Thursday Bird Droppings: Where we’re waiting for the next Orioles trade

Hello, friends.

Another day has dawned with the Orioles in last place in the American League East. After Wednesday’s rainout, they remain 41.5 games behind the division-leading Red Sox and are now 17.5 games behind even the fourth place Blue Jays.

The rainout after a delay of about two and a half hours on Wednesday night comes as a mercy to Dylan Bundy’s ERA. The one-plus innings of the game that were played will be erased from existence and the game will be restarted on a later date. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that whatever’s wrong with Bundy that has apparently been wrong since he came back from the disabled list is still going on. During last night’s rain delay, MASN analyst Mike Bordick commented on Bundy’s slipping velocity and fastball command and wondered if there is anything physically ailing Bundy. He also felt that Bundy has not been getting full extension on his delivery lately, which is contributing to his other problems.

As we know, the Orioles core competency is assessing pitcher problems and fixing them promptly. That was sarcasm just there. Hopefully, if the rebuild that Dan Duquette promises is underway is for real, part of that rebuild includes a complete overhaul of whatever problems have plagued their starting pitching development for the better part of a decade now.

The Orioles are currently two and a half games back of the Royals in the quest to avoid having the worst record in MLB. Of course, if you prefer that the Orioles get the #1 draft pick next year since they have been this bad so far, you might look at it as being 2.5 games ahead of the Royals, and I can’t blame you for looking at it that way.

These jokers are now on pace to win just 46 games this season. That would be a final record, assuming all of the games get played, of just 46-116. That is eight wins worse than the 1988 Orioles. With the trades that have been made and are yet to be made, it is entirely possible that we have not seen the rock bottom for this team, which is truly terrifying to contemplate.

Strap in. We’ve got a lot to cover today!

Around the blogO’sphere

Phillies interested in Adam Jones as trade deadline nears (Philly.com)
A lot was made about the Andy MacPhail connection as the O’s were going about trading Manny Machado. Perhaps there’s another connection with the star outfielder he famously brought to Baltimore.

Scouting Baltimore’s return for Zach Britton (Fangraphs)
Eric Longenhagen evaluates what the O’s got back for Britton. He likes the trade for the O’s but also, don’t get your hopes up for these guys.

Jim Callis and J.J. Cooper weigh in on Zach Britton deal (Steve Melewski)
Phrases that come up about different players in the deal: “most likely a useful reliever,” “chance to be a seventh inning option,” “pitchability lefty.”

Yankees acquire Britton from Orioles for three prospects (Minor League Ball)
Our friends over at SB Nation’s Minor League Ball present their thoughts on the prospects involved in the Britton trade.

Zach Britton’s farewell letter to Orioles fans (Cut4)
The worst part about this whole process is saying good-bye to guys who have been around forever, no matter how necessary it is for the perspective of the future of the Orioles.

Orioles hire Eddie Murray as special advisor (School of Roch)
There have been a lot of times in recent seasons where the Orioles have failed to get easy, symbolic gestures like this right. It’s nice that they’re trying now.

One for the future: Evaluating prospect Branden Kline (Baltimore Sun)
In a vacuum, there’s little exciting about a 26-year-old Double-A reliever, but Kline is a Marylander who has gone through a lot to battle back to that point, so it’s hard not to root for him to make it. And for what it’s worth, he is pitching very well at Bowie.

Let’s sell the Orioles! (Fangraphs)
Dan Szymborski presents his hoped-for Orioles rebuilding plan. Somebody get this man a pit beef sandwich.

Steve Pearce let a ball drop when he was called off by a fan in the stands (Cut4)
This play may have been erased from existence, but it cannot erase the shame that Pearce must feel. How often does this actually work? Never! Except this time, it did.

Birthdays and anniversaries

One current Oriole has a birthday today. Happy 26th birthday to Paul Fry.

There are also some former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2013 two-gamer Alex Burnett, 2017 reliever Vidal Nuno, 1962 short-timer Pete Ward, 1964 four-gamer Lou Jackson, 1964-65 first baseman Norm Siebern, 1955 five-gamer Bill Miller, and 1958-62 knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: playwright George Bernard Shaw (1856), psychiatrist Carl Jung (1875), novelist Aldous Huxley (1894), movie man Stanley Kubrick (1928), Rolling Stones founder Mick Jagger (1943), actress Helen Mirren (1945), former Maryland basketball standout Joe Smith (1975), and gold medal snowboarder Kelly Clark (1983).

On this day in history...

In 1469, rebellious forces of the Earl of Warwick (“The Kingmaker”) defeated a royalist army in the Battle of Edgecote Moor, leading to a brief Lancastrian interruption of the Yorkist reign during the Wars of the Roses.

In 1861, General George McClellan was placed in command of the Army of the Potomac after the Union defeat in the (First) Battle of Bull Run. He had his own problems as a general, of course.

In 1914, British Foreign Secretary Edward Grey proposed that the dispute between Austria-Hungary and Russia over the former’s ultimatum to Serbia in the aftermath of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, should be mediated by Britain, France, Italy, and Germany.

In 1948, President Truman signed Executive Order 9981, which led to the eventual desegregation of the United States military.

In 1951, Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland had its premiere in London.

In 1990, the Americans With Disabilities Act was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on July 26 - or at least, until something happens later when the Orioles play the Rays, even if nobody says what happens will be good. And hey, it’s still trade season. Have a safe Thursday. Go O’s!