Etch is no longer Aberdeen's manager

[TGO]

John and Tony and others, do you think he did a good job as the roving catching instructor? It seems like if that is the job he wants and really enjoys, it is probably the best place for him, especially if he has done a good job with that role in the past.

[Guest Elevation]

I could see him doing the catching thing again. It depends on what MacPhail wants.

The thing about Kendall and Frederick earlier was premature.

It looks like there is a better chance he'll be at Aberdeen instead of with the Keys, but its still early in the off-season.

[Why Not?]

For a number of years...self centered players who were more interested in "me" versus "team" have not liked Etch. Covering the O's for 9 years, I can tell you Andy may have been "gruff" but he always looked out for his players, including the ones who would bad mouth him.

I would not be surprised if Andy not being next year's manager at Aberdeen was more his idea than the Orioles. Andy confided in me after his first year as manager at Aberdeen, that he did not want to come back and he would prefer working with catchers throughout the system...but he kept coming back because the front office asked him to remain the Ironbirds manager. He was a very good example for younger players as what it was like playing for a real old-school baseball man. Keep in mind that the lower the team...the more it is stocked with "roster fillers" or players who have no chance of getting beyond Frederick, let alone the majors. These players will often complain about playing time, managers and coaches.

Andy did strike a compromise with the front office and was a roving catcher instructor for April and May before taking over the Ironbirds for the past three or four years.

Some players have actually showed up at Andy's home in Florida before the start of spring training for private catching lessons.

Andy's pluses out weighed any perception of "old school" misuses.

Actually Andy's tenure as an A, AA and AAA manager with the O's is rather remarkable.

Concerning the poster questioning the arm injuries in the O's system...this is a problem across baseball and not just an Oriole problem. One of the reasons you hear so much about it now is that medically so much more can be done...30 and 40 years ago pitchers who blew out their arms and elbows simply were said to have had "dead arms" and quit playing (there are a few exceptions like Moe Drabowsky, Curt Simmons and others who could locate and change speeds with pitches between 60 and 70 mph).

John Hoffmann

St. Louis

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-osnotes1024,0,2380074.story

Looks like he was just flat-out canned.

[Guest Elevation]

I took it to the big man!

http://lordelevation.blogspot.com/

[DrShorebird]

Kendall does seem like a fantasic motivator.

Hopefully Kendall will be on the Orioles staff at one point.

http://lordelevation.blogspot.com/

I'll second that motion !

[Guest Elevation]

Dr.,

It looks like Kendall may be leaving your neck of the woods and coming to Harford County.

Check it out

http://lordelevation.blogspot.com/

[olehippi]

Along with Etchebarren, the Sun says "minor league pitching coordinator Doc Watson, roving infield and base-running instructor Tom Lawless and Double-A Bowie manager Bien Figueroa also were not retained."

This is looking like the beginning of a major system-wide housecleaning by MacPhail.

[Guest Elevation]

Roy,

The way they did it also sickens me. I'm tired of this team continually spitting in the face of legends, whether it be Jon Miller, Etch, Brooks, Elrod, etc.

Good teams embrace their history. This orginization embraces Cal and acts like he is the only good thing that ever happened to the orginization.

http://lordelevation.blogspot.com/

[Crazysilver03]

Along with Etchebarren, the Sun says "minor league pitching coordinator Doc Watson, roving infield and base-running instructor Tom Lawless and Double-A Bowie manager Bien Figueroa also were not retained."

This is looking like the beginning of a major system-wide housecleaning by MacPhail.

Well Doc Watson and Tom Lawless got their walking papers in mid September and then Figueroa got his on the last day of the season.

[JohnH]

Here is one thing to keep in mind with Etch. First of all he has gone to every stop in the minors for the Orioles, as a coach in Sarasota and a manager from Bluefield to Rochester.

Part of the problem with the O's farm system is not the coaches, but the players. An example would be in Aberdeen a couple of years ago. It appeared as if the the Ironbirds would run away with the NY-Penn title after winning eight or nine of their first games...then the dismantling began. Most of the starters were off to weak Delmarva and Frederick teams.

The O's have not had solid catching, first base or third base prospects for years.

Now there have several minor league coaches fired over the last 10 years that deserved it...but Etch certainly isn't one of them. That said, I'm sure that Don Werner can do a very good job working with catchers. (Now watch them fire Don next month.)

Of the recent firings...Doc Watson as pitching coordinator...Doc replaced Dave Schmidt who was said to be inflexable (but more likely was forced to be inflexable under the reign of former farm director Doc Rodgers). Both Schmidt and Watson seemed to be capable. For Watson...it was a matter of not having any prospects do well in 2007...When they fired Dave Schmidt, as pitching coordinator, they were smart emough to keep him in the system at Aberdeen and Sarasota. Smitty is pretty good working with kids...Tom Lawless was a good minor league manager. He wanted to move to the roving coach job three years ago because he wanted to be able to go home once and a while to St. Louis or to Pittsburgh in the spring where he had three daughters playing high school and college sports. It was always said that Lawless was a "Flannigan guy." Now that Flannigan appears to have lost some stream in a big way in the front office...the Lawless move is not a surprise... Making Bien Figueroa a manager was a surprise to me. I always thought he was a pretty good coach, especially with the Dominican kids, but I always thought he didn't have all the tools to be a long term minor league manager. He did have some communiction issues with the English language, both writen and verbal, which I'm sure didn't help him.

John Hoffmann

St. Louis

[Guest Elevation]

John,

I think its safe to say that the Orioles have had problems with player development, but throwing Etch out on his ass after everything he did for hte team is the worng move.

http://lordelevation.blogspot.com/

[Ironusher]

I'll miss Etch next year when the Ironbirds take the field. It was nice knowing him. Goodluck Andy!!