A potential storm brewing?

[24fps]

Local media needs to actually ask questions about this. Will they? Who knows.

I do. They won't. The columnists might offer a few choice opinions.

Barring something unexpected, the national media will go for the low hanging fruit before resuming their non-stop coverage of the Red Sox, Yankees and the increasingly fascinating Los Angeles Dodgers. The Orioles will get another year before once again being referred to as "that once proud franchise". However train metaphors will be heavily overused.

Ken Rosenthal will continue to grind the same tired ax while believing that bow ties are a good fashion choice for a grown man.

[mall-O-cup]

or, 4 consecutive batters, represetning the the tying or go ahead run, failed to drive in a single run. 2 of them struck out on six straight pitches without touching the ball. I dont think they are mailing it in or stopped caring or dont give it 100%. They all are. They just aren't as talented as most of the good teams they play. That is why they have the worst record in the league against teams over .500

Bird hammered Matusz' 0-2 pitch left out over the plate. Caleb Joseph swung through a meatball with the bases loaded to end the game. You have to be able to take advantage of those types of mistakes.

[Going Underground]

Jones not ready to throw when Headley tagged up, Schoop not attacking the pop up in the 1st. Those type of plays keep happening.

Did not see the game today. I saw Roe throw a pick off attempt into center with no one covering the base.I think some guys are trying to make their stats look better either to get a good free agent contract or better stats for arbitration. They know they are done so why not make your stats look good.

[kelsey59]

Peter doesn't fire baseball managers. He just lets their contracts run out. So I don't expect any changes in management this off season. The Toronto position has been filled, so that is old news.

If you are going to blame someone for Arrieta it should be Connor and Adair. Buck got rid of both of them. That Wallace could not fix Tillman or Norris is the current problem. Also that Buck would rather die with an injured and burn out Gonzo then call up Chris Jones or start McFarland. It has not been a good year for a lot of Orioles.

I think people need to realize that PA is 86 years old. His input now is probably only setting a yearly budget and leaving the rest up to others. Who knows - he may not even be doing that any longer.

[OriolesMagic83]

Winning begets winning, and losing begets losing. I'm sure other teams are just as tired as the Orioles, but the O's have been dealing with a lot of injuries in key players, Jones, Schoop, etc. They also don't have much to play for, since they are pretty much out of playoff contention. I'm sure it's much easier to find another "gear" when your team is 20 games over .500 and heading to the playoffs, vs. the O's who are 7 games under .500 and sinking fast. I wonder if having two #1 catchers has been a distraction. Most teams have a solid #1 catcher who catches most games, and the #2 catcher catches a particular starter and day games after night games, etc. I'm just wondering if all our starters continually switching catchers could have an effect.

[BradyBunch]

Toronto was a huge mess. DD was inactive before the Winter Meetings and then when the Toronto situation fizzled out he remained generally inactive. I have no idea why he didn't improve the team when he had the chance.

There's definitely something not right going on behind the scenes and with the secretive nature of the warehouse, we'll never really know the truth.

Here's the kicker: to fix the Orioles for a proper 2016 run he'll need to spend money with unprecedented payroll flexibility (which we know won't happen).

And/or he'd need to make some blockbuster trades (which he can't because all the valuable players are walking at the end of the season).

The Orioles are screwed because of DD.

NOW I get why Red Sox fans hated him so much. I lived in Boston from 1997 - 2002. I was at Cal Ripken's final game at Fenway Park. When DD honored Cal, the Boston fans booed DD mercilessly until he left the field. I'd never seen an executive booed before.

Christ... I get it now.

MSK

I hate these kind of comments like "we know it won't happen". PA came in as an owner who spent. At one point we competed with Yankees on payroll, So we don't know. Could be a situation where someone gets fired or resigns come end of regular season. New guy comes in and money is spent. Again, we don't know.

I seriously believe PA wants a title before you know. I am sure DD was part of that plan to get there.. but DD got the fever and had his foot out the door and decided to play it smart (don't build a team to compete).. as in don't sign anybody. I absolutely believe it was because of DD we didn't sign Cruz.. that if we had 1996/1997 PA.. Cruz would have been given the 4th year. Markakis would have stayed and O's would be sitting at $130m plus payroll for 2015.

I think PA and DD will reach an agreement.. of a non-compete for a year or two for half of what's owed on the contract and DD will be on his merry way. Our next GM has to be a Baltimore guy. Brady has to be our next GM. You need a guy who absolutely 100% without a shadow of a doubt believes in the city, the team and lives and dies Orioles. That's Brady.. Brady can sell Baltimore.. DD never could.

[OriolesMagic83]

I hate these kind of comments like "we know it won't happen". PA came in as an owner who spent. At one point we competed with Yankees on payroll, So we don't know. Could be a situation where someone gets fired or resigns come end of regular season. New guy comes in and money is spent. Again, we don't know.

I seriously believe PA wants a title before you know. I am sure DD was part of that plan to get there.. but DD got the fever and had his foot out the door and decided to play it smart (don't build a team to compete).. as in don't sign anybody. I absolutely believe it was because of DD we didn't sign Cruz.. that if we had 1996/1997 PA.. Cruz would have been given the 4th year. Markakis would have stayed and O's would be sitting at $130m plus payroll for 2015.

I think PA and DD will reach an agreement.. of a non-compete for a year or two for half of what's owed on the contract and DD will be on his merry way. Our next GM has to be a Baltimore guy. Brady has to be our next GM. You need a guy who absolutely 100% without a shadow of a doubt believes in the city, the team and lives and dies Orioles. That's Brady.. Brady can sell Baltimore.. DD never could.

I always feel like DD sees the O's as a steppingstone to his next job. I think we all realize if he had his choice he would be President or whatever the name of title of the Blue Jays. Its not that DD can't sell Baltimore, he wants to "sell" DD. I would take Brady over DD in a heartbeat and I bet Buck and Brady would work well together.

[Barnfather]

I don't think any professional sportsman would ever 'mail it in' for an extended period of time due to a decision made the previous off-season they didn't buy into. These guys are top of their profession and are paid millions. They are aware the difference a good season could have to their value/income, just as they are aware of the devastating effect a bad season will have.

There is no way they are not still harbouring the desire to do well, individually or as a team.

I do however get that the preparation for the season was shambolic. The Toronto fiasco, with a clear resultant problem in the front office (I can't imagine DD's relationship with PA or even Buck is quite the same as before). Not adequately replacing key players from a winning team seems to be the eventual outcome of all this.

The above is squarely on DD and something has got to give - I have had issues at work with managers and whilst you have clear the air sessions and everything appears normal afterwards, it rarely is - and trouble is never too far from the surface, especially if things are not going as well as you would like.

I don't think the chopping and changing of the team, which seems extreme this year, has helped - as has the briging in and DFA-ing of previously considered 'key' players. I think everything seems very disruptive and this can't help.

The above is squarely on Buck, however I do appreciate that he is doing everything he can to engineer a sequence of wins and the steps taken have become more and more extreme as the season progresses. He is a quality manager and I see no reason to think anyone else would do a better job, given a stable quality side.

Should DD walk? I think so. Not because I have an axe to grind with Duquette personally, but because I think the damage of the Toronto situation is likely never to be fully mended and I don't want any FO discord to mean another season of inaction or lack of preparation.

In terms of who would be more appropriate as GM, I will leave that to others who have far more baseball experience to answer!

[wildcard]

I think people need to realize that PA is 86 years old. His input now is probably only setting a yearly budget and leaving the rest up to others. Who knows - he may not even be doing that any longer.

My mother is 92. She still handles her own finances and has strong opinions on most things that concern her life. If she owned the Orioles she would have strong opinions on who should run the team. I think if Peter is still of sound mind he will make the decision on who runs the team.

[foxfield]

I don't think any professional sportsman would ever 'mail it in' for an extended period of time due to a decision made the previous off-season they didn't buy into. These guys are top of their profession and are paid millions. They are aware the difference a good season could have to their value/income, just as they are aware of the devastating effect a bad season will have.

There is no way they are not still harbouring the desire to do well, individually or as a team.

I do however get that the preparation for the season was shambolic. The Toronto fiasco, with a clear resultant problem in the front office (I can't imagine DD's relationship with PA or even Buck is quite the same as before). Not adequately replacing key players from a winning team seems to be the eventual outcome of all this.

The above is squarely on DD and something has got to give - I have had issues at work with managers and whilst you have clear the air sessions and everything appears normal afterwards, it rarely is - and trouble is never too far from the surface, especially if things are not going as well as you would like.

I don't think the chopping and changing of the team, which seems extreme this year, has helped - as has the briging in and DFA-ing of previously considered 'key' players. I think everything seems very disruptive and this can't help.

The above is squarely on Buck, however I do appreciate that he is doing everything he can to engineer a sequence of wins and the steps taken have become more and more extreme as the season progresses. He is a quality manager and I see no reason to think anyone else would do a better job, given a stable quality side.

Should DD walk? I think so. Not because I have an axe to grind with Duquette personally, but because I think the damage of the Toronto situation is likely never to be fully mended and I don't want any FO discord to mean another season of inaction or lack of preparation.

In terms of who would be more appropriate as GM, I will leave that to others who have far more baseball experience to answer!

I am just curious, but do you think the fiasco you mention above, has caused our starting pitchers to throw less effectively this year?

[Barnfather]

I am just curious, but do you think the fiasco you mention above, has caused our starting pitchers to throw less effectively this year?

It's possible they could be indirectly linked.

If the offensive aspects of the team are impacted, whether that be through weakening or the removal of some calming personalities in the clubhouse, then it is not beyond the realm of possibility that this increases the pressue on the SPs.

It could just be a perfect storm though. I saw a stat the other day that compared our numbers this year with labor day numbers the previous year and all metrics were pretty much the same with the exception of starting pitching, so that does point at a drop-off in that department.

That said, those numbers don't necessarily take into account the streakiness we have shown this year - putting up huge numbers on day and then swinging at air for the next few days.

There is no doubt our starting pitchers have not been on form this year, and we lost the winning numbers from a 2014 Bud Norris also. I've been an advocate for us signing a bona fide ace in this coming close season - not just to win games, but to raise the bar throughout the whole rotation.

[weams]

Yet the other day he hit 92mph on a 200+ foot throw.

Maybe that is the throw that re-injured it so that he may sit out today.

[gmelson26]

No Davis extension after 2014 season.

No Machado extension yet.

Horrible offseason.

Nothing done at deadline.

Where do you think this team is going??..

#backtothedarkdays

You forgot to include the Hardy extension.

[Going Underground]

You forgot to include the Hardy extension.

But things don't always go as planned. The Nats were supposed to have one of the best pitching staffs in the history of baseball. It has not worked out that way. Scherzer has struggled down the stretch. The Nats may still make the playoffs and win the World Series but that does not look like it is going to happen. Also Scherzer might take them to four World Series. I really don't know and no one really does. I do think he is a stand up guy and talks to the media unlike when the Orioles start losing and players run away.

Post article:

Instead, the Nats lost for the 10th time in Scherzer’s last 13 starts. Three times in those losses he faced little-known rookies. Niese is the Mets’ fifth starter, which should have given the Nats a matchup edge. Now Washington faces the Mets’ best duo: Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom .

In the middle of June, Scherzer was the talk of baseball. He came as close to pitching back-to-back perfect games as anybody probably ever will. Almost every pitch was where he wanted, within a baseball’s width. His pitching lines still seem ridiculous: 9-1-0-0-1-16 and 9-0-0-0-0-10. I’ve marked those games “Do Not Erase” on my DVR in case I ever need to see what a pitcher looks like with command of five “plus” pitches. That pitcher still exists, but nobody can find him.

Instead, Scherzer, who claims to be in ideal health and still throws 98 mph, is a complete mystery, to himself, his team and all of baseball. In his last seven starts, his ERA is 6.08 with 11 home runs allowed. They say hitting a baseball is the hardest job in sports. Throwing one isn’t such a soft gig either.

Asked about Scherzer’s bludgeoning, Manager Matt Williams said, “The ball was really carrying today.” Stop laughing. In June, the ball was “carrying” all the way into the catcher’s mitt for strike three or bouncing for a groundout. Now the grounds crew has to drag the warning track between innings.

Sun article:

I actually had more of a problem with Joseph not talking to reporters after the game -- not making any eye contact at all and having a message passed on that he didn’t want to talk.

As a catcher, Joseph talks a bunch to the press after games. I’m sure he gets sick of it, especially when the team is losing and his pitcher isn’t doing particularly well. And so he certainly deserves a pass every now and then if he wants to skip out on the daily interview.

But when you are in a crucial situation -- and you make such a public display of emotion that brings even more attention to your actions -- you’d think you’d feel obligated to answer questions about it afterward. It’s just part of the gig.

Case in point: Lefty Brian Matusz, who gave up the game-deciding home run Monday after having a rookie down 0-2 in the count. Matusz rarely gets interviewed after games unless he doesn’t do his job. That’s the unfortunate reality of being a reliever.

Matusz was by his locker Monday, and gave some perspective on the at-bat and accepted responsibility for hanging a slider. Asking questions of players after a tough loss is certainly not one of our favorite things to do, but it’s all part of the job. We do what we have to and move on. And Matusz handled it perfectly and professionally.

One of the things Orioles manager Buck Showalter has instilled in many of his players is the need for accountability -- to Showalter and his coaching staff, to their teammates and ultimately to the fans.

I’ve written plenty of times before that I understand fans really don’t care how players treat the media. But we are a conduit to a team’s fan base and that extension should be important.

This isn’t to pick on Joseph; it’s just a growing trend with these Orioles as they lose this year. Fewer and fewer players -- especially key players in a particular game -- are available after losses, a surprising development on a Showalter-led team.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/no-one-is-more-puzzled-by-max-scherzers-collapse-than-max-scherzer/2015/09/07/f37e2232-5570-11e5-8bb1-b488d231bba2_story.html

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bal-orioles-thoughts-and-observations-joseph-jones-hardy-20150907-story.html

[sportsfan8703]

I don't blame Joseph at all. He showed how he felt. You never see that from Joseph. I'm sure he's heartbroken. Give him a day. Put yourself in his shoes and you might really know how crappy are pitching really is. You think he's happy with the amount of huge 0-2 hits this staff has given up.

Matusz doesn't care. This whole season has been about his numbers. He'll walk a RH batter to face a LH. Not worrying about the consequences. This team needs more guys like Joseph that had to grind in the minors for years than high draft pick pitchers that "partied" too hard and was questioned for his work ethic. Remember those reports? I do. Matusz and his driinking buddy Patton. Patton got ran out of town and Matusz needs to be next.