Trading Rodriguez for Miller Right Move by O's

Former Orioles' pitching prospect Eduardo Rodriquez made his MLB debut last night for the Boston Red Sox and turned in a gem - tossing 7⅔ shutout innings, allowing only three hits while recording seven strikeouts to help Boston beat Texas, 5-1.   

As a result, social media and sports radio have been a buzz about the Orioles "letting this type of pitcher get away." 

Flash back to July 31, 2014. The Orioles were in first place in the A.L. East at 60-46 and held a 2½-game lead over second-place Toronto. Fans could taste a second trip to the post-season in three years and the Orioles had to do something to strengthen the team as it focused on that goal of a run in the playoffs.   So they sent Rodriguez to Boston for reliever Andrew Miller.

Rodriguez entered 2014 as the O's third-best prospect according to Baseball America  and had a 3-7 record with a 4.79 ERA in 16 starts with Double-A Bowie.  Miller was 3-5 with a 2.34 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings at that point in the 2014 season.  The 6'7" lefty instantly improved an O's bullpen that was 10th in the majors with a 3.36 ERA, and ranked 18th overall in opposition batting average (.242.). In 23 games with Baltimore, Miller went 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA and allowed just eight hits (only 1 HR), four walks and three runs, while recording 34 punch-outs. He had a WHIP of 0.600. 

To this day, I am still 100-percent okay with the Birds making that trade last season as Miller played a big role in the O's stretch run and appearance in the ALCS. Folks may recall that the other team at last year's trade deadline who was interested in Miller was Detroit...so who knows hows what, if anything, may have transpired in the ALDS if one of the options in the Tigers bullpen had been Miller.

I think the reason O's fans feel a sting today from Rodriguez's impressive outing last night is not because the Birds traded him away; rather because the O's let the guy they received in that trade get away after last season. If Miller was back in an O's uniform in '15, I don't think there'd be much grumbling today. 

To get guys like Miller, teams have to part ways with quality prospects.  If the O's didn't make that move last year, I think fans (likely including your truly) would have skewered them for not going all in at the trade deadline to make a solid run for the postseason.

Trading for Miller was the right move by the Birds.  Not re-signing him in 2015 is the one that may wind up stinging the most.

I LOVE YOU BALTIMORE

I'm worn out from all of the pompous rhetoric, name calling, ignorance, etc., I've heard/seen/read this week. That said, this is MY final anything on this entire situation.

How many good, decent cops wound up in Shock Trauma Monday night from getting a brick to the head?

How many black people who had no role in the unrest near Mondawmin were arrested without cause Monday?

How many white people were categorized as racists for simply taking food to police stations?

Here it is...Not all cops are crooked. Not all black people are criminals. Not all white people are racists. However, each does have something in common...existence as a human being. So let's treat each other as such. 

Thank you to those good people of my great city who continue to show that we can work together - black, white, whatever the race - as a community, especially after a select group try to tear us down. 

The broad-brush, labeling needs to stop.

Be safe. I love you Baltimore.

My Two Cents on the Newest Markakis Saga

All those speculating on the Markakis "story" and bashing him or reliving the Birds' off-season...just stop already and move on to the 2015 Orioles.

My father often says, there are two sides to every story, with the truth often found in a combination of both perspectives. So unless you were in the room and heard how the interview transpired, you don't know if Markakis offered up those comments; if he was baited by the reporter (my 20 years of experience verifies that SOME media members do just that to reach their angle); if all of the conversation or context made it to print; if Nick was itching to unload; and so forth. I wasn't there either, so I take it with a grain of salt and rely on what I do know when evaluating the content of the piece.

Christina & Nick Markakis unveil
The Right Side Foundation

Markakis and his wife were my clients in a past life and I have made no secrets about my fondness for them. I got to know two really good people, who did a lot for Baltimore outside of the view of cameras, tape recorders and social media posts. That said, I also know that Nick is not a guy who goes running to the media, dying to talk or get publicity (trust me, that part was maddening at times when I was trying to promote things for him/his wife). He's actually the opposite, and many have mistaken his quietness for him being aloof or some type of asshole, when in fact he is just not a wordy guy who craves attention.

Do I think the O's made a wise business move in not committing that type of length and dollars to Nick or Nelson Cruz, probably.  Was I a little biased based on my knowledge/interactions with Nick, his family and others tied to him, probably. In the end, the moves made were what each side believed was in its respective best interest. It will be weird not seeing him in RF, but I will get over it and root loud as hell for whoever mans that spot.  Steve Pearce is one of my favorite Orioles, and I hope Travis Snider live sup to the hype.  But I will still appreciate Markakis' consistency, durability and approach as he played in 1,365 of a possible 1,458  (Thx C.C.)...especially since all he knew for six of his nine seasons with the O's was losing (and God awful teams.)

Maybe I'm influenced by my many years in various aspects of the sports business and having access to a lot of inner workings that the average fan never sees.  But one of the things that experience did do for me was teach me that things are not black and white and only I decide what I think. Oh, and it also proved that my pops gives great advice.

Now, go O's.

Final "BOO-YAH" -- ESPN’s Stuart Scott Dead at 49

Each year I marvel when networks run the annual list of “Those We Lost This Year,” as it hits me that the names of more and more pioneers of their respective crafts are appearing on those lists. Just four days old, 2015 has lost another such trailblazer.

Photo: RussellStreetReport.com

I woke up on the morning of January 4 and ran through my normal routine of checking my phone for sports updates…an act that has become more essential than making that first cup of coffee. When I read that longtime ESPN anchor and sportscaster, Stuart Scott, died early that morning at the age of 49, I sat down in a chair and all I could utter was one word — “wow.” Even though I knew he was battling cancer, this still caught me off guard – still made me sad.

My dream in life was (and in a delusional, onset of a mid-life crisis kinda-way, remains) to be sportscaster, and ESPN was my addiction in the 1990s. It didn’t matter that the network aired the same SportsCenter at 9 a.m. that it did at 1 a.m. – I could not get enough. And with the launch of ESPN2 in 1993, I saw a guy who delivered sports in a manner in which I had never seen before…

He didn’t read a highlight, he brought it to life.

Scott joined ESPN in 1993 when the network’s management was looking for sportscasters who they thought a younger audience would enjoy. Well, they nailed it by hiring Scott. He connected to viewers in a way that made it seem as though you were talking sports with a buddy. His catch-phrases made sports highlights fun, and he introduced new words into the lexicon that are still hear uttered today — from office meetings to pick-up basketball games.

In a career that spanned more than two decades, Scott became one of ESPN’s most recognizable and admired personalities. Nothing was out of Scott’s realm; he quoted rappers AND poets, and became as big (sometimes bigger) of a personality as the athletes he covered. He bucked the norm, and his catchphrases and style changed a medium.

If you think he was just another sportscaster, you are deeply mistaken. When news of his passing broke, social media experienced an outpouring of tributes and condolences from athletes, colleagues, fans, and others…including the President of the United States. Even the NFL and NBA recognized the impact Scott held on the sports world as moments of silence were held before various games.

Stuart Scott WAS as “cool as the other side of the pillow.”

While my path took me to the opposite side of the business as a sports publicist, I still held out hope that one day I could be as cool on the air as Stuart Scott. In my opinion, he played a major role in ESPN, especially SportsCenter, holding iconic status during its heyday.

However, it was his battle with cancer where Scott most impressed me. Cancer is a son of a bitch that that has touched all of us in some way. Just as he took on the challenge of breaking barriers and stereotypes in his profession, Scott faced cancer head on and refused to let it define his life.

ESPN has long become hard for me to watch. But in July 2014, I tuned into the ESPYS only for the presentation of the Jimmy V Award for Excellence to Scott. Although he had just left the hospital less than a week earlier, where he underwent four surgeries in just seven days, Scott took the stage and, as he did so many times from the anchor desk, connected with us.

His inspiration, grace and humor were magnanimous as he allowed us to see Stuart Scott the patient; Stuart Scott the doting father; Stuart Scott the human being.

I believe Scott’s speech that night paralleled the legendary moment Jim Valvano gave us 21-years ago.

Both mesmerized us.

Both inspired us.

Both made us appreciate what we have in our own lives.

Jimmy V gave us that memorable phrase, “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.” Two decades later, Scott followed in those incredible footsteps with the following words — “When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live.”

If you have not seen Scott’s acceptance speech, do yourself a favor and watch it…you will not be disappointed.

My thoughts are with his family and many friends…including those of us who counted Stuart Scott as such each time we welcomed him into our living rooms.

BOO-YAH, Stu!