Orioles Need Major Changes
The Apocalypse has arrived for the Orioles. It started yesterday morning (even before the news of Perlozzo's firing broke) when Dick Vitale had the team as No. 1 on his "stock down" list on "Mike and Mike."
This morning on the same show, Steve Philips called the Orioles managerial job the "worst in baseball" and said the team is afraid to take a risk -- and, if he was Joe Girardi, he'd stay away from that job "with a 10-foot pole" because it might hurt his chances for successful career as a manager. He added that bullpens are where GMs make the biggest mistakes because of the inherent uncertainty with the position.
Now that the dust has settled, the prevailing wisdom seems to be that the hiring of Andy MacPhail as chief operating officer signals a major philosophical shift for the team. The thinking is that MacPhail will be able to convince Peter Angelos to spend money wisely and might be the answer to what's ailing the franchise.
From the Sun:
MacPhail's first tasks will be to hire a new permanent manager (they're apparently meeting with Joe Girardi this morning, somebody I've endorsed for a while now) and then analyze the roster to try to start building for long-term success.
Honestly, MacPhail might be the last hope for the team -- short of Angelos finally selling the team to Cal Ripken (which seems to be inevitable, if you believe some of the articles being published today). But one trend that MacPhail's hiring continues is that he's a Friend of Peter.
And that's what has hurt the Orioles (except for the 1996-97 seasons) in the first place.
This morning on the same show, Steve Philips called the Orioles managerial job the "worst in baseball" and said the team is afraid to take a risk -- and, if he was Joe Girardi, he'd stay away from that job "with a 10-foot pole" because it might hurt his chances for successful career as a manager. He added that bullpens are where GMs make the biggest mistakes because of the inherent uncertainty with the position.
Now that the dust has settled, the prevailing wisdom seems to be that the hiring of Andy MacPhail as chief operating officer signals a major philosophical shift for the team. The thinking is that MacPhail will be able to convince Peter Angelos to spend money wisely and might be the answer to what's ailing the franchise.
From the Sun:
Bringing in MacPhail -- whose father, Lee, helped lay the groundwork for the Orioles team that became a dynasty in the late 1960s -- means [former COO Joe] Foss, a business and finance specialist, is being replaced by a baseball man. He ultimately will have veto power over vice presidents Mike Flanagan and Jim Duquette, whose contracts expire in 2008...
... MacPhail probably wouldn't have agreed to come to Baltimore if he didn't feel he would have autonomy to run the club. And Angelos, who has been criticized as meddlesome in the past, trusts MacPhail and so desperately craves a winner that he has given assurances that MacPhail would have significant control of baseball operations, a source close to Angelos said.
... MacPhail probably wouldn't have agreed to come to Baltimore if he didn't feel he would have autonomy to run the club. And Angelos, who has been criticized as meddlesome in the past, trusts MacPhail and so desperately craves a winner that he has given assurances that MacPhail would have significant control of baseball operations, a source close to Angelos said.
MacPhail's first tasks will be to hire a new permanent manager (they're apparently meeting with Joe Girardi this morning, somebody I've endorsed for a while now) and then analyze the roster to try to start building for long-term success.
Honestly, MacPhail might be the last hope for the team -- short of Angelos finally selling the team to Cal Ripken (which seems to be inevitable, if you believe some of the articles being published today). But one trend that MacPhail's hiring continues is that he's a Friend of Peter.
And that's what has hurt the Orioles (except for the 1996-97 seasons) in the first place.
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