http://www.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DffWxVvHLwXM&v=ffWxVvHLwXM&gl=US

The Orioles will limit the amount of appearances by Jason Berken and David Hernandez, and also be more careful with the amount of times they warm up without entering a game.

Did this only just occur to them?

We should ask last night’s umps!

….if you’re going to overrule someone, you might want to actually, y’know, rule.

so, w/ the angels getting callaspo to play 3rdand brandon wood being out of options, any interest or is he just another free swinging problem child?

hayden Penn’s been sold by the pirates to a Japanese team.

Showalter has greater name recognition. That’s important to Angelos. He owns the majority of the team so he has final say. But you know the entire ordeal will be arduous and exasperating for those involved with resulting bitterness. As far as I can tell, that’s how the Orioles run their business and it’s at the heart of why they suck so badly.

Showalter ought to think real carefully about walking into it. Sigh.

Aug. 3rd T-shirt Tuesday announced… #18 Felix Pie!

does that mean everyone will be clamoring for Wedge now?

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/07/your-morning-phil-oswalt-dempster-patterson.html

3. Rumor of the day: The Orioles are getting calls about Corey Patterson, the ex-Cub retread. He’s seen as a possible bench part for a contender, as he’s hitting .277 with five home runs runs and 17 stolen bases. Patterson’s numbers against right-handed hitters are especially good. Could he be a candidate for the White Sox bench if Ken Williams limits himself to fine-tuning moves?

“The latest industry rumor had Buck Showalter taking over as Orioles manager in early August. As the search drags on, speculation is that owner Peter Angelos has overruled president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail for the first time since MacPhail was hired, with MacPhail liking Eric Wedge over Showalter.”

Thank god Andy likes Wedge.

Chris Needham, who proposed a "Fire Rob Dibble" movement early in the 2010 season on his Nationals blog, Capital Punishment, concurs with Mottram. "We all like a certain level of homer, but he takes it too far," says Needham, who is also a contributor to the sports website SB Nation DC. "He’s a fan in the booth, and he’s not educating fans."

Of all the complaints he’s heard, Dibble says there’s only one that bothers him. "The notion that I don’t know the game is laughable," he says.

The homerism isn’t what bothers me about him. Or even his level of knowledge. He’s smug, intolerant of different viewpoints, and completely unwilling to embrace 21st century baseball analysis. That’s why he sucks. And the fact that he looks douchy is icing on the cake.

Roberts likely to be activated for tonight’s game; Moore to be DFA’d.

“There’s so much ready information now that was not available a couple years ago — and even if it was, I don’t know if everyone wanted to read it or understand it or try it,” Maddon said. "The fact that I get so much good stuff from upstairs, it permits me to look at these things and feel somewhat confident about doing them.

“Being able to look over information like I’m able to now and have it be so involved and accurate, it gives you a little more confidence when doing these types of things.”

Maddon has made plenty of decisions that conventional baseball wisdom might deem unusual. He slotted Jaso, a “slow” catcher, at the leadoff spot in 14 games because of his high on-base percentage and has used a few players, quite literally, all over the lineup.

This season, the Rays have had six leadoff hitters, five cleanup batters, 10 players in the five-hole and a whopping 12 in the sixth spot. Zobrist has batted everywhere but eighth and ninth, Rodriguez everywhere but third and fourth and Jaso everywhere but second and fourth.

While Maddon has certainly used some unconventional methods this year, like on June 2 when he loaded his lineup with righties and had all his switch-hitters bat right-handed against Toronto right-hander Shaun Marcum. The Rays wound up winning, 7-3. But, he said, he doesn’t do any of it based purely on hunches or gut feelings.

“There’s something to back it up,” Maddon said. "If I say, ‘I just feel like if you did this, we might be better off,’ that doesn’t carry as much weight.

This is exactly the type of forward thinking this organization needs.

Melewski:

Jordan recently indicated there was a setback of sorts in talks with third-round pick, UCLA pitcher Dan Klein.

“We’re a lot more involved in the negotiations with Dan than Manny Machado. It hasn’t gone as I expected it to, but, everything is positive and we’re just trying to get this thing done.

Jordan admitted today that a top ten pick or picks may not be signed. I asked if he is concerned to have just the one top ten pick wrapped up right now.

“I don’t know that concern is the right word, frustration is probably a better word. It’s the latest thing happening these days. I’m not any more concerned with some of these guys, it’s just going through the process.

“I expect to sign all of them. But as this thing rolls along, there could be a casualty, you know in the top ten. That’s not unprecedented with my drafts. Some times we have taken a position and decided to walk away from the player.

“Sure that can happen, I don’t want it to and it’s too early to say it’s going to happen with any of them. I expect to sign them all, but time will tell.

Simply unacceptable for that to happen.

Brian Roberts 2B
Miguel Tejada 3B
Ty Wigginton 1B
Luke Scott DH
Adam Jones CF
Felix Pie LF
Craig Tatum C
Corey Patterson RF
Cesar Izturis SS

I don’t actually think it’s a bad idea for Nick to get a day off, but I was really looking forward to having Brian and Nick together again.

http://www.27bslash6.com/p2p2.html

danconnollysun 3:36pm via txt

#orioles ty wigginton will be suspended three games for arguing and bumping umpire gary darling. He will appeal.

…and ESPN says:

But even now, when more than half the league’s 30 clubs are out of the race, several teams would make the phone call to the 816 to see if they can match up with GM Dayton Moore in a deal for Greinke.

Outside the obvious — Yankees, Red Sox, Mets — the Rangers, Dodgers, Mariners, Orioles, Phillies and Cardinals could also show strong interest.

They stacked with 1B/3B: Kila Ka’aihue, Alex Gordon, Billy Butler, Eric Hosmer, and Mike Moustakas. Greinke’s a pipe dream. I would rather focus on getting Ka’aihue or Gordon.

Britt:

It is believed president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail wanted to wait until Roberts came back before dealing away utility infielder Ty Wigginton, who has been involved in numerous trade rumors. FoxSports.com reported on Thursday that the Yankees think the asking price for Wigginton is too high, and the Phillies have reportedly bowed out of the Wiggy hunt and are content with their in-house infield options.

Why would we wait for Roberts to get back to deal Wiggy?

It looks like they saw a picture post from Duck in an old game day thread and reposted the picture.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/23/the-most-obvious-headline_n_654436.html