"You did what?!"

The Baltimore Orioles made YET ANOTHER terrible roster move. To make room for returning 3B Manny Machado, they sent 2B Steve Lombardozzi, batting .292, down to AAA Norfolk, instead of Ryan Flaherty (.188), David Lough (.172), Steve Pearce (.143), or recent call up Jemile Weeks.

In my opinion, Lombardozzi has earned the starting 2B job, or at least a right to share time with Jonathan Schoop.

Why does Orioles manager Buck Showalter persist on keeping Flaherty and Pearce around for year after year of mediocrity, while blocking deserving players from the roster? The team as a whole has to be more important than any individual player. This team will never succeed with Flaherty and Lough being automatic outs every time through the lineup. The O's always use the excuse that Flaherty is "versatile" on defense. Sure he'll play any position, but he plays them all poorly.

This is not the roster move of a team that wants to "win now". Stop digging the team into a hole, just to give repeated chances to players who will never be more than they are. Schoop deserves to be in the Majors. Lombardozzi belongs in the Majors. Flaherty, Pearce, and Weeks never will. Lough isn't ready yet.

Apparently I care more about the Orioles success than their management and front office do...

©2014 Denim McDemus

Thanks For Stopping By

The Orioles traded veteran INF Alex Gonzalez for 25 year-old INF Steve Lombardozzi.

The Tigers are going to start Gonzalez at SS. That's right, a top tier team thinks he's starter quality. After a great spring, I don't blame them.

The O's are going to use Lombardozzi to fill in at 2B or 3B until Manny Machado comes off the DL, the exact same way they could have used the more experienced Gonzalez. They are talking Flaherty at 3B and Lombardozzi at 2B, which pushes top position prospect Jonathan Schoop to AAA, and Jemile Weeks to the bench, if not AAA himself.

In order to make room for Lombardozzi on the 40 man roster, the Orioles DFAed catcher Johnny Monell, who also had a great spring.

Apparently the Tigers, and I, see much more value in Alex Gonzalez than the Orioles do...