Trading Machado: The Lesser of Two Evils

As fun as the last five years have been – and they were fun – I never got the sense that anything really changed with ownership. I never got the sense that a light bulb went on in Peter Angelos’ head and he suddenly realized how to run a MLB team the right way. The last five years occurred despite Angelos and his unorthodox philosophies. I won’t get into the reasons why the Orioles were good from 2012-2016, but it wasn’t because of Angelos. And after a disappointing 2017, it looks like we’re right back where we started…in that dark tunnel reminiscent of the mid-2000’s when this team looked like it would never compete again.

And perhaps nothing has exemplified that newly returned doom and gloom feeling better than the on-going Manny Machado will-he-or-won’t-he-be-traded saga during the winter meetings. I’ll admit, even publically entertaining the prospect of trading Machado – the best player the O’s have developed on their own since Cal Ripken – is new territory for them. Usually Manny would be off limits and that would be that. But I also highly doubt he will be traded, at least during the offseason. Here’s why…

Despite the inevitable being a year away – Manny signing with the Yankees as a free agent – Angelos is a stickler for contracts. After the 2014 season when Dan Duquette received interest from the Blue Jays to become their general manager, Angelos forced Duquette to work out the remainder of his contract, which expires at the end of the 2018 season (which is a whole other issue here). So Angelos will have no problem keeping Manny for his last season and then let him walk next offseason. Herein lies the problem.

Rumors have been coming out of the winter meetings hot and heavy, and it’s been hard to keep up with them. But one of the most disturbing rumors is that if the Orioles trade Machado to the White Sox, who reportedly have the best offer on the table, Angelos does not want Machado to be then traded to the Yankees. He’s even gone as far as wanting that language written into any potential Machado trade.

What Angelos fails to realize is this – Machado is a Yankee next year regardless of what happens this offseason. So all your demands to keep Machado out of New York works for exactly one baseball season. Are you willing to let a stupid grudge stop you from trading Machado for the best return when the alternative is to get nothing besides a draft pick?

No matter what happens, Orioles fans lose, whether it’s watching as Machado is traded this offseason, whether that’s to the White Sox, Cardinals, Yankees or some other team -- or watching him sign somewhere else as a free agent next offseason. Chances are it’ll be New York, which has also been rumored to be the place where Manny wants to go. So to soften the blow of losing Manny, you should get as much as you can for him now.

Actually, if the Orioles were a well-run organization, they actually have an opportunity to make out like bandits – trading Machado now but not before you let him in on your plan. “Manny, we’re trading you now so we can get prospects that will make this team much better in 2019 when we want to re-sign you. We’ll make you a market-fair offer so please keep us in mind.” But that’s something you haven’t heard talked about this offseason, the possibility of the Orioles re-signing Machado next offseason. There’s been radio silence on that front, so it’s all but confirmed that he’ll be somewhere else next year. And if they let him walk the Orioles will get little in return and the Yankees will not have to part with any talented prospects in order to acquire him earlier.

That’s the equivalent of fan loyalty suicide. I can’t support a team that allows Manny Machado to walk and get nothing in return. I’m already heartbroken about the likelihood that Manny is in pinstripes at some point between today and a year from now – but to get nothing in return for that would be unforgiveable. I’d never root for another baseball team if that happened, but I sure as hell couldn’t support the Orioles under that circumstance.

The bottom line has stayed the same despite the recent winning we’ve enjoyed. Angelos is a god-awful owner and needs to go. He sits up there in his ivory tower and says he has the best interests of fans at heart by keeping ticket prices down and signing Chris Davis to a $161 million dollar contract, but truth is all he cares about is his bottom line and sticking to his distorted philosophies, many of which go against the current climate of the MLB – like not believing in the posting system for international free agents and not committing to the international amateur pool – things that an overwhelming majority of other teams are doing to get better.

I believe there’s a fan revolt coming regardless of how this Machado situation plays out. No one will be happy to see Machado in pinstripes, making those highlight reel plays on the YES Network. But to get nothing in return for that is the real sin that Angelos seems destined to commit.

And there is no forgiveness for that.

RIP Art Modell

Art Modell passed away this morning at the age of 87.

The year was 1995. I was sixteen years old.

The city of Baltimore was a one-team sports town with a healthy obsession with baseball and the Orioles, who had just moved into a groundbreaking stadium that changed the way stadiums were built. However, a hole existed in Baltimore. A hole that was created when Jim Irsay packed up the Colts in Mayflower trucks and moved them to Indianapolis in 1984 and had never been filled.

As much as I am shamed to admit it, I was a Steelers fan that fall of 1995. I can't exactly explain why I became a Steeler fan, but I doubt many Baltimore kids my age could explain why they were fans of any team in the NFL while Baltimore didn't have one to call their own. We were mercenary fans, rooting for teams for whatever generic reason: we liked the uniforms, we liked a certain player, or just wanted to root for a winner.

The CFL came to Baltimore and gave us some excitement as the Stallions appeared in two Grey Cup games during the two years they were in Baltimore, winning one of them before relocating to Montreal. But despite their success, the CFL was not the NFL.

And the NFL returned in the fall of 1995 when Art Modell announced the Browns were moving to Baltimore. I can still remember the night, eating dinner with my family in a crowded dining room in the Catonsville house where I grew up. We had the radio tuned to Nasty Nestor, before he became an egotistical maniac who went off the rails. Baltimore football was back.

My friends and I drove to the airport that night to welcome Modell and the Browns to Baltimore. We never got to officially see them arrive, but there were other people there at the airport, carrying signs, buzzing about the move. It was like being in the delivery room when the Ravens were born.

I always think back to 1954 when the Browns moved from St. Louis to Baltimore and became the Orioles. What was it like to witness that? I know now what it's like to witness the birth of a sports team.

The first few years were much like the first few years of raising a child, as I can only imagine. Equally frustrating and exciting to go through everything for the first time. The first game, the first loss, the first losing season, those ugly uniforms. But despite all the low points you were still proud. Watching losing football on Sundays was better than watching no football, or watching football that you had no rooting interest in.

Then suddenly, before anyone could really take notice, the Ravens were Super Bowl Champs. It all happened so fast it feels at times as if it didn't happen at all. But it did happen.

And Art Modell, who died this morning, made it all possible.

He filled that hole with a team that has gone on to become one of the best-run organizations in professional sports. They may not have the hardware to back up that claim, but the team is well run and plays hard and make you proud to be a Baltimore Ravens fan.

Even after the tragic loss to the Patriots in New England last January, I was still proud to be a Ravens fan, despite Lee Evans and Billy Cundiff. I can't even be mad at them. They tried.

Art Modell may never get elected to the Hall of Fame, and that's a shame, because he deserves to be in it for his work in helping form the NFL of today. The move from Cleveland will always be a blight on his legacy but not in Baltimore.

For us, it was the highlight of his legacy.

Thanks for everything, Art.

The never-ending agony of the Baltimore sports fan

Well, here we are again.

Another January and another devastating Ravens playoff loss.

This one hurts.

Maybe not as much as last year’s loss to the Steelers or the loss to the Colts in January 2007, but this still hurts, none the less.

Victory was in hand, for at least a split second, before Sterling Moore made a flukey motion for the ball and knocked it out of the hands of Lee Evans.

Despite that drop, we always had a field goal kick in our back pocket to force the game into overtime. But even that wasn’t in the cards, as Billy Cundiff raced out onto the field after being confused, distracted, whatever, and shanked it.

Not only did Ravens fans have to suffer through another playoff loss, they ran the gamut of emotions -- from victory, to the relief that we can still tie the game, to losing the game. All within twenty seconds.

And that’s why being a Ravens fan is so hard. They play with your soul like Chris Farley played with that biscuit in Tommy Boy. I had prepared myself for the realistic outcome of a loss to avoid the devastating feeling that always accompanies a playoff loss. After all, going to New England and beating Tom Brady and Bill Belichick is a daunting task.

But as the game progressed and the possibility of winning became greater as each minute ticked off the clock, and Joe Flacco drove the offense down the field in the last minute of the game, I knew that any preparation I’d made to deal with a loss was out of the window.

We.

Were.

So.

Close.

So what’s left now is the thought of what could have been and the image of what actually happened. A crushing contrast.

And that, in a nutshell, is what being a Baltimore sports fan is all about. What exists in our minds compared to a sobering reality. What splendid agony.

Outside of the “it happened too fast” Super Bowl that the Ravens won in 2000, Baltimore sports fans have known mostly nothing but misery over the last 30 years.

From the Colts leaving town for Indianapolis – from the Orioles losing 21 straight games to start the 1988 season – from Jeffrey F*cking Maier – from the O’s racking up 14 losing seasons in a row after 1997 – from tragic Maryland losses to Duke basketball – and finally from the stinging playoff defeats that have mounted for the Ravens since 2001.

Compare that to the fortune that Boston has experienced in the last ten years. Each of their four sports teams has won at least one championship in that time. The Red Sox and Patriots have five titles between them, and the Patriots will be going for another in two weeks.

That is where the torture exists for Ravens fans in that loss. We wanted that feeling so bad. With the Orioles continuing to wallow in the annals of the American League, we have no choice but to put all our eggs into the Ravens basket. But no. Boston fans are celebrating another championship game appearance a mere seven months after the Bruins won the Stanley Cup.

I know Baltimore has a long way to go to equal the epic misery of Cleveland sports fans. But we’re getting close. And I know that doesn’t offer fans any consolation, but at least we can embrace our tragic sports heritage instead of dreading it.

What the hell else are we gonna do?

Festivus 2011

It's been a while, but the Bad Oriole is back.

Luckily, I've been able to do some professional writing for the Frederick Gorilla magazine, which has taken up a lot of my time these last few months. So I'm sorry if I've left you tweaking without a Bad Oriole fix these last two months. I'll try not to let that happen again.

Well, a lot has happened in these last two months, no? Where to begin?

For starters, 2011 came to an end. I don't know about you, but 2011 was a great year for me. I got to do some writing for the Gorilla magazine, traveled to Portugal and San Francisco/Napa Valley and cheered for the Ravens as they finished the 2011 season with a 12-4 record and a first round bye.

In fact, one of my last posts was about "Steeler Week" before the Ravens traveled to Pittsburgh and beat the Steelers in an amazing come-from-behind victory that was Joe Flacco's finest moment as QB of the Ravens. But it doesn't look like we're finished with the Steelers just yet, since the paths of these two teams are destined to cross at some point this postseason.

As for the Ravens this postseason, the sky's the limit. When the defense is playing well, they're as good as any team in the NFL. You only need to look back to the ass-whipping the Ravens put on the 49ers on Thanksgiving night for proof of that. But when the defense doesn't play well, and the Chargers game was proof of that, the Ravens look like a team that doesn't belong in the playoffs. Thankfully, the only high-powered offensive AFC team that made the playoffs is the Patriots and they'll be tough to beat, especially in New England.

Offensively, the Ravens look to have committed to the run again, which is where the strength on offense lies. It seems as if Cam Cameron needs to be reminded about four times each season that the running game is still this team's strength and that the Ravens aren't ready to become the Packers, Saints or Patriots just yet. Ray Rice is in the prime of his career and playing for a contract so you might as well ride that horse for as long as you can.

It looks like the Ravens could have gotten a break with the #2 seed since the Texans are likely to beat the Bengals and then come to Baltimore in round 2. But I don't want to get ahead of myself. The Bengals are a good young team and are capable of beating the Texans in Houston, only losing by one point in a game played there earlier this year, and a Bengals win would make things very interesting for the Ravens, likely sending the Steelers to Baltimore in round 2 if Pittsburgh can beat the 8-8 Broncos this weekend.

Moving on. The Orioles. Remember them? Yeah, they're still a Major League Baseball team believe it or not (they even have their own website), and one of my other last posts was about who they'd pick as their new GM following Andy MacPhail's exit from the warehouse. Well, after they were whored by just about every solid GM candidate in baseball, they settled on Dan Duquette, formerly of the Expos and Red Sox. Duquette had been away from MLB baseball for a decade. So Duquette and the Orioles were actually a match made in heaven since you can say the Orioles have been out of MLB baseball for just as long, and even longer.

So far, Duquette has done some good things, like shaking up the front office staff and replacing them with some of the most experienced people in the game in Lee Thomas and Fred Ferreira. Their age may be a concern for some, since the Orioles rarely ever hire young front office personnel in key positions, but Lee's and Ferriera's track record speak for themselves.

Duquette's roster moves have been pretty bland, reeking of depth moves (Dana Eveland, Matt Antonelli, Taylor Teagarden, Jai Miller) but he did many things that MacPhail always talked about but never actually did, like creating a presence in the international market and streamlining the development program in the minors. Then again, who knows....maybe I am just being to high on Duquette because his initials are DD, the best bra size there is.

Speaking of DD's, Christina Hendricks was in Drive, the best movie I saw in 2011, although I will admit it's been a crappy year for movies. However, Drive would rank high on my list for the last few years. It's that good.

Game of Thrones and American Horror Story ruled the TV airwaves. Justified starts back up in a few weeks.

If you ever can get to Portugal, please do. It's cheaper than most European destinations and just as beautiful. The city of Porto is Europe's hidden gem and replete with port distilleries which are reason enough to fly 7 hours to Lisbon and hop on a train for 4 hours, which is what my wife and I did when we first arrived. We then trained it to Lagos, on the southern coast, and then Lisbon.

A visit to San Francisco forced me to question my recent liberal leanings as much as it reinforced them. SF's mass transit system is on par with New York -- and you read that right. The arts and culture there is top notch. The homelessness -- and the attitudes of the homelessness -- and added taxes to support the homelessness were sickening.

As a Virginia wine fan, it was assuring to find out that many Napa area wines are inferior, especially the mass produced ones which can be harkened to the Budweiser of wines. However, the small batch wineries, usually located up in the mountains, blow VA wines out of the water. But it was interesting to learn first hand that not all Napa wines are the end all be all of wine.

Anyway, I'm working on another world city tour entry....and I'll try not to leave you for so long again.

Promise!

Here we go again...

The Orioles made an offer to GM candidate Tony LaCava yesterday following his second interview with the team on Monday. Word was that LaCava left the interview "impressed", saying that he'd "take the job if it was offered to him". LaCava had been rumored to be the Orioles top choice since the search for a new GM to replace Andy MacPhail began in mid-October.

But yesterday LaCava turned down the Orioles offer, deciding to stay at his current assistant GM position with the Blue Jays.

Tony Pente, who runs the Orioles Hangout website and message board, wrote an article that appeared last night (the website has been down so far today) mentioning that an inside source said Angelos informed LaCava that he would not have complete control over who in the organization he could keep or let go, meaning both players and personnel. Reading between the lines, it's Buck Showalter who will have that control, especially on the player side. And since Andy MacPhail was not allowed to fire Dave Stockstill shortly after MacPhail was hired, you can bet your sweet ass that Angelos would have the ultimate say on who can stay and who can go on the personnel side.

It comes as absolutely no surprise that Angelos is still making outrageous demands as owner of the Orioles. You know that saying about old dogs not learning new tricks? Angelos is 82 and won't be making any drastic changes as owner at his age. He continues to mismanage the Orioles, like he always has, by interfering at inopportune times and being vacant at other times when decisions are needed to be made swiftly. He's also butchered the GM hiring process by ultimately having Buck Showalter and Matt Klentak hire their boss. What GM candidate worth their salt is going to work in that kind of situation? LaCava made the right choice. I expect him to be hired as a GM elsewhere after the 2012 season.

Meanwhile, the Orioles are down to two candidates: DeJon Watson from the Dodgers and John Stockstill from...you guessed it, the Orioles.

Word is Watson is Showalter's favorite, but who knows if Watson will sign up for a job in which his freedoms will be severely limited by Angelos and Showalter. Chances are it will Stockstill, which would be par for the course. Stockstill, who has been with the organization for five years as director of player development, already knows the workings of this organization. He's also done absolutely nothing to earn the job. The player development in the organization is terrible and has been for years. The Stockstill brothers have also been pets of Angelos' for years, which is why Angelos refused MacPhail on firing Dave Stockstill.

Oh, and all of this chaos is taking place just two days before free agency starts.

It's nothing new, 0's fans. Just another reminder that nothing will change as long as Angelos is the owner and getting in the way.

Angelos might as well save his money and just let Showalter, Stockstill and Klentak call the shots. They will be anyway, no matter who becomes the next GM.

It's Steeler Week

Going back to week 1, when the Ravens routed the Steelers 35-7, Ravens fans felt as if they'd already clinched an appearance in the Super Bowl. I can't lie, it felt good. Damn good. The Ravens had just gotten revenge on the Steelers following a heartbreaking playoff loss in Pittsburgh, where the Ravens led at halftime, 21-7.

But the feelings following that big opening day win have slowly tapered off. The Ravens failed to show up in the following game at Tennessee, losing to the Titans, 23-10. And outside of a blowout of the Rams in St. Louis, the Ravens are 1-2 on the road and their offense has been inconsistent regardless of where the games have been played, culminating in an embarrassing performance on Monday Night Football in a 12-7 loss to the Jaguars in Jacksonville a little over a week ago.

The following week, the Ravens needed to mount the biggest come-from-behind win in franchise history to beat the 1-6 Cardinals in Baltimore. Now they travel to Pittsburgh to take on the 6-2 Steelers on Sunday night.

Meanwhile, the Steelers haven't looked back following their last loss to the Texans in Houston in week 4, and are playing their best football, coming off of a big home win over the Patriots. Ben Roethlisberger, who started the season slowly, has thrown 11 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in his last 4 games. And the Steelers defense, while still flawed, is playing better than they were at the start of the season.

The Ravens are once again a team searching for an identity on offense. Cam Cameron's play calling fails to put players into positions for success. All Pro RB, Ray Rice, isn't used like he should be and outside of a big game against his former team last week, Anquan Boldin has been a non-factor in the passing game. And Flacco, who has gone on the record saying he wants to lead a pass-first offense, has been erratic in the pocket, completing a career-worst 53% of his passes and failing to produce a QB Rating above 78 in his last 4 games, throwing 4 interceptions to just 1 touchdown in that time frame.

However, in the second half of the comeback win over the Cardinals, the Ravens stumbled into an offensive game plan that actually worked. Down 21 points late in the first half, Cameron had Flacco lining up in a shotgun hurry-up offense. It is the same kind of offense Flacco led at Delaware, where he excelled. Many fans, frustrated with Cameron's conservative offensive play calling, which included short out routes and crossing patterns, resulting in minimal receiver separation, wondered why Flacco rarely lined up in the shotgun offense he ran so effectively in college. And after watching Flacco get into a grove for the remainder of the game, hopefully Cameron employs the offense against the Steelers, who may be missing LB's James Harrison and Lamarr Woodley and whose secondary the Ravens exposed in week 1.

But the Ravens cannot expect to call the same week 1 plays against the Steelers this Sunday and produce the same results. You can bet your bottom dollar that the Steelers will have memorized the week 1 game film and will be fired up to seek revenge on the team that embarrassed them to the tune of 7 turnovers. Head coach Mike Tomlin is a great coach and I'm sure he'll be in the players' ears all week, reminding them of the week 1 rout. This game was circled in the Steelers locker room as soon as the last second expired from the game clock in week 1.

So I don't have high hopes for this game. I don't believe Cameron will be able to put together a game plan that will take advantage of the Steelers weaknesses on defense while at the same time putting our offensive players in the best position to win. Cameron is notorious for being stubborn, case in point his failure to adjust in the Jacksonville loss where he only ran Ray Rice 8 times in a game the Ravens never trailed by more than 9 points.

It's the simple case of two teams passing each other on opposite directions. The Steelers are back to playing at their usual high-level, while the Ravens are once again struggling offensively. I expect a close game, much like many of the Ravens/Steelers contests of recent memory, one where the game comes down to a play being made, or not being made, late in the game.

It pains me to say it, but I see the Steelers taking this game to the tune of 20-13.

I hope I'm wrong.

Me & My Friends in JAX

Hoping that the unorthadox can work

With Andy MacPhail officially no longer the Orioles GM, and Buck Showalter staying in the dugout, a new GM will need to be hired. And the sooner the better since the postseason will be complete in a little over two weeks. To say the Orioles have a lot of work to do this offseason is an understatement.

But the question of who will hire this new GM is tricky. One would hope that it is Buck Showalter who is involved in the process, and that he hires the best candidate based on their vision and determination to put a winning team on the field. Peter Angelos is proved time and time again that he cannot make the important decisions that result in the Orioles improving their record. He hires "yes men". And in Andy MacPhail, Angelos hired a GM who was not going to spend a lot of money on free agents, international signings or draft picks.

But therein lies the rub. If you look at a baseball front office as a hierarchy, and you should, since that is how they usually exist, the GM is the second most powerful person in the front office. So why would Showalter, a manager, be involved in the decision to hire his boss?

I believe that a GM and a manager should be equals in most ways, the same way an accounting manager and a sales manager would be viewed as equals in a company. They represent two different departments. But baseball is baseball and the Orioles are the Orioles, and GM's are the ones who make most of the decisions about baseball operations -- including who the manager should be.

So why would a GM want to come to Baltimore when he is hired by one of his subordinates? Why would a GM want to come to Baltimore where he's forced to keep Showalter on as manager? Why would a GM want to come to Baltimore when the word on the street is that Showalter is Angelos' favorite and have to contend with that preexisting relationship?

These are the confusing and cumbersome situations that have been created time and time against under Angelos. In the past, he's muddied the chain of command, hiring several people to do a similar job, which has only resulted in backstabbing and general chaos in the front office. At least under MacPhail, there was one person who was the lightning rod for the organization. MacPhail had his flaws, no doubt, but at least the Orioles appeared to be a little more well run while he was the GM. Especially when it came to trades. MacPhail was able to pull the trigger quickly, whereas previous GM's had to get Angelos' approval, which could take days, killing most deals.

But as the Orioles start to interview GM candidates, we're left to hope that the unorthodox process of a manager hiring a GM can work. Because from a fan's perspective, Peter Angelos is the last person who should be hiring people.

And that's what Orioles fans are left with -- hoping against hope that something positive can still come out of an Orioles organization that still has Peter Angelos as its owner.

Ravens shoot down Jets, 34-17

It wasn’t pretty, but the Ravens trampled over the Jets last Sunday night to the tune of 34-17. It was a game marked by defensive touchdowns for both teams, with both QB’s turning in similar crappy performances.

Joe Flacco turned in one of the worst statistical performances of his career, going 10-32 for 168 yards and an interception. Similarly, Mark Sanchez went 11-35 with 119 yards and an interception.

Thankfully, the Ravens defense rose to the occasion, holding the Jets to 150 total yards, forcing four turnovers and scoring three defensive touchdowns.

However, it’s a win that doesn’t sit well with fans. The Ravens had 267 yards of total offense. Flacco played poorly. And the offensive play calling was suspect with the Ravens holding such a big lead.

But you know what? You have to take these kinds of wins. An offense, no matter how good it may be, is going to have off days. And the Jets have a stout defense. Granted, the Ravens need to take the bye week to figure out their offensive game plan for the rest of the season, but they found a way to win a game in which the offense wasn’t clicking, and still managed to win big.

And when the Ravens saw that the passing game just wasn’t there, they pulled a 180 and started running the ball down the throat of the Jets defense. That’s called an “adjustment”, folks. Even though it was such a drastic adjustment, how many times have we seen the Ravens stick with something even though it’s painfully obvious that it’s not working? Ravens fans need to look no further than the Lions/Cowboys game this past weekend to see why teams should commit to the run when they take a big lead. Throwing interceptions and giving a team life in a blowout is a colossal mistake.

The Ravens have an elite defense still capable of taking over games. And when that happens, the offense just needs to control the clock and protect the ball, much like what the Ravens did in the second half. If you have Ravens players on your fantasy team, too bad.

I guess that’s just the era of the NFL that we live in. Lots of scoring. And as much as we may wish the Ravens can become the next high-powered offense, they don’t necessarily need to be, especially on a night where the defense is bringing the pain. Yes, the Ravens need to get better on offense. Yes, they need to find an identity. There’s no arguing that.

The Ravens just trounced the Jets 34-17, folks. We embarrassed those loudmouth players, coaches and fans.

Enjoy it.

2011: Another great finish, but an overall disaster, Part I

The Orioles celebrate their win over the Red Sox, which eliminated Boston from the postseason. But the 2011 season was nothing to celebrate.

A night removed from what many are calling the best day of MLB baseball, ever, which featured the Orioles knocking the Red Sox out of the wild card in dramatic fashion, I’m looking back at the entire 2011 season and being reminded of one of the most brilliant masterpieces in the history of cinema.

I am of course talking about the 1987 film, Predator.

In that film, a team of commandos gets picked off one by one in the Central American jungle by an alien who can turn himself invisible. In the end, Dutch, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, goes toe-to-toe with the beast and eventually forces it to commit suicide. After the dust has settled, Dutch is rescued and a somber trumpet plays on the soundtrack. Ducth is alive, but all the members of his team are dead. It was a pyrrhic victory.

And in many ways, the O’s win over the Red Sox on Wednesday night was also pyrrhic, in that they finished their sixth consecutive season with at least 90 losses and fourteenth overall losing season. Yes, they went 15-13 in September. And yes, they stopped the Red Sox from advancing to the postseason, but like Arnold in Predator, they gained nothing.

It was a great night of baseball, however, and the lone accomplishment of the night was that the Orioles played a major part in it and will likely go down as a major villain in Red Sox lore. But now that the night is over, it’s time to look ahead to the future, and the changes that will spread the magic of Wednesday night across an entire 162-game season.

The first step, of course, is finding out what’s going to happen with Andy MacPhail and Buck Showalter. Word is that MacPhail, whose contract ends this year, will not return as GM and most people think that Showalter will move into the front office and take over the GM role while someone like Willie Randolph becomes the new manager or the Orioles hire someone from outside the organization.

Last month reports stated that MacPhail and Angelos were “fed up with one another”, so unless a major bridge-building effort has taken place between the two men since then, I doubt that MacPhail will be back as GM. There is the possibility that he takes another role within the organization, an Angelos specialty, who rarely makes clean breaks with people he’s hired. Personally, I think MacPhail shouldn’t be involved with the Orioles moving forward, but if he’s kept on as a “Trade Adviser”, I wouldn’t complain, since trades were the one area that MacPhail was excellent.

Meanwhile, Showalter as GM creates some interesting possibilities, both positive and negative. Apparently, Showalter is currently Angelos’ favorite pet, which may have come at the expense of MacPhail. It was, after all, Angelos who wanted to hire Showalter, with MacPhail wanting to hire Eric Wedge. So with Showalter as GM, he will at least have total control over the organization – at least for the time being. We all know that MacPhail apparently had total control when he was first hired too, but somewhere along the way, Angelos soured on MacPhail, which lead us to where we are now.

On the other hand, Showalter has no GM experience, and while his connections through baseball are no doubt solid due to his past managerial experience and time spent on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight, one has to wonder if he is familiar with many of the other GM’s in baseball, with whom he will have to deal with while making trades and other moves required of a GM.

I’d say that Showalter as GM is probably the best move for the Orioles under the circumstances of Angelos being a finicky owner who grows tired of people at the drop of a hat. Showalter currently has his respect, and any outside GM candidate wouldn’t. Then there is the whole superiority problem that would exist if another GM is hired. Who works for whom? The Orioles might as well ride the wave of Angelos’ respect for Showalter and hope that he is able to turn the franchise around before the expiration date on Showalter arrives.

Outside of the GM position, changeover should occur in the front office on down to minor league coaches and scouts. The Orioles are in desperate need of a house cleaning and even MacPhail in his honeymoon phase with Angelos was unable to make these moves, as evidenced by the blocked firing of John Stockstill by Angelos. Stockstill was reassigned to Director of International Scouting. So it’s unclear whether Buck will have the authority to make these kinds of moves on his own.

It’s also unclear what approach Showalter would take to turning the franchise around. Showalter has always been a manager who prefers veteran players to unproven prospects, so if he becomes the GM, look for the Orioles to be busy in the free agent market this offseason, and potentially trade a young player or two for a more proven commodity. Hopefully, however, the veteran approach doesn’t come at the expense of the minor league system, which is in desperate need of improvement. The Orioles have an awful track record at developing players, and there doesn’t seem to be a streamlined approach to bringing players through the system. Showalter needs to implement a single philosophy to player development as well as hiring in the best coaches and scouts that money can buy.

To his credit, Showalter has a solid track record with his previous teams. Both the Yankees and Diamondbacks won the World Series a year after Showalter left, and in Texas, he took the Rangers to a winning record in his second season. All of this came as manager of those teams, so who knows if he’d be able to do similar things as GM.

No matter what happens, decisions should be made quickly. The Baltimore Sun reported that Angelos, MacPhail and Showalter met yesterday afternoon so an announcement on the front office could come as early as today. The Orioles have a lot of work to do this offseason, so there is no time to waste. And they might as well take advantage of the buzz they created on Wednesday night and force fans to take notice of the moves they make this offseason to gain momentum going into 2012.

The age-old question still remains, however. Can the Orioles win with Angelos as the owner? We have fourteen years of proof saying they can’t. But maybe, just maybe, Showalter can be the one who changes all that.

Spoiler Alert!

In case you haven’t heard, the Orioles have the chance to knock the Boston Red Sox out of playoff contention tonight. Most Oriole fans, for lack of important games in September, are treating this as if it’s a playoff game. And while the game probably is more important than any other game they’ve played this late in the season in the last ten years, let’s not go overboard here. If the Orioles win, they don’t move onto the “next round”, unless that “next round” is a round of golf. No, the only thing at stake is a chance to twist the dagger into the backs of the Red Sox nation. Misery loves company, after all.

Don’t get me wrong. I’d love to see the O’s knock the Red Sox out of the wild card. This was the same Red Sox team that the Boston media was predicting could be “the best team ever” back in April after the Red Sox had signed Carl Crawford to a 7-year deal that will pay him $20 million for the next 6 years in addition to the $14 million they gave him this year to post the lowest OPS (.694) since 2003. They also traded for Padres 1B slugger, Adrian Gonzalez, who unlike Crawford, has had an excellent season. And don’t even get me started on Red Sox fans.

But while others are ready to treat this as a real playoff game, I can’t buy in completely. The Orioles are headed for their 6th consecutive losing season of 90 or more losses. The future is as muddled as a puddle, now that GM Andy MacPhail is not coming back and word on the street is that a career manager, Buck Showalter, is about to become the GM. Whether that’s good or bad remains to be seen. But last time I checked, Peter Angelos is still the owner, so any moves they make this offseason are moot in my eyes as long as Angelos still owns the team. Professional sports organizations, like dead fish, rot from the head on down.

Back to tonight’s game. Jon Lester, he of a 14-0 career record against the Orioles, takes the mound tonight for the Red Sox. He’s pitching on 3 days rest, and the last time he did that, he was shelled. I’d love for his first loss to the O’s also be the game that keeps them from advancing to the playoffs.

So can the O’s do it? Can they play spoiler to the Red Sox? Can the Rays cap off a sweep of the Yankees tonight to win the wild card?

I will be watching tonight. There’s no denying that. I just can’t get too excited about it. I prefer my playoff games to actually have something at stake other than spite.

Ravens ram the Rams 37-7

The Ravens took out their frustrations on the Rams after losing to the Titans a week ago, winning 37-7.

It was a game the Ravens needed to take control of early after looking so flat against Tennessee, and thankfully the opponent was the lowly Rams who are 0-3 so far in 2011. Joe Flacco, frustrated after Cam Cameron’s play-calling in Tennessee, took over more control of the offense, resulting in what was a career day for the fourth-year QB. Flacco threw 48 times, compared to just 26 rushes and the Ravens never looked back after taking a 21-0 lead in the first quarter.

Rookie WR Torrey Smith caught 3 touchdowns in his first 3 NFL receptions, totaling 158 receiving yards and QB Joe Flacco threw for 389 yards in addition to those 3 touchdowns to Smith. With Lee Evans out nursing a leg injury, rookie WR’s Smith, Tandon Doss and LaQuan Williams needed to step up, and Smith answered the call in a big way.

Defensively, the Ravens punished second-year QB Sam Bradford and the Rams offense, holding them to just 244 total yards. Bradford was picked off once and fumbled, which resulted in a defensive touchdown.

So now that Flacco has more control in the offense, how will the Ravens fare moving forward? They face a test in the New York Jets this Sunday night at home, in a game that should test their new high-powered offense against a stout defense, including the complex blitz-schemes of Rex Ryan. The Jets are licking their wounds after getting beaten soundly by the Raiders, and are 2-1 on the young season.

Last year, the Ravens dominated the Jets in the opening game of the season, despite the deceiving 10-9 score. The Ravens held the Jets to just 176 yards of total offense while the Ravens racked up 282 yards. The Ravens also turned the ball over 3 times in that game, so as long as the Ravens protect the ball this Sunday, they should come out with a win and head into the bye at 3-1.

The biggest difference, this time around, is that the Jets have Raven-killer Santonio Holmes, who was serving a suspension to begin the 2010 season.

The downfall of Brian Matusz

What have I done to deserve this???

Brian Matusz was given one last chance to end his disastrous 2011 season on a high note, despite the fact that pitching in Fenway Park is not the best environment to nurture success. Matusz's performance last night was to be expected from a pitcher whose struggles are well known by now, as he was unable to get out of the second inning, ending with a line of 1.2 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 2 BB and 0 K.

His 2011 stats look even worse: 1-8 W-L, 10.68 ERA, 44.2 IP, 2.13 WHIP, 16 HR. I don't have the record books close by but I think I recall hearing that Matusz's 2011 season will go down as the worst pitching season of all time for a pitcher with at least 44 IP.

During spring training, Buck Showalter and Mark Connor made it a point to get the O's pitchers faster to the plate to cut down on steals. This caused a large ripple effect throughout the pitching staff this year, causing many pitchers (Matusz, Bergesen, Gregg and Gonzalez) to struggle because of it. Shortly after, Matusz injured his back and missed a majority of the season. A coincidence? We may never know. Just like we may never really know what caused Connor to quit, but I think it's pretty obvious that the Orioles pitchers were not happy with what they were being instructed to do and Connor didn't want any more of it.

Meanwhile, Matusz could be ruined for good. All because they wanted to get a fraction of a second faster to the plate.

What was it that Jim Palmer has always said? The best way to cut down on steals is keep runners off the bases. Words to live by. And Matusz was doing just that. In his last 11 starts of 2010, he finished with WHIP just under 1.00 to go with a 7-1 record and a 2.17 ERA. If anyone deserved immunity from Buck and Connor's change in delivery, it was Matusz.

Brian Matusz's downfall could very well be Buck's legacy in Baltimore...messing up Matusz to the point where he has to go sell insurance to make a living. The shame of it is many scouts said that Brian Matusz was major-league ready on the day he was drafted 4th overall in 2008. The Orioles could have drafted Matusz and not said a word to him and he'd probably be better off for it. I severely doubt that Buck is going to do anything substantial with the Orioles, regardless of the position he's in next year, whether it be GM, manager or some other fancy title. He could have very well destroyed one of the best pitching prospects the Orioles have had in a very long time.

I know Matusz will go back to the minors and work hard to get back to where he was in 2010. Throughout this nightmare of the season, Brian has owned everything this year, accepting blame and saying that he wasn't mentally prepared for this season, which, in my opinion, is a diplomatic way of saying, "I wasn't ready to come into spring training after finishing the 2010 season with a 7-1 record and have my wind-up fucked with".

But Matusz may never make it back. The damage may have been done, and it could very well be irreversible.

Thanks, Buck.I hope you're happy with yourself.

Role Reversal: Ravens lose to Titans, 26-13

Just a week after they dominated the Steelers in every facet of the game, the Titans (yes, the Titans) did the same to the Ravens in a humbling 26-13 loss.

In a game where the Ravens did little right, they were also outcoached by a coaching staff making their second NFL start. Remember that adage about John Harbaugh not losing to teams with losing records? Well you can throw that out of the window. Especially during week 2, the same week the Ravens dropped a game in Cincinnati.

The Titans (1-1) weren’t on many playoff prediction lists, but they played like defending Super Bowl champions yesterday, taking away the Ravens ground game and putting ample pressure on Joe Flacco all day. All this coming from a team that lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars in week 1 – a team that could contend for the worst record in the NFL when it’s all said and done.

Flacco turned in a stinker of a game, completing just 15 of 32 for 197 yards, 1 TD and 2 INT. His two picks were awful, especially the first one, where he threw the ball right at the numbers of waiting defender. However, receivers were rarely open and Flacco didn’t have much time for check-downs as the pocket collapsed quickly the entire game. It was the kind of game you’d hoped that Flacco had put past him on his way to becoming an elite QB in this league. But yesterday was another painful reminder that he still has a long way to go to reach that elite level.

Ray Rice managed just 43 yards rushing on 14 carries, but did haul in the only Ravens TD of the game on a screen pass he took 31 yards for a touchdown. He wasn’t used enough in the passing game where screens would have taken away the impact of the Titan’s pass rush. Ricky Williams carried the ball only 4 times for 2 yards and a fumble.

The receivers also had a poor game. Anquan Boldin had 46 yards on 3 catches. Lee Evans had 2 catches, one of them for 32 yards and hopefully a sign of things to come once he gets completely healthy. Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta had 49 total yards while failing to have the impact they had against Pittsburgh a week before. Torrey Smith failed to make a catch despite being the Ravens #3 WR. He needs to step up and become a part of this offense, and fast.

On defense, the Ravens didn’t fare any better, failing to pressure Matt Hasselbeck enough. He picked apart the Ravens defense for 358 yards. They did contain Chris Johnson on the ground, which wasn’t very hard since he’s not in game shape just yet. Kenny Britt absolutely scorched a weak Ravens secondary for 135 yards and a TD. Nate Washington also hauled in 7 passes for 99 yards.

All in all, it’s a game the Ravens want to forget, and move on. The Titans clearly treated the game the same way the Ravens treated week 1, wanting to play a physical game against a team that expected to show up and win. Hopefully the Ravens learned a valuable lesson, and can come out a better team for it.

The Ravens travel to St. Louis next week to take on the Rams, who will be coming off a short week.

Ravens dismantle Steelers

That hurts! Jarret Johnson goes after Ben Roethlisberger, who threw 3 interceptions on the day.

On a day where football fans tried to keep things in perspective, being the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2011, it was tough to bottle up the emotions and relief that came along with a 35-6 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Baltimore.

The Ravens hadn't beaten a Ben Roethlisberger-led team since 2006, and since Joe Flacco had been in the league, he'd previously been winless against Roethlisberger in head-to-head match ups. The subject had been the topic of many criticisms against Flacco. But he shed that criticism in a big way, throwing for 224 yards and 3 TD's in the win. In fact, shedding criticism became the theme for the day for the Ravens.

Flacco a slow starter?
He throws for a touchdown on the third play of the game.

Can't run on the Steelers defense?
Ray Rice rushes for 107 yards and a score, and the Ravens rush for 170 total yards.

Can't finish off the Steelers?
The Ravens forced 7 turnovers (a Steelers record) and put the game away in the 3rd quarter.

Will the Ravens be OK without Derrick Mason?
Anquan Boldin, 4 catches, 74 yards, 1 TD.

Will the Ravens miss Todd Heap?
Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta combined for 7 catches and 104 yards receiving.

The offensive line played great, giving Flacco all kinds of time to throw and opening running lanes for Rice. Flacco was sacked only once. Vonta Leach punished Steelers defenders, paving the way for the running game.

Meanwhile, the defense was on the prowl, delivering blows left and right. It didn't matter who they hit, as long as they were wearing black and gold. Haloti Ngata flatted Rashard Mendenhall and forced a fumble, which Hgata recovered. Jarret Johnson upended Hines Ward, wiping that perma-smirk off of his face. And Ben Roethlisberger was cut down several times. It's a wonder he was able to continue playing after taking some of the hits he received. I'm sure the talk of nagging injury will begin with Roethisberger now.

The biggest noticeable thing, though, was the Ravens aggressiveness. They attacked the Steelers secondary on the first drive. They went for a two-point conversion early in the 3rd quarter to go up 29-7. They went for it on 4th and 1 on the Pittsburgh 8 yard line shortly after the two pointer coversion, but were unable to move the chains. But much of the aggressiveness came with the execution of Cam Cameron's playcalling. Gone were the horrible end-arounds, but Cameron stuck with the run and it worked. Just goes to show you how much better play-calling cam look when players execute.

In short, the experience at the stadium yesterday was amazing. To get the monkey off their backs, the Ravens have to be feeling good moving forward. They just humiliated their most hated rival to start the season. Steeler fans were fleeing the stadium en masse during the 3rd and 4th quarters, their yellow rags between their legs. The tribute to the 9/11 victims and soldiers was heartfelt. And the "Seven Nation Army" chant taught on and people were still chanting it on the way out of the stadium after the game was in the books.

It doesn't get much better than that. We're alive, the Ravens won, and they beat the Steelers.

Next week the Ravens play the Titans in Tennessee.

The O's Pitching Woes

Wanna know what I have hidden in my glove? One of the worst seasons as a pitcher with over 40 IP, ever.

Surprisingly, the Orioles offense has been mediocre in 2011. And amongst Baltimore baseball fans, mediocrity is reason enough to throw a ticker-tape parade down Pratt Street. The O's are 8th out of 14 teams in runs scored and have hit the 5th most home runs in the AL.

With just a mediocre pitching staff the Orioles could have actually had a shot at breaking .500 for the first time in 14 years. But as you know, the Orioles pitching has been downright atrocious this year...historically, epically, universally bad.

Consider this. Last year the Orioles ERA was 4.85, which was good for 13th in the AL. The league average was 4.14. So the Orioles were just a measly -0.71 below mediocre.

Well, this year, the AL average is 4.04, so you'd think that the Orioles ERA in relation to the league average would have lowered along with it, right?

Wrong.

The O's ERA this year sits at 4.92, good for last in the MLB. A difference of -0.88 points from mediocrity. So whereas the league average ERA has gone down, the Orioles ERA has headed in the other direction.

It's nothing earth shattering, of course, but just another snapshot of how bad the Orioles pitching has been this season.

So I'll leave you with this. Remember Brian Matusz, the pitcher we'd pinned a lion's share of our hopes on? The guy who went 7-1 down the stretch last season and we all thought he'd lead the rotation in 2011?

Well his 9.84 ERA puts him right there in the discussion for the "worst season of all time" by a pitcher who has pitched more than 40 innings. That's right. The guy we pegged as our ace going forward has just had one of the worst seasons in baseball history.

Now you know why this blog is called "the Bad Oriole".

2011 Ravens Predictions

With the season a mere five days away, we might as well lock in our projections for the 2011 season while we still can.

I was a game off last year, predicting a 13-3 record with the Ravens finishing 12-4. And this year I'll go in reverse, predicting a 12-4 record while expecting a 13-3 season.

After the brutal loss to the Steelers in the playoffs, in addition to the regular season loss at home to Pittsburgh, I think this is the year the Ravens finally get over the Pittsburgh hump. I've got nothing riding on that other than the laws of probability, since the Steelers with Ben Roethlisberger starting under center are 7-2 against the Ravens. It's time the Ravens started to even out that record on statistical averages alone. And adding a deep threat in Lee Evans, shoring up the offensive line and a better pass rush should go a long way in bringing down the Steelers.

And that's really what the 2011 season comes down to: beating Pittsburgh. With the Ravens and Steelers each having an easy schedule on paper, the games between these two teams will likely be what determines the AFC North.

So what better way to start the season than with the Ravens hosting the Steelers in week 1?

Having said all that, I do wonder if the Ravens can beat the Steelers. It's gotten to the point in this rivalry where Ravens fan just have to expect something to go wrong. And how could I not feel that way after the playoff loss in Pittsburgh last January, where everything did go wrong? So while I am excited for the season, I am reserved in my excitement, because until the Ravens actually prove that they can beat Roethlisberger and the Steelers, I don't believe they can.

So instead of going through each game, I'll say this. The Ravens will split with the Steelers this year and drop three out of four games against the Texans, Jets, Colts and Chargers. They usually have trouble beating better teams -- and those five teams are easily the best teams they'll face this year. That said, I do hope they can surpass my expectations because I believe the Ravens are better than the Texans, Jets, Colts and Chargers. It's time we started beating the better teams in the NFL instead of feasting off the also-rans and losing close games to elite teams. The Ravens should be an elite tam this year, so they better play like one.

So while I am predicting another 12-4 year that could likely see us getting the wild card and going on the road....again...deep down I am hoping for more. If this team plays to its ability, two losses starts to sound pretty realistic.

Until then, I'll see you on Sunday. Go Ravens.

Big offseason looms for Orioles, but will anyone care?

In the week or so following the tragic news of Mike Flanagan's suicide, reports came out about GM Andy MacPhail stepping down after his contract expires at the end of the 2011 season. MacPhail himself has been silent on the issue, but the reports were picked up by USA Today and CBS Sports so they look to be accurate. Then came Keith Law's tweet about Director of Scouting Joe Jordan stepping down as well. Needless to say, it was a brutal week for Orioles fans. And all of it could be tied back to Angelos in many ways.

By now we've heard all the theories about Flanagan's death and the role Angelos may or may not have had in pushing Flanagan to commit suicide. But the more damning news is that MacPhail doesn't want to come back and continue what he called his "dream job" upon being hired. Until recently, it seemed like all was kosher between MacPhail and Angelos, with Big Pete dropping sound-bytes like "Andy isn't going anywhere". But it seems that a wedge has been driven between then, and not Eric Wedge, the manager that MacPhail wanted to take over for Juan Samuel last season. Angelos wanted Showalter, and as you can see, Showalter is the current manager of the team and confidant to Angelos.

Jordan on the other hand is a more curious situation. He's had some questionable drafts (Matt Hobgood) and some first round draft picks that didn't pan out (Billy Rowell) but one has to wonder the role that the Player Development John Stockstill has played in Jordan's resignation. After all, Jordan can only select players in the draft. After that, it's up to Stockstill to harvest the juice from the fruit, and the Orioles are notorious for their spotty player development.

So with these two job openings needing to be filled this offseason, it could be a busy winter in Baltimore, especially if these two major departures lead to an organization-wide overhaul of personnel.

But does anyone care?

Last time I checked, Peter Angelos still owns the team. He'll likely hire one of his good ol boy friends like John Hart or promote someone within the organization like Matt Klentak, current Director of Baseball Operations. From what I have heard of Klentak, he would be a good candidate for the job. However, as long as Angelos is the owner, one has to assume that Klentak (as well as any GM) would have to maneuver through Angelos' mine field of restrictions. Case in point: Angelos' refusal to allow MacPhail fire Dave Stockstill (John's brother) when MacPhail took over as GM in 2007. Instead, Stockstill was exiled to International Scouting. Maybe that is a less than desirable position in Baltimore, but the rest of baseball hires intelligent and forward-thinking people for that position, not people who are about to be fired.

What's even worse, is the thought of one of Angelos' confidants like Dave or John Stockstill being promoted to GM, or someone like Rick Dempsey. Angelos has a fondness for these people, so nothing would surprise me at this point.

So as this season winds down, and GM candidates are discussed for the Orioles, I don't think you'll find many Orioles fans who give a shit. We've been through this song and dance before, several times, and it always ends the same way.

Remember the feeling you have right now, O's fans. Because in a few years, you'll likely feel it again.

CBS: MacPhail will not re-sign with Orioles

Reports say that Andy MacPhail will not re-sign with the Orioles at the end of the season.

According to this article, MacPhail will walk away from his job as GM of the Orioles at the end of the season. That's when his contract expires, but reports are that MacPhail will not seek to re-sign with the team.

The most interesting line in the article is that "MacPhail and Angelos were fed up with each other". Hmmm...really? Could there really be in-fighting in the front office of the Baltimore Orioles? Could someone really be fed up with Peter Angelos?

The most shocking revelation is that Angelos was "fed up" with MacPhail, who was hired in 2007 to take over for Mike Flanagan and Jim Duquette. Oriole fans and media alike thought it was a good fit, for better or worse. During his time with the Cubs, MacPhail never spent a lot of money on free agents, made some conservative trades while occasionally making a "risky" move. So it was clear that MacPhail would work within Angelos' comfort zone when he was hired by the Orioles. But right off the bat, MacPhail opened eyes by trading away the O's two best players: Miguel Tejada and Erik Bedard.

The trades were universally praised by O's fans and the baseball world even though the returns on those trades have diminished somewhat since. But since those trades took place during the offseason before the 2008 season, MacPhail has been on cruise control for the most part -- acquiring former Cubs reclamation projects like Felix Pie, Jake Fox and Rich Hill and signing expensive bullpen pitchers like Mike Gonzalez and Kevin Gregg, guys who weren't worth their contracts. He made the occasional good move, trading bullpen arms in David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio for Mark Reynolds, who leads the Orioles with 31 home runs and trading JJ Hardy for Jim Hoey and Brett Jacobson, who MacPhail signed to a three-year extension.

But Angelos being "fed up" with MacPhail can only mean one thing: and that's probably proof that MacPhail wanted to do more. The one knock against MacPhail was that he was too slow, too methodical. And that may still be true. But if Angelos is "fed up" with you, that probably means you wanted to do too much: Make a risky move, trade away a fan favorite or invest a lot of money in the minor leagues or internationally. This was, after all, MacPhail's self-admitted "dream job". You have to think that someone who felt that way wanted to do more than what MacPhail did as GM.

Within the last few months or year, MacPhail seemed defensive when he was questioned about his moves by the media. He basically admitted that the modern state of baseball had passed him by when he went on a rant about spending big money on international prospects such as Miguel Sano. And those were probably MacPhail's words, which is why I am somewhat relieved that MacPhail will not be coming back. But his defensiveness probably reflects some of the stress he was under from Angelos. We'll only be left to wonder what really happened. But we do know that MacPhail wanted to hire former Indians manager Eric Wedge, and Angelos wanted Showalter. We know who won that battle. And this past offseason, reports are that it was Angelos who pushed to sign former slugger Vladimir Guerrero, ponying up $8 million to sign the future Hall of Famer who has struggled mightily in Baltimore.

But one thing is for sure. And that is Angelos is still the #1 problem in Baltimore. In Flanagan and MacPhail he had two men for whom being GM of the Baltimore Orioles was a dream job. And what are we left with? One of those men just took his life and the other is willing to walk away from his job.

The circus in Baltimore will never leave town as long as Peter Angelos is the owner. So while people will be interested to see who takes over for MacPhail as GM, it won't matter one bit. They won't be allowed to execute their vision and in three or four years, we'll be right back where we are now.

It's actually ironic when you think about it. The Orioles. The O's. The letter "O" is a circle. The number zero is close. The vicious circle continues.

Round and round we go.

Thoughts on Preseason Game #3

Anquan Boldin reaches for the pylon on a 30 yard catch that resulted in a Ray Rice 1-yard touchdown.

Having missed preseason game #2, I entered the third game of this pre-season excited to get my best look at the Ravens before the start of the season since the third pre-season game is the closest it gets to the real thing. And since it was against the our neighbors to the south, the Washington Redskins, it made it a little more exciting than your standard pre-season game

What I saw was a mixed bag of positives and negatives that left me both excited and anxious about the 2011 season.

To start, Joe Flacco threw a boneheaded interception on a stop route that was picked off and returned for a touchdown by DeAngelo Hall. When he wasn't throwing interceptions, Flacco was under pressure as the offensive line collapsed regularly. But once the first quarter was over, and the Ravens were down 14-0, Flacco and the offense got going, and the positives started flowing.

Flacco hooked up with Anquan Boldin for gains of 18 and 30 yards on a drive that ended with a Ray Rice 1-yard TD run. On the next drive, Flacco connected with Ed Dickson for a 33 yard gain and scored on a perfectly thrown 35-yard bomb to newly acquired WR Lee Evans. After halftime, Flacco led the Ravens on their third scoring drive of the night, hooking up again with Boldin in the middle of the endzone.

Flacco ended his night on a high-note, 17-27, 219 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT.

Tyrod Taylor came in and played well for the second game in a row, further cementing the belief that Taylor can enter the season as Flacco's understudy. He finished 11-18 with 125 yards and a touchdown pass that won the game with just a few seconds left. RB Anthony Allen impressed yet again, exploding through holes with speed and power.

The pluses and minuses existed on defense as well, with DE Pernell McPhee recording a sack and fighting for a spot not only on the team, but as a possible impact player. The defensive line kept constant pressure on QB's Rex Gressoman and John Beck, but when they had time to throw, they exposed the Ravens secondary, namely Ladarius Webb and Jimmy Smith. Since Smith is a rookie, it's to be expected, but Webb hasn't looked the same since his injury. Although Webb ended the night good on paper -- recording a sack and an interception -- he was abused all night. The same can be said of Dominique Foxworth, who is also coming back from injury and looks less than ready.

In the end, the game was exciting for a pre-season game and the Ravens won 34-31 with seconds left on the clock. But the win was somewhat hollow since there were as many negatives as their were positives and when the hated Pittsburgh Steelers are looming on the horizon as your opponent in week 1, you want to be running on all cylinders. There's one more preseason game to go, but don't expect to see the starters much, if at all, as the coaches use the game to evaluate players on the bubble.

What you saw last night may look a lot like the team we see in 2011. And that can be a good thing, or a bad thing.

We'll just have to wait and see.