Going Up Against the Best
At 48-28, the Chicago Cubs are the best team in baseball. At 38-36, the Orioles are arguably the most surprising. So while this isn’t exactly a clash of the titans it is, at least, an interesting matchup. Tonight it takes the form of Jeremy “Quality Start” Guthrie opposite lefty Sean Marshall. Game on.
Guthrie has only ever faced 4 Cubs: Blanco (2 for 2), Cedeno (1 for 1), DeRosa (1 for 1), and Ramirez (0 for 2). Only one Oriole has ever faced Marshall, and that (weirdly enough) is Lance Cormier, who’s 0 for 1 with a BB. On the whole I think that gives the O’s a slight advantage in this one.
The Orioles, as we all know, were terrible in interleague play (79-114) before this year. So far, though, they’ve put up a relatively impressive 8-4 mark. I’m thinking that anything other than getting swept will be A-OK for this series.
Note: don’t forget that tonight is radio night for me, as I join the Fighting Ungers from 6:30 (or maybe a little earlier) until 8. Tune in to 1570 AM or go to wnst.net and click on “listen live” (it’s buried at the top near the logo).
Tonight’s a special appearance, too, because I’m bringing my own bumper music. Fugazi, Nation of Ulysses, the National, the Strokes, Secret Machines…should be fun.
I think Roberts might sneak in there yet, since he’s easily the most famous Oriole, and there’s no really outstanding second basemen, and Texas figures to get plenty of other guys.
But Sherrill deserves to go, too. I just hope Joe Morgan does the game and has no idea why Sherrill doesn’t bend his cap and then makes up some story about how he once wore a flat cap and hit 6 home runs that day.
@ Wyatt: awesome, man. Very cool to see someone checking in from that far away.
@ Andrew: spot-on with Morgan.
We might sneak Roberts in there. He’d certainly be a worthy addition. I’d love to see it but I have a hunch that we’re still considered a “bad” team and so — like the Royals, Pirates, etc — will only get one guy in.
Maaaaaan, I had to teach lessons at night and then practice with my band and I think I would have canceled BOTH to have been jiving on the LC with you guys because this game seemed amazing. I got in the car just in time to listen to Angel call back-to-back-to-back strikeouts with the bases loaded. RIDICULOUS. George Sherrill is SATAN. He puts guys on just to make it FUN.
Neal – my last lesson canceled tonight and I got a chance to really listen to the show and it was really good. Your comments about the LC were spot on with the “brand” being basically insight. You’re concise and you sound like you know what you’re talking about in a spot that seems challenging with the Ungers interrupting and jiving off topic (I love them!). Well done, man. For those of you who can’t listen – don’t worry, Neal represents for us.
Brian Roberts. I’m proud of the little guy. 1,000 hits and it was a game-changing, clutch-as-hell RBI triple. Perfect. Don’t trade this guy, Baltimore needs him.
MAN I’m so pissed I missed this – I’ll have to watch it on MLB.tv archive. We beat the Cubbies and avoiding the sweep is all we can hope for.
Thanks for the good word, Dan — I’m glad you got a chance to listen. I also love the way you put that last part about how I represent for us. That’s exactly the way I hope everyone feels about this site. Whatever I do as the guy “at the top” is done on behalf of and in service of the fact that this is a community that wouldn’t amount to shit without everyone who isn’t me. It’s pretty damn cool for me to be on the radio, but nobody would have asked me to do it were it not for everyone else making the site a solid place to be. I genuinely believe we’re all in it together.
And, yeah, the Ungers are great. I can’t say enough about how cool those guys have been.
Ditto on the “keep Roberts” sentiment, as well. Trading him at this point would seem utterly preposterous.
I just found an interesting article on Dave Trembley from a paper down in Florida: click to give it a read. Gotta love this guy.
Holy crap…
George Sherrill is Hell Boy
Uncanny.
As much as I love Brian Roberts, we should trade him if we can get great value back. I think its clear from seeing how good Florida and Oakland are every year that retooling the farm system is the key to winning.
if you get back a good haul then you pull the trigger. end of arguement. no player is untradeable. this means YOU brian roberts and you too DtM with your heartfelt pleas and shit.
I would aruge that Sherrill’s value is at an ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM and that we should trade him NOW NOW NOW before it goes down – and that this should be a higher priority than BRob.
but I should admit, I still have daydreams about Chris Ray that I can’t explain, so maybe that’s part of it…
I think that we can trade whoever we want in the offseason and only lose a little value…I’d actually be surprised if that’s not the plan, to stick with the team as is and see what they can do and then build next year’s roster in the winter. Obviously, Roberts loses something with that one year left, but compared to 1.5 years, what’s really getting lost?
Of course, some teams act a lot stupider in the middle of a “pennant race” than they would in the offseason…
As we slowly fall out of contention between now and september
the save opportunities will become fewer and far between, but Flatbrim has to work regularly, so he gets put up there in more risky situations, his numbers inflate…it’s not brain surgery
we need to trade him while he’s playing above expectations and career averages
what the hell do we need a closer for anyways? I’ve got 3 reasons why we don’t need one
1) the lOst season
2) chris ray
3) andy mac’s track record with trades
I’d like to see 3 reasons not to trade him, if they exist.
I love his attitude, the brim of his hat and his giant balls, as proven last night.
You answered you’re own question, “what’s really getting lost” is the extra pieces that a desperate team throws in while in the middle of a pennant race.
RED SOX ANALOGY JUST TO RILE YOU: ENGEL BELTRE
Sox traded Kason Gabbard David Murphy (potential ROY) & lower prospect Engel Beltre for Eric Gagne
from rotoworld:
David Murphy and Kason Gabbard have already paid dividends, but Beltre has the most raw talent of the players the Rangers picked up from the Red Sox for Eric Gagne last summer. The 18-year-old is batting .295/.331/.446 in the Midwest League.
All I can say about trading Sherrill is that either way, I’ll trust MacPhail. You don’t stumble across guys like Sherrill too often, although we may have stumbled across one in Jim Johnson. Chris Ray is a giant question mark. Hoey is in the wings, somewhere, as is McCrory. But they are questionable also. It all depends on who we’d get for Guys We Don’t Want To See Leave aka Brian Roberts and George Sherrill. One thing is for sure – the farm system ain’t fixed yet by a long shot. But I don’t think you can trade these dudes unless you’re being offered a desperate package of real deal young talent. It’ll be interesting to see whats up in July.
Three reasons (lets see if I can do it):
1) Chris Ray (aHA!)
2) I think the way the Gagne trade worked out, combined with Sherrill’s lack of a history throwing this amount of innings ever, plus the Stanhousian saves he is getting, will tend to make teams wary of giving up anything close to the Gagne deal (which I thought was stupid at the time, even…I mean, a good looking starter and two other guys for basically a 7th inning dude?)
3)…the lOst season is quickly turning into something far more uplifting. If/when the Orioles fade in August (remember! I’ve been on record all along that while the first half has been real, real nice…I only care about how the team does in August and September), and Sherrill and his wackiness is a part of that. If I’m Andy Mac, I let the team stay together unless I get that kind of Gagnian deal proposed – which will probably not happen – until the offseason and then put these guys on the block. Sherrill should still have very good value unless he falls off in the second half.