theocean

I personally prefer a Paul Bako or Sal Fasano type backup catcher. One who can really provide some muscle in a dugout-clearing brawl.

Are they still annoyed at him for going to arbitration over $300,000 after a year where he had 0 RBIs?

I think you really hit on some truth here.

OK, no one is saying or thinking this. I think pretty much everyone here believes in people having second, third, or fourth chances. Everyone hopes he can turn his life around. But, Russell's ex-wife has went on record. Plenty of details about him drunkenly ripping their baby out of her arms, slamming her into concrete, and other abuse. If the O's were to sign him, I think I'd personally pass on supporting the team. It wouldn't sit right with me. I don't really look to Brandon Hyde's thoughts on the matter to be my moral compass. But, you're certainly entitled to do what sits right with you too.

Major League Baseball is an entertainment product. People don't want to root for someone who is connected to beating up their wife. Like atomic said, domestic violence is a sensitive issue because so many people have been impacted by it - and it leaves scars physically and emotionally. For too long, domestic violence was swept under the rug and not given the seriousness it deserves. For years, men who beat up women have been protected by the typical takes we always hear: "we don't know all the facts" or "women exaggerate" or "what did she do to start it." It's absolutely ridiculous. People are finally taking a stand against it - and if the O's sign Russell, they're going to have the same problem the Ravens had with Ray Rice. I hope Russell learns from his mistakes and moves on from here. But, he can do it outside a baseball diamond. No one is taking away his right to make a living. He's 25 years old and can find work somewhere else like the rest of the people in the world. He already got a second chance from the Cubs anyway.

I'd assume out-of-market describes people who get MASN via a satellite or cable provider outside a subscription package. They're paying for it a-la-carte because they personally want to watch it. They're likely a diehard fan who moved out of town. It makes sense to me that the in-market numbers have went down more, because MASN is a part of the higher-tier packages that Comcast or Verizon offer. There's probably a lot of people who had MASN previously who didn't even watch it, it was just part of the package they purchased from their cable provider. As cord-cutting has increased, that's fewer people who are paying for MASN locally - whether they were watching it or not. ESPN has the same problem. You might have heard of the term "ESPN Tax" before. ESPN is by far the most expensive channel for cable providers - a few years ago I remember it cost them about $4.50 per customer - and that cost is passed along to each of its customers, whether they are watching ESPN or not. Ultimately, I see why MASN wants to avoid a MLB.tv type option - there's no long-term commitment. People rarely change their cable service, but its pretty easy to choose not to renew a MLB.tv subscription if your team is going to suck that year.

The Marlins have invested heavily in analytics since the change in ownership. Do a quick Google search and you'll find articles describing what they've done. I think pretty much every team has a sizable analytics department now. The Orioles were just one of the last holdouts unfortunately - do to a number of reasons.

YES was paying the Yankees about $85M before they sold to Fox, so that's actually not too shabby for a much smaller market.

Great work, Frobby. Really appreciate the time you've spent explaining a very complicated issue in a very understandable way.

Yes, I have. I'm not really sure what you mean here, weams. Are you comparing Houston's size to Baltimore's?

I really resist the notion that the only alternative is what the O's did from 1998-2011. Those were just really poorly operated teams with a lot of people in roles they shouldn't have been in to begin with. There's plenty of different rebuild strategies besides Astroball-tear-it-down-to-the-studs.

I get what you're saying, but I think the entire reason people are on board with Elias' plan is that they expect Astros-level success: World Championship and deep playoff appearances.

He's always struggled at getting on base. Not great with the glove. I'm not a big Franco fan.

I'd hope they'd take a look at Jimmy Nelson, Taijuan Walker, and Aaron Sanchez. They'll probably end up outside their price range, though. Jose Peraza is intriguing. He was pretty bad last year, but he's only a year removed from solid year. There were actually a lot of solid players let go yesterday, but I have the feeling that most of them will get offers outside of what the Orioles are willing to do.

I think we all need to stop acting like going to an Ivy League school makes someone have super powers. First and foremost, it just means that your family has enough money for you to go to a really expensive school.

I agree. The results of the tanking have to exceed the results of a typical rebuild. If Elias puts the Orioles through five 100+ loss seasons or whatever - they better win a Championship and have more than the three postseason appearances of DD/Buck's 2012-2016.

No matter what happens with Villar, no matter what we disagree about - I just want everyone to know that you all are worth 4 WAR in my heart.

I would totally buy a season ticket plan if MASN streaming was included.

I usually have absolutely no understanding of what AJ Preller is trying to do in general.

I agree. If the organization is cold and heartless to its players - fans will end up feeling cold and heartless toward the organization.

The general assumption is that the Orioles will non-tender Villar if another team does not acquire him, either via waiver claim or trade. The O's could also work out a deal with Villar, still. But, I can't see that happening - assuming that the Orioles aren't going to offer Villar a multi-year deal.

It's one of those things that makes a strike look possible, for sure.

The bummer about Front Offices switching to a complete analytics approach is that a lot players don't even get a chance to beat their projections.

I think you're missing the point, especially with the bolded comment. No one is saying they expect a team to spend all of its money every year. To start, teams play in taxpayer funded stadiums. Minute Maid Park specially was built with $180M in public funds, which was 68% of the total cost. So, no, it's not like a typical corporation. There's an expectation that a baseball team holds up to their side of the bargain. There's an expectation that the team is supposed to provide an economic stimulus in return for that taxpayer money. You're starting to see cities resist new stadium deals - or the Olympics for that matter- because they realize its a raw deal for them. Second, baseball is an entertainment product. People can choose to spend their money on what entertains them. And, people are starting to realize that paying a lot of money to watch a crappy team while a rich guy gets richer isn't entertainment for them.

Yes, they are. They are also included in those numbers. Like Corn said, the Astros got back a significant amount of money in those deals.