Base Hits: A Dose of Offseason Hope, Aubrey Finds a Job and More Spring Training

Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports writes about a possible rosy future for the Baltimore Orioles and the rebuilding philosophy of Andy MacPhail.

“The game has morphed,” MacPhail said. “The teams in our division have morphed. You’ve got teams with incredible revenue and payrolls, and we just can’t support what they do. So we have to be better at what we do.”

Which is, in MacPhail’s two-plus years with the Orioles, identifying and stockpiling young, cheap talent. The amount of potential on Baltimore’s 40-man roster is frightening, even to the Yankees and Red Sox...

More from MacPhail, regarding the signing of RP Mike Gonzalez:

“I’ve never believed a closer is a luxury,” MacPhail said. “I know that’s the conventional wisdom among a lot of people, but those aren’t people who have to watch your team play 162 times. You need to win the games you’re supposed to win for the sake of your players, your fans, your franchise.

“It’s important for morale. There’s nothing more debilitating for your players than looking around in the seventh inning and wondering how you’re going to blow this game.”

I don't buy this reasoning. If MacPhail believed in a "proven" closer, why did he wait two years before signing one? I think he believes that a free agent closer is a luxury the Orioles can afford in 2011 and that Gonzalez will be well worth his salary as the Orioles try to field a winner in two years.

*****

Speaking of optimism, the guys on the Baseball America podcast love the Oriole prospects. They don't rank them above the Rays farm system but are concerned about Tampa's lack of fan support, even in 2008 when they went to the World Series, and the impact going forward on keeping that young talent.

The Orioles, however, will not have that issue if they start winning. They will have the money to keep their young talent. They like Brandon Snyder much more than most (or I) do and think if Josh Bell proves to be good major league hitter that the lineup will be stacked. They envision Snyder hitting no higher than 7th in the lineup anyway....the rest of the hitters will be that good.

They also think that Chris Tillman and Brian Matusz are impact pitchers and love their pitching depth in the minors to fill out the rest of the rotation.

They don't see the O's winning before 2011 but they think from '11 forward, they will be a team to be reckoned with. Good source for offseason hope.

*****

Renovations on Ed Smith Stadium, the new Spring Training home, are on hold thanks to a lawsuit filed by a local citizens group.

As I stated before, this stadium is already in better shape than the facility in Ft. Lauderdale so it's still an improvement in the short term. Time will tell if the facility will be renovated to become of of the best in the minor leagues as promised.

*****

Former Oriole 1B/DH Aubrey Huff has found a home for 2010 with the San Francisco Giants.

That's a mildly interesting story but the repercussions for future Oriole first basemen are even more interesting. Says Craig Calcaterra from NBC.com's Circling the Bases:

One followup thought to Bob's post on the Huff signing: How dumb does Adam LaRoche feel right now for turning down a two-year, $17 million from the Giants to be their first baseman?

At this point I'm seeing a one-year, $6 million deal in Baltimore in his future. Maybe an option if he's lucky.

I said I was not crazy about the options left at first base and that the Orioles should stand pat at this point and let Josh Bell and Brandon Snyder play their way into the Baltimore lineup this season.

But if LaRoche has to take a one-year deal for $6 million...I think I would be OK with that. It would add cheap production, depth and insurance.

I would still prefer to leave things as they are right now but I wouldn't hate that deal.

*****

Daniel Moroz breaks down how much Jim Palmer (and by extension, all the pitchers of the late 60's and 70's teams) were helped by the fantastic assortment of defenders who played behind them.

Book Review: Palmer and Weaver: Together We Were Eleven Foot Nine

Palmer and Weaver: Together We Were Eleven Foot Nine

by Jim Palmer and Jim Dale

c. 1996

I hadn't picked this book up in over ten years but after reading "Weaver on Strategy", I wanted to read this book with different eyes. In "Together We Were Eleven Foot Nine", I found that Jim Palmer's remembrances of his career actually made a nice compliment to Weaver's book.

Palmer takes you through his Hall of fame career (which, by the way is amazing. He has been in the booth so long that you sometimes forget what a dominant pitcher he was.) but spends almost as much time on Earl Weaver. The battles between these headstrong competitors were legendary and Palmer takes pains to make sure you get his side of the story.

Palmer was there for all the Orioles' World Series appearances including the wins in '66, '70 and '83 and offers a good perspective on each one. Through Jim's eyes you see the careers of Rick Dempsey, Elrod Hendricks, Mike Flanagan and the fascinating road to professional baseball of Dave Leonhard (probably the best story in the book).

But this is ultimately a book about Palmer, by Palmer and he chronicles his playing days with anecdotes and a virtual blow by blow of each season he pitched. Highlights include the near end of Palmer's career in 1968 due to fragile arm, the various World Series appearances...and his philosophical differences with Earl Weaver.

And about the Weaver stories. Palmer, at least early in the book, is merciless, painting Weaver as a tiny tyrant, a drunk, a manager who didn't understand his players one iota and laying out the case that the Baltimore pitchers he managed succeeded in spite of Earl rather than because of him. While some of the stories are quite amusing, the number of stories and the apparent viciousness leaves you with the impression that Palmer is relishing kicking a guy who can no longer have the last word.

What tempers this vitriol are the later stories in which Palmer admits that, sometimes, he was clearly wrong and that Weaver actually had handled certain situations completely appropriately. Most of these capitulations regard Palmer spouting off to the media, notably griping about his contract and his war-of-words with Oriole third baseman Doug DeCinces. Palmer gives Weaver his due, eventually, and concedes that Earl probably actually knew what he was doing. Palmer comes off as a wiser, more mature player at the end of the book and even a bit apologetic for some of his behavior. Although he won't say it explicitly, he eventually gives Earl his due as integral to the success of the team.

Surprisingly, his recounting of Weaver's farewell at Memorial Stadium and his own retirement are well-told, heartfelt and I did find myself getting a bit misty reading those passages.

How is the book overall? There are a lot of good stories. Are they as good as Palmer seems to think they are? Not always. (Although the story about Jim and Earl starring in the same Jockey underwear ad is pretty hysterical.) But it is an entertaining read for the diehard Oriole fan and did indeed make a good companion piece for the unmissable "Weaver on Strategy". After all, Palmer was the only Oriole to play for all 6 World Series teams and there's something valuable to his account of the glory days of Baltimore baseball.

The book is out of print but can be found used on Amazon.com and Half.com. Worth a read if you can pick it up cheap.

WAR Graph of Greatest Oriole Pitchers

(just click on the graph to get an image you can actually read...)

These are the top four Oriole pitching careers in terms of WAR. The seasons are arranged from greatest to least, not in chronological order.

As you can see, (and it's no surprise) Jim Palmer stands alone. Mussina is in the next tier although if he had remained an Oriole he probably would have bene the career WAR leader for Baltimore even though he never reached the heights that Palmer did.

Next is Dave McNally who suffered from a sharp decline. People remember Milt Pappas, almost like a punchline, as the player the Orioles sent to the Reds to acquire Frank Robinson. Pappas was a hell of a pitcher.