Saturday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles asking price for Manny Machado is too high

Morning, Birdland!

We have reached the end of another week of Orioles baseball. Over the last seven days, this team has won —let me check the numbers— one game. Simply incredible. Mark Brown covered the latest debacle, a 6-2 loss to the Twins last night.

It really is kind of amazing how bad these guys are. As Mark mentioned in his recap, the O’s are on pace for 45 wins. FOURTY-FIVE! No Orioles team has ever won fewer than 54 games, and that was during a season in which they only played 154 games. This group will get eight more chances and still might come up short.

On the positive side, it sounds like the team is positioning itself to make some smart decisions. In recent days, there has been talked that the organization is going to take international free agency more seriously. Other reports indicate that they are organized and ready to make deals prior to the trade deadline. This all sounds great, and could mean the rebuild doesn’t take quite as long as some fear it may.

However, saying and doing are two very different things. It’s nice to hear that they have their aspirations and goals. Now, they need to execute the plan and put together a core of young talent for the fanbase to get excited about.

Links

Short start and costly error factor into 6-2 loss (with quotes) - MASNsports.com
As always, Roch Kubatko gets you just about every quote you could want from the previous night’s action. This post has words from Buck Showalter, Dylan Bundy, Caleb Joseph and Tim Beckham.

O’s holding firm on asking price for Machado - MLB.com
So many potential offers have been floated out there. Who knows what’s real and what’s not? The other day there was a mention of the Dodgers sending two of their top six prospects to Baltimore for Manny Machado. Maybe I’m alone, but that was more than I was expecting. In this blog, there is talk of a three-for-one deal with the Phillies that would net the O’s shortstop JP Crawford and two minor league pitchers, Adonis Medina and Jojo Romero. That seems fair as well, albeit not overly exciting.

Orioles’ David Hess: Returns to Triple-A - CBS Sports
This should surprise no one. David Hess was sent down in order to activate Dylan Bundy prior to last night’s game. Hess had some nice moments earlier this season, but he has progressively gotten worse. Perhaps another stint in Norfolk will do him some good.

The Orioles & Royals are piling up losses at an alarming rate - SBNation
As awful as the Orioles have been, they still have a good chance to not be the worst team in the league. It doesn’t seem possible that these two franchises met in the ALCS four years ago.

Ten Year Later, Orioles Find Themselves In Familiar Position - Press Box
Sports, like life, are cyclical. In the O’s case, rebirth started with the arrival of Adam Jones, and the death of this era may very well coincide with his departure.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is it your birthday? Happy Birthday!

Baltimore native Tim Nordbrook celebrates his 69th birthday. The middle infielder played with the O’s from 1974-76 and hit .183/.301/.197 across 74 games.

Other notable birthdays: Ringo Starr (1940), Jim Gaffigan (1966), Lisa Leslie (1972) and Michelle Kwan (1980)

1954 - Elvis Presley debuts on the radio with his song “That’s All Right” on WHBQ Memphis.

1985 - 17-year-old Boris Becker becomes the youngest player ever to win Wimbledon.

1995 - The Orioles acquire Scott Erickson from the Twins in exchange for Scott Klingenbeck and a player to be named later, which turned out to be Kimera Bartee.

1998 - Roberto Alomar is named MVP of the All-Star Game after going 3-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored and a stolen base. The AL beats the NL 11-9.