year. If he hits .250 with 35 HRs this year, then maybe he replaces losing Nelson Cruz.

Was just going to say the same thing. Makes a lot of sense and hadn't really occurred to me before.

Baseball is a really hard game to play. I’ve written this a thousand times. It can make you look really good, and really bad, really quickly. Even in back-to-back years, and that’s precisely what happened to Chris Davis. I think what happened to him - and I checked around on this - is that the expectations got to him a little bit. I think the pressure on him got to him a little bit. I think he felt he had to do more than he was supposed to be doing, and it wore on him. He’s failed many times before, but he’s never failed after being really good. And I think that wore on him. This is what good players do – they get at that [failure], and they work their way through that. And he was not capable of doing that. But I think he will be capable of doing that the next time it comes up, because he’s a smart guy who’s got great ability. He just got caught up in baseball. Which happens all the time! Really good players have trouble, and there’s no explanation for it. And that’s what happened to him.

Tim K is right on the money here. Cruz needs to be locked up. Have to think Ubaldo and Davis have can only do better than last year. NO mention of Miller. He gone. O's are going to have to get creative if they can't resign Cruz. I feel more optimistic about Chris Davis after reading that. Great work guys.

I didn't ask him specifically about Miller because of time constraints, but I do agree that the writing on the wall with regards to Miller is that the Orioles are preparing to get bullpen help elsewhere. I'd love for the Orioles to bring him back, though.

Loved this part:

"I remember talking to Buck Showalter in the middle of June, and all sorts of things were going wrong. And I said something to Buck like, “If you guys are only two games out (as they were at that point) in August, you guys are going to be in great shape.”

And Buck said, “Forget that, we’re going to be six games ahead in August!”

And then, they were 6 games ahead in the middle of August! At that point, I said, “Alright – Buck is even better than I thought he was.” And nobody thinks he’s better than I do, because I’ve seen him in action.

Loved this part:

"I remember talking to Buck Showalter in the middle of June, and all sorts of things were going wrong. And I said something to Buck like, “If you guys are only two games out (as they were at that point) in August, you guys are going to be in great shape.”

And Buck said, “Forget that, we’re going to be six games ahead in August!”

And then, they were 6 games ahead in the middle of August! At that point, I said, “Alright – Buck is even better than I thought he was.” And nobody thinks he’s better than I do, because I’ve seen him in action.

Buck is a great source of stories.