Thursday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles are close to 40 games out

Hello, friends.

Another day has dawned where the Orioles are in last place in the American League East. The Orioles are now 38.5 games behind the division-leading Red Sox and 17 games behind even the fourth-place Blue Jays. However, in the quest to avoid the worst record in MLB, the Orioles are only a half-game behind (or if you want them to be the worst, ahead) of the Royals, who are 26-66 to the O’s 26-67.

In the 93rd game of the 1988 season, the Orioles were victorious over the White Sox, 6-4. Jim Traber hit a three-run homer and Mickey Tettleton connected for a two-run shot as the O’s cashed in three unearned runs in the first game of a doubleheader. This raised their record to 30-63, now four games better than the 2018 Orioles through the same number of games.

The 2018 Orioles squad is now on pace to win just 45 games on the season. That’s nine fewer wins than what was previously the worst imaginable Orioles baseball team. Also, unless the Orioles finish the season by going 29-40 or better, they will cause skipper Buck Showalter’s record as O’s manager to fall below .500 - well, unless Showalter gets fired before year’s end.

If you missed last night’s game, you’re smarter than I am, honestly. You only managed to miss a 9-0 loss where Dylan Bundy was once again bad and so was the offense, getting shut out for the ninth time on the year. Check out Ben Hansford’s recap of the game for the not-so-lovely totals.

With all of those cheerful things out of the way as a preamble, we can now get down to business. The Orioles now have 19 days to trade who they’re going to trade. Specific names they’re demanding for Manny Machado are starting to trickle out. Teams seem to be balking at their prices so far, but it only takes one GM to realize that getting a star player is his ticket to winning the division rather than playing in the wild card game like a sucker.

Hopefully, the O’s can get a price that will make them and O’s fans happy. Time will tell about that. I’ll still be surprised if the O’s actually trade Machado before the All-Star Game, but the trade volume is certainly getting louder, so at the same time, it wouldn’t be a complete shock if the O’s strike a deal at any time.

Around the blogO’sphere

Cashner returns to DL (School of Roch)
It’s neck spasms for Andrew Cashner, and Chris Tillman is a candidate to replace him in Sunday’s start. That feels like a threat to me.

Adam Jones, acknowledging Cedric Mullins is ‘knocking on the door,’ addresses center field future (Baltimore Sun)
Adam Jones is the greatest Oriole of the 21st century. His candor on this delicate topic is deserving of respect.

The precedent for a Manny Machado trade (Fangraphs)
Jeff Sullivan tries to find the most comparable recent trade to the Manny Machado trade situation. He sees Yoenis Cespedes as maybe the biggest piece of precedent.

Orioles sit Trey Mancini in effort to reverse young slugger’s season long struggles (Baltimore Sun)
It didn’t work for Chris Davis. It may have worked for Jonathan Schoop. It seems a few days off for Trey Mancini is next.

Frederick notes on Zac Lowther, Alex Wells (Steve Melewski)
Things are still going well for Zac Lowther at Frederick, which is a plus for the franchise.

Improved left-handed Paul Fry taking advantage of opportunity with Orioles (Baltimore Sun)
When a team is 40 or more games under .500, there’s going to be some opportunities handed out. Paul Fry is doing the best he can with his chance so far.

Mark Reynolds is having a late career renaissance (Beyond the Box Score)
Over at SB Nation’s Beyond the Box Score, they’re surprised that Mark Reynolds is still playing, let alone still succeeding. You can count me in that category too.

Birthdays and anniversaries

One lone former Oriole was born on this day: the late Jack Harshman, a 1958-59 pitcher who passed away in 2013.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: Roman legend Julius Caesar (100 BC), poet Henry David Thoreau (1817), Olympic champion figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi (1971), actress Michelle Rodriguez (1978), and Olympic champion gymnast Jordyn Wieber (1995).

On this day in history...

In 1191, the garrison at Acre surrendered to the Third Crusaders, a major victory, though the Crusade would not succeed in capturing Jerusalem.

In 1543, Henry VIII married the last of his six wives, Catherine Parr. This marriage only ended with Henry’s death about three and a half years later.

In 1862, the Medal of Honor was authorized by Congress. There have been more than 3,500 awards given out since, nearly half of which were given out during the conflict raging when it was authorized: The Civil War.

In 1943, Soviet tanks attacked the Germans in the Battle of Prokhorovka, still one of the largest armored battles waged in history with around 900 tanks involved. The Germans repulsed the attack; however, this attack combined with Allied offensives in Sicily led to the Germans abandoning offensive operations in Russia.

In 1962, London’s Marquee Club was the site of the first concert of the Rolling Stones.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on July 12 - or at least, until something happens later when the Orioles play the Phillies. Plus, you never know, maybe today will be the day they trade somebody. Have a safe Thursday. Go O’s!