Monday Bird Droppings: Where the Machado rumors are still swirling

Hello, friends.

Another day has dawned with the Orioles in last place in the American League East. The Orioles now trail the division-leading Red Sox by 37 games and they’re 17 games behind the Blue Jays for fourth place. In the quest for the worst record in all of MLB, they remain one full game worse than the Royals. It’s astounding that the Orioles are this bad and they aren’t even guaranteed to be the worst team in MLB by season’s end.

The Orioles have lost so many games that it’s almost not even fair to associate the woeful 1988 squad with these losers any more. In their 89th game, the 1988 O’s were also losers to the Twins, by a score of 8-2. Jay Tibbs gave up seven runs and that was that. This dropped their record to 29-60, now a full five games better than the 2018 team through this many games.

The 2018 Orioles are now on pace to win just 44 games, if you round up, which is ten games fewer than the 1988 team managed to win. This has been the benchmark for my entire life for as bad as a baseball team could possibly be, and as of right now, the Orioles are just going to sweep that 1988 team’s memory away to replace it with their own superior version of a completely and totally failed baseball team.

If you made the smart choice of doing essentially anything else in the world instead of watching the Orioles on Sunday afternoon, you may have missed how they managed to lose their latest game. Check out Tyler Young’s recap for the not-so-lovely totals of a 10-2 loss.

All eyes will continue to be turned to the trade market. Could today be the day that the Orioles move Manny Machado? This is the question we will ask ourselves every day until he either gets traded or it’s July 31. It is the only question that matters for the 2018 Orioles.

A report over the weekend indicated that at least seven teams have made offers for Machado. Ah, to be a fly on the wall for all of that. Will any team step up and blow the rest of them away, or will they sit on their hands and hope that the Orioles can be persuaded to accept a deal that hasn’t separated anybody from the pack very much?

Around the blogO’sphere

The Manny Machado sweepstakes hits the home stretch (Steve Melewski)
Get your Manny Machado trade rumors here! Get it while it’s hot. Get it while it’s buttered. That was a Bugs Bunny reference. Never mind.

What happens if Manny Machado is named an All-Star but is traded before the All-Star Game? (Baltimore Sun)
The answer may be that there will be no Orioles All-Star this year. Well... they’re 24-65, so, it’s not like they deserve one.

Cobb leaves game with injury in latest Orioles loss (School of Roch)
It’s a blister for Alex Cobb, and the O’s are hopeful he will make his next start. I forget which Twitter jokester mused about whether fans should consider Cobb making his next start to be the optimistic outcome.

Yankees reportedly interested in Zach Britton (Pinstripe Alley)
Our friends over at SB Nation’s Yankees blog don’t seem too excited about the idea of Zach Britton. Having watched Britton’s pitching so far this season, I don’t blame them for that feeling.

Sunday notes: Adam Jones on his charitable efforts (Fangraphs)
In case anybody has forgotten that Adam Jones is the best, here’s Fangraphs with a reminder.

Jonathan Schoop searches for form at the plate that made him an All-Star a year ago (Baltimore Sun)
The thing about searching for something is that it kind of means you haven’t found it yet.

Dean Jones Dozen: Mullins, Mountcastle raking (Baltimore Baseball)
The news lately is better for some O’s prospects than others. Don’t fret, though, because nobody is going to have every prospect firing on all cylinders at once.

Birthdays and anniversaries

One lone former Oriole has a birthday today: 1981 seven gamer Steve Luebber, who turns 69 years old today.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: author Dean Koontz (1945), music man John Tesh (1952), actor Tom Hanks (1956), actress Kelly McGillis (1957), wrestler Kevin Nash (1959), singer-songwriter Courtney Love (1964), guitarist Jack White (1975), and Steven Universe creator/animator Rebecca Sugar (1987).

On this day in history...

In 1540, Henry VIII had his marriage to Anne of Cleves, his fourth wife, annulled. The marriage had taken place in January of the same year. Anne was the longest-lived of Henry’s wives.

In 1850, President Zachary Taylor died of a stomach illness after eating raw fruit and iced milk. Vice President Millard Fillmore succeeded him as president.

In 1868, the 14th amendment to the Constitution was ratified. Among its provisions are guaranteed citizenship for all persons born or naturalized in the United States and a prohibition for any state to enact or enforce any law “which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.”

In 1896, William Jennings Bryan delivered the “Cross of Gold” speech, which advocated for bimetallism.

In 1943, the Allied armies launched Operation Husky, an amphibious invasion of Sicily. The success of this invasion led to the fall of Mussolini in Italy and forced the Germans to withdraw some forces from Russia to defend Italy.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on July 9 - or at least, until something happens later, which it will when the Orioles play two games against the Yankees. And they might even trade Manny Machado! You never know. Have a safe Monday. Go O’s!