For the Orioles, it’s time to break up the nest

I’d put my favorites like Al Bumbry and Eddie Murray in a binder and stare at them until I could recite their career stats, or I’d take my not so favorites like Glenn Gulliver and Tito Landrum and put them in my bike spokes so I could make some noise riding my Huffy around the block. I ran with a tough crowd.

But I never traded an Oriole. I just couldn't find it in my heart to do so.

Fast forward two decades, and I’m ready to see the Orioles trade like the New York Stock Exchange.

This is no knee-jerk reaction to the Orioles’ recent five-game losing streak, or just another Orioles bashing.

In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

It’s a testament to how Andy MacPhail, the Orioles’ president of baseball operations who never thought he’d be in the enviable position of putting a competitive team on the field, is living a dream scenario.

Let's recap:

* With a mix of veterans and young players, the team stayed at .500 — minus the past two weeks — and made the fans care until the All-Star break.

* Veterans like Aubrey Huff, Brian Roberts and Jay Payton, along with journeyman George Sherrill, have performed well enough to be coveted by teams with their sights set on October and gave the Orioles added bargaining chips to restock a Nicole Ritchie-thin farm system.

* Manager Dave Trembley with his no-nonsense, no-excuses approach — a polar opposite to the Lee Mazzilli and Sam Perlozzo experiments — has proven to be exactly what the club needs to move forward.

* Fresh faces like Adam Jones and Luke Scott, who arrived via trades, join Nick Markakis and Jeremy Guthrie to form a solid nucleus to usher in a new sense of excitement for the team's beleaguered fans.

* And the best thing to happen to the Orioles — in a sick and sadistic way, of course — is they have fallen apart at the perfect time: right before the trading deadline. Hence, we won't see another “Keep David Wells and Bobby Bonilla for a late push” campaign — what I believe was the beginning of the end.

The choice for MacPhail and company is simple: Do they sit around and watch the Orioles’ ceremonial summer swoon we've seen for the past five seasons or do they improve the squad by adding pieces through trades?

One would assume MacPhail was going to make moves anyway, and now that he’s playing with house money, that assumption won’t make a you know what out of you and me.

Plus, through early returns, he has what every executive needs: confidence from the owner and fans he will make the right move.

Saying good-bye to a guy like Brian Roberts — one of the league’s best players and the closest thing to an Oriole icon this town has seen since No. 8 hung it up — isn’t going to be easy. But this is a business and it has to be done and not just because he’s the Orioles most significant trading chip. The second baseman has earned the right to play in the postseason.

No one in their right mind thought this team had to the pieces to push any of the American League's superpowers this season. That won't come until 2010 at the earliest, and only if MacPhail sticks to the script and continues building for the future.

Sure, you hate to kill a good vibe and tear apart a team that seems to enjoy playing with each other. But that’s how it goes, especially when you’re trying to prove to your fans losing is a thing of the past.

So, it’s been fun, but see you later, Sherrill. Peace, Payton. Bon voyage, Brian. Holler at me, Huff.

But don’t worry, guys.

You’ll always have a place in my Huffy.

Tony Giro is a lifelong Baltimore sports fan who blogs on examiner.com for fans. If you subscribe — it’s free — you’ll be e-mailed each time Tony posts a column. He can be reached at timeout@baltimoreexaminer.com. And yes, he’s still bitter about the Skipjacks and Bullets leaving town.