You are absolutely correct. The biggest problem with this team over the years is there inability to end losing streaks. They are entering one of the few softer spots in the schedule. They need to end it today. I think Guthrie will stand tall tonight, just hope the offense gives him a few runs.

Jeff i couldn't agree more. The makeup of this team from the very beginning has been flawed. This team is on the verge of total tailspin if something isn't done quickly. The only thing is there isn't anything to really do. We just have a bunch of over paid and under performing players that are about to jump ship. Just plain unacceptable to perform like this.Where are all the critics of Bobby Valentine and joe Girardi now you have to be insane to want to manage this team.Jeff andy M has to be held completely accountable for this mess.

Buck knows better than to expose this team the way he did the other night, when trying to straighten out Gonzalez was more important than winning that game. Losing that game produces the expected result-we saw the same thing after the Yankee loss.
MGON gave up a home run the previous game to a lefty, and in the Boston game he comes in and Drew promptly doubles on a shot into left center. So instead of going out and getting him right then and there, he lets's him continue. He pitched his way into that mess. I have no sympathy for Gonzalez, on the Reynolds error or the Varitek 3rd strike that wasn't called. Matt had to twist to get that pitch to Varitek because he threw the pitch on the wrong side of the plate.
That game speaks volumes about the Orioles. First, they go out and sign Gonzalez to that contract, and most in baseball were left shaking their heads. Now he's nothing but a bad situational lefty that is costing you games as you are forced to try and make him right, just so you can try and trade him and salvage something for your 12 million.
While all along, your farm system should be able to provide you with your own 'Mike Gonzalez'.

Culture change from the bottom up?Who's he kidding. Good luck with that. In my life, that has pretty much been a top-down effort, and everybody in the organization better be on board or be gone. That's the way it works.

Right now Buck is doing the major-league equivalent of pissing into the wind.

No , but peter the Great lingers on giving MLB the finger and showing them he was right when he said a team in DC is not good for Baltimore................Let's face it , he will only bring in second and third tier players for this franchise while putting plenty of money in the Angelos trust fund,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I just can't figure out why fans still go to any games................

All this while I was giving McPhail the benefit of the doubt....but I think, Buck not withstanding, that he has made some very poor decisions. I think he needs to go...his philosophy is not working...all the excitement is gone and watching this team only gives you that same old helpless feeling...hope is not springing eternal anymore...who has the answers????

Jeff in all fairness don't you think the time has come for Andy to take some serious heat for the failures of this club during his tenure. His free agent acquisitions have been costly and very ineffective, we are stuck with lots of dead money on this team right now with no way to move them. Enough is enough Jeff

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Jeff Z's reply: Yes, absolutely. I thought that the time had come for that last year.

Jeff,

Do you know when Buck last held a team meeting, and the last time a player held one?

Arrieta's comment of 'just things collectively aren't going well' doesn't sound good. The team is lost, and with no one to lead them. No one to kick them in the pants and say 'get your head out of your ___'.

Grow the arms, buy the bats...what about team leadership? Success breeds success....and until you buy some players with a history of that, failing breeds failing.

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Jeff Z's reply: Derrek Lee was very active in calling a meeting earlier this season when the offseason was really scuffling during that 8-game skid. Buck you is very protective about stuff in the clubhouse staying there, but rest assured there have been meetings and talks.

jeff appreciate you being honest about andy m but then could you take it one step further why hasn't it been in any heat on him.

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Jeff Z's reply: Hard to say, Bob. I hesitate to speak for other media members on a topic like this. If you are talking about our paper specifically, I can't tell one of our columnists what to write and what to think. They'd be more responsible for the criticism and critique of somebody's job performance. I'm not absolving myself. As a beat writer, however, I can do analysis pieces and point some stuff out. But it's frankly not in my job description or responsibility to write "Andy MacPhail has done a terrible job as GM and heres why." That's opinion. What I can do is write analysis stuff that would support that line of thought. If your criticism is that I haven't done enough of that, OK, I can accept that. However, I feel like like I have written and not just once about the failed free agent signings, the lack of spending on international talent, some of the continued issues with scouting and player development. I've written this many times here and a response to a blog post isn't really the space to do it again. But I believe that MacPhail inherited a near impossible situation - a roster lacking talent and burdened with long-term committments, a shoddy farm system, etc. And I do think he's done ssome good things infusing some talent, avoiding long-term commitments, making some structural changes to the org. But I'd also say that some of the issues the org had before he arrived (mostly concerning scouting and player development) still exist. And that - along with poor free agent signings, questionable roster construction, etc - are very much MacPhail's responsibility.

This quote is just mind-boggling:

"I think [Michael Gonzalez’s] going through that some, too. It’s tough as a relief pitcher when you’re not pitching multiple innings."

Really, Buck? That's the excuse for Gonzalez? Sounds like the same old, cop-out, no accountability crap we've been hearing for the past decade.

Gonzalez has now given up runs in five consecutive outings, and in 11 of 18 on the season. He has a 13.50 ERA since May 10th, and opposing hitters have a .435/.480/.957 line against him in that time. That's a .957 slugging percentage, fellas. Since May 10th, he's given up 10 hits, including three home runs, in his last four innings.

This isn't just a rough stretch. This is a pitcher who has completely lost it. Even when Gonzalez was good, he rarely knew where the ball was going. Now, he just goes up there and throws it, hoping nothing bad happens.

This cannot continue. Something needs to be done here, whether it's sending him down to A-ball to re-learn how to pitch or simply releasing him and eating the rest of his salary.

The longer Michael Gonzalez is on the roster, the more evident it's becoming that Buck Showalter has absolutely no control over anything that this organization does.

Each day that Gonzalez continues to waste a spot on the 25-man roster is another day that Andy MacPhail continues to be an absolute joke of a General Manager.

I think you're spot on. I've thought it for days, and wanted to post different places about it, but I didn't want to be a doomsayer. When the game started with the terrible weather, I just had a bad feeling. When Brian Roberts slid into first base in the first inning, I said to myself, "That wasn't good. He's probably injured." He tends to get injured the past two years whenever diving headfirst. Later in the game when D. Lee was announced to have an oblique, I said, "Here we go." I turned off the TV when the bullpen started imploding and the score was 6-5. I knew what the outcome would be. And then when I heard it for sure on the radio the next morning while driving to work, I said to myself, "Long losing streak ahead."

That one game may just be the end of the Orioles chances for a .500 season, which was the realistic ceiling for this team. It reminded me of the home game in 2005 against the Twins when Luis Matos broke his finger on the bunt and the Orioles blew their lead. He was hot and part of the awesome start that year. Something told me then that after that game they would start the decline (which was inevitable anyway). It was true.

A disappointing loss combined with a key injury is often insurmountable to overcome for a borderline team. Hopefully the O's can salvage things later on in the season with the return of all the key injuries, but I think we just saw the end of our chances for an 82 win season.

but rest assured there have been meetings and talks!

What do they talk about who's the biggest bum on the team? Or better yet, who's the biggest "OVERPAID" bum?

I would give a list myself, but what's the use!

Jeff,
I have no way of justifying this belief but, I agree that the blown lead hangover has hung around longer than normal.

I also think it's related to the fact that this week has messed with a lot of the ballplayers' clocks and routines, who are creatures of intense habit. There were a lot of 2-game series this week, including a very long game mixed in.

I agree that 5-0 Yankee loss and the 6-0 Boston loss have taken a toll.

The blown out losses should have taken their toll as well.

Some how this team needs to stop getting depressed about these losses and go out the next day/night and fight.

Jeff, re. Jim's comment about umpires calling a pitch a "ball" because the catcher has to reach across the plate. While it is an unfortunate reality of the game, it shouldn't be. The ump's job is to call outs vs. safes and strikes vs. balls, and stop casting himself as the indispensible critic of the quality of the pitch. If it's a strike it's a strike!

Ever since the arrival of the old Montreal Expos to this market base this fan base has been splintered in half in 2005. There are other factors to consider and they are many. Since 1985 this organization went through a phlosophical change and Earl Weaver probably seen it coming. The productive farm system was drying up and the excellent scouting system was going through a change for the worse. This was covered up with a smoke screen by aquiring Fred Lynn, Don Aase, and Lee Lacy. The sense of alarm within was evident to the true die hard fans and trouble was right around the corner. In 1994 there was the strike and Angelos refused to put scabs on the field. This move was disliked by the rest of the owners and since then Angelos has been ostrasized, its as if he were the only Democrat in a boatload of Republicans. Angelos was a true hero back then and he is still suffering and us as fans are suffering as well, the backlash still exists to this day. As long as an owner is the Commissioner of Baseball there is a "Conflict Of Interest". in this game. Face the facts, they want us to be "Out Of Business". The schemes have been going on for far too long and we all need to wise up to all of their sneaky behavior, call it "Collution to force the Baltimore Orioles out of MLB".

Looks like the O's death spriral over the years has landed them in the same bottom circle of baseball hell as the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals Oh the humanity!!!!!

Until this organization gets serious about a bullpen nothing will change.
Gonzalez has cost this team at least a dozen wins over two years. His blown games do nothing but continue to promote a culture of losing for the young players. Buck needs to just not play him and flip his nose at the organization for signing him.

The Boston loss hurt but it was just one game. To have it followed up with the 15 inning loss to the Yankees was what compounded the issue. They get one clutch hit with the bases loaded in that game and I don't think we are where we are. It's not just losing, it's not performing when needed that's crippling.

I'd say theres a little bit of overreaction here... being an o's fan you gotta look at the positives. yes this losing streak has been a terrible display of baseball but just last week the o's starters had 3 straight complete games (if you count britton's 9 innings in that extra inning game), which is pretty damn impressive. also matusz should be coming back soon, so the rotation will only get better. that being said, reynolds and gonzalez have got to be cut or benched or never allowed to play baseball again. anyone with a .180 batting average this far into the season shouldn't be in the major leagues- I don't care about your salary...I do agree that mc-fail has got to go- remember that atkins signing???

but keep in mind that o's are above .500 if you take out an 0-6 against the yanks.... they'lI get it going again. I forsee a win tonight

I agree with most, but not all of what has been said. But on the positive side I would like to point out where the O's were last year at this time, compared to this year.
A win today and Sunday could really help right the ship.
What does bug me is the inability of the FO to keep or get quality relievers. Why quit on Matt Albers so you can justify Mgone or Gregg?
Still, I still think this team can at least make things interesting the rest of the way

It's beyond ludicrous that the organization has so little talent in the system after 13 yrs of losing. And i don't buy the argument that it's because that talent has moved to the major league level. Look around OPACY, where is it ?

The # of above avg talent with significant upside that they have you can count on one hand - 3 young starters & perhaps Wieters.

Here's an angle that i've never seen mentioned anywhere: there are organizations that went into a decline AFTER the O's (some long after) and have already recovered; are on the upswing i.e., Cleveland, K.C., Milw and have a lot more talent.

Btw, one pro scout & O's fan is reluctant to see the O's draft Bubba Starling because he's skeptical that they can develop positional players in the minors. IOW, the O's can't teach, can't help positional players get better in the minors.

Lastly, their best & most complete position player may be JJ Hardy, who, unfortunately, has been injury-prone and was not developed in the O's minor leagues.

I think a major problem is the play of Luke Scott. The downward spiral in the debacle in Boston started when Scott playing with his back against the Green Monster, letting that shallow hit fall in. If Pie or Reimold is out there, the inning ends, the Orioles win, and things are hunky dory in Birdland. A young staff needs good outfield defense. Scott has no position. As for his hitting-- don't even get me started on how he did with RISP against the Yankees. Weaver would have used him like Benny Ayala or Terry Crowley. If he makes the roster at all.

They just come off 4 straight quality starts before that BoSox game. The bullpen was well rested. A 6-0 lead in the 6th does not warrant an appearance from Gonzalez. But, he came in and the rest is history, or should I say misery.

I'm not as negative as many commenters on this blog, but Gonzalez definitely has to go. I don't care if he turns into the reincarnation of Walter Johnson next Tuesday -- let him do it somewhere else.

I have gotten where I leave the room whenever he comes into a game, just to avoid the horror that follows.

Yes. Buck made big mstakes. We don't have a closer. He knows that and should have known better. In the 9th you go with the best guy who throws strikes and get outs, and leave the bums on the bench.

Please get rid of Michael Gonzalez! I love my Orioles but, I will not watch another game until he is gone. I thought he was awful last year and is still awful this year. Why is Showalter keeping him?

Why do people keep criticizing Luke Scott? With 40-50 fewer at bats than Vlad, Markakis, B-Rob, Lee and Jones, he still leads the team in home runs and walks and is right near the top with 12 extra base hits. Granted he's an average defensive player, but he's certainly not a bad defensive player. And for some reason we don't understand that left field is the toughest field to play at Camden Yards (and Fenway) but we play our weakest fielder there. Markakis is our best fielder but we play him in the easiest place - right. I guess there must be a reason that I'm just not aware of. And as for platooning Scott as much as they have been, he can hit lefties,just not the ones that come from the side with their deliveries. He's fine against the overhand lefties but we never seem to make these fine distinctions when we decide who to play. You also have to consider that he's being jerked around from the infield to the outfield and that has to disrupt his hitting. What is we asked Markakis or Jones to play first base so they never knew where they would be from day to day. But you never hear Scott complain for one second about how he's handled. He always gives 100 percent, plays when hurt and is a great teammate. He was the team MVP last season and it is just plain ignorant for fans to be dumping the kind of criticism on him that he's getting. When he gets sizzling hot as eventually he always does, the same ignorant people will be screaming for us to trade him.

I think it's not so much the blown leads as the complete lack of confidence in the bullpen everytime out that takes its toll on a team.

Yeah, I know they go hand in hand, but I think allowing the tying and go-ahead runs to reach base in the late innings even when they end up winning is just as mentally taxing.

Once that feeling of, "here we go again," sets in, I think any team has a really hard time mentally.