Explosivo

No. What did he say? Is this because of one joke about domestic violence that he apologized for? I like this comment better: “Baseball is a funny thing. I’ve been fortunate to be able to stay in Baltimore and with this organization,” Dempsey said. “I’ve had a lot of different roles – maybe not the one I really coveted the most, [which] was to manage the Orioles some day. But that just didn’t work out. You don’t always get every single thing that you want in life, and you’ve got to make adjustments. This is just another adjustment that I’m going to have to make, but I am not giving up on the Orioles and I refuse to give up on Baltimore.” He clearly would say yes, wants the job and as a former catcher would offer a lot of advice for the players going forward.

Stevie Nixed the Orioles

Rick Dempsey should manage this club. I think he would bring great life to the club and renew the former winning ways and culture.

I’m available. I’ll take the job for a year and ensure another last place and first round, first selection pick. I can also guarantee the pressers will be lively and fun. I’m not sure who would be a good selection once we turn stuff around.

Agreed. If he ever writes a memoir it should be titled “I never bit the hand that feeds”

He’s only been in the league for a cup of coffee. Teams are an extension of the manager’s intention met with the players’ ability. How they play is a reflection of the manager. Why do you think they have signs in baseball? You don’t understand and that’s fine. I agree that he shouldn’t have to signal that and for a player like Mancini you’re right. For a kid who’s never been in the majors for more than a couple of weeks, you have the foresight to remind the lad.

Both are blind.

He actually can affect the game in that instance. Managers are supposed to utilize moments in games and situations in games to teach players on what they are supposed to do in those moments. That’s how managers can affect the game. It’s not just on who to throw and when or what lineup to use against a specific pitcher. It’s supposed to also be about their knowledge base of the game as they have been around it for much, much longer than anyone else on the team. That’s their role. Did you see that affecting the game or did the manager just let a kid who still calls himself Stevie do whatever he wanted in that situation? Is this another Hayes decided to bunt on his own and after the fact Hyde gets all butt hurt? A manager is supposed to make decisions that affect the game before they happen, not play armchair quarterback like us fans.

In 2012, the Astros nabbed Carlos Correa with the number 1 overall pick and Lance McCoulers with their next pick. 2013 they took Mark Appel, a bust. Whiffing on Kris Bryant, but a lot of teams missed their mark in that year. 2014 was another whiff with them selecting Brady Aiken. 2015 they got Bergman and struck gold. So that was 4 years in a row of picking first overall, they hit on two out of the four years and built the club around those players and others. We clearly struck gold with Adley, we’ve got huge returns with Grayson, Henderson and Hall. We will have a top 10 draft pick this year and likely have another number 1 overall this year. I trust in Elias and his recognition of talent. He has shown with Correa and Bregman, he can pick well. He whiffed on the two pitchers, but has already scored on Grayson and Hall. He picked well with Henderson and the jury is out on Kjerstad. Using the Astros as a blueprint, we are two years away and have a lot more talent in the AAA and AA levels than some realize. I agree that cheating to win is wrong, but as they are at least showing now, they were talented in the first place.

That was wrong to get rid of Cal then and it’s incorrect to get rid of Hyde now. We quite frankly need Hyde to be this bad to get the result we want and that’s to be the worst baseball team in the majors. Let’s look at the Astros and when Elias took over and just how long they were in the cellar until they amassed such talent to get them over the hump. Elias was with the Astros for 5 years. 2012- 2014 were historically bad for the club. 2015 they finished middle of the pack, then 2016 finished second in their division and afterwards they’ve been rolling. Like I am hoping, we will be bad for two more years and then likewise will be rolling.

Yep. Just embarrassing.

Another shining example, how do you swing at that pitch in a 3-1 count with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth? How is it not obvious you take the pitch unless it’s right down the middle? You need baserunners, it could have been ball four and now you’ve got a chance to tie it and go to extras. Instead, the Orioles don’t seem to understand the fundamentals of situational baseball and he swings and hits a weak grounder. That’s on the manager. How do you not tell your guys what to do in that situation? How do they not know what to do already? This team continues to show how poorly managed it is. Lack of fundamentals, all things equal rests squarely on the managers. This is why we have spring training. This is why we have practices. This is why these old fogeys are in the clubhouse, so they can relate their wealth of baseball knowledge to remind players what to do in each given situation. Pathetic.

It seems like a trend now that borderline pitches are not going our way. Just now, Harvey made a perfect 0-2 pitch with a fastball on the outside corner, right on the black, yet it’s called a ball. Abreu works the count back to 2-2 and gets a flare of an rbi single. This same thing happened a couple of days ago and I’m starting to see that our pitchers seem to have a different strike zone. Obviously I’m biased but are you guys seeing this too?

Nevin with the ground rule double!

Honestly, it’s probably not that far off. Elias having complete control of the roster makes the most sense. The goal is not this year but two years down the road. Brandon is there to facilitate the charade of a coach and season. All good, it’s nevin’s time to shine. also, on a separate note, congrats to Grayson for his jump to AA. Hall, Grayson, and Adley will be the cornerstone of a 5 year window of opportunity at a ring.

It’s almost like Hyde is a bad manager or something.

I wish we could get an answer from current and former batting coaches on this. It'd be very interesting to hear from a professional, their take on all of this. As a fan, it's baffling. Perhaps it's how teams draft these days and which players move up and have more value than others. For example, if players know the only way to crack the lineup is by hitting a homerun, that's all they will focus on. I don't blame them. I blame what the game has become to incentivize that behavior. Perhaps guys like Gwynn, Boggs and Carew would be looked at as AAAA types that would never land a spot in a lineup consistently. I honestly don't know.

That’s what I’m saying. How hard is it to teach a pull hitter to just take what the defense is giving you? These guys are major leaguers. I get that hitting is all about timing, but can’t you just swing to two different beats? One for power, but when down 0-2 in the count, take the free base and hit it where they ain’t.

And that would tarnish many pitchers the same way the steroid era tarnished many juicers.

Wouldn’t you have to believe that players are being instructed to hit only for power? It’s a bit embarrassing to see dramatic defensive shifts like we have seen and zero change to player’s swings. If they have you shifted to pull the ball, for the love of God, wait on the pitch. Is it an ego thing of who can hit the most home runs? Is it a contract thing? Is it just how MLB coaches coach? I am very curious why defensive shifts are so effective. Can you think of a batter currently playing that can beat the shift? Embarrassing.

Yeah it is unfortunate that baseball has become home run or bust. It’d be neat to see at least one throwback style batter capable of hitting it to all fields. The fact that shifts are so prevalent is more indicative of batters not being able to do anything but swing the only way they know how. I mean, you have the whole side of a field sometimes vacant and they can’t just wait on a pitch and go the other way with it? It’s frustrating. Hell, a lot of batters can’t even bunt. Worst of all, situational baseball becomes an afterthought. That’s the core reason why baseball is such an amazing sport. It’s the thinking man’s game. Now it’s just who can hit it the farthest and throw it the fastest. Pretty lame.

And I would have disagreed with them. Other than not pitching Britton against the Blue Jays. That was indefensible.

I disagree. He’s a bench coach turned manager. I agree there are some holes with the team. Given the talent, what good coach would accept the position? so he’s not good. He’s a bad manager, but it’s all good because we don’t really want him to be good. We need a couple more top draft picks that will increase our likelihood getting to the World Series in our 2-5 year window of greatness.

Mulligan came to see that Hyde is not a good manager. Are you saying that he is? What indication leads you to believe that?

It’s indicative of a team that doesn’t listen to its manager at a pivotal point in the game. I’d say it’s pretty important. We’ve already come to the conclusion that Hyde isn’t a good manager and we would not want him managing when we are good, so if we can recognize he isn’t very good, don’t you think the players can too?