Lee Mazzilli
 

ESPN and local media outlets are reporting Lee Mazzilli has been hired as the next manager of the Baltimore Orioles.

I like the choice. He's apparently a good baseball mind who Joe Torre holds in high regard, actually fighting Steinbrenner when Mazzilli was supposed to be fired this offseason.

Good choice to begin an eventful offseason for the Orioles.

I like the choice as well.

The offseason will need to be eventful for the Orioles, however if they think they can turn the club around. The Orioles lack (and in fact traded away) the best commodity in baseball - young pitching.

While everyone is talking Vlad Garrero, I'd much rather see a Bartolo Colon and a another guy of his ilk for the money.

Lee Mazzilli is gonna need to be a god to get production out of this bunch in the outfield, however. Here is who the Orioles are currently carrying: Larry Bigbie, Jack Cust, Jay Gibbons, Luis Matos, Melvin Mora, and Tim Raines. I guess after reading those names its easy to see why Baltimore fans are pushing for a slugger. I just think that you need a couple of more pitchers if you are carrying Kurt "Hurt" Ainsworth and Omar "Up and Down" Daal. Jorge Julio has a future as a closer, perhaps.

In short the Orioles need to have the eventful offseason, djtestudo. They certainly have the fanbase and the money, so Mazzilli will have no excuses - just like Grover had none.

I'm a lifelong O's fan, Born and raised in B-more.

I was not surprised by the firing of Grover but I don't think he was given much of a chance. I thought he was doing a pretty good job. Seems like we have a wannabe Steinbrenner running the team.

Mazilli is a great choice as Grover's replacement.

I agree that we need a slugger. Gibbons has great potential to be a solid home-run hitter but we do need someone now.

I think the great pitching legacy in Baltimore is gone for the near future. We need a solid veteran to work with the young pitchers.

Interested to see how the off-season plays out.

Actually, we traded for young pitching in both major trades. Adding Denny Bautista, Don Levinski and Ryan Hannaman to our system along with the guys we already have in Adam Loewen, John Maine, Brian Forystek, and others gives us unbelievable talent in the system. Plus getting Moss and Ainesworth was great as well for a guy that would've left anyways, adding to Eric DuBose and Matt Riley as the young guys in the rotation next year. If we can resign Hentgan, I think we will be alright on the pitching front for right now.

The Orioles need two things this offseason. A true #4 hitter for Gibbons, Bigbie, etc. to hit around, and a catcher. We also need a third baseman, but not as badly as those.

I think that Baltimore is the second best option for Guerrero behind staying put in Montreal. We have the money to pay him, a beautiful stadium that he'd hit 50 homers in, and a smaller market then New York, since it has been reported he wants to go where there would be less media pressure then NY.

The thing about Grover is that he presided over awful slumps at the end of the last two seasons, because he doesn't know how to use his bench correctly. The regulars got tired, and started wearing down from lack of rest. He was also a holdover from the previous GM, and I'm not all that upset he's gone. All the reports I've heard in the media say Mazzilli is a great choice, so I'm willing to go with that and see where he leads us.

I don't know enough about Mazilli to judge his qualifications to manage the O's, except that he has no prior major league management experience, which normally isn't a good thing.

I do know the best manager in the world would struggle to achieve a winning season with the current talent on thier roster
He had better hope the O's splurge on some free agents this off season.

They need at least one big bat, a good starter or two and a decent closer.

Its a shame what this once proud, great franchise has been reduced to under Pete A. I have doubts that as long as he is the owner this team will be able to turn it around.

Last time I checked, we already had one.

*cough*1996-1997*cough*

I don't know about Julio, 4.4 era seems a little high for a top notch closer to me.
And 97 was great but we have had a franchise high 6 straight losing seasons since. Things just don't ever seem to get better recently.

Julio's like 25 or 26, and he's notched 60 saves in two years.

That's pretty good. If he keeps up this pace, he'll shatter the save record.

Julio just needs to work on his control, and he'll be dominant.

I hope you're right and they can spend the money elsewhere.

Actually, I'm pretty sure he's only 23. The way he pitches sometime looks a lot like Home-Run-do Benitez *shudders* but he seems to have the emotional makeup to close; i.e. not let blown saves affect him.

And my point with mentioning '96-'97 was that he was a good owner then, because we were winning. It seems that after Davey Johnson and Pat Gillick he wanted a yes-man in the GM place, and hired Syd Thrift. Thrift is a great scout, but couldn't run an organization anywhere but into the ground. After a couple years of losing, falling attendence, and the worst-run organization not in Detroit, he finally realized his mistake, fired Thrift, and set out on a path towards rebuilding the team. So far, it looks good, and a big signing this offseason will only make it look even better.

Ah, my bad with the math. :D.

But I mean, if you already have 60 saves at 23...you're only 240 off 300...

I think Julio will make the All Star Team pretty soon.