As the Orioles march on with a third
straight winning season, more than likely a second trip to the
playoffs in those three seasons, and maybe even their first division
title since 1997, there is a lot of credit to give. Buck Showalter is
a fantastic manager and has helped changed the culture. Dan Duquette
has done a good job adding depth and making some solid trades and
lower-risk free agent deals. And of course he got Nelson Cruz and
Ubaldo Jimenez in free agency this past offseason.
But there is another person that
deserves a good deal of credit for this current team. None other than former Orioles GM Andy MacPhail.
Andy MacPhail took over running the
Orioles in June of 2007. He inherited a team that was not very good
on the field, had not seen a winning season since 1997, and had a
minor league system in disrepair. I mean, look at this roster from
2007 and it's craptasticness.
MacPhail went about trying to fix a
broken franchise. He said he wanted to improve the Orioles farm system
and their lack of a presence in the international market. The first
big thing MacPhail was involved in was the signing of draft pick Matt
Wieters. The draft had taken place just before he took over. The
Orioles first pick was catcher Matt Wieters, whose agent was Scott
Boras. Boras was someone the Orioles had never liked dealing with.
MacPhail was able to get Wieters signed right before the deadline.
Orioles fans could breathe a little easier that a player they hoped would
be a cornerstone was signed.
He then went and decided that after
looking over what the Orioles had in the minor leagues, he
was going to have to make some trades to jump start the farm
system. In December 2007 MacPhail traded away shortstop Miguel
Tejada. Tejada was traded to the Houston Astros for 5 players: Luke
Scott, Troy Patton, Matt Albers, Denis Sarfarte, and Mike Costanzo.
This was a big deal that traded arguably the team's best player away. All
but Costanzo played for the Orioles. Luke Scott had some decent
years. Troy Patton eventually came up and was a contributor to the
2012 playoff team. Albers and Sarfarte had mixed results and both
were gone within a couple of years.
The next thing MacPhail did may be the
most significant thing he did and that happened to the Orioles in the
past decade. In February of 2008, he traded the Orioles' best starting
pitcher, Erik Bedard, to Seattle for 5 more players: Adam
Jones, Chris Tillman, George Sherill, Kam Mickolio, and Tony Butler.
Only Bulter wouldn't see time as an Oriole.
This was a big step. The Orioles had
traded their best position player and starting pitcher in the course
of three months. Some fans wondered how the Orioles could trade their
best pitcher; not many were as upset about Tejada as he had been
saying he wanted to be traded. No one could know how well the Bedrad
trade would turn out.
It is one of the best trades the
Orioles, or dare I say it, any team has made. Jones looked to be a
promising young outfielder. And, hey, his name was the same as the
guitarist for the rock band Tool ( my favorite band!!). I saw that as
nothing but a good sign. Tillman was rated highly and looked to be a
good starting pitching prospect. Mickolio had the makings of a future
closer. And Sherrill was a major league player. Three of the players
the Orioles got in the trade have made at least one all star team (Sherrill, Jones, and Tillman). Jones is now the face of the team
and a perennial all star and gold glover. Tillman has established
himself as a front of the rotation starter. If that wasn't enough the Bedard trade
is the trade that kept on giving. Sherrill was traded for Josh Bell
and Steve Johnson. Mickolio (with David Hernandez) was traded for
Mark Reynolds.
In January of 2009 MacPhail made on his
promise to improve the Orioles presence in the international market.
Koji Uehara was signed. Though Koji had a mixed amount of success as
an Oriole, it was a big step forward. Later, in January and February, MacPhail made sure two of the Orioles home grown players
were not going anywhere. Nick Markakis signed a 6 year, $66 million deal and Brian Roberts signed a 4 year, $40 million deal. This was a real
positive sign. The Orioles were able to keep their own stars in
place.
A small trade MacPhail would make at the end of spring training 2009 that would later help the team was sending Hayden Penn to the Marlins for Robert Andino. Andino would later drive in the winning run on the last day of the season in 2011 to knock the Red Sox out of the playoffs, a moment many point to as the start of things for what would follow in 2012.
In February of 2010, the Orioles opened
their new spring training facility. MacPhail had a hand in getting
this done as well. It was a must for the team moving forward. Their spring
training facilities had become more and more unbearable. Now the team
had a wonderful place to start the year.
In July of 2010 another significant
move was made in the hiring of Buck Showalter as manager. This was the
first time since Mike Hargrove had been the manager that the team had
a manager that had previous experience in MLB. The
team played well the rest of 2010. Things were looking up.
In the offseaon MacPhail continued his
ability to make great trades. He traded Brett Jacobson, who had been
acquired in 2009 for Aubrey Huff, to the Twins along with Jim Hoey
for JJ Hardy. Then Mark Reynolds was added for David Hernandez and
Kam Mickolio. At the July trading deadline in 2011 another great
trade was made, sending Koji to Texas for Chris Davis and
Tommy Hunter.
After the 2011 season MacPhail would
step down. The team was never able to have a winning season under his
watch, but he helped get them into a new spring training facility. He
made trades that helped transform the franchise. He was able to keep
key players in place. He was able to help rebuild the farm system.
I mean, look at the players that were
drafted under his watch: Manny Machado, Dylan Bundy, Brian Matusz, Jake Arrieta, Caleb Joseph, Tim Berry, Parker Bridwell, Dan
Klein, Mike Wright, Zach Davies, Michael Ohlman. Along with Jonathan
Schoop as a amateur draft free agent. All those players have either
helped the major league team, been traded for other players, or are
still prospects moving up the ladder helping return the Orioles farm
system to respectability.
Without the things that Andy MacPhail
did, who knows where this team would be. But he deserves a lot of the
credit for this team sitting here with three straight
winning seasons. Dan Duquette deserves credit too, no doubt. But
MacPhail seems to be the forgotten man. And he did a lot of important
things that have helped shape the current state of this team.
-Matt Baggette @mlb930
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