The Case Against Millar

Kevin Millar needs to pack his bags.

And here's why:

The Orioles are rebuilding and Millar is going to be 36 this season, there are two guys behind him namely Scott Moore and Mike Costanzo who are going to need playing time. First base/DH is a log jam right now with Aubrey Huff/Millar/Moore/Gibbons and Costanzo. Gibbons will probably just be given the "Milton in Office Space treatment" but then you've still got Huff/Millar/Moore and Costanzo to sort out.

Aubrey Huff is too valuable just to cut loose right now, and it's not his stripper commentating skills I'm talking about. He has historically performed stellar after the All Star break as we've seen in Houston and then last year in Baltimore when he put up this line:

.309 AVG .389 OBP .508 SLG .897 OPS

That would be only second to Nick Markakis on the team. Now I'm not advocating we keep the guy for the length of his contract, but considering the fact he's put up great #'s in August and September, if we were to pay a little bit of contract, a contender could add him at the deadline for the stretch run when he would be at maximum offensive output and we could get something good back in terms of a prospect.

Now as for Kevin Millar, he has done the exact opposite of Huff, as after the break last year at age 35 he put up this line:

.234 AVG .338 OBP .402 SLG .740 OPS

And the Orioles are thinking of making him the cleanup hitter - with those #'s? Yikes. Markakis is going to have hit more HR's this year to drive himself in, because Millar isn't going to do it. Those Post-All Star break #'s also show that he will likely decline in value further as the season progresses. Contenders know that he'll wear down so they won't give up as much for him at the deadline as they would Huff. And there is a chance at age 36 those #'s will become much worse after the break meaning he could slip from being a Type B FA to a type with no compensation - no draft picks.

Now you also have Dave Trembley trying to reshape this club into one that has pride in their team. And of course, last October, Millar showed a complete lack of pride in his team by selling himself out to Fox in which he did a promo identifying himself as still being part of Red Sox Nation. The Nation - the same group of bandwagoning pink hat wearing fans that invade Camden Yards every year and destroy the park atmosphere. These bunch of locusts that take our beautiful park and destroy any charm it has by their rude, crude behavior, arrogance and attitudes. And then there's the players, who seem just as arrogant as the fans. They showboat on every HR, and think our pitchers "stink." Yes Kevin Millar identified himself as one of them. Now how can Trembley look at Millar as a clubhouse leader when he's wiling to sell himself and his team out for a media spot endorsing the very team and fanbase that Oriole fans hate? Leaders do not do that. People think that Trembley was just like MacPhail and ok with Millar's actions - but Trembley's "no comment" spoke volumes. There is no room for that on Trembley's Orioles.

So there you have the case against Millar, it's not only that he's 36, blocking two younger guys that need playing time and is a threat to drop off the table giving us no draft pick compensation, but he's a sell-out and is no more loyal to the Baltimore Orioles as Reggie Jackson was. And Jackson was no leader...