foxfield

Thanks...my reading comprehension there was not the best...your post was pretty clear...lol.

Ownership has declared that money unspendable? It's possible, but if it was stated, I missed it.

In fairness, the above is an opinion stated as a fact. This was and is my point from the post further back. If the Orioles do not have access to spend $5 million wherever the new GM wants to invest it, It really doesn't matter if he is a savior or not. Again as I stated before, I think it is possible Elias was asked to not spend this season or it's possible he shared with ownership that he really doesn't see value in using all of it. I will however be concerned if we are trading picks or international money going forward. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know we lack talent and depth. And yes, as long as Brady is here, as long as Davis is on the roster or in the lineup without earning it and these types of moves are made...even if on the surface the deal makes sense...that skeptical attitude is going to remain. And that is how it should be. But it is equally wrong to project skepticism into proof of how little control the GM has. If for no other reason than believing that is accepting that we are doomed. Finally, I will say that if we were getting a GM with lots of imposed conditions, I believe we would have hired Colletti.

Man this is a tough question. On one hand, the veterans remaining need to improve to have trade value. Bundy, Cobb, Cashner, Trumbo, Givens. Just like Aglets said above....well I have Bundy instead of Davis. On the other hand, if it's an either or question, the answer really needs to be that the players in our system with the greatest potential value need to move towards that value. If that is true then the five need to come from this group.....Hall (65), G Rodriguez, Mountcastle, Kremmer, Diaz and Harvey who are all rated (60). That's six names of course, but I count Harvey as a throw in...IF he is healthy and durable he is perhaps the best of the bunch. But improving from last year towards his potential means staying heathy and being upright after what 70 innings? We need a lot of areas of improvement. The names with the greatest potential are the names I listed. If those 5 plus Harvey all had strong improvements...well, let's just say the kool aid would begin flowing pretty heavy. At least in my house.

I think this is nuts, not because I do not have the same skepticism that you do about the Orioles, but because, Elias, could have waited for another gig, and most certainly asked 3 direct questions to the Angelosons during his interview. 1) Can I cut Davis if I deem necessary? 2) If I decide to let Brady go, will that be a problem? 3) How quickly can I begin to sign international players? Well, this is important because it is entirely possible that the answer to number 3 above was: Next season. It's a bit frothy Corn. Like it or not, it is possible that you are correct, but there is literally zero indication from this deal the Elias does not have the freedom that ownership has stated he has. None. Again, it is possible that the pool for this year was not authorized. However, I would expect that Ownership also asked if there was anyone he wanted to spend on immediately and if Elias gave reasons and amounts, it is perfectly reasonable to assume that perhaps he merely traded some excess. Or that he was asked to begin next year....It is also likely that if he does not have the power to distribute funds...as you state above, Elias would not have taken the job. To suggest otherwise is pretty mischievous. Well said SteveA! Corn, there is every reason to be skeptical of the Orioles screwing this up. Angelosons could very well pull a Lucy and pull the rug out from under Elias. But if you think he took this job and doesn't have control, without even attempting to look reasonably at any number of rational explanations to this move. Including recognizing that the O's picked up two cheap pretty well regarded middle infielders. Well, then you are looking for ghosts. All of that said, I have learned to never underestimate the Orioles ability to mess something up. Sort of like UVA against VT in football. Always striving to pull defeat from the jaws of victory. I just don't think this relationship is anyway threatened over 6M+ of international money. Ownership either asked to not spend this year, or Elias is looking to spend X and decided to take 6M+ minus X and maybe minus some extra...just in case, and made wise use of some of the difference today. In that light, he would look pretty wise. Your way he is hog tied in the corner. I can only speculate and I am not really a gambling man, but I'd bet a whole lot that Elias is not hog tied in a corner.

Silver slugger, silver slugger.....its Rule 5 time, in Charm City....ring a ling...hear them sing...soon it will be Rule 5 day!!!!!!

I KNOW!!!! It the most wonderful time of the year!!!!! I woke the kids this morning and yelled HAPPY RULE 5 DAY!!! I think my youngest just said an F word but don't worry, I am pretty sure it was probably "Get the Frobby outta here?!" and that would certainly be awesome. But I have had Rule 5 carols playing all morning and for the record I am going to have to call you.on Sneed. I will take the field. Mostly because Elias will want to show off his ability to analyze other systems and also because Houston has probably threatened him about further thefts from their system. Anyway, everyone enjoy the Roching Rule 5 Festivities and let's let the rebuild begin! It's beginning to look a lot like Rule 5, everywhere you go....

Rock seems to be poking at him quite a bit. Or maybe just tuning his humor at Elias' expense.

It seems the numbers are about the same and in general, I would suspect that if you are not getting caught some, you are not running enough. That said, if we had a pretty good offense in 2016 and were terrible last year, it probably can be said that we were a little more aggressive with fewer chances. Again, this would be appropriate.

We did the "Jesus" thing here once...but if somehow 2019 began with both Trumbo and Davis off the roster...Elias would certainly be elevated to at least Superhero status.

I selected him in my post just for you....

It is the bane of HOF that great players like Shoeless Joe, Rose, Bonds and Clemens are not in the Hall. However, I am fine with both Bonds and Clemens staying out as long as the other two are as well. They were great players who knowingly cheated. Again, I will wholeheartedly accept Bonds and Clemens but not until they resolve Jackson and Rose. This is very true, but the issue is not going to go away. My first thoughts were: 1) I am happy for both of these guys and Baines especially is truly one of the games good guys. 2) It's ironic that in rewarding a nice guy he is seemingly being doomed forever to be marred and I cannot think of anyone that deserves that less. The line, for a very long time and certainly before the creation of saber metrics, was 3000 hits. Baines played a very very long time and did not get there. Cal did, Eddie did. Brooks was 28 hits shy of Baines, but his HOF resume was decidedly more robust. I really like Harold Baines and was happy to have him while he was here. And I am genuinely happy for him to receive this honor. But even with all of the quirks in the system, for me, when considering any HOF player, you look at not just who is in and how that player stacks up...but almost more importantly, who is NOT in and how does that player stack up to those folks. On that basis, I can see an argument for Lee Smith, even though it wouldn't really be my cup of tea, but I can understand the argument. I can not see any rationalization for making a Harold Baines argument that isn't decided by he is a hell of a nice guy so...there. I am not a WAR person really in the since that I know exactly what it means. But I have watched and played baseball for a very long time and I never saw Harold Baines as being a HOFer. The list of guys who are not in the Hall of Fame that would be worthy for consideration with Baines might include names like Fred McGriff, Mark Teixiera, Kenny Rogers and Dale Murphy. And personally I would argue that Baines would rank pretty significantly behind all of these guys. But I will go further, I would note that the following players have arguably had careers as good as or better than Baines, and like Baines ALL are former Orioles: Bobby Grich, Davey Johnson, Paul Blair, Boog Powell, Mike Cuellar, Miguel Tejada, Mark Belanger, Albert Belle, Don Buford, Brady Anderson, Adam Jones and Nick Markakis. For what it is worth, ALL of the players in both paragraphs above have at least as much WAR as Lee Smith (29) except Davey Johnson and Mike Cuellar. And the rest have as much as Baines (38.7) except Don Buford and Brady Anderson. I lumped in Adam Jones and Nick Markakis who also have less WAR than Baines, but more than Smith but are still playing. Of all of the Orioles above, only Grich to me stands out as HOF worthy. Finally in fairness to your post Atomic, and my post was not really a response to you, but only Tejada on the list above has ever been associated with steroids or betting on baseball.

Yankees are never in..... until they are in!

One thing we should acknowledge is that there really isn't any talent to evaluate on the team...Yes some of the young players will get their chance, but they are not likely to be part of any sell off because, well, they already are cheap. No, the only reason to wait is simply to see if any tweaks can be made that increase value. But the issue is really the time value of money. For example, as long as Chris Davis is not retired or suspended, he is sunk cost. The Orioles are currently projected to open with around $70M and that is huge for a team that hopes to only lose 100 games. So, if Elias could move 10M to 15M and somehow hold picks? Wouldn't he have to consider that? Doesn't his past history suggest that he will look for ways to create value both short term and long? Again, my point is he may well wait till July. But it won't be because he needs to look at talent. It will be because players needed to be on the field to create value, or he needed to see if adjustments were productive.

Of course it would not move the needle at all. You are correct. I was being facetious about Manny. We are not talking to him and he has no interest in coming...discount or premium.