Once Andy MacPhail announced Dave Trembley would manage through at least the end of next season, the Orioles? president of baseball operations moved on to his next task.
“I?m kind of a plodder, so I go about my business on a case-by-case basis,” MacPhail said at Trembley?s news conference.
Beginning on Saturday, each team can expand its roster from 25 to as many as 40 players for the remainder of the season.
But with the Orioles ? 58-73 entering Thursday?s game against Tampa Bay ? spiraling toward their 10th consecutive losing season, MacPhail must decide if auditioning young players in the major leagues is worth the risk of increasing the chances of losing.
“I think when you get to September, you want to make sure you finish as strong as you can, win as many ball games as you can, and try to blend that with trying to find some answers to questions for 2008,” Orioles vice president Jim Duquette said. “You have the choice to go completely young, and I don?t think that?s the answer we?re looking for.”
Aside from relief pitching help, the Orioles will activate shortstopLuis Hernandez, who is currently playing for Double-A Bowie.
“At some point, we?d like to have him come back,” Duquette said. “How much playing time he?ll get remains to be seen, but we liked what we initially saw.”
Hernandez performed well in Baltimore from July 7 to Aug. 5, filling in for Miguel Tejada, who was put on the disabled list with a broken wrist June 22. Hernandez cleanly handled 45 chances at shortstop, while Tejada has committed a team-worst 12 errors on 406 chances, a .970 fielding percentage. But don?t expect Hernandez to claim Tejada?s playing time.
“We?re going to play out the schedule and we?re going to play to win as many games as we can,” Duquette said. “But there are some things, like [giving starts to Radhames Liz and Garrett Olson], that we want to see for next year.”
Liz will start today and Olson Saturday against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, which is expected to house a fierce crowd, providing an optimum environment in which the front office can evaluate its two top pitching prospects.
“You find out a lot about the makeup of a player when they go into that environment,” Duquette said. “I?m excited, and I think the whole organization is excited to see how they react.”
