Brainy Birds: Why the Orioles are smarter than us all

[O's are Legends]

"A month later, following their 1-0, extra-innings win on Friday night, they're only a game and a half behind Minnesota for the second wild card, and their playoff odds had risen to 15 percent. At the core of that comeback is Beckham, who's been a catalyst at the top of Buck Showalter's lineup. His .394 average in August was the best in the bigs. His 50 hits were the most ever in one month by an Oriole since some other shortstop named Ripken. Beckham has been so productive J.J. Hardy -- a fixture at short who returned on Friday after missing two and a half months with a broken wrist -- will likely find himself on the bench for the foreseeable future."

“I think it’s fair to wonder,” says Britton. “If we don't get to where we want to, the World Series, by next year, then you've got a lot of guys that are free agents. Depending on who you choose to sign long term, it takes a huge hit out of our organization, the guys that are going to leave pretty soon. For the guys in here, the goal isn’t just to get into the postseason, but to get far into one. I mean, we've been to the ALCS before, so anything other than that or further, it's definitely not worth it. But that's more for Dan, his vision on how he sees the organization going forward.”

As you might imagine, based on the buttons he pushed in July, Duquette doesn’t necessarily see it the same way.

“The idea in the big leagues is to win the game today and then worry about the game tomorrow,” says Baltimore’s GM. “The Oriole ownership wants to put the best team on the field every year for the fans. The fans want to see us try to win the pennant, and the players do too. That's what we're trying to do.”

ESPN

[OFFNY]

13 minutes ago, O's are Legends said:

 

"A month later, following their 1-0, extra-innings win on Friday night, they're only a game and a half behind Minnesota for the second wild card, and their playoff odds had risen to 15 percent. At the core of that comeback is Beckham, who's been a catalyst at the top of Buck Showalter's lineup. His .394 average in August was the best in the bigs. His 50 hits were the most ever in one month by an Oriole since some other shortstop named Ripken. Beckham has been so productive J.J. Hardy -- a fixture at short who returned on Friday after missing two and a half months with a broken wrist -- will likely find himself on the bench for the foreseeable future."

“I think it’s fair to wonder,” says Britton. “If we don't get to where we want to, the World Series, by next year, then you've got a lot of guys that are free agents. Depending on who you choose to sign long term, it takes a huge hit out of our organization, the guys that are going to leave pretty soon. For the guys in here, the goal isn’t just to get into the postseason, but to get far into one. I mean, we've been to the ALCS before, so anything other than that or further, it's definitely not worth it. But that's more for Dan, his vision on how he sees the organization going forward.”

As you might imagine, based on the buttons he pushed in July, Duquette doesn’t necessarily see it the same way.

“The idea in the big leagues is to win the game today and then worry about the game tomorrow,” says Baltimore’s GM. “The Oriole ownership wants to put the best team on the field every year for the fans. The fans want to see us try to win the pennant, and the players do too. That's what we're trying to do.”

 

ESPN

 

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(ONE MONTH EARLIER)

 

'Crazy' Birds: Inside the Orioles' Baffling Decision not to Sell at the Deadline

(By Eddie Matz)

http://www.espn.com/blog/baltimore-orioles/post/_/id/1604/how-the-orioles-didnt-end-up-sellers-at-the-deadline

 

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