Rebuilding the Orioles - Taking Note of the Rays' Success

In May 2008, with the surprising Tampa Bay Rays playing terrific ball and winning, Dave Tremley made mention in a May 25, 2008 article on MLB.com of the similar route the Orioles are taking to hopefully achieve similar results as well as gain the staying power the young Rays also are aiming for. The formula is an oft-heard one: pitching, defense and timely hitting. Tampa Bay continued its success throughout that season, winning the AL East and making to the World Series before losing to the Phillies in five games. As reported on MLB.com:

"Under Andy MacPhail, the O's president of baseball operations who took over during the 2007 season, the Birds have begun to replenish a depleted farm system and shoot for the long-term stability also preached by the Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.

Devoid of major market money and big-name superstars, both squads are going back to a pure formula for success: good pitching, solid defense and timely hitting.

'We got two of the three ingredients that you need in order to be successful,' Trembley said. 'We've lost games because we haven't had timely hitting, but the pitching, the defense has allowed us to compete. And [the Rays] have had all three going for a while, and that's what's allowed them to win a majority of their games, especially at home.'"

Brittany Ghiroli is an associate reporter for MLB.com.

Rebuilding the Orioles - MacPhail Discusses Highly Touted Prospects and More

In May 2008 the Orioles launched the Andy MacPhail Online Q&A, exclusively on orioles.com. In this first edition, topics such as international scouting, the draft, and the progress of Jake Arrieta and Matt Wieters are explored.

How has scouting gone in Asian countries lately, and do you expect the Orioles to have a greater presence in signing players from there?

Earlier this year, we named John Stockstill our director of international scouting and immediately set out to significantly increase our presence in Asia. John recently returned from Japan after over three weeks of scouting and plans a return trip this summer. International scouting is an important component of any team's player development and scouting programs, as over one-third of today's Major League players are born outside of the U.S. We are still in the process of determining where our resources can be put to the best use.

Andy, I have read that the 2008 Draft is deeper for hitters than it is for pitchers. What is your philosophy? College versus high school? Hitters versus pitchers?

I think the most important thing to do when making a selection is to make sure you take the best possible prospect. We will not focus on whether the choice fills an organizational need or whether he can get to the Majors faster. We will focus on what player has the highest upside and will be most likely to have the most productive career. While I recognize there is possibly a shortage of top-flight position prospects throughout our Minor League system, my philosophy has always been that you can never have too much pitching. We also need to value defense and look for that in the Draft as well.

What is your opinion of Adam Jones so far this season? Do you think he has a chance to move up in the lineup?

We have been satisfied with Adam's first two months as a Major Leaguer. He has played consistently solid defense in center field and has competed well at the plate. Where he bats in the lineup is up to Dave [Trembley]. We are delighted to have him as a part of our future.

Greetings from Malaysia. Which is the bigger surprise: Daniel Cabrera's performance so far or Jim Johnson's poise?

Cabrera and Johnson have both been key reasons why we have played solid baseball over the first two months. It is a credit to both pitchers that they have made considerable improvement in their performances over the first third of the season. It is also a testament to Dave Trembley and his coaching staff, including [pitching coach] Rick Kranitz, that these two pitchers have had success so far this year. Dave and his staff show a lot of confidence in our players, and, in turn, many of our players seem to be playing with greater confidence in themselves. I think many have been on the lookout for this kind of year from Daniel, so I would rate Jimmy's start as the bigger surprise.

Both Matt Wieters and Jake Arrieta are having outstanding seasons so far in Frederick. When do you feel they will most likely be promoted to Bowie?

Both Matt and Jake are clearly having a great deal of success at Frederick to this point, which has been exciting for all of us to see. But it is important to remember that these two players, who we hope will both factor into the long-term success of the organization, have not even played two months of professional baseball yet. [Director of player development] Dave [Stockstill] and I are always reviewing and discussing what is going on in the Minor Leagues, and I will not be shy about moving players along when we feel it is in the best interest of the players involved, as well as in the organization's best interest.

Rebuilding the Orioles - Albers' Early Days

In this article from MLB.com in April 2008, as the Orioles turn to Matt Albers to start the next game and keep the team in first place, Dave Trembley talks about the advice he gives to young pitchers like Albers and Garrett Olson. Basically, he tells them, keep it simple and just pitch. Don't try to figure everything out.

BALTIMORE -- If his current managerial gig doesn't pan out, Baltimore skipper Dave Trembley might have a career as a self-help guru. Whether he's espousing the power of positive thinking or the notion that a player controls his own destiny, Trembley's folksy ruminations seem to resonate with the Orioles.
Garrett Olson listened Tuesday, as Trembley implored him to pitch within himself in his 2008 debut against the Tampa Bay Rays.

"Just keep it simple -- just get on the mound and pitch," Trembley said of his pregame instructions to the 24-year-old Olson, a notorious nibbler during seven unspectacular starts in 2007. "Quit trying to figure it all out. Quit trying to analyze things. Quit trying to do too much. Quit trying to be perfect."

Olson listened and prospered, but Trembley could have been talking about any of the Orioles' young pitchers, including Matt Albers, one of the four pitchers acquired from Houston in the Miguel Tejada trade in December and Wednesday's spot starter.

Albers spent Spring Training telling observers that he wasn't viewing each outing as a make-or-break opportunity to impress. He's carried that philosophy into the regular season, where he's emerged as a reliable option out of the bullpen and a swingman capable of starting when he's needed. Suddenly, the Orioles -- in first place in the American League East by percentage points over Boston -- are turning to him to keep them atop the division.

"I don't think they're looking for me to do anything different than I have been doing," Albers said. "They want me to go out there and battle and compete, and that's what I'm going to do."

"Probably the easy thing to do is doubt yourself," Trembley said. "The hard thing to do is you have to trust who you are and what you have. It's a different ballgame when they turn those lights on out there and you're facing Major League hitters. A lot of it just comes back to experience. We saw guys come up last year and obviously the ability was there but they weren't polished."

Trembley's down-home philosophy extends past the mound. He thinks the departure of infielder Brandon Fahey -- who was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk in a roster shakeup Tuesday after splitting time at shortstop with Luis Hernandez -- might give Hernandez some much-needed breathing room.

It's one thing to tell a struggling player not to press; it's another to remove seemingly all obstacles to his success and let him grow into a position.

Hernandez was practically handed the starting shortstop job in Spring Training, only to find himself in a dogfight with Fahey, who the organization viewed as a utility man. Hernandez struggled at the plate and was shaky in the field. But Trembley has seen recent improvement in the 23-year-old, whose two hits on Tuesday pulled his average up to .245.

Said Trembley: "If anything, this will give Luis Hernandez, for the next 12 days or so, who he is. ... I've seen him get somewhat better. ... If Luis Hernandez gets a shot, maybe we'll see the Luis Hernandez we saw last year. I've seen glimpses of it."

Rebuilding the Orioles - One Game at a Time

In Dave Trembley's first full season at the helm of the Orioles, in 2008, his charges started out fast, building an unexpected 15-11 record to stay near the top of the AL East. The skipper, while keeping it in perspective, wanted to focus on what the team was doing right rather than how unexpected it may have been. He re-emphasized his focus on "team, attitude, fundamentals, do it right, stick together." Here's an April 2008 report from MLB.com.

BALTIMORE -- When Orioles manager Dave Trembley was asked if he felt surprised by his team's early success, the normally sunny skipper became surly for a second.
Trembley has been asked several times during the Orioles' good start if he felt the early wins were proving the so-called "experts" wrong. That's when the skipper voiced his opinion.

"You know, with all due respect, I don't listen to that, and I don't care who predicted what," Trembley said. "This team has played as well as could be expected. They've played hard; they've competed; they've won one-run games; they've come from behind. We've had contributions from a whole lot of different people. Let's start getting a little bit of credit instead of that other [stuff], how terrible we are, no one expected anything."

The Orioles started Wednesday's game with Tampa Bay tied with Boston for first place in the American League East. Baltimore was percentage points ahead of the Red Sox (.577-.571) with a 15-11 record; Boston is 16-12.

Trembley said he's keeping things very simple for this year's team. He wants the Orioles, a young team admittedly in the midst of a rebuilding process, to take things one game at a time.

"Team, attitude, fundamentals, do it right, stick together, don't let anybody tell you you can't," Trembley said. "The team has been tremendous. I'm not surprised. I know they're winning the fans over."

Trembley likes how the Orioles have gotten a little help from a lot of places. The starting pitching has been getting better, most notably Daniel Cabrera and Brian Burres. The bullpen has remained strong, and they've gotten enough timely hitting to win.

"I think you have to give them credit," Trembley said. "We may fall flat on our face; when we do, I'll eat it ... and I'll deal with that. Expectations are, we didn't say we're going to win the World Series, but our expectations were we were going to compete; we were going to play hard, establish an identity, do things right and try to take it one game at a time, and I think we've done that."

Trembley wants the entire team to contribute, something he's talked about all season. He's hoping to see some of that in Wednesday's game by giving right fielder Nick Markakis a day off and moving struggling left fielder Luke Scott into the No. 3 spot.

Trembley also rested first baseman Kevin Millar a couple of days ago. He made it clear that he wants everyone on the team to have a role and understand it, so contributions can come from many places.

And that's what's made Trembley very happy so far.

It's also what's proved the "experts" wrong.

"These guys have pride," Trembley said. "They don't want to be embarrassed. [But] it's been fun, good fun."

Jeff Seidel is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Rebuilding the Orioles - Building upon Young, Power Arms

This article appeared on MLB.com in March 2008, shortly before the first full season with Andy MacPhail in the GM seat. A poignant point from what the Orioles had done since really beginning the true rebuilding process during that off-season came from Kevin Millar: "It's all about pitching -- young arms and power arms -- and this organization may have been caught short, but what they've done since is phenomenal." Interestingly, though, at the time of the forecasted 2008 season, it was the arms of D. Cabrera, A. Loewen and R. Liz that were to be the immediate future building blocks. Last season, and heading into the season, that has changed dramatically - and offers much more hope - with the likes of B. Matusz, C. Tillman, and K. Patton (shown here), among others, expected to be the foundation. The 2010 season will be a great gauge to Millar's assessment of two years ago.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Rebuilding. It may not be a dirty word, but it took a long time to be admitted into the acceptable usage portion of the Orioles' vernacular. Baltimore has gone 10 straight seasons without a winning record and has only begun to rationalize a complete restructuring as opposed to a perpetual tweaking of the roster's rough edges.

The Orioles have played 153 games under .500 for the last decade, but nearly every winter has brought a new collection of free agents designed to push Baltimore over the edge. That strategy finally changed under the stewardship of Andy MacPhail, a lifelong Orioles fan who was named the team's president of baseball operations last summer.

MacPhail didn't just rush in with a wrecking ball, though. He spent time analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the organization before he came to a hard-and-fast conclusion of what he should do next.

"I tried to stay fairly objective until the season was over, and right after the season we tried to get an overview of everything," he said recently. "Player development, amateur scouting and pro scouting, our Major League club, our Major League financial commitments going forward. I tried to make a realistic assessment of our division and what it was going to take to win. Then I made a presentation to ownership that didn't necessarily have recommendations at that time.

"I just tried to be as accurate, analytical and objective as to where we were, and it wasn't until after we made that presentation that we decided to embark on a plan where we gave up known commodities that could help teams in 2008 in exchange for players we hope and believe will make us better into our long-range future."

That plan went into effect quite easily, and the Orioles turned two of their most talented players -- veteran stars Miguel Tejada and Erik Bedard -- into 10 players that could potentially help their team for years to come. Second baseman Brian Roberts may also be dealt eventually, and MacPhail made it clear that he never really saw another alternative.

"I'm certainly not aware of any other way that we could've done it and realistically thought that we were going to contend. Sometimes you've got to get worse before you can get better," he said. "Everybody knows about the Yankees and Red Sox. But after watching the competition and seeing some of the pitching the Blue Jays have and some of the young position players the Rays have, the conclusion I think you can reach is you're not going to have everything work out just right, win 88 games and get to the postseason in this division. It's going to take more than that."

Baltimore has rarely come to that conclusion before, choosing instead to add veterans in an effort to get better. Much of the team's current core -- Aubrey Huff, Jay Payton, Ramon Hernandez and Kevin Millar, among others -- was acquired as free agents and only two of the starting position players (Roberts and Nick Markakis) are products of the farm system.

Baltimore has had more recent success with developing pitchers, but there hasn't been enough to sustain a winning team. Frankly, the Orioles knew they had to focus more on their farm system, even if they had to punt on 2008 to do it.

"What's gone on here had to happen, and Andy MacPhail made the totally accurate statement that we were stuck in neutral," said Millar. "With or without Erik Bedard and with or without Miguel Tejada, we were in fourth place. I think the bottom line when you look at this organization is there was no foundation. When we lost a few guys at the big league level, who could we call up? It wasn't a matter of buying into it. You just knew that this was the only way to get better."

Not everyone agrees with that philosophy. Melvin Mora, one of the longest-serving members of the team, said that he's seen quite a bit of turnover and nothing to show for it. Mora, who's under contract through the 2009 season and holds a no-trade clause, listed a few names of prominent teammates who have been traded for little or no gain.

"You're talking about two guys and calling it rebuilding," he said of the current movement. "Of course it's a big deal when you get rid of a guy like Miguel Tejada or Erik Bedard, but it's also a big deal when you get 10 players for those guys. That could happen to me or to anybody, but it's not like they're rebuilding the whole club and getting rid of everybody.

"You know when I called it rebuilding? When Will Clark was here, B.J. Surhoff was here, Brady Anderson and Delino DeShields were here. Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro were here. Charles Johnson and Harold Baines were here. Then they left and we rebuilt. The only thing is if the team gets good offers. If they do, then it can happen to anybody."

MacPhail has said that he doesn't like to put a timeframe on the rebuilding project, but his players are clearly hoping it will happen quickly. The Orioles will get an immediate impact from offseason acquisitions like Luke Scott, George Sherrill and Adam Jones, but there's even more hope for prospects like Troy Patton and Chris Tillman down the road.

"When you bring in young guys, you bring in a lot of energy. The veteran guys have to try to help them, but it's a good mix," said Hernandez. "Maybe it will take two or three years. And we're going to lose some games, but we're going to come out and try to beat everybody. Whoever's going to beat us is going to have to come out and play the game right."

"It's all about pitching -- young arms and power arms -- and this organization may have been caught short, but what they've done since is phenomenal," added Millar. "When you use a word like rebuilding, you have to be careful because that's almost an excuse to lose. But if you create a winning attitude right now, that's different. We can beat anybody on any night.

"Are we going to go through our lumps? Of course we are. But you can create the attitude with the young players and teach them how to go out there, and then you look down the road to when you're right back in the hunt."

MacPhail, who has presided over renovation jobs with the Twins and Cubs, terms his tenure with the Orioles as a "labor of love." But make no mistake about it: He's serious about turning around his favorite team from childhood.

"I think our chief goal is to try to really make a significant investment in the infrastructure," he said. "Judge us by our actions, not our words. We have a brand new complex opening up in the Dominican Republic. We've created an international scouting department. We're going to roll out a new video system for our players and their instruction. We've invested over $7 million in our amateur draft for the first two picks last year. We haven't made any secrets of our course."

Rebuilding the Orioles - Big Haul for Bedard

In February 2008, the Orioles made their second major trade in the MacPhail regime, this time sending ace lefty Eric Bedard for four pitchers and outfielder Adam Jones. George Sherrill immediately paid dividends by nailing down the closer role; Jones made the all-star team in his second season with the O's, knocking in the winning run with a clutch sacrifice fly in the late innings; and Chris Tillman made it into the rotation during the latter half of last season. The following article appeared on MLB.com in Februrary 2008, announcing the trade.

BALTIMORE -- The soap opera surrounding Erik Bedard's team affiliation finally ended with a logical conclusion Friday, when the Orioles completed a long-rumored deal that sent their staff ace to Seattle in exchange for five prospects. Center fielder Adam Jones, who unwittingly set off the alarm nearly two weeks ago, was the centerpiece of the deal.
Baltimore also received left-handed reliever George Sherrill and three Minor League pitching prospects, including Chris Tillman, Seattle's reigning Minor League Pitcher of the Year, southpaw starter Tony Butler and right-handed reliever Kam Mickolio

Andy MacPhail, Baltimore's president of baseball operations, broke the trade down fairly easily.

"It was important to Seattle to get better in 2008, so we had to construct a deal that didn't really detract from their 2008 [team]," he said. "It really had to be something where we were giving up more of a known commodity. ... In exchange, we felt we had to get meaningful players that could be big contributors to us over a long period of time.

"We understand that with prospects, they're just that. There's no guarantee, and that's why bulk is important -- that's why you get five. This is the second transaction in which we were able to turn one player into [several]."

With that last comment, MacPhail was referring to the Miguel Tejada trade, which took place back in December. That deal set the rebuilding process in motion, and Baltimore set its sights on moving forward by trading Bedard.

The trade was reported, re-reported and analyzed extensively by several news sources over the 12 days, thanks largely to Jones admitting on the record to a Venezuelan reporter two Sundays ago that the deal was done before it had been offically consummated. That sent officials from both clubs into denial mode, and the story soon found itself out of control.

There were rumors that ownership had nixed the deal and that Jones had a medical condition causing the hangup, and there was also a credible report that the Orioles were making a last-ditch effort to sign Bedard before they traded him. In the end, the initial reports were the closest to the truth, but it took two weeks for that to become evident.

"I was just trying to let everybody know what was going on at the time, all the info I had," Jones said Friday. "It blew up quickly and everybody found out about it. ... I'm just glad nobody got hurt from it and we can move forward."

"I've been privately critical of journalism, in quotes," said MacPhail of the last two weeks. "This is a big move, and both teams needed to satisfy themselves and go through the medical protocol. Even after the 27th, you're talking about a good week before it [could've been] completed. So it took an extra week. In the grand scheme of things, whether the deal gets done Feb. 2 or Feb. 8, what matters is did both teams get what they were hoping to get in this deal?

"I do think its unfortunate that we had to go through a slew of rumors. We might've had a variety of about 10-to-12 scenarios, which by definition, even if somebody had it right on, 11 of them were wrong. We had secret negotiations going on in the backdrop, we had villains and none of that was accurate."

Baltimore manager Dave Trembley said that while it was disconcerting to wait through the process, he understood why it was happening and that his team would be better once everything was completed.

"It was a long and meticulous process. There were definitely certain stages that it had to go through," he said when reached by cell phone Friday afternoon. "There was definitely a protocol that had to be followed. There was a lot of thought that goes into these things and there's a lot of information-gathering that takes place.

"I think with anything of this magnitude, you take your time on it because you want to get it done right."

Even with the Bedard and Tejada trades done, the Orioles may still be looking at more transactions. Baltimore is also believed to be attempting to trade second baseman Brian Roberts, giving the team a complete facelift. The Cubs are the most frequently rumored destination for Roberts, who was Baltimore's only All-Star last season.

Bedard went 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA and set a franchise record for strikeouts last year (221). He'll also leave the Orioles without a true ace, but Baltimore has several younger arms capable of earning a back-end slot. The three starters with guaranteed jobs -- Jeremy Guthrie, Adam Loewen and Daniel Cabrera -- have combined for a 55-60 career record.

"You don't ever want to see Bedard leave, but it's just part of the business," said first baseman Kevin Millar. "You hear everybody say you're going to trade two players now and get nine or 10 players back. You're hoping that the scouting and everything you've done works out. Maybe there's a Francisco Liriano or a Scott Kazmir in there."

Jones, who hit .314 with 25 home runs and 84 RBIs for Triple-A Tacoma, was named Seattle's Minor League Player of the Year last season. That was the second time he's earned that designation. Jones, who's often compared to ex-Twins center fielder Torii Hunter, made his big league debut before his 21st birthday and has hit .230 in 139 Major League at-bats.

Trembley said he expects Jones to be the everyday center fielder from the moment he arrives at the team's Spring Training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but he's not sure where Jones fits in the batting order yet.

"Before getting cornered and saying something definite, I'd like to get him acclimated to being in the organization," he said. "I'd like all our coaches to take a look. He'll be in the lineup somewhere, but I just don't know where now."

"In the grand scheme of things, whether the deal gets done Feb. 2 or Feb. 8, what matters is did both teams get what they were hoping to get in this deal?"
-- Andy MacPhail, president of baseball operations

"We believe that Adam Jones -- if he isn't already now -- is going to grow into a great defender," MacPhail said. "I know that Adam's kind of the marquee name in the beginning of all this, but I just want to get this out. We have to understand that Adam is just 22 years old. He's been compared a lot, sometimes favorably to Torii Hunter.

"If you go back in Torii's career, when he was 22 he was hitting .231 for New Britain. Let's not put the expectations on this kid. Like any player, you have to make certain adjustments once you get to the big leagues."

Tillman, Seattle's Minor League Pitcher of the Year, has averaged nearly 10 strikeouts per nine innings in the Minor Leagues. The former second-round Draft pick made 20 starts in the offense-friendly California League last year, notching a 6-7 record and a 5.26 ERA. The 19-year-old rung up 105 strikeouts and walked 48 batters for Class A High Desert.

Sherrill is the early favorite to serve as the team's closer next year, and Baltimore will add him to situational relievers Chad Bradford and Jamie Walker to help settle a bullpen filled with inexperienced arms.

"I want to get there early so I can throw a bullpen on Monday," he said. "It's definitely a sigh of relief to have it done, one way or the other. It's now a matter of being in a new division. I am not sure what role they want me to be in. We haven't discusssed that. I hate to leave Seattle, but this will be a new challenge and I'm looking forward to it."

Mickolio and Butler were the final two names in the trade, and MacPhail said they were part of the reason this trade took so long to complete. Seattle and Baltimore began talking as far back as the Winter Meetings, but the trade was never conceptually finished until the Mariners began to budge on adding two more names.

"[Seattle general manager Bill Bavasi] was thinking that this was going to be a 3-for-1 in the beginning, and that's not where we were going," said MacPhail. "He did a good job holding on to those assets that he thought was important to his franchise to hold onto, and that's why [it took so long]. We agreed to the first three names fairly quickly, but getting the fourth and fifth names out of him was like getting water out of a stone.

"It really wasn't until the end of January that we found an intersection of our self-interests to make the deal."