Salaries

I was looking at the Orioles salaries for their players this year and I got to thinking about who has been earning their money so far this year. They've been at it for a month and they've played 26 games. So who really earned their paychecks this month? Here's how the 10 highest paid Orioles have fared so far. Please note that the amount paid "per game" includes games in which the player does not make an appearance.

Nick Markakis
Salary - $10.6 million
Earned through 26 games - $1.7 million ($65,432 per game)
Stats - 26 games played, .206 average, 2 HR, 12 RBI, .586 OPS

Brian Roberts
Salary - $10 million
Earned through 26 games - $1.6 million ($61,728 per game)
Stats - 26 games played, .262 average, 3 HR, 19 RBI, .731 OPS

Vladimir Guerrero
Salary - $7.6 million
Earned through 26 games - $1.2 million ($46,913 per game)
Stats - 26 games played, .269 average, 4HR, 13 RBI, .667 OPS

Derrek Lee
Salary - $7.25 million
Earned through 26 games - $1.1 million ($44,753 per game)
Stats - 26 games played, .228 average, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .591 OPS

Luke Scott
Salary - $6.4 million
Earned through 26 games - $1 million and change ($39,506 per game)
Stats - 20 games played, .262 average, 5 HR, 10 RBI, .863 OPS

Mike Gonzalez
Salary - $6 million
Earned through 26 games - $962,962 ($37,037 per game)
Stats - 8 games played, 7.1 innings pitched, 9.82 ERA, 4 BB, 8 SO, 1.77 WHIP, 2 holds

Jeremy Guthrie
Salary - $5.75 million
Earned through 26 games - $922,839 ($35,493 per game)
Stats - 5 games played,  32 innings pitched, 2.53 ERA, 4 BB, 19 SO, 1.09 WHIP, 4 quality starts

Mark Reynolds
Salary - $5.33 million
Earned through 26 games - $855,967 ($32,921 per game)
Stats - 26 games played, .172 average, 3 HR, 15 RBI, .597 OPS

Kevin Gregg
Salary - $4.2 million
Earned through 26 games - $674,074 ($25,925 per game)
Stats - 10 games played, 10 innings pitched, 2.70 ERA, 6 BB, 10 SO, 1.50 WHIP, 5 saves

Adam Jones
Salary - $3.25 million
Earned through 26 games - $521,604 ($20,061 per game)
Stats - 25 games played, .207 average, 5 HR, 14 RBI, .591 OPS

More on Wieters

This morning, the Baltimore Sun ran a piece which asks the question, where in the lineup do you bat Matt Wieters? Let's hold on a minute, here folks.

Wieters had a good game last night. And yes, he's hitting well with runners in scoring position. But the Orioles coaching staff needs to focus on getting runners on base before they start shuffling the lineup. If Wieters is coming around, that's great. Maybe his hot streak will start catching on to guys batting before him (Brian Roberts and Vlad Guerrero both had 3 RBI nights last night) so that he'll have someone to hit home when he gets up to bat. But let's not get crazy and put him in the number 3 spot yet because Derrek Lee is having a slow start.

Wieters hasn't turned 25 yet. What's the use of moving him up in the lineup and adding more pressure on a young player just because he's had a recent hot streak? Let him stay in a comfortable slot and see if he can start to produce more than his .239 batting average suggests he can.

My lips to yours.

A Quick Note on Matt Wieters

Here is a rather frightening statistic on Matt Wieters so far this season. He is 5 for 5 with runners in scoring position (according to espn.com). In those at bats, he has 8 RBI, with 2 of those at bats and 4 of those RBI coming from tonight's 11-0 drubbing of the Minnesota Twins.

Why is that frightening? Because he usually hits between the 6th and 8th position, right after the supposed "heart" of the Orioles' lineup. And so far, he has only had 5 at bats with runners in scoring position. That means, tonight aside, the bulk of the lineup is not getting on base. Now granted, with his .239 average, Wieters hasn't been getting the job done for the most part either, but he is proving that he can hit when it counts.

Tonight was a good sign for the Orioles' offense (their pitching was fantastic too; anyone notice Gregg and Gonzalez not pitch tonight?). If they can keep giving Wieters a chance to hit when it counts, they can keep giving themselves a chance to win.

My lips to yours.

O No. Not Again.

The Orioles just lost their 8th consecutive game after starting 6-1. Chris Tillman gave the O's a quality start, giving up 3 runs in 6 2/3 innings, but the offense continued to fail to earn its paycheck until the 7th inning with solo home runs from Adam Jones and Matt Wieters.  "Anemic" doesn't begin to describe the Orioles' bats. I'm not sure what word to use to describe an offense in which your best hitter is batting .266.

But the most frustrating thing to watch is Buck Showalter calling on Kevin Gregg and Michael Gonzalez to close out games in close situations. Gregg's 2.00 WHIP (before tonight's game) is the highest the Orioles have to offer, yet he is still called upon to keep close games within reach. But why? He threw 34 pitches (less than half for strikes) in the ninth inning alone, giving up two runs, a fact that became exacerbated by Luke Scott's solo home run in the bottom of the ninth. Take away his poor performance tonight (one of many throughout the season), and the Orioles have a good shot to win tonight's game. Even in situations when he's gotten out of tight spots, it's taken near miracles by the Orioles' defense to ensure he does.

The same thing goes for Michael Gonzalez, the pitcher I'm now convinced has THE WORST MECHANICS IN BASEBALL. He practically falls off the mound after every pitch and sports an ERA (10.38) to match. Yet instead of warming up a reliable reliever (Jim Johnson, Jason Berken, Koji Uehara), Buck Showalter's only other bullpen option for the ninth inning was Captain Mechanics. I'm choosing to believe he wasn't warming up to come into the game, but rather to work on his fundamentals.

Buck, you're great. I love you. But you need to ignore Journey's admonishments, and STOP BELIEVING IN THESE WORTHLESS PITCHERS!

Anyway...

My lips to yours.