Chris Davis Lays A Major Burn On Jose Bautista, Plus Other News From Orioles FanFest.
The Orioles held their annual FanFest yesterday in Baltimore to kick off the baseball season, and what a great event it was. Over 15K showed up to support Buck, Manny, Adam, Chris, and the rest of the guys. Everyone had their offseason beards going, and pretty much all the big names were there to meet the fans before the team heads off to Spring Training in a few weeks. Nothing too noteworthy came out during the event, but I know one quote caught a lot of people’s attention.
Chris Davis Fries Up Jose Bautista
Just a vicious smackdown laid down by Crush here. He gave the answer we all are thinking, and not just Orioles fans, all baseball fans. You know Jose Bautista is the worst, your mother knows it, the world knows it. I haven’t really seen a franchise as outspoken about an opposing player like this in some time. It’s clear the franchise doesn’t like him, and I’m sure Bautista doesn’t care much for the Birds. Earlier in the offseason Dan Duquette was asked about the possibility of signing Josephine Bats before he re-signed with Toronto, and Duquette shot down that question by saying it couldn’t happen because of how much the fans hate him. He ain’t lying. Davis was asked a similar question by a young fan and responded with a heartfelt answer. I like seeing these type of answers because it shows these guys aren’t robots, they’re allowed to speak their mind, and that is what Chris did. The other thing I learned is it’s okay to start adding “said no one ever” to the end of statements again. Always a good burn when you can throw “said no one ever” after talking shit about someone.
Adam Jones Wants Better Defense To His Left And Right
Adam Jones, the unquestioned leader of this ball club, gets asked often how he feels the team could improve. He spoke his mind yesterday when asked about the outfield defense. He told the media that he thinks the Orioles need to “get more athletic guys”. He mentioned that the Orioles don’t need to improve their offense, this team has averaged 723 runs a season and 221 homers over their last five seasons, we know they can hit. Adam has been a staple in center field for sometime, but we haven’t seen another decent fielder on either side of him since Nick Markakis left after the 2014 season. According to FanGraphs, the O’s and the worst outfield defense in all of baseball. Seth Smith was brought in with the job of getting on base and playing good defense. Smith will be part of a platoon situation, so we won’t get to see his defense everyday, and we all know about Mark Trumbo with the glove. He makes the easy plays, has a great arm, but don’t count on him to make the spectacular diving plays. It is something that Jones has talked about before, he needs some help out there, he’s getting older, his steps aren’t as quick as they once were, the Orioles need a guy like Angel Pagan or Michael Bourn to help with that corner defense. DD is notorious for making February and March pick ups, lets see who he decides to set his sights on these next few weeks, but the bottom line, AJ is right, the Orioles will hit over 220 homers again this season, but they need to focus on other things that boosting the lineup, get the man some help with the leather!
Window Is Closing
One of the major themes of FanFest was the media asking several players about “the window closing” and what to expect after 2018. That is the year that the contracts of Adam Jones, Zach Britton, Manny Machado, Buck Showalter, and Dan Duquette are up. This could be a very different looking team in a few seasons, and everyone knows that. Manny and Britton were both asked if the team has approached them about extensions. Both players pretty much said the same thing, nothing has been talked about right now, but they would love to remain here in Baltimore. That is the standard answer that they will give because they don’t want to say “Yeah, we’re just going to try and get as much money as we can, but that offer won’t come from Baltimore.” So that has some fans uneasy, and it just fuels the desire from the fans for the team to be in a “win now” mode. Time is running out for this team to win a ring, and with some of the recent acquisitions, it shows the team is trying to compete, but they will need a few more pieces if they want to make some noise because this window is closed for good.
The Best “Mo”ment
Easily the best moment of the day was watching Mo, a young boy who loves the Orioles more than you love anything. He calls into 105.7 almost every day, gives his locks of the day, and loves to give his “pick to click”. With his knowledge of the Orioles, he became close with the hosts of the show, Jeremy Conn and Scott Garceau, to the point where they went to his school to meet Mo and speak to their class. It was at this point where all the listeners learned that Mo was blind. He can’t watch any of the games, but has such an insane amount of knowledge. Mo was given an all access pass at FanFest yesterday and got better interviews than most of the media guys there. Mo had his own press conference where he was surprised by Adam Jones, who presented Mo with a customized “Mo” jersey, and his favorite player, Manny Machado. He got standing ovations from the crowds, got to meet and hang out with his favorite players, and was an absolute superstar. I think I heard more fans asking for Mo than Adam Jones or Manny. Just watch the video above, and have it hit you right in the feels. Good for the O’s for making Mo’s day.
And if we are being honest, the second best moment was the O’s photographer capturing this heartfelt moment with Manny Machado and myself.
A few other short notes from FanFest
– Dylan Bundy will not have an innings limit going into next season.
– Dan Luquete wants to add more pitching depth, as well as outfield depth.
-Chris Tillman, Darren O’Day, Zach Britton, Oliver Drake, Chris Davis, and Caleb Joseph all were rocking some fantastic beards, and they all know the date that they have to be shaved off by.
-Mark Trumbo’s wife is a SMOKE.
-Trey Mancini will be with the Orioles it seems. Both Buck and Dan had great things to say about him, and it’s obvious they think the can help the team.
– Lots of questions were about Mark Trumbo and what it means to get him back. Players were ecstatic that Trumbo is back.
The Orioles organization did a great job of putting this together, claps all around.