My two favorite sports teams, the Washington Redskins and the Baltimore Orioles, are both looking to shoot themselves in the foot.
First we have the Washington coaching search. There are rumors they want USC’s Pete Carroll, a doubly-confirmed NFL failure. Don’t people realize that coaching in the NFL is different from coaching in college? Didn’t Snyder learn anything from Steve Spurrier? Carroll is a very good college coach. He was a very bad NFL coach. He would be a disaster in Washington, although that would go right along with Dan Snyder’s past history. But Snyder has fired the coordinators, probably pissed off the team, and will likely end up with another flashy failure at head coach.
And the Orioles. I get that they’re rebuilding. It’s come at least five years too late, but I get it, and I’m thankful for it. But why would you trade Bedard? He’s 28. He could be the ace of the staff for 5-7 years, maybe more. He is the ONLY player on the team that you absolutely must keep, as far as I’m concerned. And they want to make a deal with the Mariners that centers around a young outfielder with moderate power (His home runs were up in 2007 in the minors, but his doubles were down, and he doesn’t get on base much)?
I’ll grant you that George Sherrill, the reliever said to be part of the deal, had a disgusting season last year (0.99 WHIP, park-adjusted ERA+ of 183, K to BB of over 3). But Bedard is, by far, the best player on the Orioles. Why would you give him up? Do you WANT Seattle to win their division this year? Is that your goal? Is Angelos getting a cut of their playoff revenues?
I think Angelos and Snyder want me to move to Boston. That’s the only logical explanation.