2006 Fantasy Camp Diary
Q & A with Sam Perlozzo
Wednesday, February 1
by Meg Goldsmith for Kerry
Kerry started out by saying that Perlozzo was “very
impressive” and upfront about a lot of things.
Perlozzo started out by telling the campers that the Orioles are trying
to build a full organization, which he frequently likened to a family.
(“the Orioles family”) The
goal of the front office is to only have players who want to be with the
Orioles. If someone doesn’t want
to be there, they don’t want that guy around.
And he is fully on board with Flanagan and Duquette.
The best example Perlozzo gave which involved a name was Jeremy Burnitz.
Part of the reason Burnitz signed with the Pirates is that he wanted to
be close to his home and Pittsburgh is closer than Baltimore.
Perlozzo said that at first he was disappointed because Burnitz
would’ve filled a hole that they had identified (more on this in a bit) but
then he realized that the Orioles really hadn’t lost anything because Burnitz
didn’t want to be there.
Perlozzo told them that believe it or not there is a plan in place that the front office is trying to implement. This was Perlozzo’s first time attending the winter meetings and he put together a board of positions and the players who would fill those positions who were on the 40 man roster. He said that seven or eight of those positions had holes in them and everyone realized that you can’t fill all of those holes from outside the organization from year to year. What the Orioles need is a complete organization and that is where they are headed. At this point, just a few weeks from spring training most of those holes have been filled. The biggest remaining hole is for a left-handed bat because they believe the team is too heavily weighted on the right side of the plate this year. This is the role Burnitz would’ve filled.
The front office also recognize that as they bring up young players, they need to step up and sign them to multiyear deals, much as Cleveland did back in the ‘90’s. The thinking is that if the team demonstrates some confidence in their promising youngsters then those guys will be more willing to sign at a hometown discount once they’re free agent eligible (much as Paul Konerko did this past offseason).
The issue about players wanting to be with the team brought up a lot of questions. The first one that came up dealt with Javy Lopez. Perlozzo said the Orioles want Javy back with them. They like him as a player but they clearly think his catching days are mostly over. Perlozzo said that Lopez and his agent think that he has to show that he can still catch in order to get a contract extension but the front office just wants to know that he can still hit and they’re prepared to give him the multiyear extension he wants. Perlozzo said they asked Javy to go to the instructional league to learn how to play first base but it didn’t work out. They see Lopez playing first, DH, in addition to doing some catching. But Hernandez is main catcher now.
The real hope is that they can start bringing up some of their young talent. Perlozzo told them that Markakis is likely to be up with the team later in the season this year. If he isn’t up this year, he’ll definitely be playing for them next year.
Naturally, Miguel Tejada’s name came up. Perlozzo said that whole thing is “over and done with.” He also commented that publicly issuing trade demands has to stop. If a player doesn’t want to play for the Orioles, they will trade him. But they don’t want this request to be made publicly. And the dropoff that occurred at the plate last year, in retrospect, was clearly related to the steroids controversy surrounding Palmeiro. Perlozzo thinks Miggy will have a big year for them in 2006.
So the lineup, as of right now, is as follows:
Roberts
?
Mora
Tejada
Gibbons
Lopez
Conine
Hernandez
Millar
The team is still looking for that left-handed bat,
however. If a deal is made, this
person would hit somewhere in the middle of the lineup and everyone would move
up a slot. It’s possible that the
#2 guy would be either Patterson or Matos.
Right now it isn’t clear that Patterson will even make the team.
But Perlozzo told the campers that he sat down with Matos and told him
what things he needs to work on. They
weren’t real happy with his conditioning last year.
And if Patterson does make the team, it’s possible that both Patterson
and Matos would both be in the OF.
Gibbons has been told that he is the starting RF. Perlozzo said that the first thing he did when he took over as manager was to tell Gibbons “you’re my right fielder.” He thinks that helped Gibbons loosen up and become more patient at the plate during the last 4-6 weeks of the season.
As for the pitching staff, the rotation is set (in no
particular order): Lopez, Benson,
Chen, Bedard, and Cabrerra. Chris
Ray will close and the Orioles are comfortable having him do that.
They picked up Kris Benson specifically because they wanted a veteran
presence in the rotation. Three
non-roster invitees to camp this year will be Jim Brower, John Halama, and Ricky
Bottalico. Brower is thought to have a legitimate shot of making the
team out of spring training.
Perlozzo commented that the pitching staff got together with Mazzone for the first time at Fan Fest and they were practically giddy about working with him. Perlozzo said that Mazzone puts the onus of pitching on the pitchers. It’s THEIR responsibility to throw what they want to throw, not the catcher’s. His other big mantra is: It’s not what you throw but where you throw it that matters.
In speaking about specific pitchers, Perlozzo said that just as we heard in the press, everyone wants Bedard. Perlozzo doesn’t want to move him because he has a lot of potential. Perlozzo noted that Bedard had a lot of trouble “finishing guys off” especially in the second half after he came back from the injury.
As for Sidney Ponson, Perlozzo commented that he is a good guy but very immature. Perlozzo said the Orioles tried to help him with his problem (hinting that they sent him to rehab) but were unsuccessful. If he has addressed his problem, Perlozzo predicted that he’ll have a big year in St. Louis this coming year.
One of the things they are doing is setting standards throughout the Orioles organization. They don’t want a player to embarrass his teammates or the organization. The organization will give a player a second and even a third chance but at some point the player has to step up and accept some responsibility. The organization is focused on acquiring players with good character. And, yes, there were several players they didn’t pursue this offseason due to questions about their character.
As for his philosophy of managing, Perlozzo commented that you have to care about your players. He gave the following example: His wife has called every player on the roster, especially the new players (and their significant others) to the area, to tell them about the area and ask them if they need any help. When the Orioles made the trade to pick up Kris Benson, his wife called Anna Benson and spoke to her. Anna was very touched, telling her that nobody had ever done this for her before.
Someone asked what the players think about having so many Yankee fans in the stands. Perlozzo said they HATE it. They understand that it happens because they stink and haven’t won in eight years, but they hate it. They also know that once the team starts winning there won’t be very many Yankee fans in the stands.