Sam Perlozzo was fired yesterday as the manager of the Baltimore Orioles. Although I know little about the Orioles organization or Perlozzo's managing abilities, I do know he was not to blame for the team's poor play. How do I know this? Look no further than Mr. Jim Duquette, the Orioles VP and former GM of my New York Mets.
During his illustrious Mets tenure, Duquette is credited with:
- Signing 0-tool player Kaz Matsui to play shortstop, moving a young player named Jose Reyes to SECOND BASE in the process.
- Bringing in Braden Looper and his awkward "struggling on the toilet bowl" facial expressions to close.
- Low-balling Vlad Guerrero to the tune of 3 years 30 mil, with the explanation that Vlad has back problems. That same year he went on to win the MVP in Anaheim and his 5 year 69 mil contract is a bargain.
- Trading Scott Kazmir for a 29 year old pitcher with a history of elbow problems (refuse to mention his name).
- Overpaying for Kris Benson and single-handedly destroying the starting pitching market as we now know it. Somewhere, Barry Zito is kissing a framed picture of Jim Duquette while lighting up a cigar using a c-note.
This collection of savvy moves with the Mets netted Duquette a front office position with the Orioles in 2006 where he has failed to establish a plan and more than lived up to his reputation as a lousy judge of talent.
Duquette started off his Orioles run the only way he knows how - with a lop-sided trade that serves to weaken his organization while taking on payroll. The acquisition of Kris Benson for Jorge Julio and John Maine provided Baltimore with an overpaid, oft-injured pitcher and his outspoken wife Anna, a woman ready to sleep with the entire locker room at a drop of a hat. While Baltimore added an elite DL candidate and easy ass the Mets turned Julio into El Duque and saw John Maine blossom into a solid starting pitching. Essentially, Duquette has done far more to help the Mets in his tenure with the Orioles than during his stint in Queens.
This off season, with Kris Benson firmly entrenched on the DL for the season, Duquette and his partner in crime, executive VP Mike Flanagan sought out some "veteran" arms to round out the rotation. This effort lead to the acquisitions of the artist formerly known as Jared Wright who peaked in 1997 and the human rain delay Steve Trachsel who has never peaked. With the starting rotation "set", Duquette and Flanagan turned their attention to the bullpen. They proceeded to overpay every aging arm available on the market including Chad Bradford and Jamie Walker - 2 situational relievers who would now be asked to work full innings - and Danys Baez, a shaky fireballer with a homerun problem (brilliant move bringing him to the launching pad in Camden Yards). With over 50 million invested in unreliable pitching, Jay Payton and Aubrey Huff were signed to round out the lineup. In related news, Miguel Tejada was placed on suicide watch.
Point is Sam Perlozzo had no chance to win with this roster. First off, the lineup can’t hit for power in a hitter’s park. Second, the starting pitching staff (sans Erik Bedard) is a collection of guys who are either young and lack control or old, injury-prone and just awful. Finally, the bullpen, the supposed strength, has seen young closer Chris Ray sputter and the new guys Walker and Bradford struggling mightily after fast starts. Wonder if that has to do with the fact they haven’t been anything more than situational relievers for the past couple years??
Frankly, the Orioles did Perlozzo a favor by firing him. Between the dimwitted management team and overbearing owner Peter Angelos calling the shots, the Orioles might be the most depressing team in the Majors right now. Sorry Orioles fans, this might take a while to fix…
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there are orioles fans?
I'm legitimately sorry to hear that.