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30, 2000)Īre you noticing a theme with these regrettable offseason moves? Many of them occurred during the late ’90s and early 2000s, a dismal stretch during which seemingly everything the O’s touched turned to dust, (and I didn’t even include the Albert Belle signing in 1998, in which Angelos inked Belle without the knowledge of then-general manager Frank Wren).

2: Mike Mussina leaves the Orioles for the Yankees (Nov. One of the few positives from the haul was Melvin Mora, who was acquired for Mike Bordick and emerged as a useful player.īy the time Thrift left the Orioles in 2002, the team was five seasons into its losing streak with little talent at the major league level and a barren farm system, worse off than it had been when he took over. Of the six young pitchers he acquired, four of them didn’t make it to the majors, one (Luis Rivera) was damaged goods who made one appearance for the Birds before injuries ended his career and the last (Leslie Brea) was actually five years older than he had said he was. Perhaps his most noticeable misfire occurred in 2000, when Thrift gutted the roster and traded away six of the team’s veterans in a fire sale. Thrift, who was 70 years old when he took the reins, seemed a step behind at every turn. Although Thrift was a longtime baseball man who had enjoyed previous success as an executive, his tenure in Baltimore was a disaster. In the midst of the Orioles’ 14-year losing spell, the Birds made the fateful decision to promote Syd Thrift, their farm director, into the general manager’s chair. 3: Orioles hire Syd Thrift as general manager (Dec. There’s no guarantee the O’s would’ve remained a winning team with Johnson at the helm, but running off a successful manager after two years certainly didn’t do the Orioles any favors. With Johnson gone, the Birds collapsed to a 79-83 record in 1998 with largely the same roster. 5 - ironically, the same day he was named AL Manager of the Year. The acrimony between the two became untenable, and Johnson submitted his resignation Nov. The feud reached a boiling point when Angelos objected to a midseason incident in which Johnson had ordered second baseman Roberto Alomar to pay a fine to a charity that involved Johnson’s wife. Johnson, who had guided the Birds to the postseason in ’96 and ’97, became embroiled in a personality conflict with owner Peter Angelos.

An event that marked the beginning of the end was Davey Johnson’s resignation after two seasons as O’s manager. Little did the Birds know that they were about to crash down to earth - and stay there for 14 miserable years. In 1997, the Orioles were one of the best teams in baseball, enjoying 98 wins and a wire-to-wire, first-place finish in the American League East. 4: Davey Johnson resigns as Orioles manager (Nov. What were the best moves the Birds ever made during the winter months? What were the worst? Let’s take a look. With that in mind, it could be useful to consider the Orioles’ offseason moves of years past. As general manager Dan Duquette and the Orioles navigate the hot stove season, many fans are tracking their every move, awaiting the Birds’ next transaction, which could propel them forward - or cause them to take a step back.