It’s that time again: the 2016 BEVys are almost upon us. We have so many great awards presented by our friends and colleagues in the Bird-O’s-Sphere, but we have a couple of our own we would like to bring you.

 

Ice Floe Award

We finally did it! We finally ran Brian Matusz out of town on a rail! Or, as I have been saying for a couple of seasons, we needed to put him on an ice floe and push.

So.

Mission accomplished. OR IS IT?!?! Now that we know we have this power (because the Orioles finally cutting ties with an under performing player was totally affected by our whim as fans, right?), who should be the next player sent out on an ice floe, and pushed into the great DFA in the sky?

You can vote on Twitter, and help us decide:

 

Vote in the 2016 BEVy Awards! Here are the nominees for "The Ice Floe Award."https://t.co/xlrLXJJAeq

— Bird's Eye View (@BirdsEyeViewBal) July 10, 2016

 

And with that, let’s get to the nominees:

 

Ubaldo Jimenez

 

To be fair, everything Ubaldo Jimenez touches turns to fire, so it’s possible his ride on an ice floe might be brief. But Ubaldo Jimenez has been, in a word, terrible for the Orioles in 2016. And the last two seasons were not that pretty, either. The Duquette/Showalter regime has had so many wins on the player acquisition front, that Jimenez’s four-year $50MM contract is an albatross around this franchise’s neck. If he were making less money, he would already be gone.

But enough is enough. This team could be playoff bound, if its starting rotation could be depended upon for something besides heartbreak. It’s past time for Ubaldo Jimenez to go. Put him on an ice floe, and wave goodbye.

 

Mike Wright

 

Personally, I think Mike Wright is the next big thing in the bullpen. But he is not a starter. I’ll say that again: Not. A. Starter. I don’t need to feed you his stats, you’ve watched this season. Mike Wright surprised many by making this club as a starter out of Spring Training. Then he tortured us by flaming out. Wright is demonstrative on the mound, which is a lot easier to watch when those moments are few and far between. But they’re not. Mike Wright has ridden the Norfolk Shuttle because he’s not good enough to be here. Is that enough to be put on an ice floe and pushed away? Here’s your chance.

 

Ryan Flaherty

I can hear it now: “aw, why Flash?” I hear you. But there are those in Birdland who cannot stand the former Rule 5 draftee who has cemented himself as the Orioles super-sub. Despite his defensive versatility, and his occasional flashes of power, there are those in the fan base who cannot stand Flaherty – largely (I think) because his performance is inconsistent. There are times when he disappears at the plate for long periods of time. These people would have loved The Blade, amirite? In any event, he’s a candidate. Here’s your chance, Flaherty Haters: push him off on an ice floe, if you must.

J.J. Hardy

Wait. Put those pitch forks down, and hear me out on this one. First, I hate this idea. J.J. Hardy is a fan favorite (including here at Bird’s Eye View) for a reason. This guy has gotten it done in the past, and remains a productive player. But let’s face it: we are seeing a very painful back end of this career. Painful to watch when he runs the bases, and painful to watch when Buck Showalter has to shuffle the deck when Hardy is out for another nagging injury.

I’m not talking about the fact that Hardy’s home run total has dropped off precipitously from his 30, 22, 25 count, after joining the Orioles in what turned out to be a pleasantly lopsided trade. No, those are the easy things. Hardy has dropped off in nearly every other measurable offensive category. His weighted runs created plus (wRC+), which is considered by many to be a reliable measure of complete offensive output averaged 95 over his first four seasons with the Orioles. In 2015, it was 49 in 114 games, and in just 40 games this season, it sits at 65.

I love me some J.J. Hardy. He’s the only active Oriole older than me – hold on as long as you can, man! But the fact is that he’s about half of what he used to be offensively. The Orioles have a top ten player in baseball waiting in the wings. Maybe it’s time Windmill waves Hardy onto that ice floe.