The Stink Panther (by Trey Mancini)

(Music Pun #10. YES, IT COUNTS.)

THE GOOD NEWS...is that the Baltimore Orioles are no longer the worst team in baseball. The Royals have accumulated one more loss than they have. The BAD NEWS is...the Orioles currently are the most games behind first. So even if the Royals are worse...so are the Indians.

The Orioles are not only really bad this year, but they're really bad in a year where A.) the teams in first and second are among the best in the league, and B.) their star shortstop might only be THEIR star shortstop for another month. Things were bad in 2006 and 2007, but at least their big stars, Nick Markakis and Miguel Tejada, weren't at the point where they could be snatched and all the momentum could be lost. HERE? Uhhh...that may be where we're at.

Matter of fact, let's do this right now. Let's see what kind of Baltimore Orioles team we'll have once Manny Machado leaves:

Their offensive leader would be...Danny Valencia, who leads in average. Adam Jones would ultimately be the source of publicity/'star' bill, and while he's got a .293 average at the moment, he's also pulling some awful fielding numbers, bringing an end to his career as a landmark defensive outfielder. The other sources of power, Jonathan Schoop, Mark Trumbo, Tim Beckham and Chris Davis, are either injured or positively limp. The only member of the recent youth movement who can hit for power is Trey Mancini, and he strikes out way too much.

There's not a ton of bench help, and the starting shortstop in Machado's absence would have to be either Jace Peterson or some dire callup from Norfolk. So, offensively, the Orioles without Machado would be S.O.L.

Even their pitching would only be able to hold them for so long. Yes, the duo of Bundy and Gausman is still pretty good, and there's been a small amount of ripe bullpen arms forming, especially Miguel Castro and Darren O'Day, but...the further back you go, the more disappointed you become.

The Orioles, once they trade or lose Manny Machado, will become even worse than they already are. I don't know if they'll let him go in July, or just in November, but...they need to figure out what kind of team they want to be without him, because...if it goes according to those paragraphs, it's not gonna be pleasant.

Coming Tomorrow- His rookie numbers were so wild that anything that followed would have to be a disappointment. Especially this.