![]() The other contending teams haven’t been anywhere near as freewheeling the outside-the-box Tampa Bay Rays, for example, have the lowest number of contracts selected in baseball, with just three since April. Seventeen times this year, Baltimore has added to its active roster a player not already on the 40-man. The Orioles do lead the majors in one transaction category: contracts selected. They’ve had a very stable bullpen this season, with a league-leading four firemen in the top 25 in appearances (they’re tied with the Rays). It’s been my experience, from down under in Triple-A, that most recall/option moves involve relief pitchers, but the Orioles haven’t dabbled too much in that area. Bill Hall was DFA’d and outrighted twice in less than two weeks. That figure is also not out of line with the prevailing rate, although in the Orioles’ case it does make for some entertaining ATM fees: Dana Eveland was designated for assignment and outrighted three times in a six-month period. Sixty-two Orioles transactions have involved callups and options. (Someday, archaeologists may discover that, more than fried-chicken-and-beer and “anonymous” texting and funny-Valentine headlines, the Red Sox’ collapse this year really owes to their injury rate: 22 percent of Boston’s transactions this season have involved the disabled list, more than double the average.) One of those moves, of course, was the obligatory “ placed Nick Johnson on the 60-day disabled list.” The Orioles have made 36 transactions involving the disabled list (placement on and activation from) this season, an 11 per cent clip that isn’t out of line with the going rate, which hovers in the 6-10 percent range. A fair amount of this business has been injury-related, but not quite as much as I would have guessed. Not that it has escaped notice, even in the mainstream press, where Ken Rosenthal was recently all over how new sheriff Dan Duquette is “manipulating his 25-man roster aggressively.”Īccording to Bradley Ankrom-whose Transaction Browser for BP is immensely useful and addictively entertaining-the Orioles have made 324 transactions since Opening Day, which is second-most in baseball behind San Diego. There have to be multiple factors that account for a team playing so far above its head, and although it would be fun if the new organizational ban on cut fastballs was one of them, it probably isn’t.Ī staggering 24-7 record in one-run games is a good place to start in getting to the bottom of the Orioles’ overachievement to date, but the Norfolk Tides’ busy transaction sheet is also a helpful place to look. It’s been widely observed that the Baltimore Orioles have the fourth-best record in the American League even though they have the fifth-worst run differential, outperforming their Pythagorean winning percentage by about 11 games. I appreciated the record numbers for their sheer size, but it’s easy, down here in the isolation of the minor leagues, to lose sight of what they really mean in the only context that counts. The above detail caught my eye in the press box before the Tides took on the Durham Bulls a couple of weeks ago. The Tides have tied the record for most players used in a season (74) and most starting pitchers used (20).-Norfolk Tides Media Notes, August 24, 2012
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