The Dog Days of MacPhail

Hi all, thought I'd revive this blog with this post. I've done a little research courtsey of Baseball-Reference.com and have come up with all the trades that were made while Andy MacPhail was the GM of the Twins, Cubs and Orioles. I've also listed the record, place and how many games back they were in the division and WC race (post 1993). So here you go:

MacPhail’s July and August Deals

1985 (1)
August 1, 1985 (46-53, 6th place, 10 G back)
Traded a player to be named later, Curt Wardle, Jay Bell, and Jim Weaver to the Cleveland Indians. Received Bert Blyleven. The Minnesota Twins sent Rich Yett (September 17, 1985) to the Cleveland Indians to complete the trade.

1986 (1)
August 13, 1986 (50-64, 6th place, 12 G back)
Traded Ron Davis and Dewayne Coleman (minors) to the Chicago Cubs. Received George Frazier, Ray Fontenot, and Julius McDougal (minors).

1987 (1)
July 31, 1987 (56-48, 1st place, 0 G back)
Traded a player to be named later to the Cleveland Indians. Received Steve Carlton. The Minnesota Twins sent Jeff Perry (minors) (August 18, 1987) to the Cleveland Indians to complete the trade.

1988 (2)
August 16, 1988 (67-51, 2nd place, 8 G back)
Traded Karl Best to the San Francisco Giants. Received Alan Cockrell.

August 29, 1988 (73-57, 2nd place, 8 G back)
Traded a player to be named later to the Baltimore Orioles. Received Jim Dwyer. The Minnesota Twins sent Doug Kline (minors) (August 31, 1988) to the Baltimore Orioles to complete the trade.

1989 (3)
July 31, 1989 (51-53, 5th place, 12 G back)
Traded Frank Viola to the New York Mets. Received a player to be named later, Rick Aguilera, David West, Kevin Tapani, and Tim Drummond. The New York Mets sent Jack Savage (October 16, 1989) to the Minnesota Twins to complete the trade.

August 1, 1989 (52-53, 5th place, 11.5 G back)
Sold Manny Hernandez to the New York Mets.

August 28, 1989 (66-64, 5th place, 13 G back)
Traded Jim Dwyer to the Montreal Expos. Received a player to be named later. The Montreal Expos sent Alonzo Powell (September 16, 1989) to the Minnesota Twins to complete the trade.

1990 (1)
July 27, 1990 (47-52, 6th place, 15 G back)
Traded John Candelaria to the Toronto Blue Jays. Received Nelson Liriano and Pedro Munoz.

1991 (0)
No trades

1992 (1)
August 31, 1992 (73-59, 2nd place, 6.5 G back)
Traded Bill Krueger to the Montreal Expos. Received Darren Reed.

1993 (3)
August 10, 1993 (47-62, 6th place, 13.5 G back)
Traded Steve Ontiveros to the Seattle Mariners. Received Greg Shockey (minors).

August 15, 1993 (52-63, 6th place, 11 G back)
Traded Mike Pagliarulo to the Baltimore Orioles. Received a player to be named later. The Baltimore Orioles sent Erik Schullstrom (August 16, 1993) to the Minnesota Twins to complete the trade.

August 28, 1993 (55-73, 6th place, 16 G back)
Traded Jim Deshaies to the San Francisco Giants. Received a player to be named later, Aaron Fultz, and Andres Duncan (minors). The San Francisco Giants sent Greg Brummett (September 1, 1993) to the Minnesota Twins to complete the trade.

2000 (6)
July 21, 2000 (43-54, 3rd place, D 13.5 G back, WC 17 G back)
Traded Glenallen Hill to the New York Yankees. Received Ben Ford and Oswaldo Mairena.

July 26, 2000 (45-54, 3rd place, D 11.5 G back, WC 16 G back)
Traded Ismael Valdez to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Received Jamie Arnold, Jorge Piedra, and cash.

July 28, 2000 (46-55, 3rd place, D 10.5 G back, WC 16 G back)
Traded Chris Hatcher, Mike Heathcott, and Brett King (minors) to the Anaheim Angels. Received Brett Hinchliffe and Keith Luuloa.

July 31, 2000 (49-55, 3rd place, D 8.5 G back, WC 15.5 G back)
Traded Scott Downs to the Montreal Expos. Received Rondell White.

Traded Henry Rodriguez to the Florida Marlins. Received Ross Gload and Dave Noyce (minors).

August 23, 2000 (55-70, 3rd place, D 14.5 G back, WC 21.5 G back)
Sent Alan Zinter to the Arizona Diamondbacks as part of a conditional deal.

2001 (3)
July 20, 2001 (55-40, 1st place, D 0 G back, WC 0 G back)
Traded Chris Booker and Ben Shaffar (minors) to the Cincinnati Reds. Received Michael Tucker.

July 27, 2001 (60-42, 1st place, D 0 G back, WC 0 G back)
Traded a player to be named later and Manuel Aybar to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Received Fred McGriff. The Chicago Cubs sent Jason Smith (August 6, 2001) to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to complete the trade.

July 30, 2001 (61-43, 1st place, D 0 G back, WC 0 G back)
Traded Ruben Quevedo and Pete Zoccolillo to the Milwaukee Brewers. Received Dave Weathers and Roberto Miniel (minors).

2007 (2)
August 9, 2007 (48-68, 4th place, D 21.5 G back, WC 35.5 G back)
Traded John Parrish to the Seattle Mariners. Received Sebastien Boucher (minors).

August 31, 2007 (55-79, 4th place, D 23.5 G back, WC 40.5 G back)
Traded Steve Trachsel to the Chicago Cubs. Received Rocky Cherry, Scott Moore and Jake Renshaw.


So what can we learn from this history. Well first lets tally up the trades for each month:

July: 11 , August 13

That looks pretty even but now let's take a closer look. In 2000 and 2001 that accounts for 8 of the July deals that MacPhail has made. 2000 seemed like a firesale similar to that of the Orioles where MacPhail did not get premium talent back for the talent he shipped away. In 2001 the Cubs were buyers as they added Michael Tucker, Fred McGriff and David Weathers. In most of the trades that were done in August the teams that MacPhail was running were all out of the race by a substantial margin and with the exception of the Viola trade in 1989 and the firesale of 2000, MacPhail seems to like August the most as the month to wheel and deal.

I'd expect no different in 2008. My prediction: 1 July trade and 2-3 August trades.

Steve, it's time to hit the Trax...

There are a few things I'd like to change about this team right now, one of is to remove Steve Trachsel from the rotation and the team all together. He got by with smoke and mirrors early in the season and it looked like he might be able to pull a repeat of 2007, but the smoke has cleared and the mirrors are broken and the objects you see are baseballs leaving the yard. Yesterday's start for the Angels pretty much confirmed it.

Trachsel is done and he'd only make our bullpen worse. He's not getting paid much I believe so money shouldn't be a factor in his release. It's time to wish him well and let him get on with a coaching career. He'll make a good pitching or bullpen coach for some team down the road.

The next move I would make is benching Kevin Millar. Thankfully after a month of pleading from fans Trembley removed Millar from the cleanup spot. Now the next step he needs to take is benching Millar completely. It's what is best for the team. It's not like he'd take a hit in the trade value dept, because he's expensive for his limited production at 3.8 million (thanks Dave for last Sept) and he'd be at best a bench player on a contending team.

Millar is no longer doing what makes him famous. You don't hear him cracking jokes, but you also aren't seeing him taking pitches. He's become more impatient and at 36 when you are impatient and you don't have the bat speed to catch up to foul pitches off, the results are what you see now:

.214 AVG, .285 OBP, .342 SLG, .626 OPS

That isn't pretty and it's certainly not the stats of a ML cleanup hitter which is where Trembley had him for the entire month of April. Seriously, what took the guy so long? But I saw Millar creep back up in the lineup to #5 after being dropped to #7 on Friday. So you know Trembley is anxious to put him at cleanup again. The first multi hit game he has, I bet he's right back in there protecting Markakis. Anybody want to bet against me?

So the solution is simple. Since the O's seem to think Scott Moore is better served rotting away in the hitter's hell known as Harbor Park, there is a guy out there who the Texas Rangers of all teams have seemed to abandon. His name is Jason Botts and he sports a career OPS of .883 in the minors with a .484 SLG and a .399 OBP. However he doesn't have a position really besides DH. Right now the Rangers have that spot occupied and Botts has struggled somewhat in his time in the majors this season.

The Orioles are rebuilding though, right? If there's any guy to take a chance on - why not Botts? The guy is only 27. He could be the next Carlos Pena or the next Calvin Pickering, but we can afford to give this guy a shot to see if he could be a future DH for us.

So here are the moves:

Release Trax, trade one of our pitchers such as Jim Hoey or Bob McCrory and acquire Botts to DH. Bench Millar and put Huff at 1B. Millar is used as a PHer or defensive replacement similar to Payton. It will give him a chance to take a role he'll take if he's traded anyway as not one ML team would have him as a starter right now. And even as a rebuilding team he should not be starting when there are guys like Botts out there that are worth taking a chance on.
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I don't know if the jet lag is still affecting the O's but they really need to wake up out there. In the past two games, they've basically taken themselves out of the game. In key situations on Saturday's game, apparently somebody put some pine tar in the gloves of the Orioles, because, not once or twice but three times, the Angels scored runs because an Oriole couldn't get the ball out of their glove. First Markakis could have nailed Wood at the plate, then Hernandez could throw out fellow catcher Napoli on a double steal attempt. And finally when Roberts could have gunned down the winning run, he threw it wide of Ramon Hernandez because he couldn't get the ball out of his glove in time.

And then there's all the baserunning errors - way too many Orioles have been picked off or turned hits into outs when they've overran bases or not made it to a base in time.

Trembley is known for making guys accountable, so let's hope he does something to refocus these guys. The schedule is brutal, but that's not an excuse for these mental errors.

On the road again...

The Orioles are back on the Left Coast tonight in Seattle in which Adam Jones and George Sherrill will make their return to the Emerald City and Safeco Field.

It's been a pretty solid season so far from Sherrill. He's given up a few runs in his last appearances but Sunday's appearance was just to get some work in so it was expected he'd be a little rusty and Derek Jeter is an Oriole killer. Jones is also having the up and down season like we all expected. He's shown that he still needs some seasoning with his 0-4 with 4 Ks showing on the 13th, and he's also shown those flashes of brilliance and what is to come with a 3-3 game on he 14th and then belting his first Orioles HR on the 15th. With Bedard on the DL and rumors swirling about the seriousness of the injury, this trade is a win without even factoring the players such as Chris Tillman that are in the minors. Adam Jones alone is worth the price of admission with his exciting play. It's fun watching him and Markakis growing (albeit Markakis more advanced at the plate) into future stars.

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LUUUUUUUUUKE!

Seriously, has there been an Oriole that was loved more by the fans more than Luke Scott in the past few seasons? I don't remember anybody getting the reaction that he gets for each AB. This guy is a gamer and not since the days of BJ Surhoff, did the Orioles have a complete player like Scott roaming LF. Whether its the notes he keeps for each AB, or the fact that he works the pitcher almost everytime at the plate, there is tons to love about this guy. Thanks for Scott, Houston. The force is strong with this one...

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Brandon Fahey and Luis Hernandez are still on the team somehow. Fahey has proven to be the more consistent of the two with Hernandez being more flashy yet wild in his throws. Neither however resembles a major league shortstop. Alex Cintron is basically playing his way back into baseball shape on the Norfolk Tides roster but I wouldn't be surprised to see Fahey sent down and Cintron called back up at the end of the month to take the SS job. Freddie Bynum could also return mid May to try to take a crack at the job if Cintron can't handle it. Scott Moore is also playing some SS in Norfolk to see if he might be a solution. The Orioles could really use his bat instead of our light hitting SS's.

These guys (minus Moore) are all bargain basement SS's though and the Orioles really do need to find a more permanent solution. Hopefully MacPhail has been working the phones to make something happen...

****
It's been a great start for the Orioles, although this is their third straight year of starting 11-7 only to lose the next game, nobody expected them to be this good. With a brutal schedule ahead though, I think we are about to find just how good they really are. I expect to see this team in 5th place by the end of May. It's not going to be boring however, as these guys battle their tails off to the last man. That should be credited to Trembley who has got this group to overachieve and believe in themselves.

We'll see if they can hold on and keep the Oriole Magic alive starting tonight in Seattle...

Some random thoughts

Well just doing a little Google searching I noticed this little old blog referenced on Baltimore's WNST site. Looks like I've been noticed a little bit so I guess I'll have to keep this a little more up to date. I do most of my posting at OriolesHangout.com as you might know under the screenname I post here, but I'll try to share a few more things here seeing as I am starting to get a little bit of an audience.

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It seems MacPhail and Trembley decided the Hernandez experiment wasn't a complete failure after all as he started at SS on Opening Day, however the Cintron signing shows that MacPhail is keeping Hernandez and Fahey on a short leash. Cintron didn't make my list of available SS's because at the time I posted that he was still with the Cubs and there is question regarding his arm strength, however he should be an upgrade over Brandon Fahey anyway with the bat as a utility player if the Orioles want to go that route.

I'd still like to see the Orioles get a more permanent option and my #1 target next offseason after Mark Teixeira would be Khalil Greene from the Padres. PETCO has killed his offensive numbers and it's been said he wants to move back east to be closer to his home in South Carolina. Greene grew up in PA, so he'd be a perfect fit in a ballpark that wouldn't hurt his #'s at home and he'd be a solid #5 hitter after Markakis and Tex. I would look to trade one of our young SPs and Nolan Reimold, as SD has no OF prospects to speak of.

******

The early results on the bullpen look quite promising as Albers, Burres, Bierd, Walker and Bradford have all held the fort after the starters have exited, and tonight George Sherrill got his first save as an Oriole reminding some of the days of Randall K. Myers and most recently B. J. Ryan. This guy is a keeper and will be a key for playoff runs in 2010 and 2011 if we do keep him as we should. Randor Bierd has also proved to be exciting especially with that changeup that was taught to him by none other than Pedro Martinez. He should be really fun to watch and should develop into a fixture in the pen, provided Trembley doesn't burn him out. But Trembley's bullpen management has seemed solid these past two games. Using Albers for three innings and Burres for one on his throw day, was a great bullpen saver. This allowed Walker and Bradford to go tonight and I will assume that Sarfate will get the call tomorrow.

While the bullpen looks good, the starting pitching has some issues. Guthrie just didn't have any movement on his pitches, Cabrera had problems with location as usual and now we've got Steve Trachsel ready to pitch batting practice tomorrow. Not exactly your dream rotation. However with the exception of Adam Loewen, these guys are just in the rotation to eat innings. The next good group of Oriole starters is in the minors with Chris Tillman, Jake Arrieta and Chorye Spoone leading a talented bunch of pitchers. The Orioles probably have as talented a group of young SPs as any other club in baseball. And they aren't too far away. So when Trachsel gets lit up tomorrow, just think that Chris Tillman will be mowing down those same hitters possibly as soon as next season. That Bedard trade looks better and better...

And speaking of that trade, the key acquisition, Adam Jones had a great night tonight collecting his first hit, RBI and SB as an Oriole. Congratulations Jonesy, may they be the first of many more this season and in the years to come.

Help Wanted: Baltimore Orioles SS

Now that the Luis Hernandez experiment seems to be a failure, the team is now stuck with Brandon Fahey at SS, yes Brandon Fahey. The guy looks more like he belongs on the bench, as the team's batboy, vs. playing full time for a major league team.

MacPhail and Trembley are both prepared to go into battle with Fahey, however but who's kidding who here. So let's go over some guys that we might be able to obtain in trade

1. Jack Wilson, Pirates - Wilson probably would be #1 on my wish list. Pittsburgh would love to get rid of his contract and the guy has a decent bat with some pop and plays solid defense. He'd be a perfect stopgap option for the next couple of years..

2. Ronny Cedeno, Cubs - Cedeno has been mentioned in just about every Roberts trade rumor so he's definitely available. He's got a good upside with the bat and is a good defensive SS and is even better at 2B. There is thought that the Cubs might release him, but I doubt it. They will try to trade him first.

3. Joaquin Arias, Rangers - Arias is a guy that is now blocked by Michael Young, and has been moved below phenom Elvis Andrus on the depth chart. He's coming off of shoulder surgery and the only option for him is utility player right now in the majors. However the guy is a good defensive SS and has some promise with the bat unlike Hernandez. He's only 23 so he's got a decent shot of improving his skills at the plate.

4. Chris Nelson, Rockies - Had Peter Angelos not interfered, this guy might actually be in orange and black already. He's blocked at 2B and SS by Nix and Tulo respectively and he's improved at the plate and is good defensively. He may have to spend some time at AAA but could be a mid season callup.

So there you have it, four realistic options that are out there that we could obtain. Hopefully MacPhail has already put out the ad in the Classified section...

There's A New Sherrill in Town...

It's been awhile since my last post so I figured I'd weigh in on my take of the Bedard trade and MacPhail's comments in the press conference afterward.

It wasn't the 31st when it was made, but a deal was struck after all and that's ultimately the most important.

First the deal itself, LHSP Erik Bedard for CF Adam Jones, LHRP George Sherrill, RHSP Chris Tillman, LHSP Tony Butler, and RHRP Kam Mickolio.

This is a great trade for the Orioles, it's not a spectacular knock-it-out-of-the-park HR trade, because we weren't able to get one more stud position prospect, but it's a great trade.

Jones has been compared to Torii Hunter, Mike Cameron and Vernon Wells. I think he has a chance to be better than all three of those guys. He is the definition of a stud prospect and should take over as one of the leaders of this franchise for years to come. I see him taking over Roberts role in the community as the face of the franchise for Baltimore's citizens.

George Sherrill, was a lights out LH setup guy for Seattle, and although he was dissappointed leaving the Emerald City, he should get a crack at the vacant closer role and should remind some of BJ Ryan. There are a lot of people that want to flip this guy, but I'm not one of them. Sherrill is under team control for 4 more years and the Orioles do not have a young LHP that is coming up through the ranks that could take Sherrill's place, so Sherrill is a must have for when we do compete starting in 2010 when he'll only be 32. Jamie Walker is 36 and had a large number of appearances last year, so the chances of him declining are pretty significant. So if the Orioles are going to deal a LH pitcher for say a middle infielder, Walker should be the one they trade.

Now the younger pitchers in this deal - Chris Tillman, Tony Butler and Kam Mickolio. Tillman was the Mariners' Minor League Pitcher of the Year for 2007. He more than held his own in a hitters park and is very comparable to Brandon Erbe, only scouts like him better. Butler was hurt earlier in the year but came back to pitch quite well. He has some control problems and some mechanics issues, but could be a steal if he gets them corrected. Mickolio is a 6 foot 9 inch RHP that is a work in progress, but it is thought he could challenge for a late inning bullpen role starting as soon as this season.

So looking at that haul, it easily tops the Haren and Santana returns, and gives you confidence in Andy MacPhail and the future of the Orioles. However, it is clear now from MacPhail's comments, that Angelos is still involved in the baseball decisions, but it seems MacPhail has a great working relationship with Angelos, unlike past GMs and has been able to do everything he wants. For Oriole fans we hope it stays this way because as long as it does MacPhail looks like he'll be able to steer us well clear of the iceberg and into safe harbor...

Thursday, January 31st

This is the self imposed deadline for Andy MacPhail to trade Erik Bedard and Brian Roberts or to keep them.

This will also be the day everything goes down IMO with one big press conference on Friday.

MacPhail has shown a history of making good deals at the last possible second for the Orioles. First there was the Wieters negotiations, which looked bleak all the way until one minute before the midnight deadline to sign him, but he signed and MacPhail was able to keep him off the 40 man roster, a huge plus.

The second deadline deal was the Trachsel deal, when all throughout the month of August Orioles fans constantly berated MacPhail for not trading Trax (I admit I was one of them). Instead he hung on to him listening to offers until the last day for players traded to be eligible for the postseason. That's when he was able to get Hendry to overpay by giving us not two but eventually three useful pieces for the organization, for one guy who is still looking for a job.

The Tejada deal was much quicker, but that's because he was dealing with Ed Wade, one of the worst GM's in baseball. We netted a large bounty of players, including one who should match Tejada's #'s this season, so this deal was another success.

But now as we wait for the Bedard trade, we as Oriole fans shouldn't expect anything less from MacPhail then to wait Bavasi and the Mariners out until the last possible instant in order to try to get the best deal for Bedard. The Roberts deal to the Cubs is pretty much agreed upon from all reports and it's just waiting for the Bedard domino to fall.

It's been a long excruciating wait that's for sure, but the wait seems almost over. Hopefully at the last minute, MacPhail can continue his success.

Friday is the first day of February, and hopefully the first look at our new 2008 Baltimore Orioles.