The losing is unacceptable to the fan base and should be unacceptable to Baltimore Orioles “new” ownership. Luke Jones and Nestor once again discuss a last-place Birdland season on the brink in May as the Orioles return home in the rain after getting swept (again) on the road at the top of the AL East. The alarms should be a lot louder than they are for this wayward, doormat franchise.

Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Baltimore Orioles’ dismal performance, noting their 68-win pace and eight games under 500 as they enter Memorial Day weekend. They debated the merits of firing manager Brandon Hyde and general manager Mike Elias, with Nestor advocating for immediate changes and Luke suggesting it might not be constructive. They highlighted the team’s poor pitching, defense, and offensive consistency, and questioned the long-term vision and effectiveness of the current management. Despite some positive signs like Samuel Bisayo, the overall sentiment was bleak, with the team struggling to find a winning formula.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Host the Maryland Crab Cake Tour stop at the Fishmonger’s Daughter in Catonsville and run a Maryland Treasures scratch-off giveaway for ZIP 21228 on Thursday afternoon
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Have Bill Cole and Damie Hahn join the show as scheduled guests
• [ ] Review logistics and timing implications of replacing the general manager relative to the MLB draft and trade-deadline processes (assess practical steps if ownership decides to change GM before/after draft)

Orioles’ Performance and Fan Reaction

• Nestor Aparicio discusses the Orioles’ performance, noting their 68-win pace and eight games under 500 as they enter Memorial Day weekend.
• Nestor mentions the bad weather expected over the weekend and the Detroit Tigers’ visit to Baltimore.
• Luke Jones joins the discussion, expressing concern about the Orioles’ spiraling performance and the lack of constructive moves, such as firing manager Brandon Hyde.
• Nestor and Luke debate the merits and demerits of firing Mike Elias, with Nestor arguing for immediate action and Luke suggesting it might not be constructive at this point.

Orioles’ On-Field Issues

• Nestor and Luke discuss the Orioles’ on-field issues, including their demoralizing losses and the lack of a fun product on the field.
• Nestor highlights the team’s struggles with strikeouts, underachievement, and the poor performance of the starting pitching.
• Luke mentions the one-year anniversary of Brandon Hyde’s firing and the lack of significant improvement since then.
• Nestor and Luke reflect on the team’s history of good stories and players but acknowledge the current state of the franchise.

Historical Context and Fan Engagement

• Nestor and Luke discuss the historical context of the Orioles’ struggles, including the 43 years without a World Series appearance.
• Nestor questions the current draw for the Orioles, especially for younger fans, and reflects on his own vocation and connection to the team.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the challenges of attracting new fans and the impact of ownership changes on the franchise.
• Nestor expresses frustration with the current state of the team and the lack of excitement for the upcoming season.

Orioles’ Development and Performance

• Nestor and Luke delve into the Orioles’ development issues, including the lack of drafting for pitching and defense.
• Luke criticizes the team’s flawed development and the impact of not spending big money on pitching.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the team’s recent signings, such as Pete Alonso, and their mixed performance.
• Nestor expresses skepticism about the team’s ability to turn things around and the impact of the current ownership group.

Future Outlook and Fan Perspective

• Nestor and Luke discuss the future outlook for the Orioles, including the upcoming draft and trade deadlines.
• Nestor questions the practicality of keeping Mike Elias in his current role and the impact on the team’s performance.
• Luke suggests that the team’s current issues are more about flawed development and lack of pitching than spending issues.
• Nestor and Luke reflect on the team’s recent performances and the lack of optimism for the upcoming season.

Impact of Ownership and Management

• Nestor and Luke discuss the impact of the new ownership group and their lack of involvement in the team’s operations.
• Nestor criticizes the new ownership for not addressing the team’s issues and not involving key personnel like Jan and Marie.
• Luke mentions the team’s recent signings, such as Pete Alonso, and their limited impact on fan engagement.
• Nestor and Luke reflect on the team’s overall performance and the lack of excitement for the upcoming season.

Orioles’ Performance and Fan Engagement

• Nestor and Luke discuss the Orioles’ performance and the lack of fan engagement, especially with the team’s poor performance.
• Nestor expresses frustration with the team’s lack of success and the impact on fan interest.
• Luke suggests that the team’s current issues are more about flawed development and lack of pitching than spending issues.
• Nestor and Luke reflect on the team’s recent performances and the lack of optimism for the upcoming season.

Orioles’ Development and Performance

• Nestor and Luke discuss the Orioles’ development issues, including the lack of drafting for pitching and defense.
• Luke criticizes the team’s flawed development and the impact of not spending big money on pitching.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the team’s recent signings, such as Pete Alonso, and their mixed performance.
• Nestor expresses skepticism about the team’s ability to turn things around and the impact of the current ownership group.

Future Outlook and Fan Perspective

• Nestor and Luke discuss the future outlook for the Orioles, including the upcoming draft and trade deadlines.
• Nestor questions the practicality of keeping Mike Elias in his current role and the impact on the team’s performance.
• Luke suggests that the team’s current issues are more about flawed development and lack of pitching than spending issues.
• Nestor and Luke reflect on the team’s recent performances and the lack of optimism for the upcoming season.

Impact of Ownership and Management

• Nestor and Luke discuss the impact of the new ownership group and their lack of involvement in the team’s operations.
• Nestor criticizes the new ownership for not addressing the team’s issues and not involving key personnel like Jan and Marie.
• Luke mentions the team’s recent signings, such as Pete Alonso, and their limited impact on fan engagement.
• Nestor and Luke reflect on the team’s overall performance and the lack of excitement for the upcoming season.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays, Memorial Day weekend, Baltimore County Executive, Baltimore County Council, Mike Elias, Brandon Hyde, Samuel Bisayo, pitching development, defensive metrics, trade deadline, fan base, ownership, analytics.

SPEAKERS

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Nestor Aparicio, Speaker 1, Luke Jones

Nestor Aparicio  00:02

Welcome home. We are W N S T A M 1570 Towson Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive, positively getting into the weekend here of Memorial Day weekend. I will memorialize this Memorial Day weekend with a Maryland crab cake tour stop at a new location. The fishmonger’s daughter is in Catonsville. We will have Scratch also in the Maryland lottery, the Maryland Treasures Series to give away in the 21228 on Thursday afternoon. The Orioles are going to have the day off. I’m going to have the day on. We have a whole bunch of electeds, former electives, people trying to make a difference, running for Baltimore County Executive, as well as Baltimore County Council. Bill Cole’s going to join me, as well as Damie Hahn, in talking about the Fishmonger’s daughter, and it’s a great day for the Orioles to have a day off. Bad weather is coming our way this weekend, it’s gonna be a lot of rain, lot of cold weather. The Detroit Tigers are in town, and cold weather and frigid baseball. Luke Jones joins me now on the back end of a three game sweep at the hands of the first place Tampa Bay Rays. The last place Baltimore Orioles are spiraling. Is it what do you want me? I mean, I’m gonna let you go, but you, you tell me spiraling out of control,

Luke Jones  01:21

Luke. I mean, maybe they’re just not good. I mean, they’re a, they’re on a 68 win pace at this point. There are eight games under 500 as we’re entering Memorial Day weekend. It’s not exactly the same as last year, but it’s very close. The difference being there’s no Brandon Hyde firing kind of move to be made, and sure, I’ll, anyone listening right now will say, well, you can fire Michaelias. I don’t see any constructive point in doing that right now, when you do have to handle a baseball draft logistically, you have a trade deadline logistically, but, but if you’re done with him, you fire him, that’s sort of a first principle,

Nestor Aparicio  01:59

that’s the first principle of life in America. I just, I strongly disagree with that. When you’re done with somebody, you don’t let them sit in the seat anymore. Like, I just.. I don’t.. I don’t think that I listen. I agree with the

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Luke Jones  02:10

players

Nestor Aparicio  02:11

on the baseball side. I agree with you, but I wouldn’t let him do it either. And I’d like.. we went through this couple years ago with Du Cat, and. and like,

Luke Jones  02:20

okay, we have plenty. Let’s, can we talk about the field first, and then we’ll get into that. I mean, you know, I’m the one who brought it up, so I apologize. That’s, that’s my bad.

Nestor Aparicio  02:32

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Well, it’s not your bad, it’s a fan base wanting something irrational to happen,

Luke Jones  02:36

but it’s irrational, and there’s no look as bad as things are, as much as I’m absolutely at a point where it’s time to reset from the top on down. I don’t necessarily think that firing Michaelias now is remotely constructive. I do think last year’s draft looked good enough has looked good enough to this point. I do think you’re talking about someone who did do a commendable job rebuilding the organization to a point a few years back, and is someone who I would assume will continue to want to work in baseball. So that to me is laying out the argument for why you don’t fire him today if you want to find what, and at the same time, I’m not, I’m also not going to say it’s the end of the world if we’re sending out the WNSC text Monday or something, and Mike Elias has been relieved of his duties, but I mean, it’s just, I wrote it on Monday, even before this series started, it’s very little reason for optimism, you know, save for Samuel Bisayo and a couple guys like that, there’s no reason for, you know, to really even look at this thing as remotely fun, you know. We were talking about this a month ago, even when they’re winning games, it’s not a very fun product, it’s not an appealing product. So it’s just, I think, in Wednesday specifically, you know, even in a series where they lost a game 16 to six, I thought Wednesday was the most demoralizing loss of the season to date, and that’s saying a lot, because you’re talking about a team that’s already eight games under 500 and the only, the only argument that can be made at this point in terms of optimism from a team perspective is you’re 50 games in and you’re what, three or three and a half games out of the wild card, when all you can do is look at everyone else instead of looking in the mirror for any, any sliver of optimism, that’s not, that’s not what this was intended to be, that that wasn’t the vision, that wasn’t, that wasn’t what the multiple years of tanking, and well, I don’t

Nestor Aparicio  04:45

know that Memorial Day weekend last place on a bender with no hope in the lineup, you know, lots of holes, lots of strikeouts, lots of underachievement. Starting pitching has been okay on certain days, certain. He was on Wednesday afternoon with Boz. If you want

Luke Jones  05:02

to talk, but it’s horrible overall. I mean, it’s one of the worst in baseball. There’s just like we talked about a lot last year, and I wrote about this Monday. I mean, Sunday marked one year since Brandon Hyde was fired. What looks appreciably, meaningfully better than it did a year ago,

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Nestor Aparicio  05:20

nothing.

Luke Jones  05:21

Samuel Bisayo looks like a legitimate ball player, especially at age 21 Beyond that, like little stories here and there, Rico Garcia, and until these last two outings had been a great story, you know that great reclamation story. But look, you can find stories of that ilk going back to the 14 straight years of losing from 99 or 98 Melvin

Nestor Aparicio  05:46

Moore was a hell of a story, so was Brian Roberts, that

Luke Jones  05:49

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is, you know, there was Hanser Alberto during the rebuild, right, who was a really good player for about five minutes, so you know, I mean, when we saw Don, there

Nestor Aparicio  06:00

got paid during this era, right? Like, literally, I mean, they’ve had good stories, they really have. Sure, that’s not what this is about. This is about you being 43 years old and them being 43 years without playing a World Series game. That’s that’s where the heaviness gets for me and people I know, like me. If you’re 35 years old, I don’t know, even what hangs you on loving the team, other than, you know, the double from Delmon Young, or I don’t know, you met Cal Ripken one night, or yeah, I don’t know, like I don’t, I don’t know what would pull a 21 year old to be an Orioles fan to witness 140 games a year, to want to go to 15 or 20 games a year. I don’t know. I had this argument poolside in Vegas with some Orioles high-value employees over the weekend, just in a general sense that I don’t know. I don’t know what the current draw is, I know what my draw is. My last name is Aparicio. I’ve done this my whole life. It’s my vocation. It’s a vocation you’ve been drawn into after you could have been a school teacher. You know, it’s.. it’s something here where it’s like, can we go steal the expos? Are they already stole the expos? This is our franchise. This is 43 years of this. This is Peter Angelos. This is this group. This is what it is. It’s two ownership groups, two baseball guys. If you want to go back to Du Cat and Manny Machado, giving us Dean Kramer, and you know, the beginning of the Ruchman era, and like all of that, but like I don’t even know what the allure is for the next GM, the next Mike Elias. What’s the sell here? The fan base, the division, the payroll, the neophyte owners, the all-star game, the Hey, you’re here just in time to trade Henderson and Ruchman, and see how we can rebuild last place again. Like, I don’t, I don’t know what the sell is, you know, for the next group to say we have a solid, we got a really nice stadium, you know, I mean, I don’t know what the solidification of a perennial perennial doormat franchise, that’s what this is now. This isn’t Brooks and Frank and Louie and Palmer and Eddie and Cal. This is a perennial doormat franchise. He got up and crawled two years ago and won some games, but it is a perennial doormat franchise.

Luke Jones  08:47

I mean, the Allures – there’s 30 jobs. I mean, I’ll disagree with that general premise, because I mean great franchises don’t generally have general manager openings,

Nestor Aparicio  08:57

but it is harder to win

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Luke Jones  08:59

in places where you have a lot less money and a lot more competition. I would just say that that’s all to a point, but the Tampa Bay Rays have done it for two decades now. I mean, really, I think what’s disappointing, you kind of see the juxtaposition of these last couple weeks where the Orioles go to the Bronx and get absolutely throttled over a four game set. Granted, they won a two out of three at home last week, so I’ll point that out in the interest of fairness, but the end result of what that is, they’ve lost, they’ve gone two and five in those games, and they were completely humiliated in the Bronx, and then they go down to the trop against a team that had zero expectations, that was kind of the pretty much the consensus last place predicted finish of this division, and not only are they exceeding those expectations, but they’re currently the best team in baseball by percentage points, and really playing at a high level, and when this was all started in 2000 fall of 2018 Specifically, with Michaelias and this current regime, the idea was to build something that would be a sweet spot of not perfectly down the middle of those two approaches, meaning the Yankees with their big payroll, and what, at least what the Yankees used to represent, right? I mean, the Dodgers represent that much more to a much greater degree at this point in time. I mean, you know, the Steinbrenner sons are kind of considered cheaper than the old man, right? But we still know what the Yankees represented over time, and you had the Rays, who spend next to no money, but they just build and they develop and they draft and they evolve, and they use analytics very well, and they are never satisfied. They never feel like they have it figured out, and they, you know, that they’ve changed their approach multiple times, even over the course of the last 20 years. And the idea was for the Orioles to build something that would be the best parts of the Rays, and the Guardians, you know, Cleveland throw Milwaukee in there if you want to teams that don’t have incredibly high payrolls on an annual basis, but to then be in a position, especially now with new ownership coming in, to spend more than some of those markets, some of those cities, not to be a top five payroll team, but to be, as I’ve said, you know, if your North Star could kind of be what the St. Louis Cardinals have been, which has been a team that’s drafted and developed and won championships in this century, and they’ve had payrolls that have been on the fringe, or maybe just inside the top 10, but they’ve also had payrolls where they’re closer to 20th in any given year, they’ll have times where they will take a step or two back in that way, I mean, look at, you know, the last couple years using the Cardinals was kind of a bad example in the present, but look at what they’ve been so far this year, where they’re a team that’s 910, games over 500 and looking like they’re really on the on the ascent once again, but what we see now, a few years later, and you mentioned 43 years, I’ll go back to july 1, 2024 The Orioles are 22 games under 500 since then. We’re coming up on two calendar years where they have played mediocre at best to playing bad baseball, and that’s a really long sample, that’s a big sample compared to the sample of how good they were the second half of 2022 through the first three months of the 2024 season, so you know that’s almost, you can almost split those two down the middle, you know, it’s very close, 5050 split those two time periods. So I kind of look at that and I say, well, they don’t draft and develop and play like the Rays, you know, they’re an inferior version of that, and while they’re not going to spend like the Yankees, and I’m not, I’m not even saying they should, right? This isn’t so much of what plagues them right now. This is not something you’re spending your way out of, because a lot of this is, I think, they have very flawed development. I think what the, you know, the final development of these guys once they get past triple A looks unrefined, it looks robotic, it looks flawed, it looks underdeveloped. Whether we’re talking about the defense, whether we’re talking about the offensive approach, whether we’re talking about the lack of pitching development, and I think a big part of that was how little pitching they drafted in the early rounds until the last year or two, and I think you know that just makes it tough, kind of like how

Nestor Aparicio  13:21

philosophically, when you’re not drafting for pitching and you’re not drafting for defense, voila,

Luke Jones  13:26

and you’re not spending big money on pitching either. I mean, like, that’s a tough sweet spot. It’s.. it was my criticism of Ozzie Newsome for such a long time at the wide receiver position, where I said, How do you expect to be good at the wide receiver position if you’re.. if you’re waiting to the sixth round to draft Tommy Streeter or Aaron Millett, or you know, go down the list, Jordan Lastly, you know, guys like that. Now, Eric DeCosta evolved and adapted, it’s not as though they’re perfect at that position, but they’ve had more success in recent years, having drafted earlier, more consistently, so that, but I just kind of look at all that, and I say, well, you know, that they’re not drafting and developing and have reaping enough fruits at the major league level from that approach, and they’ve spent more money these last couple off seasons, and what have the results been? I mean, Wednesday, Wednesday notwithstanding, and his defense not aside, Peter Alonso, right now, is producing how I figured he might produce in year four of this contract. Now it’s, it’s early, you know, he might be, might be perfectly fine, but you know that that’s, and that’s been one of the more successful signings of the last couple years, relative to Tyler O’Neill, who is has been below replacement level on a 4540 Peter

Nestor Aparicio  14:42

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Alonso hits 259 with 36 home runs this year, and the team’s five games under 500 never. Well, it hasn’t gotten us anything,

Luke Jones  14:51

gotten you, and you might as

Nestor Aparicio  14:52

well bring back Mark Reynolds. I mean,

Luke Jones  14:54

literally, but but his struggles early on have been one of the many reasons they haven’t played very well. Right, I mean, his defense is more

8

Nestor Aparicio  15:01

Mark Trumbo than it’s been Pete Alonso for me.

Luke Jones  15:05

Pete, a lot, Mark Trumbo had a pretty good 2016 season with the Ravens, but, or Orioles, sorry, but I mean, it’s just I’m just kind of at a loss, at a loss is the wrong term, but it’s, you know, it feels over mathematically, it’s not, it’s not as dire as it

Nestor Aparicio  15:26

feels over, it does,

Luke Jones  15:28

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doesn’t it, doesn’t just, it feels over, I mean, it does, and that’s not to say

Nestor Aparicio  15:33

that’s my headline from today, my headline from today is, oh my god, the Preakness was 72 hours ago, we’re not to Memorial Day, and it’s over. It’s going to be cold as hell all weekend. It’s going to rain all weekend. They’re in last place. They lacrosse is playing this weekend somewhere, I guess. I mean, that’s what they tell me. It’s a rumor to me, but it is like, find another hobby, because this is not going to be your hobby in June and July. They’re not going to be a going concern for this city and for the fan base, and it is – it’s morose, it’s gross. And as I sit here wearing my 11th annual Walk a mile in their shoes, GBMC summer shirt. I just.. I want to taste some baseball in summer, you know what I mean? Not, not that it’s the middle of May and they can’t win, because it feels that way to me, like I’m with you, it’s over. I’m ready to pronounce it over if you’re with the, they’re three and a half games out of the wild card near this and they’re that,

Luke Jones  16:47

and that’s where I will say it, that’s why I’m saying it feels over. Is it actually over? No. Am I betting on that? No, of course not. Right, like, am I betting on a resurgence? No, because I don’t think they pitch well enough. You and I are going to be the ones here to sell it, in

Nestor Aparicio  17:03

regard to, right? I mean, in regard to me booking a flight two weeks, two months from today, literally, for you and I go to go to Boston, so you can go to Fenway Park and cover a game, and I can have some clam chowder, and we can get some proper Italian cookies up on the north end, I don’t know, I don’t know if we’re really going to do it, or we’re not going to do it. It’s booked. I got a room, I got a flight, like we’re supposed to do it. And I was hinting it with you last week, will those games matter? Trading deadline week, week after the All-Star game. I mean, holy hell, they could just get to the week after the All-Star game, that sounds like a long time from now, doesn’t it?

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Luke Jones  17:44

It is,

Nestor Aparicio  17:45

but that’s a long time from now to be playing two more months of irrelevant, we’re going to be eight games under 500 play to 71 pace kind of baseball. Well, I don’t know how they’re going to get out of that. I mean, I don’t, I don’t know how they’re going to go seven and three at any point, let alone 21 and 11, or so, you know, something that would get them level set once they get to be 789 games under 500 that is, that’s a hell of a hole for them to be 10 games under 500 and think that they’re going to somehow play 10 games over 500 to mellow all that out by July 20-first. I don’t believe that. Are they capable? Maybe because they won 92 you know? I thought they were gonna win 92 games, so I think they’re capable, but I.. nah, I’m not. Not for me. You don’t get.. you’re not.. they’re not gonna get $1 on my money, and you know what else? They’re not going to get, they’re not going to get a minute of my time on Friday night either, whether they play or not, whether the weather’s good or not. They’re on Apple TV on Friday night, they might as well just go. I mean, in this slump, losing bad weather at home, but nobody wants to go. The game’s not even on TV, that’s when it really.. I always say to you, dude, I’m like, it’s a television show for most people, and take that part of it away, and they’re on channel 589 and they’re in last place, and you don’t really care about Shane Boz to begin with, because he ain’t yours, any, like I’ve got any affection for Pete Alonzo, or he’s won me over, or makes me want to watch the team, like I don’t know what the reason to watch would be once they’re on this kind of a pace. If you have other hobbies or things you want to do, or things you’ve been doing the last 30 years, and that’s really when it gets sticky for you and me, is when it’s just another last place here for them in all these years I’ve owned this crazy radio station where we sit here in June and July and August and we move right on into, hey, Jesse Minter had a press conference the other day, didn’t he? I don’t even know the sound of his voice, I’m about to put it on the radio, and was it any good that we. Ready for Ravens, Luke, or no?

Luke Jones  20:02

I mean, we’re gonna kind of have to be

Nestor Aparicio  20:05

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right, that’s my point. Yeah, that’s that’s really when he’s no fun when they’re on Apple TV, and I don’t care. That’s really, they should be, they should hope that I’d be bitching about it instead of, oh, I don’t need to watch it anyway. Well,

Luke Jones  20:19

a couple things: one, are they capable of going eight and two, or something like that. Of course, they are. It’s baseball. They won nine of 11 at one point last year, not long after Mansolino was moved to interim manager. The problem is, you can do that, but then it’s, what are you going to do after that, right? And that was kind of my argument last year. They got to that they won nine of 11, they had gotten back to the point where, because what they had dropped as low as 18 under 500 and they won nine of 11, and I forget what the high water mark that they had gotten back to at the end of that stretch, but point was they proceeded to play, I think two games under 500 over the next month after that, right, it’s just like you can get that catapult, but then it’s like, all right, you get that, like it’s that jolt mathematically, right, that puts you on better footing, and then it’s time to take off, like look at the Philadelphia Phillies right now, look at where they were three weeks ago, and look where they are now. Now, that may not matter in the NL East, because Atlanta got off to such a great start, but the point is they made a managerial change, they went on a winning streak, and they’re, they’re back to playing like you thought the Phillies would play, whether that means they’re going to challenge the Dodgers for the pennant or anything like that, you know, that it’s beside the point, but they, you know, they kind of got themselves on solid footing again, and then we’ll see if they totally take off from there, right? I just don’t know if this team does anything, anything well enough, let alone talking about a starting rotation that look radish overcame a nightmare first inning, pitch count wise, on Tuesday night to give them a chance, they didn’t score right. Rogers didn’t give them any chance on Monday night, right? He was awful, and on Wednesday Boz pitch well, right? That was, that was good to see. I’ve said, you know, over the last couple weeks, if they can at least get Bradish looking like Bradish, and he’s looking like Bradish again, and if they can get at least one of Boz and Rogers looking good, like better than, better than just okay, better than solid, but good, then okay, you start to have the makings of a rotation that can start making some improvements, but, but it’s just, they just, you know, they, they plug a leak and something else goes wrong, right. Wednesday was a perfect example of that, you know. They hit a couple home runs, they’ve got a three one lead. It’s the eighth inning, you’ve got Nunez and Rico Garcia fresh, I get it, they don’t have Helsley right now, but those two guys have been more nails than not.

Nestor Aparicio  22:58

You get six outs, man, and you win the game.

Luke Jones  23:00

Well, they were even down to two outs in the eighth, right, and they just, they couldn’t do it, and the defense falters some in the midst of that, but you just saw the difference there. Tampa Bay just being relentless, right, and their style of baseball that they’re playing right now, they’re playing with confidence, and by the way, the Rays are not a perfect baseball team, go look at their defensive metrics. Their defense is about as bad as the Orioles, actually. If you look at the defensive metrics, so they’re not, they’re not this perfect baseball team by any means, but they pitch and they put the ball in play, and they’re a better, more consistent offense than the Orioles,

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Nestor Aparicio  23:38

and they make you play defense,

Luke Jones  23:40

and they’ve got, they’ve got right, and they’ve got a mojo to them, that, that I mean, that’s the other thing, and look, I really, I don’t want to say it’s that this team’s quitting, I, you know, I think that’s a really difficult and harsh statement to make without proof, right. We, I, one of my biggest pet peeves in the sports world, when we’re talking about media space and fans, but especially when media do it, is we equate effort with results, right? And let’s be clear, I’m not saying that there aren’t examples or cases where you know if someone doesn’t run a ball out to first base or something along those lines where effort is called into question, so for me to sit here and say what I truly know, what’s going on between the ears of those 26 guys in the clubhouse right now, that would be unfair, and that would mean me just talking to fit whatever agenda I’m trying to pedal, but you certainly have to wonder at this point after last year and this year feeling so similar to last year with a new, despite a new manager and a mostly new coaching staff, and the veterans that they added, that you do start to wonder how much fight these guys will have left in them moving forward until they get to a certain part where we’re not even saying like what. When it’s just over, over, right? Like, like, how it was last July and August and September, where you know no one was even talking, you know, everyone was talking about the trade deadline. And then after that, you’re just playing out the string, and then at that point, there’s no pressure, and that’s when you know maybe guys play free, or I don’t know, right. We talked about this a lot last September with, you know, how much stock to put into what Kobe Mayo did, or this player, or that player, or what have you, but I mean it’s just this just feels so stale at this point in time, and that’s where I just like, what’s the argument for keeping Michaelias beyond this year? Right, I laid out the argument for talking about the draft logistically, the trade deadline logistically, but in terms of like moving forward, right, in terms of there being a press conference at the end of the year, and David Rubenstein or Aragon and Elias sitting there at a press conference in front of the media and trying to sell you on why 2027 is going to be different, I just don’t know what that is anymore. I just don’t, I mean, even

Nestor Aparicio  26:04

well, those guys are going to hide. Well, I mean, you’re going to find out what ownership’s all about here, and leadership’s all about the

Luke Jones  26:12

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brand will will rot on the vine even more, right? I mean, because going back to your point, I mean,

Nestor Aparicio  26:17

they’ve not even acknowledged Angelos did any damage, they just came in here and thought they were on autopilot and they were just going to roll the ball out and roll the hot dog races out and they were going to win and and charge whatever they wanted to buy some ads bal and 98 rock, Kirk McCune was going to help sell tickets and it was just good they were going to roll the ball out, I mean way it felt to me two years ago on opening day when they banned me from the press conference and made it kind of clear, like they were new, and they were going to make bobble heads, but they were going to keep things intact the way it was. I don’t know, I mean, there’s been no, when I say no, I mean no, zero real meat from the new ownership in regard to selling tickets, selling hope, selling sponsorships beyond the truest club that nobody’s sitting in. There’s they’ve spent all of this money, and they didn’t involve Jan and Marie, and the place looks like a morgue behind home plate. The painting they did just. it just doesn’t. there’s been nothing they’ve done, they, they, they take

Luke Jones  27:23

Alonzo, they signed Pete Alonzo. Okay, you know,

Nestor Aparicio  27:27

I mean, that’s, but that’s what they’re supposed to do.

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Luke Jones  27:31

Speaking as Luke Jones, the baseball fan, as a 10 year old, I’d care a lot more about them signing Pete Alonso than how they’re decorating up the ballpark on renovations. I mean, I’m sorry, like that, that stuff doesn’t matter nearly as much. Me, doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter. Let me be clear.

Nestor Aparicio  27:45

Well, they spent all day talking about their big television, and then I go out there and their big television doesn’t even show the replays of anything that I’d want to see, like it’s so, or that I need to see, including the strike zone, which is better on TV. So I, I’m just, I’m thinking of anything that David Rubenstein or Michael Araghetti or even Michaelias, who’s not really one of them, he’s a John Angelo’s guy, like, what’s better, $600 million of our money, you’ll say $150 million of Pete Alonzo, and that’s, I mean, them signing a freaking player to a standard contract, they’re not getting a dog biscuit from me for that, they’re not getting an atta boy, a pat on the balls

Luke Jones  28:33

for that, and you’re also not going to the ballpark to see a big video board either, it’s about winning,

Nestor Aparicio  28:37

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no question about it, but I’m not giving them a donut for baseball players when they should have been doing that all along. I mean, I’m like,

Luke Jones  28:47

okay, but, but when you’re saying they’re

Nestor Aparicio  28:48

doing, and I’m not even sure that was a good decision, by the way,

Luke Jones  28:51

that that’s that’s fair. It’s fair to say that if you want to, but I’m trying to be accurate here, and trying to be fair, but I mean, it’s just, what are you selling people? Look, the diehards are gonna watch. I’m, I’m a baseball sicko, right? I mean, I’m gonna watch. I’d watch even if I wasn’t doing it for a living, right? But that’s not how you’re going to.. it’s not how you grow your brand, or even maintain your brand, right? I mean, what’s sold for this year? All right, you know, Samuel Bisayo bobble heads are going to be given out Saturday. I expect they’ll have a nice crowd for that. They’ve got giveaways at various other times. I expect good crowds for that. And look, all those things are good, and even the best teams do those things. The Dodgers have giveaways, right? I mean, go look at the excitement of Shohei Ohtani bobbleheads, and for people showing up at Dodger Stadium, so all those things are well and good, but to sustain anything, to grow anything to any meaningful degree, you have to win, and they’re not winning. So everything else to me kind of becomes, yeah, I hear you. I wish they showed more replays on the video board, that’s not making me buy. Tickets, even if they did, right? You know, I hear you. Certain elements of the renovations are, you know, moving in, moving back to left field wall, and moving it back in, and now it’s looking as ugly as it looks now, with it being kind of in between of what the original was in the older one, and the, you know, the deeper, you know, big wall. Sure, but that’s also not making me go to games, or not go, yeah,

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Nestor Aparicio  30:25

Green City Connect jerseys that connect with the 1993 All-Star game 33 years ago. I,

Luke Jones  30:31

you know, it makes a few people buy. Look, I look, you and I are.. I don’t know if we’re in the minority on that, but I see lots of people wearing those.

Nestor Aparicio  30:40

I don’t hate

Luke Jones  30:41

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them, but people are buying them.

Nestor Aparicio  30:42

No, no, I agree wholeheartedly. Like, but I think it’s been a popular look. That’s that’s not getting any, that’s fine. That’s not making people watch a last place baseball team.

Luke Jones  30:52

Yeah, why these aren’t centerpiece items, right? The centerpiece has to be the product itself, how much you’re winning, correct? And you know, I mean, it’s – we can keep looking at this, and look, it’s not all bad, but boy, there’s not nearly enough good for me.

Nestor Aparicio  31:10

Your last place, it doesn’t matter if it’s – it’s all bad. I’m sorry, I disagree with that. When you’re in last place and you can’t get up, it’s all bad. I mean, like, it’s my oh Jackson Holiday, he can hit 400 the rest of the year if they’re going to play eight games under 500 It’s like watching Bradish and Rogers let, oh, they were great last year. Yeah, nobody saw it, and then they came back this year and they haven’t been great. Bradish, notwithstanding this, I’m

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Luke Jones  31:37

not, but I was talking about individuals, but I mean it’s where do they go from here? I don’t know, and maybe this is where we get into Michaelias, and you know, if you want to fire him today, fine. But then practically, what’s your plan for the draft?

Nestor Aparicio  31:56

What are you gonna do? Bring in Joe Walter to run the team for three months, I mean, or what I mean, whatever. So, but the merit is,

Luke Jones  32:04

you know, okay. Let’s talk about, let’s be pragmatic about it for just a moment, you know. And we’ll humor everyone, because, my goodness, I mean, are we going to continue to talk about the failures on the field? So, okay, let’s say, you know, ownership says we’re done, even though I,

Nestor Aparicio  32:19

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the argument to not fire him is about allowing the operation to continue as it is for draft and trade purposes, correct? Because if you’re done with him, you’re done with him. You’re not going to let him run the team in November. I don’t know why you’re letting him run in June, but baseball’s a different kind of animal than running a widget stand, right? So, the

Luke Jones  32:40

same way that when, when have we seen general managers, they’re generally two periods of time where general managers are fired. One tends to be, I guess, right after the season, but what’s the other one, right after the draft? You know, and what Minnesota, I guess, I guess it was Minnesota, did that, you know, off the top of my head.

Nestor Aparicio  33:00

When is the draft? What’s the date?

Luke Jones  33:02

No, no, I’m talking about I was talking about the NFL, just in the NFL as a comparison, right? I mean, you’ll, you’ll see some teams, it’s either after the season or you’ll see it every once in a while, you’ll see a general manager canned right after the draft, you know. I doesn’t happen every year, let me be clear about that, but the point is, there’s a logistical aspect to it. We’re

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Nestor Aparicio  33:23

seven weeks out on the draft in baseball.

Luke Jones  33:25

Could you sit there and make Eve Rosenbaum the interim general manager, or, you know, Matt Blood or Sig? I mean, sure, but the point is that same infrastructure is going to be my point with not making that move there is, it’s going to be the same infrastructure, right. Point is, you’re not firing Mike Elias and hiring a new general manager in the next month, who’s then frantically going to get ready for picking baseball players all you know the week of the All-Star game. That’s from a logistical, practical standpoint, that’s the argument I’m making there, but

Nestor Aparicio  34:04

and you’re right, and so am I, that if you’re going to fire him, why are you letting him be the one that makes all these decisions? I’m not saying there’s a right, there’s not a right answer here, right, but that’s what makes it that much more problematic for the fan base, for the future of the franchise, because he is not the guy, his ass is getting fired, like that’s pretty clear, right? Like,

Luke Jones  34:30

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oh, is it until we know for sure from this? Okay, well, you know what I’m saying, but if you’re

Nestor Aparicio  34:34

gonna let him run it now, you might as well let him run it in November. I mean,

Luke Jones  34:37

literally, because these are key decisions you’re letting him make. Well, it all depends. I mean,

Nestor Aparicio  34:44

you’re letting them run the draft, that’s a big deal.

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Luke Jones  34:47

It’s not as big of a deal as the NFL draft, like you’re not drafting someone with your first round pick that’s saving your franchise overnight, right? I mean, so well, and they’re

Nestor Aparicio  34:55

also not selling tickets by firing Mike Elias, and I’m not giving him an atta boy and. Jason Lock and Four is not going to write his, you know, they’ve done the greatest thing ever on back on board because they fired

Speaker 1  35:07

them,

Nestor Aparicio  35:07

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right?

Luke Jones  35:09

Yeah, and so point is, look, I don’t know if Craig Albernaz is going to be a great manager or a good manager or a solid manager or if he’s completely in over his head, right? I mean, it’s hard to say, because if we are acknowledging that this is not working from top to bottom for any number of reasons, whether we want to talk about injuries and strength conditioning in their training programs being something that’s leaving something that’s to be desired, whether we’re talking about, okay, maybe all these players are just overrated, and they weren’t very good, and they were busts. Well, who picked the players? Or, and this is where I do have some intrigue to not be so dire to say that there’s no hope for this franchise at all moving forward over the next five to 10 years, from the standpoint of, can you go hire the next up and coming executive with Tampa or Cleveland, or take your pick of whatever franchise you fancy yourself as saying, hey, they’re smart, and maybe that individual has new a new spin, and look, there’s been a lot of discourse out there about analytics, and a lot of it’s been dumb, like we’re not turning back the clock to 1975 and for one thing, Earl Weaver was absolutely an analytics manager, so can we can we sift through some of our frustration while at least maintaining our heads, analytics are not the enemy here. The Orioles, and what they prioritize from an analytics standpoint, I question that. I question whether it’s too robotic at and too rigid at times. I question whether they’re prioritizing the right things. This is not an issue of throwing away the computers. Now, do they need more of an analog blend in with the digital of what you would call analytics, as I heard Joe Madden talk about on MLB Network a few weeks back, just talking about organizations and baseball ops in general. I think that’s a very fair argument, but the idea that, you know, I mean, the Rays aren’t playing baseball like we, Willie Keeler, in the 1890s Orioles, right? I mean, the Rays are a really smart analytical team. They just very much seem to be having some different spins on it, or they found a, you know, something more advanced, something that’s more cutting edge. You’re cutting edge until you’re not anymore. Billy Beane was cutting edge in 2002 when the Oakland A’s prioritized on base percentage at a time when that was a very undervalued skill. You know what happened in the years that followed, on base percentage became something that was frankly overvalued to some degree. As a result, there was an over correction in the same way, in a way similar to what we’ve, we’re kind of seeing right now with running backs in the NFL. They were undervalued for a long time, and I almost feel like it’s starting to swing, and probably we’re going to get back to a point where they’re going to be a little overvalued. Right, you constantly have these ebbs and flows, and I think if there’s a lesson to be learned here, it’s not necessarily pointing to one team, but I do question whether what worked initially or what worked in Houston, let’s say, cheating aside, but you know the things they valued from an analytics standpoint and a drafting and a developing standpoint, and the things that Mike Elias and Sigma Adele and company implemented with this franchise that was desperately in need of being modernized, which they did, and they did that successfully, but you do get to a point where if you don’t adapt and evolve, you will get left behind, and I’m not saying they’ve been left behind per se, but

Nestor Aparicio  38:58

they are in last place,

Luke Jones  39:00

you very much have to question if the things that they are prioritizing are in the things that they are valuing, and their philosophies have been left in the dust, and maybe

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Nestor Aparicio  39:11

not drafting bitching, not drafting defense,

Luke Jones  39:13

you know what weird word is. Well, I look, I would also say, what about their offenses there to write home, yeah. There you go, collectively, you know, like that. That’s what you’ve prioritized. And look, Elias has said it the last couple springs, you know, going to the season. This was a team built around its young core of position players. They were built with their offense leading, with it being in mind that their offense was going to lead the way, and their offense is mid, it’s middling, it’s not horrible, it’s not the worst in the league, but it’s not elite, it’s in most, in most statistics, not above average, it’s middle of the pack,

Nestor Aparicio  39:53

and not opportunistic the way Tampa was last couple days, hitting 12 or 29 runner-scoring position, right,

Luke Jones  39:58

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and that’s just not. Going to win you ball games nearly consistent, consistently enough to overcome pitching deficiencies and defensive deficiencies. So,

Nestor Aparicio  40:09

well, they’re not firing Elias today or tomorrow, no matter what we say. So, I’ll give you the parting shot on this, because they’re going to get back after Friday, Saturday, Sunday, bad weather. We’ve got a Maryland Crab Cake Tour out, the Fishmonger’s Daughter on Thursday too, but like this thumbs down all the way through in a general like they’re in last place, they’re buried, and what’s coming over the horizon? Right, Jack, back holidays back, Dean Kramer is still a ways away, and he’s Dean Kramer, you know, this isn’t Corbin Burns coming off of the IL, right? You know what’s.. you know, look at Trip away, there’s nothing at Trip. Okay, I’ll hear Trey Gibson. Sure, I don’t think Trey Gibson’s going to be Mike Messina, right? I mean, there’s.. there’s no one coming to save them, right? And their stars haven’t been stars, their young players, other than Bisayo,

Luke Jones  41:00

have not taken a step forward. Ruchman is back, but Gunner Henderson is whatever Gunner Henderson has been this year, looks good for a day or two, and then goes away again. Pete Alonso has been okay at best, offensively, defensively has been good. I mean, it’s, you know, if they’re going to climb their way out of this, it’s what they have, right? And

Nestor Aparicio  41:22

well, they’re in last place in Barrie. They’re a disappointment. I mean, along every avenue, they’ve been a disappointment.

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Luke Jones  41:30

Yeah, so

Nestor Aparicio  41:31

other than Tupac bobblehead, it’s been tough, you know. All right, he is. He’s gonna wrap up. You got anything else you

Luke Jones  41:37

done? Like I said, Wednesday, as deflating as it’s been, and that’s saying a lot, and you know you’re eight games under 500 I don’t know where you go from here. You’ve got a long home stand, Detroit’s struggling without Scoob. They’re struggling, Toronto’s struggling, but you know what, Detroit and Toronto are saying, “Oh, we get to go to Baltimore, maybe that’s going to be our opportunity to get right. I mean, that’s where we are. That’s where the Orioles were last year, and we’re talking the same way. We’re waiting, and we’re waiting, and we’re waiting, and we’re gonna wait some more, because there’s 100 112 games left on the schedule. But, man, it doesn’t feel like anything’s happening, you know. It’s like poking the, you know, beating the dead horse, and you’re poking it with a stick, like you know, do something. It feels over, even if mathematically it’s not over yet.

Nestor Aparicio  42:30

Otas, baby, they’re here, you know. They move the Preakness down to Laurel, and it doesn’t even have the Kentucky Derby winner. The Orioles are in the, in the crapper. I almost said the pooper, but you know what I meant. Last place, and we’re not even to Memorial Day here. Ellen, the weather’s going to stink this weekend too, but they won’t have a bobblehead for you on Saturday, and at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. He is Luke Jones. He can be found at Baltimore. Luke, our WNSD tech service will be alive for whenever the Ravens get a center. It’s all brought to you by friends at Cole Roofing and Gordian Energy, who took me out to Las Vegas on a junket. We had some fun out there at Steve Wynn’s palace, walking around and getting blown around in the wind that was like 5060 miles an hour on Sunday night. It’s crazy, like a sand hurricane out there. Our friends at GBMC, I’m walking a mile in their shoes. My shirt here, of course. Every April, they do that. I’ve talked about orthopedics here a little bit this week, as well as why you need a doctor. We’ve done that, and they are putting us out on the Maryland Crab Cake Tour, as well as Farnham and Dermer. They are our sports guys and our comfort guys. 410-367-7790 degrees this week. You know whether your AC is working or not, it wasn’t. You got some friends with the Comfort guys of Charlotte and Durham, where he’s Luke on Nestor. We’re still in last place. We’ll still be in last place when we come back and do this again. We are WNST AM 1570 Towson, Baltimore. It’s almost football season, I promise. We’re Baltimore positive.