Hello, friends.
There are 176 days remaining until the next scheduled Orioles game. Whether a game happens on that date is not something that is certain at this time, and it will probably not be known until February, due to the coming ownership-induced lockout that will halt baseball until the owners either scale back the scope of their greed or inflict such suffering on the players that the players give up.
For today, the start of the playoffs is around to offer some possible entertainment. Both the AL
and NL wild card series get going today. There will probably be continuous (or very close to it) playoff baseball from 2pm until after midnight. That’s fun. It will be more fun if the right teams lose. Game start times are at 2 (Phillies-Braves), 5 (White Sox-Astros), 8 (Yankees-Red Sox), and 10 (Cubs-Padres).
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The day after the season ends is typically the time where loser, non-postseason teams have post-mortem press conferences for local media. For some teams, this involves the owner coming out and saying the GM isn’t coming back, or the GM coming out and saying the manager isn’t coming back. That is not what happened with the Orioles. Mike Elias and Craig Albernaz came out and did the presser. Like it or not, they’re coming back.
I don’t like it! One thing that Elias said yesterday is an acknowledgement that “this is the second year in a row that (the results) haven’t been there” adding, “we’re tired of it.” Among the things that Elias promised is a “full organizational review” regarding areas where the team is deficient. He was vague about it, which is fine. Can’t go giving away trade secrets just because the fans aren’t happy.
The main problem for Elias is that he was saying similar stuff last year about doing a whole organization look at what didn’t work and the product of that was the 2026 Orioles. They were, collectively, an underachieving disappointment. Even with the injury problems they suffered through the year, they should have been better than this and they weren’t.
I have no confidence that Elias is the guy to get all of that figured out. I don’t think it really matters whether he hires a subordinate general manager from outside the organization or not. He hired Albernaz from outside the organization, and look what that was worth. The amount of stupid, not-prepared-for-the-game mistakes was almost unbelievable.
Beyond that, the issues with the offense and the collective fizzling of the players Elias has invested substantial amounts of his early draft capital in have now been going on for about two and a half seasons. What is Elias going to do about it? Is there a person who can steer Gunnar Henderson back in the right direction? Jackson Holliday? Can anybody hypnotize Colton Cowser into chasing changeups out of the zone just a little bit less often? How in the world is he going to go about fixing the defense from the mess that it was this year?
There will be some semblance of a clue as to Elias’s thinking on these things when considering his roster moves over the offseason. Last offseason, one clear priority was to increase the team’s home run potential. The signing of Pete Alonso and the trade of Taylor Ward were clearly made to this end. That initiative resulted in eight more home runs for the 2026 Orioles compared to last year. That was even with Pete Alonso showing up and hitting 43 when last year’s team leader had 17! The Alonso signing was a success. Other things were less successful.
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Some news also came out of the press conference. The Orioles said that Kyle Bradish is getting surgery this week for a sports hernia. Albernaz indicated that Bradish was ailing from that injury during his final three starts. If that’s what it is, then it’s not like this destroyed his season numbers; he had a disappointing 4.03 ERA before those final three starts.
Additionally, Jordan Westburg is starting a hitting progression this week as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery. These guys both being cut off from team facilities during the lockout might end up being unfortunate. Hopefully they can each bounce back with their own resources.
Orioles stuff you might have missed
The simple – yet complicated – path forward for Craig Albernaz and the Orioles (The Baltimore Banner)
My takeaway from this Jon Meoli article is that Albernaz is going to have to live up to the reputation he brought over with him, something about which I have little confidence after what transpired this season.
Five takeaways from the Orioles press event: Biggest buzzword, Henderson’s wrist, and more (The Baltimore Banner)
More from the news side of the event, Andy Kostka noted the buzzword was “execution.” The Orioles were bad at it at times this year!
A wonderful season for Alonso in a challenging season for the Orioles (Baltimore Baseball)
The Polar Bear was so much better than I ever could have hoped! And the rest of the Orioles more or less wasted the best year he’s had since his rookie season.
Notes and quotes from the Orioles end-of-season presser (Steve on Baseball)
Other things discussed in the presser range from meaningful (Luis De León will be stretched out as a starter next season) to meaningless (Elias says he’ll talk to Trevor Rogers’s reps before and during free agency).
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Today in 1996, Brady Anderson hit a solo home run, scoring the only Orioles run in a 4-1 loss to the Blue Jays in Toronto. This was his 50th home run of the season. He was just the 14th player with a 50+ homer season at the time; this mark now is tied for 49th place on in the record books. Anderson never hit more than 24 home runs in any other season of his career.
There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2022 pitcher Jake Reed, 2019-20 pitcher Branden Kline, 1998-99 first baseman Calvin Pickering, 1992 pitcher Craig Lefferts, and 1963-64 pitcher Mike McCormick.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: Roman general Pompey (106 BC), British admiral Horatio Nelson (1758 AD), author Elizabeth Gaskell (1810), nuclear physicist Enrico Fermi (1901), musician Jerry Lee Lewis (1935), and Maryland-raised basketballer Kevin Durant (1988).
On this day in history…
In 1364, a civil war between factions in Brittany in modern-day France was settled in the Battle of Auray, in which a French-backed claimant to the dukedom was killed by forces supporting an English-backed claimant. However, the winner of this War of the Breton Succession, John of Montfort, pledged his loyalty to the French king Charles V instead of the English.
In 1829, London’s Metropolitan Police – these days colloquially called “the Met” – was founded.
In 1907, the cornerstone for the Washington National Cathedral was laid. Construction of what is officially known as the Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in the City and the Episcopal Diocese of Washington was not completed until 1990 – also on this day. The building was placed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places 16 years before it was even completed.
In 1918, the Allies launched attacks in the Battle of St. Quentin Canal that proved to be the real, final offensive of World War I. Two American divisions participated in the battle, which ultimately breached the German Hindenburg Line. Also on this day, the German Army told the Kaiser to begin negotiations about an armistice to end the war.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on September 29. Have a safe Tuesday.
