Thursday Bird Droppings: Where the post-Machado era of the Orioles has begun

Hello, friends.

This is a day that I never wanted to arrive. Manny Machado is not an Oriole any more. It had to be done, of course. We all know that. When you are 28-69 and you have a star free agent-to-be who is in demand from at least a half-dozen playoff teams, there is no other choice but to do what the O’s have now done.

After a month of rumors and ballyhooing, the deal was Machado traded to the Dodgers for five players: Outfielder Yusniel Diaz, righty starter Dean Kremer, righty reliever Zach (Soda) Pop, third baseman Rylan Bannon, and infielder Breyvic Valera. For a little bit more about each of those guys, read my immediate reaction to the trade. Stay tuned to Camden Chat throughout the day for all the Machado content you could ever want.

There will be other tough blows in the days to come. More farewells await. Now that Zach Britton is pitching well again, he seems to be a lock to be traded. Adam Jones could hold some appeal to a team in need of an outfielder and veteran leadership. A team that needs relief help and doesn’t want to pay a premium price could talk itself into the past success of Brad Brach. These guys are all Orioles mainstays and in two weeks they could be elsewhere.

If the Orioles are really willing to get creative, they might try to offer up Mark Trumbo while paying some of his remaining salary. If they determine that 2019 won’t be a successful season based on the way things stand right now, they could even try to trade Jonathan Schoop (not that he’s at his peak value) or Kevin Gausman (ditto), or even a longer-controlled reliever like Mychal Givens.

I repeat the current Orioles record: 28-69. One might reasonably believe that the Orioles MUST think of 2019 as much as a lost season as this one. They might come up 45 wins shy of the playoffs this year! This does not get fixed simply by hoping for bounce-backs from Trey Mancini and Jonathan Schoop. The beginning of next year is probably a little soon for the newly-acquired prospects. There is a lot of work to be done.

No one even knows who will be in charge of this team in six months - or, frankly, who is in charge of this team right now. Everything is in flux and for the last two and a half months of the season we will be watching a team that bears little resemblance to the one that excelled from 2012-2016. It was a good era. It’s over now. Hopefully, the trade they have made and the ones they’re soon to make can help usher in the next fun era of Orioles baseball.

The first Machado-less Orioles game is about 36 hours away from the time of this article being posted. How are you passing the last night of the break? I am seeing Hamilton.

Around the blogO’sphere

Duquette on today’s trade and the plan moving forward (School of Roch)
As a recent vice president memorably said, this is a big effin’ deal. Except he didn’t say effin’. Dan Duquette claims the Orioles will be making increased investments in analytics and international scouting. Big talk, but who’s even going to oversee all of this?

Evaluating Yusniel Diaz and the other prospects the Orioles got in the Manny Machado trade (Baltimore Sun)
One beat writer’s take on the question everybody wants to know: Will these guys be any good?

Showalter fondly recalls Machado’s O’s tenure (Orioles.com)
He’s not the only one, that’s for dang sure.

As Machado’s time as an Oriole ends, a new phase begins (Steve Melewski)
Over the past offseason, Duquette went far out of his way to avoid ever describing what the O’s needed to do as “rebuilding.” He’s reached that point now, though. This is the rebuilding phase for the O’s.

The Dodgers have officially acquired Manny Machado (True Blue LA)
What is it like to be a fan of a team that goes out and acquires a star player in trade? We’ll probably never know. The Dodgers fans of SB Nation know, though. If you’re curious about their reactions, take a look. If you feel the urge to comment, don’t be a jerk.

Birthdays and anniversaries

In 1994, the Orioles were going to play the Mariners in the old Kingdome in Seattle, at least until some 15-pound wood tiles fell from the ceiling early in the day when the stadium was empty, leading to the indefinite postponement of the contest. Due to the strike, the game was never made up.

There are a few former Orioles with birthdays today. They are: 1990-93/2001-04 first baseman David Segui, 1980-81 reserve Dan Graham, and 1956-59 infielder Billy Gardner. Today is Gardner’s 91st birthday, so an extra happy birthday for him.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: revolver pioneer Samuel Colt (1814), Mayo Clinic founder Charles Horace Mayo (1865), actor Benedict Cumberbatch (1976), and MMA fighter Jon “Bones” Jones (1987).

On this day in history...

In 711, Umayyad forces led by Tariq ibn Ziyad defeated King Rodric’s Visigoths in the Battle of Guadalete. This was the beginning of the Moorish invasion of Spain, or as it was written in my Spanish textbook in 10th grade: Los moros invadieron a España en 711.

In 1553, the nine day reign of Lady Jane Grey as Queen of England came to an end, replaced by Henry VIII’s eldest daughter Mary, who later earned the sobriquet “Bloody Mary” over her own five year reign.

In 1843, the steamship SS Great Britain launched. This was the world’s first ocean-going ship with an iron hull and a screw propeller and also was the largest ship afloat in the world.

In 1903, Maurice Garin won the first edition of the Tour de France. This year’s edition of the Tour ascends the legendary Alpe d’Huez, which climbs an average 8.1% over 8.6 miles of roads via 21 hairpin bends .

In 1977, the first Global Positioning Signal (GPS) was received from the National Technology Satellite 2 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on July 19 - or at least, unless something happens later, which it might, if the Orioles get off their butts and make something happen. Have a safe Thursday.