Reminder of what Orioles did in August 2012 to try to win a playoff spot.

[Gurgi]

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Shortstop Manny Machado is headed to Camden Yards to join the Baltimore Orioles and perhaps play in the major leagues for the first time.

The Orioles announced after Wednesday night's game that that plan to purchase the contract of Machado, the third overall selection in the 2010 draft.

Machado, 20, has been playing with Double-A Bowie this season. He's batting .266 with 11 homers and 59 RBIs in 109 games.

Baltimore selected Machado as a high school player out of Florida. He played in the MLB Futures Game in July, going 1 for 3 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored.  Machado was a 2011 South Atlantic League All-Star.

He entered play Wednesday with a career .263 batting average in 218 minor league games over three seasons.

 

[Gurgi]

2022.......Orioles have to try to win a spot with Urias, Odor, Phillips.  Bring the top rated prospect up?  No.  

[Hank Scorpio]

1 minute ago, Gurgi said:

2022.......Orioles have to try to win a spot with Urias, Odor, Phillips.  Bring the top rated prospect up?  No.  

I don't think Urias is on the same level of disdain as the other two. He's aight.

Odor is the really egregious one.

Phillips, McKenna, Odor, Nevin??? Let's get serious. 

[Gurgi]

Was it worth making the playoffs in 2012?  You tell me.

[maybenxtyr]

21 minutes ago, Gurgi said:

Was it worth making the playoffs in 2012?  You tell me.

Obviously the GM doesn't think it's worth it at the moment. There's really no reason to have some of the players on the roster that they have right now.

[Jagwar]

If... and I mean if... the main goal is to make the playoffs, Elias has to shake something up IMO. Bring up Gunnar and Stowers, and remove Nevin and Phillips. They add nothing to this team. 

Now is there a guarantee that Gunnar and Stowers will make an impact? Absolutely not. But if this team is going to make the postseason, it needs to try other options than its current bench.  

[Gurgi]

It would be a shame to intentionally not play potentially better options and throw away a shot at a playoff run.  Made worse because we seem to have answers sitting in AAA.   

[Sanfran327]

Gunnar has to come up tomorrow. Flat out. If the postseason aspiration is more than just lip service, he has to be up before the Friday night game. 

[ShoelesJoe]

3 hours ago, Gurgi said:

Was it worth making the playoffs in 2012?  You tell me.

I see videos like this from the good old days and quite honestly it pisses me off. Where were all those rabid fans in the last four years? Nowhere. Those of us who drove three or four hours to watch our guys get massacred over and over again from 2017 to 2022 will likely get shut out or priced out when playoff time come again. Shut out by “fans” who wouldn’t know Joey Rickard from Joey Bishop. But hey, they’ll do the chant just like real fans which will be all that matters. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

9 minutes ago, Sanfran327 said:

Gunnar has to come up tomorrow. Flat out. If the postseason aspiration is more than just lip service, he has to be up before the Friday night game. 

It depends on Elias being ready to start Gunnar's service clock and from everything we've seen making the playoffs is a secondary concern for now.

With Stower though I don't get it he's already 24 years old and not an elite prospect. When Mancini got traded I thought it would be a matter of days until Stowers was called up. 

[DrungoHazewood]

8 hours ago, ShoelesJoe said:

I see videos like this from the good old days and quite honestly it pisses me off. Where were all those rabid fans in the last four years? Nowhere. Those of us who drove three or four hours to watch our guys get massacred over and over again from 2017 to 2022 will likely get shut out or priced out when playoff time come again. Shut out by “fans” who wouldn’t know Joey Rickard from Joey Bishop. But hey, they’ll do the chant just like real fans which will be all that matters. 

That's called sports.  There aren't too many teams in the world who have the stands packed with rabid fans when the team is in a bad run.  The 1992 Yankees had half the attendance of the Orioles, and were 11th in the AL despite being in the biggest city in the country.  That was after four years of being just below .500.

Die hards are a small percentage of the fanbase. If you walked around Fenway half the people in the stands would have no idea who Dwight Evans is.

[Moose Milligan]

Oh my God.  The posts about the Orioles having to call up Henderson and Stowers is bordering on 2008 level Mark Teixeira WOW offer obnoxiousness.

[foxfield]

9 hours ago, ShoelesJoe said:

I see videos like this from the good old days and quite honestly it pisses me off. Where were all those rabid fans in the last four years? Nowhere. Those of us who drove three or four hours to watch our guys get massacred over and over again from 2017 to 2022 will likely get shut out or priced out when playoff time come again. Shut out by “fans” who wouldn’t know Joey Rickard from Joey Bishop. But hey, they’ll do the chant just like real fans which will be all that matters. 

A lot of emotion to unpack there...

It is hard to believe it has been 10 years.  But for Oriole fans who see 2012 as the good old days.  It is hard for me to really disagree with you.  My oldest daughter was caught up in the Orioles making the playoffs in '12 and all of the excitement.  

But to someone who became a fan in 1968.....almost everything after 1983 has been simply a respite from a bad dream.  

I think what Elias is attempting to do is the right thing.  I struggle to see the reasoning behind certain decisions as everyone else here does.  But after telling us he was not focused on performance at the ML level for three years, he indicated that this year would begin to matter.  And well, it has gone pretty well.

He now says the Orioles will be ready to spend in the off season.  We arguably have surplus talent to trade.  

I find the overall Oriole experience in 2022 very enjoyable and it has wildly exceeded my expectations of 67 wins, which could be achieved in August.  As, fans, we ache for gratification now.  In part because our franchise has failed to deliver for a very long time.

I don't want playoffs.  I want championships.  What the Orioles are doing is very focused and disciplined.  But the stated goal is to reach a state of continual competitiveness.  

When you read here, or elsewhere, how easy it is to simply do this, or clearly do that, you should understand that the past 30 plus years of Oriole baseball are littered with those moves.  On the internet, it is easy to call dissenters stupid and state opinions as if they were coming out of an encyclopedia.

Fans, support winners.  And if Elias is successful, the fans will come. Those of us who have always been fans, since 1968, 1980, or 2012, will be welcomed and will welcome those who are new.  Even those who show off and try to impress others by saying they have been fans of Manny Machado since he played for the Dodgers.

I guess what I am saying is that if the rebuild is successful...and by successful I mean that we at least play for a title in the next 3-5 years...those of us who, like you, have endured the process and it's grueling slog of humiliation, will have an appreciation that makes the taste of victory that much sweeter.  

When I think of 2012 after 14 years of darkness...that is what I remember.  And I still long for that to be our expectation every year.  It used to be...a long time ago.

Thanks for indulging.

Edited August 19, 2022 by foxfield

[Moose Milligan]

Big difference between chasing for a division title (in a year where the Red Sox weren't good) and trying to fight for whatever new fandangled wild card berth MLB has cooked up to generate interest (it's working).

@foxfieldsummed it up nicely and I said it after the trading deadline.  Discipline.  It's what matters here.  I'm taking some joy in being a contrarian when I say this, but I applaud Elias for holding Henderson down as long as he sees fit in order to...well, whatever, keep his rookie status for next year, I guess.  That seems to be the only reason, but it is still a reason. 

Half you guys don't get it.  Whether Henderson is called up last week, today, or sometime after the 23rd, this team still is in control of its own destiny (unless we tie with Tampa).  This team can lose two straight in August with or without Henderson, it doesn't matter right now.  

But anyway, like I said, I applaud Elias for being disciplined, sticking to his plan and not chasing shiny objects in the form of the last wild card berth.  The weirdest thing about this place and this fan group is the lack of patience for almost anything.  And I'm not saying I'm above it, I've definitely gotten wrapped up in being impatient, too.

But you'd think you'd be a bit more patient after the last 5 years which is shortly on the heels of 1998-2011.  Like, the patience should be beaten into you guys by now.  You guys knew what this was when Elias was hired, he's been crystal clear about his goals from the start.  Why is this a surprise to any of you?

It's the long game.  The OmG HeNdErSoN aNd StOwErS NeEd 2 B uP NoW bCuZ MaChaDo 2012 war cry is exhausting.

Edited August 19, 2022 by Moose Milligan

[BohKnowsBmore]

5 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Big difference between chasing for a division title (in a year where the Red Sox weren't good) and trying to fight for whatever new fandangled wild card berth MLB has cooked up to generate interest (it's working).

@foxfieldsummed it up nicely and I said it after the trading deadline.  Discipline.  It's what matters here.  I'm taking some joy in being a contrarian when I say this, but I applaud Elias for holding Henderson down as long as he sees fit in order to...well, whatever, keep his rookie status for next year, I guess.  That seems to be the only reason, but it is still a reason. 

Half you guys don't get it.  Whether Henderson is called up last week, today, or sometime after the 23rd, this team still is in control of its own destiny (unless we tie with Tampa).  This team can lose two straight in August with or without Henderson, it doesn't matter right now.  

But anyway, like I said, I applaud Elias for being disciplined, sticking to his plan and not chasing shiny objects in the form of the last wild card berth.  The weirdest thing about this place and this fan group is the lack of patience for almost anything.  And I'm not saying I'm above it, I've definitely gotten wrapped up in being impatient, too.

But you'd think you'd be a bit more patient after the last 5 years which is shortly on the heels of 1998-2011.  Like, the patience should be beaten into you guys by now.  You guys knew what this was when Elias was hired, he's been crystal clear about his goals from the start.  Why is this a surprise to any of you?

It's the long game.  The OmG HeNdErSoN aNd StOwErS NeEd 2 B uP NoW bCuZ MaChaDo 2012 war cry is exhausting.

To add on to this great post, that we are in contention for the new shiny playoff spot should be some evidence in itself that Elias's plan is progressing nicely and that perhaps we should let him continue to execute on it.