Weekly Rundown: Blatche, Musial, Trembley

Weekly Rundown is a combination of links and brief comments on stories and topics that I couldn't get to during the week. If there's something important that I missed, don't hesitate to send an email or leave a comment.

• Dave Allen on the outfield defense of Nick Markakis and Adam Jones so far this season:
  

  
  For the Orioles things have not gone as well, giving up an additional 20 runs in outfield defense. Nick Markakis and Adam Jones are two of the game’s up-and-coming star outfielders and their futures are bright, but their defense this year has not been good. Together they have given up over 15 runs, but it is important to remember this does not mean we should expect them to be poor fielders going forward. UZR and other defenses metrics, by all accounts, take huge numbers of innings before they become predictive and are subject to big fluctuations even of the course of an entire season.
  
  Markakis and Jones came into this season with great fielding numbers in 2008. Markakis at +11 UZR/150 in over 1300 innings in RF and Jones at +11 UZR/150 over 1000 innings in CF. This year Markakis is -16 UZR/150 over 760 innings in RF and Jones -12 over 600 innings. This new data put together with the old tempers our expectations; maybe Markakis is only a +5 to +0 corner outfield and maybe Jones is just a +5 to +0 center fielder.
  

  
  Despite the subpar numbers in the first half, I still believe Markakis and Jones are good enough outfielders to improve their performance in the second part of the season. [FanGraphs]


• Gilbert Arenas donated $25,000 to charity in exchange for the chair that President Obama sat in during the Bulls-Wizards game at Verizon Center earlier this year. The chair was also autographed by the president. [Washington Wizards Blog]


• Andray Blatche will wear No. 7 instead of No. 32. Only time will tell if the number change will reflect a change in Blatche's attitude and dedication. [D.C. Sports Bog]


• Eddie Jordan isn't to blame for Blatche's shortcomings. It's up to Blatche to reach his potential. [Truth About It]


• Steve Melewski presents an interesting question-and-answer session with David Stockstill, the Orioles' director of player development. [MASN Sports]


• Joe Posnanski does it again -- this time on the greatness that was/is Stan Musial. [Kansas City Star]


• Curtis Granderson had a wonderful All-Star experience, and he shared a couple of brief videos. [Big League Stew]


• Dave Trembley isn't assured of managing the Orioles past this season, but he's still working as hard as he can to improve the team:
  

  
  "I think we're getting to the point now with our organization where we almost taste it. We can see what's coming and we get a little ahead ourselves," said Trembley, who maintains that he gets far more fan support than criticism. "I think it's a positive quality that our fans expect us to win, but I also think, we all need to be realistic. Andy has been very forthright in saying, 'Hey, we got a ways to go.'
  
  "For us, it's more important to get the right guys in the right slots, to make sure they're getting experience and showing improvement. To put it bluntly, we don't have enough players that are done reaching their potential to, on a day-in and day-out basis, succeed in this division. I take the losses personal, but I think you have to keep things in perspective."
  

  
  I agree with Jeff Zrebiec: Unless the Orioles have another terrible late-season collapse, Trembley should return in 2010. [Baltimore Sun]


• In Dave Cameron's 2009 MLB Trade Value series, which only has five more names to go, Nick Markakis is listed at No. 35 and Adam Jones is 19th. Somehow Billy Rowell (.229/.289/.367 at Single-A Frederick) isn't included. [FanGraphs]


• Not sure about you, but I'm definitely rooting for Cadillac Williams. [Pro Football Talk]


• Some intriguing thoughts on why the blogosphere and the mainstream media may not be all that different. [Deadspin]


• Most fans agree with, or at least approve of, the Redskins' recent selection of Jeremy Jarmon in the NFL supplemental draft. [Redskins Insider]