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Did the O's have issues inside of the clubhouse this season? · Birdland Territory

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: On this edition of Birdland Territory, Steve, Tim, and Brad
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: to kind of get into what went wrong with the
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: 2026 Orioles and kind of from the standpoint of the
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: players themselves. The Baltimore Banner beat writer Andy Koska did
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: a good article on this where he talked to a
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: lot of players. Some were quoted on the record. Some
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: may be off the record about what didn't work in
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: this season. He quoted, for instance, Blaise Alexander in the
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Baltimore Banner story saying, First half of the season, I
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: feel like we're all waiting for it to happen instead
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: of coming together, naming the issues, and addressing it from there.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: We'll show you some other quotes from this story. Chris
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Bassett had a lot to say, and we've all seen it.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: We've all read it.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: Brad, what were some of your takeaways reading that?
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, to me, I know, just kind of going through
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: some of the quotes and stuff, there was a disconnect,
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: whether it was between the coaching staff, whether it was
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: between the players. There just seemed to be this disconnect
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: to where– players are kind of sitting around wondering who's
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: going to be the one to like, kind of say
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: something to make this turn around. It almost is like
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: you're sitting there waiting for something to turn and nothing's happening,
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: but nobody wants to do anything. Nobody wants to say anything.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: We're just going to kind of keep doing what we
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: have been doing and kind of expecting different results. And
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: it just kind of, to me, it just kind of
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  Speaker 2: shows that either there was a, you know, like there
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: just was a lack of leadership. There was a lack of,
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: I don't know. There's just something missing. Just from the quotes,
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: I think the most telling ones were from Blaze and
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: from Chris Bass because they came from other organizations. And
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: to me, there seemed to be something that was different
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: in Baltimore this year than teams they had been with previously.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: And I think it just kind of took a while
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: for either Peter, Chris to step up and kind of
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: take that leadership role. But I just think it's tough
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: when you come into an organization and you're expected to
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: kind of take over that role. You kind of just
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: want to be a piece that helps the culture get
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: better and the team get better. And I think it's
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: just asking a lot of a player to come in
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: and say, Hey, we need you to be the leader
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: and we need you to show these guys what it
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: means to play winning baseball.
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: Brad, have you ever been a part of a locker
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: room like that, a clubhouse, where there's a lot of
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: talent in there, but you're kind of just waiting to
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: go on this run that really didn't happen?
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I was on a team later in my career
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: that just, I mean, the talent on the roster was ridiculous.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: And it was just kind of, there was a disconnect.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: And it was the same type of feeling where we
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: came to the field and we expected the talent to
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: just show up and show out every single day and
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: we'd win. And that's, I think to me, that's the
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: most fascinating part of baseball is that you can have
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: the most talented roster, but if you don't have a
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: good clubhouse culture, you don't have the right leaders, you
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: don't have the guys teaching the right things, things can
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: go awry no matter how talented your roster is. And
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: I think that's the one thing that like analytics can't,
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: you can't do with analytics. There's an X factor that
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: goes into a clubhouse culture that you can never put
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: in a computer or even on paper and it worked out.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: So it was just kind of, One of those situations
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: where we were expecting the talent to take over and
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: we were expecting the results to change and nothing changed.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: And come June, we're not living up to the expectations.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: And then things just kind of went awry from there.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: It's interesting to me, sometimes even covering Oriole teams, being
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: there a lot, I didn't know who is the real leader.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: And in media availability, I don't think you get that.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: You get that when the doors are closed. And it's
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: just you guys. But then sometimes you find out there
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: was exhibits of leadership you would not expect from these
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: players because maybe they weren't star players or even everyday players.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: I go back to when the Orioles started to win
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: under Brandon Hyde. He kept citing Rugnet Odor and Robinson Chirinos,
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: these veteran players who he said taught us how to win.
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  Speaker 1: They hardly ever played, Brad. And when they did, they
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: weren't that good on the stat sheet. Does that happen
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: too in clubhouses?
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, 100%. I think it's a lot of times. I
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: think when you're from the outside looking in, you expect
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: the star player to be the number one leader. And
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  Speaker 2: he's the one that kind of everybody follows the example of,
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  Speaker 2: but a lot of times it's guys who are role players.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: It's guys that are kind of underspoken. If it makes
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: any sense, like guys, you just don't hear from, they're
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: the ones that are really leading the charge with the
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: team and the oral teams I was on. I mean,
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: it was like, it was almost like relievers. We had
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: Darren O'Day. He was the one that kind of just
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: set the example position players. They're kind of their own
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: economy really in the clubhouse. And they had guys that like,
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: we're basically just give you a pat on the pat
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: on the butt when you needed it, whether good or
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: bad and different. And I think they kind of just
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: steered the ship in the right direction. And, and, I,
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: you know, this morning I was thinking back to, uh,
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: spring trainings with Buck and we had a initial meeting
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: when everybody got in camp, we'd go to a movie theater,
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: we'd sit there, we'd have a highlight reel from the
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: year before. And I look forward to it. It was
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: an awesome day. Like it was just a lot of fun.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: There was a lot of excitement. You had all this
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: anticipation for the season starting, but he laid out everything
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: that was expected from the team from day one. There
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: was no questions about it. When we left that movie theater,
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: you knew what was expected of you when we left
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: there and coming over from the Padres where we had,
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: we had decent leadership, but And we from the top down.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: But it was when I got to Baltimore, it was
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: just something different. When I got there, the expectation to
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: win was set from the beginning. And to me, that
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: was an exciting thing to be a part of. And
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: those meetings were always a fun thing because good, bad
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: or indifferent. Buck was going to bring it up and
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: he was going to point it out and basically be like, hey, listen,
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  Speaker 2: this is where we struggled last year and this is
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: where we need to get better. And this is how
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: we're going to do it. And this is how we're
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: going to attack it in spring training.
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: Brad, going to that point, because there's a lot of
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: meat on the bone of Andy Koska's piece for the
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: Baltimore Banner. But the one quote that really stuck out
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: to me the most was from Chris Bassett. And he
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: was talking about and looking. This is an excerpt from
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: from the article Bassett saw from the Orioles at times
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: this year did not work what he saw. He said
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: he noticed some players going through the motions during workouts
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: and drills rather than taking them seriously enough to bring
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: about change. And I'm paraphrasing here, but Bassett was talking
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: about the team checking a box. And he was saying,
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: playoff teams do not check boxes. And he brings up
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: base running and hitting rules and just all of the
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: little things. And that was something that bit this Orioles
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: team in the butt a lot this year. Those little
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: things added up. to losses, Brad, and, and just your
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: time in Baltimore, especially like Buck, how much did they
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: harp on those drills going back to spring training and
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: those little things?
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was, it was everything really. When, when you
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: look at those teams, yes, we had a lot of talent,
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: but we did every, we did the defense, right? We
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: ran the bases, right? We didn't have the fastest guys.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: We had guys who could take the extra 90. And
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  Speaker 2: that was one of the biggest things Buck always talked
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: about was the extra 90, giving up an extra 90
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: was the difference in games. And I mean, when you
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: look at those teams, yeah, we had talent rosters, but
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  Speaker 2: we won a lot of one and two run games
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  Speaker 2: and you don't win those games without doing all the
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: little things right. And, we spent the time in spring training.
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  Speaker 2: I was telling you guys the other day about how
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: just doing those building drills, PFPs and the team fundamentals,
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  Speaker 2: like you were, there was a little bit of nerves
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: out there on the field. And like, I wasn't a
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: young kid, but I could imagine how those young kids
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  Speaker 2: felt when they got on the field, because it wasn't a,
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: it wasn't a fear. It was just, you didn't want
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  Speaker 2: to be the one to mess it up. And you
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  Speaker 2: didn't want to be the guy that got called out
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  Speaker 2: in front of everybody because you messed it up. And
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: it was just attention to detail. That was second to none. And,
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  Speaker 2: Any team I went from, even San Diego, like coming
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: from a National League team where you have to spend
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: all the time on the PFPs, you have to spend
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: time on bunting. Pitchers bunted, pitchers hit. So you had
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: to do all this stuff. And when I got to
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: the American League, I'm just kind of expecting to, you know,
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: kind of, as Bassett said, just kind of go through
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: the motions when you're doing this stuff. But it was
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: really intense. And it wasn't that we spent hours on
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: the backfields doing this stuff. It was done with a
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: purpose and we were doing it in a 15 minute period.
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  Speaker 2: But it was really intense when we did it because
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: we tried to. They tried to create a culture that
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: was when you got out on the field, it was
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: slower than when we did it on the backfields in
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: spring training. And to me, that was always something that
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: really stood out to me and helped me when I
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: got in the game because the game seemed to slow down.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: When you take drills as serious as we did when
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: we did them, it really made the game slow down
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: and it made it easier when you got out there
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: in the biggest stages, especially as a reliever going out
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: there at the end of games. If you're able to
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: slow down the game in any way you can, it
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: goes a really, really long ways.
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: I'm wondering about inside the clubhouse if one player did
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: something wrong. He didn't run out of ground ball. He
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: was lackadaisical on a couple plays in the outfield. He
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: was late to a meeting. Does that player, for your experience, Brad,
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: get called out in front of everybody by a player,
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: or is it more a Pete Alonzo type will take
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: him aside one-on-one and discuss, hey, man, I think we
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: need better from you here?
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's more, it was at least from
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: what I've seen. I mean, there's been times where, you know,
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: there's arguments in the clubhouse about certain things, but for
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: the most part, it's really kind of in the side room.
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: It didn't want to call somebody out to embarrass them,
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: but They needed to know that they needed to do better.
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: And I think that happened a lot with us. And honestly,
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: I couldn't even tell you how many times because I
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: never saw it. So to me, I think that's a
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: that's a sign of good leadership there, too, because you
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: don't need to embarrass guys. We're all you get paid
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: to play a kid's game and we go out there
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: and have fun. But at the end of the day,
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: it's about winning baseball games. And I think all those
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: little things added up. And I think the older guys
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: that were on the orders that had been there with
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: Buck since 2011, when Buck came in or 2010, whenever
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: it was I just think they knew the standard that
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: was set and it was up to them to make
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: sure that, that it was kept that way. And when
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: you messed up, somebody was going to tell you whether
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: it was, you know, Nelson Cruz, or if it was
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: Adam Jones or Chris Davis or JJ Hardy, somebody was
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: going to talk to you at some point and tell you, Hey,
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: this is not how we do things here. You got
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: to be better. We need you to be better. And
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: that was the thing. That was the thing that always
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: got brought back on those teams with that. It was
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: about the team. It wasn't about, we need you, like
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: we need you for us to be good. And I
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: think that was what made us so good was that
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: every guy kind of knew what they needed to do
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: to help that team do better. And I think that's
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: why we were able to, have success on those teams?
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: I think it's a fair question.
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: You know, some people are asking, well, that's why he
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: brought Pete Alonzo and Chris Bassett to help with the leadership.
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: And Mike Elias has even been on the record saying,
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: you know, I probably should have brought in that type
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: of profile before.
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: I thought there was another interesting quote.
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: Bassett told Alonzo earlier in the season that it's quote, very, very,
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: very difficult, if not impossible to to come in year
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: one and make drastic organizational changes. So it's Pete's first year,
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: and then Brad, you combine it with, you have a
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: first-year manager in Craig Albernaz, and obviously that's a learning
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: curve in and of itself. How big of a change
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: do you expect year one to year two with Albie
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: and Pete?
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you would. I mean, you would think there's going
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: to be definitely a big change just because they've been
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: able to, especially Albie's been able to implement what he
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: wants to create as a culture for this Orioles team.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: So I think going into spring training. The expectations that
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: had been laid out over the season, whether it was
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: from day one or whether it was in June, at
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: some point expectations are being set for this team. So
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: I think when you bring these guys back for a
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: second year, those expectations are already known. And I think
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: it's kind of like you get over this learning curve
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: of everything. I've never played for a first year manager
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: or at least had a spring training with a first
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: year manager with a new star player coming in, all
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: this stuff. So it's, I think it's, it's hard to
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: know how much change can actually be made, but you'd
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: like to think that by August and September, the expectations
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: have been set and that, you know, Pete's leadership is
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: obviously at the forefront of guys go to him now
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: to lead this team. And I think Alvarez has gotten
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: a year under his belt.
• 12:31
  Speaker 5: So.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: He has more experience, so guys are looking towards him
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: to lead this team also. So I think there's definitely
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: a lot of moving pieces there that I think maybe
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: had something to do with why there was something missing
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: with this team culture in the beginning of the season.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: Craig Albert has had a quote at the postseason presser.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: He talked about the heavy amount of pregame work that
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: players and the team was putting in, and he said
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: that's not commonplace. For them to kind of go outside
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: their comfort zone was, I was impressed by it, And
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: I know my staff was thankful.
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: It paid dividends.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: So I questioned the last part because we did see
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: mistakes throughout the year. And I think it would be
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: really look bad for Alvarez to praise the players and
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: then say, yeah, but we still screwed up. So he
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: said what he needed to say. I appreciated it. It
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: paid dividends. But that goes back to spring training when
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: I wasn't there. But beat writers were telling me how
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: they're drilling. They're going over these fundamentals, man. Are they
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: putting in the work? And then the season starts and
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: we don't see it. So that was the puzzling part
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: to me, Brad, the work was put in, the effort
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: was put in. It didn't show up at eight, nine
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: and 10 o'clock.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah. You know, baseball is just so frustrating. Sometimes it's like,
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: you can do all the right things. You can do
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: all the drills. You can do everything. At the end
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: of the day, it's, Maybe they just don't have the
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: players that were able to execute it at the highest
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: level at times during the season. And for me, I
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: just felt like it was more lapses than the physical
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: ability of being able to do it. I just think
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: it was– Steve, you even mentioned that. Think back to
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: some of the Oriole players that have just– they do
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: it all the time. Some of the greatest defensive players
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: they had, there was just none of these lapses. And
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: I think when it comes to errors, a lot of
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: times it's a mental lapse, whether you're taking your bat
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: into the field or you just aren't thinking ahead before
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: the ball is hit to you. And I know these are,
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: these sound like basic things, but when the game speeds
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: up at the major league level, these things can kind
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: of be in the back of your mind to where
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: they should be in the forefront of your mind where, okay, man,
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: I'm first and second to out ball sits my right.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: I'm going towards third base, get the force at third.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: Those little things, if you're not thinking about it before
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: the ball is hit to you at the big league level,
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: it goes so fast. And I feel like a lot
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: of times the game just kind of sped up. So
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: when you even when you're doing all these extra work
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: before the game, you know, in spring training, a lot
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: of times it's hard to do it unless you do
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: it at game speed. And I think a lot of
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: times that could be one of the things Bassett was
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: talking about by checking the boxes is, yeah, we're doing
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: earlier work, but is it. Is it added? What's the
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: intensity of it? You can take 100 ground balls, but
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: maybe taking 25 at a real intense speed is better
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: than taking the 100. You know, like I don't know
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: because I wasn't there. So it's just kind of one
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: of those things. Like you said, Steve, it was kind
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: of frustrating to see all this extra work not play
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: out on the field. And I think a lot of
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: times that's just maybe what could happen is the intensity
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: just wasn't quite there when you're doing the early work.
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: Something that I would like to see guys moving forward
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: with this organization and Brad you're talking and I'm just
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: thinking back to all of the great defenses that you
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: know you got to pitch in front of and I
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: think you know right before you got there 2013 and
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: that the Orioles set an MLB record that I believe
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: still stands Steve correct me if I'm wrong but they
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: the best fielding percentage in the history of baseball that
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: year like that that was something that the Orioles really
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: prided themselves from from 2012 to through 2016, where I
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: just don't know if that's something that Mike has necessarily prioritized. And,
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: and Mike admitted it, you know, following the trade deadline,
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: I know he was asked about defense and he kind
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: of owned that. And he said, look, we don't want to,
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: you know, go all the way defense, but I think
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: that there needs the pendulum, I think needs to swing
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: back some, you know, where you think of a lot
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: of these young core and, and, not a ton of
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: them are glove first guys like Colton Couser.
• 16:33
  Speaker 4: Sure.
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: You can totally say that, but I think the pendulum
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: needs to swing back in, in terms of the player
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: profile that, that they're looking to acquire, you know, in
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: terms of more glove first.
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree. I think if I obviously not talking
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: about the Orioles, but anybody who's watched the playoffs, look
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: at the defense that is being played in these playoff games.
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: And it's just, that was just not what we saw
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: as Oriole fans this year. We did not see that
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: type of defense on a day-in, day-out basis. And, you know,
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: kind of watching some of these games, not just in
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: the playoffs, but, you know, still kind of following the Padres,
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: still kind of watching the Braves, teams that I played for.
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: I mean, day-in and day-out, they just grind out in
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: the field. And it's really fun to watch. I know
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: as a pitcher you love watching defense, but it's just
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: really fun to watch these teams turn double plays, make
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: the plays that aren't, you know, expected to be made,
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: watch these outfielders just fly into the gaps and make
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: great throws to the bags. And it's a really, I
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: don't know, to me, I just think that that's the
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: biggest difference in baseball today is that every team tries
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: to get a team of hitters, but who are the
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: teams that end up making the playoffs? It's the teams
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: that pitch and the teams that have defense. And it's
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: just funny that Every team is trying to do the
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: same thing, but the teams that are there at the
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: end every year are the ones that seem to do
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: the pitching and the defense just a little bit better
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: than everybody else. So it's funny how everybody's trying to
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: do the same thing, but at the end of the day,
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: it's still old school baseball where pitching and defense are
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: going to get you to the playoffs and get you
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: where you want to go, it seems to be.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: What went wrong for the 2026 Orioles? We're batting that
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: around today on Birdland Territory. We'll continue our conversation after this.
• 18:08
  Speaker 5: The 2026 MLB playoffs are here. And guess what? SeatGeek
• 18:13
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• 18:16
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• 18:24
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• 18:29
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• 18:32
  Speaker 2: I'm definitely going to a Brewers game. There's no bad
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: seats in Milwaukee. Because the stadium is right on top
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: of the field. It feels like you're in the grass.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: And you know what? If your team lost this year,
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: go get yourself some concert tickets.
• 18:47
  Speaker 5: They have it all. And of course, we have a
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• 19:06
  Speaker 2: Go to Sink Deke.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: When you guys were talking about defense there a minute ago,
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: I mean, it just takes everything to be a team
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: that's going to go deep in October. You've got to
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: have the D. You've got to be able to move
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: runners up when it's called for. You've got to keep
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: the double play in order. You've got to throw to
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: the right base. You've got to show up early. You've
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: got to stay late. It's easy to say. It's hard
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: to do. And like we were talking about checking boxes
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: is different than putting in great work that shows up
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: at eight and nine o'clock at night. I don't know
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: where the Orioles go from there to here, but that's
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: what they have to get to. So late in the
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: year after it was revealed that Craig Abernethy. his returning,
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: he was more outspoken about a couple of players in
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: the post game that last few games. Does that represent,
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: this is how it's going to be now. How does
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: that play Brad? If a manager publicly calls out a
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: player by name.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's, that's a, that's a bold strategy. I mean, it's,
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: it's definitely, it can't, it's going to catch your attention.
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: That's for sure. And if that player that he calls
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: out is one of the guys he sees as a
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: leader or somebody that this team really needs, I think
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: it it's worth it. And I think obviously I don't
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: think managers do that very often calling a player out
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: by name and public like that, but it obviously needed
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: to be said, whoever it was. And you know, I
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: just think it's, it's one of those things where you
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: hope it's not a thing that happens all the time
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: because you, that can cause some ripples in the clubhouse. But,
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: you know, when guys need it, sometimes they just need that,
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: like I said before, that kick in the butt. Sometimes
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: you need it from people. Sometimes you need a coach
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: to kind of get on you. You need the training
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: staff to come and get you when you're supposed to
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: be there for your arm treatment or you're supposed to
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: be in the weight room. And I just think all
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: that stuff kind of goes hand in hand together. I
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: think when you're talking about doing the work, the, the
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: pregame and postgame stuff is just as important baseball as
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: what goes on in between the lines. And that was
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: one of the standards that was really set. And one
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: that it was a, it was a full on culture
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: when I was there in Baltimore, like the, the amount
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: of time we spent in the weight room was like
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: no team I'd ever been on before. And it was,
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: it was awesome because in the off season, I spent
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: a lot of time doing all this lifting and then
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: I would get in season and I felt like they
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: didn't want you in the weight room or there was
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: you just had to do these two lifts, which was
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: basically checking a box and you weren't getting better. But
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: with Baltimore, it was like encouraged, like, Hey, you've done
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: a lot. Just come in and let's do something real
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: quick and get you in and out in 15 minutes.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: Didn't have to be these long workouts, but to me,
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: that's really what I felt kept, kept me healthy and
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: really took me to the next level. And I, uh,
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: kind of figured stuff out on the mound. I feel
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: like it just kind of took me to that next
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: level when I was in Baltimore.
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: And Brad, to that point, and you bring up Blaze
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: and Pete and Bassett, and they obviously were elsewhere in
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: 2025 before coming to Baltimore.
• 22:02
  Speaker 4: How important is culture?
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: You know, how important is kind of having that built-in
• 22:08
  Speaker 3: infrastructure for an organization?
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: It's huge. I really think that it's just such a
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: big thing in baseball that goes overlooked all the time.
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: It's It's having guys that want to be with each other,
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: want to hang out. But at the same time, you
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: have to have this push, this give and take, and
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: you don't want guys to be absolute best friends to
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: where they kind of let things slide. And they let,
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: you know, like they give excuses in a, in a
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: positive way when they kind of need to be told like, Hey,
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: you were supposed to lift. Like, why aren't you going
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: to do it? Like you got to have this push
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: in this give and take. And I think, uh, the
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: Orioles just did a really good job when I was
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: there that, um, you had older guys that kind of
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: bounced around and they had been places where I think
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: they saw what it took to win. A lot of
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: guys came from Texas who they were basically an out
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: away from winning the world series. They, they saw what
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: it took to win a world series. And when they
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: came to Baltimore, I think a lot of those guys
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: really knew what it took and they wanted to implement
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: that in Baltimore. And I think it was just a
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: huge shift. Like when Buck got there and brought all
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: the coaches and the players from Texas that they knew
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: what it took. And I think for me, I just
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: came in looking at those guys and like seeing what
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: they did. They were they were always in the weight room.
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: They were never making excuses when things went bad. They
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: were making sure that they did their extra homework. on
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: their scouting reports, they were in the bad cages early
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: if they needed it. So it was just kind of
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: one of those things. It's not like one thing you
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: can pinpoint. It's really just a, it's a, it's an
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: atmosphere you want to be in. And it's somewhere where
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: everybody's trying to push each other to make each other better.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: And it's a friendly competition between one, each other. You
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: want to be the guy that is the best player
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: on the field. And I think when you have nine
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: guys that want to do that, it pushes you to
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: levels that you never thought you could get to. And
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: I know we didn't win a world series in Baltimore,
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: but we got into the playoffs a couple of times and, Um,
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: it obviously didn't work out when I was there, but
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: it just, to me, that was, that was a winning culture.
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: And it was something that was from day one. When
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: I got there, I noticed that was completely different from
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: when I was in San Diego.
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: When we come back, I want to talk about how
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: an older fans might remember this, how the yesteryear Orioles
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: did that. When you were just talking about Brad, some
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: older fans will know what I'm referring to and we'll
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: talk about it in a moment.
• 24:22
  Speaker 4: Vinny and Haney, three deep.
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: Live on YouTube, Monday through Friday, 6 till 6.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: Search 105.7 The Fan, Baltimore, and never miss a moment
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: of coverage on the teams you love. So back in
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson's day, the Orioles had kangaroo court,
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: they called it. Frank Robinson, after games, would put a
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: mop on his head, look ridiculous, and he'd say, hey,
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: Davy Johnson, You should have advanced that runner in the
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: eighth inning. We, you know, they would do it after
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: wins so they could have, you know, they didn't do
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: when they lost. Cause you know, that would have been different.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: They called out guys in a funny way and had
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: fined and then a post season picnic or whatever. So
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: does stuff like that still happen?
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: I don't know. Some teams, every team does a little different.
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: I I've heard a kangaroo court and we would it
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: was more of a spring training thing, but I, I
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: in season, I felt like, I don't know if feelings
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: would get hurt too much or guys, I don't really know.
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: I think, I think there's definitely a good way to
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: go about it. And I think it would be a
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: great way to actually call guys out and still have
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: some fun with it. And it kind of brings some
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: levity to some situations that could maybe be, you know,
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: a little hostile or whatever. But I think it's a
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: great way to go about it. And I have always
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: heard about it, but a lot of teams I was
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: on never really followed through. It's just, I feel like
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: it's more so that it's just such a long season
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: that you really need to take the time to like,
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: if you're going to do it, you got to be
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: all in on it. It can't be kind of one
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: foot in one foot out kind of thing, because then
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: all of a sudden you start calling guys out and
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: it's like, well, three months ago, you didn't call this
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: guy out. I feel like it can get a little tricky,
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: but I've definitely heard of that. And it seems like
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: a really cool way to go about calling guys out
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: on certain things.
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: Brad, spinning this forward, what is going through the minds
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: of these guys? Because you went into this season with expectations,
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: playoff aspirations, and you fell short for a second straight year.
• 26:21
  Speaker 3: What is it like as this offseason officially begins? And
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: then tell us when spring training hits, like, are you
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: expecting guys to be even more on their P's and
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: Q's like to be even more motivated to.
• 26:34
  Speaker 4: Write the wrong of the 2026 season?
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: I think a lot of guys, honestly, right now, like you,
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: everyone just needs a break. Usually it's like a two
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: to three week break, but I bet you a lot
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: of guys are biting to get back training again. I
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: think just the disappointment of the season as a team.
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: And I think individually is going to fuel these guys
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: in the off season. At least I know it would
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: most guys I played with. So, I have to imagine
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: a lot of them are going to want to get
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: back in the cage and start throwing and trying to
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: figure out how to be better for next year's team.
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: And yeah, I think once spring training comes around, this
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: team is going to, you would, you would hope that
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: the hope would be that they come in on fire,
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: ready to go and ready to really kind of turn
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: the ship around. And because like I said, it's just
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: hard to look at this roster and look at this
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: team and see the stretches they had where they played
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: good baseball and not think that they can't do it
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: for six months. And I think, the expectations, I hope
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: there was a lot of talk of this, the individual
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: meetings at the end of the year. I hope that
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: it was really all just put out there. And I
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: hope that there's nothing, nobody's questioning anything going into this
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: off season. And when they get to spring training, it's
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: kind of hit the ground running. You have a second
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: year manager, you know, how spring training is going to
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: be run. There's obviously going to be some, you know,
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: wrinkles thrown in there, stuff they do different, but there's
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: going to be no surprises. And I think a lot
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: of times with the new manager in spring, he's trying
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: to figure out how to get the team to go and,
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: There's kind of all these unknowns, and he's trying to
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: get to know the players individually, personally, and as a player.
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: So there's just a lot of stuff. But I think
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: next year it's kind of full go, and there's really
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: no excuses at that point that this group is expected
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: to win. It's the second year with the same manager,
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: same front office is coming back. So there's really no
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: excuses at this point. It's win or bust next year,
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: in my opinion, for this team.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: It would be great if they reach a point where
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: anybody can call out anybody. There's so much accountability that
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: a reserve can go to Gunner. Hey, Gunner, man, you
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: could have done. I don't know if that can happen,
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: but that would be a great thing when you kind
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: of keep everybody keeps everybody accountable. And we'll see if
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: that can happen moving forward for the Orioles. Before we
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: get out of here, I just want to mention the
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: Arizona Fall League is starting. So those fans can still
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: see prospects playing and read about it. Mike Irish at
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: opposite field home run Saturday night. Brandon Butterworth had a
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: walk-off single for Peoria. The Oriole players are on Peoria.
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: And I was so excited when Braxton Bragg pitched three
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: scoreless Sunday night. He hadn't pitched in a game since
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: June of 2025. Back from Tommy John surgery, was hitting mid-90s,
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: was putting up zeros. He was the best pitcher in
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: the Oriole minor leagues last year when I was watching
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: the first half. Get him back. Patrick Riley came back
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: late in the year. Add more pitching prospects. They just
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: keep loading them up. And MLB pipeline poked out their
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: end of year top 100 and six Orioles made it.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: Now three of them are at the end of the list,
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: but that's still six. And I'm very excited to see
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: Andy as Ocar there. We talked about him on this show.
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: I just think this kid's rocketing up these lists here.
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: He finally got in this one. He's in the Fangraphs
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: top 100. So by the way, two of the Rutschman
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: traded players are in that list. Ionson and Azokar. So,
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: people who think the Orioles did well on that deal,
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: early return say yes. Long way to go on that one.
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: Hey, that's all you can do. You can get as
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: many prospects as possible and see who pans out. That's
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: really all it is. I mean, You're not going to
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: hit on everybody, but you hope you hit on a couple.
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: And they're superstars. You just never know.
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: I foresee one or two of these prospects in a
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: trade for an outfielder. I keep saying that. And when
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: I'm proven wrong in a month or two, I'll have
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: to come on here and say, it didn't happen the
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: way I thought, guys. But we'll see if that plays
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: out for the Orioles. So great discussion today on the
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: 2026 season. And first of many. We got some great
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: guests coming up, by the way, on this show. So
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: stay tuned for that. And thanks for watching today's edition
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: of Birdland Territory.
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: If you made it this far, you'll love this next video.
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: Check it out right here. And make sure you subscribe
• 30:38
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