A Short Pier at Baltimore

JC Bradbury of Sabernomics looks at the Baltimore Orioles' firing of manager Sam Perlozzo.

Bradbury makes some good points. Personally, I think that the best thing that could happen to the Orioles would be for owner Peter Angelos to take a long walk off a short Baltimore pier, or at least sell the club to someone who is interested in fielding a winning team.

Why pick on Angelos?

Well, first of all he's a lawyer. Beyond that, Angelos is responsible for hiring the mismanagement team who put together the overpriced "major league team" that currently constitutes the Orioles. A glance at some of the contracts that comprise the poorly constructed roster can be found here. Until top-level management begins to make sensible (don't even hope for inspired) roster decsions, the O's will continue to lose no matter how many field managers they fire.

Update: It appears there's also been an upper-management shakeup in Baltimore. The Baltimore Sun reports that the Orioles have hired Andy MacPhail as their new Chief Operating Officer. Looks good on paper, as MacPhail presided over two World Series winners in Minnesota (1987 and 1991). However, it should be pointed out that MacPhail inherited the '87 Twins team and that the '91 Twins might reasonably be called a fluke.

MacPhail also spent much of the past 10 years as president of the Chicago Cubs during which time the Cubs' roster construction and player management has been questionable to say the least. How much of the blame for the above is on MacPhail's head is not clear.

Looks like Angelos is actually trying to do something to get the O's moving in the right direction. We'll have to wait and see how MacPhail pans out, though I'm not optimistic about his ability. Off the top of my head I'd have to say that with this hiring Peter Angelos is in the right church, but the wrong pew.