Jeremy Guthrie should be in a different uniform
By Editorial Staff
I feel sorry for Jeremy Guthrie. He has poured his heart out for the team during his time in Baltimore only to be known as a loser. Guthrie, for whatever reason, has never gotten solid run support while pitching for the Orioles. Perhaps it has something to do with the Orioles being horrible, but I’m not sure.
I believe the Orioles did Guthrie a major injustice by not trading him prior to the deadline. If you look at his last 3 starts prior to the trading deadline they were all very, very solid. In each of the three starts Guthrie went 7 innings. He gave up 2 earned runs against Boston, 3 earned runs against LA, and 1 earned run to the Yankees. This looks like a guy trying to pitch his way to a new team. I bet Andy MacPhail had a meeting with Guthrie and it probably went something like this:
"Andy MacPhail: Look Jeremy if you can give us a solid 3 starts down the stretch before the break we’re gonna be able to get you shipped out of here to a contender before the deadline.Jeremy Guthrie: I really appreciate that Andy I’ll give you what I have to try and help you guys get what you can back."
Jeremy then left the office and Andy started laughing. He was probably thinking to himself, “Hell, at least I’ll get 3 solid starts from him coming up.” The Orioles never had any serious intention in trading Guthrie. Why trade away a reliable innings eater still under your control? Might make sense for a team in contention but not a team in need of innings eaters.
To make my point, in his three starts since the trading deadline passed, Guthrie has given up 16 runs in 19.2 innings. He gave up 6 to Kansas City, 4 to Chicago, and 6 to Detroit. His ERA has jumped almost a half run since the trading deadline to 4.55. To me this has the looks of a guy who was let down that he was not traded.
I love Jeremy Guthrie and know many fans feel the same way. I just believe it was time to part ways with Guthrie and give him a fresh start somewhere else. I don’t think his trade value will be getting any higher in the future. Jeremy Guthrie deserved to go to a winner that wanted him and be the solid number 3 he could be on a contending team.
It’s not like the Orioles are winning anytime soon. What would a few more prospects have hurt? If we got Hunter and Davis for Koji, I’m sure we could have gotten something a little nicer for Guthrie. I’m not sure what the front office was thinking. I know it would have left a GAPING hole in the rotation but the rotation is a gaping hole anyway. If you’re going to be historically bad then be historically bad, don’t try to act like you want to win.
Peter and Andy, please stop telling the fans what you’re doing to win and how much you want to win. We are tired of hearing it. We want results. We want a better product. You lose fans everyday that you force us to watch this team. Don’t you miss the stadium being packed with Orioles fans screaming for the great start the team was off to? Don’t you miss the optimism of Opening Day when the stadium was full and the crowd was going crazy? Why is it that it seems only we care about the team and you don’t? So many questions I wish I could ask.