Moose Milligan

Gotta love the "Why are we even talking about it?" and then 5 minutes later continuing to talk about it.

This was the game I played during Covid when there wasn’t any baseball. It’s really weird to get emotionally attached to fictional players you’ve drafted and developed. I also had an ‘86 Mets franchise going which is nice cause you can keep going and pretend that Doc and Darryl never did blow. I traded for Ozzie Smith in that one, he was amazing on defense. Maybe I’ll get back to playing it, it was fun.

I don't want to downplay it and say it was much ado about nothing. You know as well as I do there's some accepted ways to cheat in baseball (old fashioned sign stealing), some other ways that are frowned upon but still romanticized and folksy (Gaylord Perry is in the Hall of Fame) and a group that are outright terrible (funny sounding chemicals we can't pronounce being injected with needles and electronics/technology to steal signs). There are levels and nuances to this. And while I do think the Astros sign stealing scheme was pretty bad, I don't think it was the worst thing ever, certainly not the biggest atrocity in sports. It pales in comparison to something like the Black Sox scandal, keeping an entire race of people from playing in the best league in the world and the owner's collusion in the 80s (in my eyes, the worst scandal that no one talks about and has been quietly swept under the rug). But to your point, yes, to see teams cry foul against the Astros and then get busted for their own cheating is very hypocritical and no one likes a hypocrite.

Media: "Well then why the **** are we here?"

With all the self-admitted lawyers have have come out of the closet over the past couple days, Tony should change the name of this place to LawyersHangout.com, sheesh.

Right, and I don't disagree with that. But here's the deal, he can't say he's going to open up the books twice, then finally do it for the media and spin it into a sales pitch about what he wants Camden Yard to evolve into. He's going to be in front of a bunch of media members who are pissed about a bait and switch if he tries that. Now again, maybe he doesn't care about that. But I think what we're seeing here is JA making attempts to have a better relationship with the media. That's an uphill battle for him but he's made himself more available to the media in the past month than he has in the past 5 years. I don't believe that's an accident. I believe we'll get that sales pitch you've described but we're also going to see some watered down financials and nothing really major to chew on.

I'm inclined to agree but I am not sure. I think he knows what he's said and what he's promised so if he tries to venture off that, he knows he's going to get slammed in the media. But maybe he doesn't care about that. It'll certainly be interesting, that's for sure. Like I said, I'm inclined to agree with you.

It is particularly lazy and requires no effort to bash anything Angelos related. There are a lot of people who need to draw a negative inference every time he opens his mouth and I believe that won't change. From that perspective, he's damned if he talks to the media and he's damned if he doesn't. On the other hand, it takes a bit of strength and humility to give credit to someone when it's due if your initial reaction to them is one of disdain.

Just purchased it and downloaded it. I'll report back with any findings. Elias's political leanings and accusations of cheating on his wife are disappointing but it doesn't make me like him any less. He's here to do a job and by and large he's done it well. In addition to having built a good system and getting the Orioles back on the right track, he's been accessible and personable. I'm not excusing his alleged behavior in the book but I get the notion that a lot of people in high falutin' positions are cheating on their wives and like tax cuts. Looking at it from that perspective, this shouldn't be surprising. I'll also say this about the title "How Baseball's Brightest Minds Created Sports' Biggest Mess," is a bit of hyperbole. Even though I just purchased the book (this doesn't mean much, I like to read and I like to read about baseball) I think the Astros scandal is overblown and exhausting. I don't think it's the biggest mess in sports.

Watching the interview, I don't have a problem with anything he said. Rambles a little bit, a little longwinded. Doubling down on showing the financials, which will be interesting. Maybe JA is on his way to being more accessible to the media. Maybe not. But this this by far and away the most accessible that an Angelos has been in 20+ years.

How much did YOU pledge?

Sports message boards are silly. But of course you know that.

I think Angelos is the one who was being a bit of a jerk and offered Connolly to come in -along with the rest of the media- and he'd open the books for them to see. I don't believe Connolly demanded to see anything.

It's easy to bash anyone with the last name Angelos in regards to Orioles ownership. That said, signing Elias and allowing him to set up his analytics team, his Dominican scouting department and facility has been good, even great. It's really what this organization has lacked since PA purchased the team in '93; focusing on drafting and developing talent and being at the forefront of how baseball is thought of and analyzed. The Orioles had been a joke from that perspective for far too long before Elias was hired. So I don't hate John for what he's done over the past 4-5 years because by and large, I like where this franchise is. Yes, there are some things that didn't get done this offseason that I would have liked to have seen but I think we can all agree that this is most exciting time to have been a fan in a long time. Like it or not, John Angelos has presided over that and he needs to be given some credit. It's certainly far from finished, there's a long way to go. I'm confident that this team will stay in Baltimore, I don't bother getting worried about the stadium lease or Nashville rumors. If we were the A's, I'd be worried, but we're not. From my perspective, he needs to be willing to open up his wallet to retain the core of the young talent we have and bring in some free agents. I remain a bit skeptical that he'll do both, but we'll see. This is a bad take. The Orioles are a publicly visible team, Angelos is a public figure. He doesn't have to like it, but he is. There isn't any nobility in white knighting for John Angelos on a baseball message board.

Anyone can talk smack when their thread is up 6+ pages. I’m not salty, despite your perception. Would have been impressed if he had the gumption to reply on page 1 and tell me to F off, but here we are. But again, it’s not a new discussion, per SG’s post it’s a rehash of the constant talk about who has the biggest upside here and WC’s OP rankings somewhat mirrored prospect lists but had younger veterans like RMC thrown in the mix. Yeah, we know who has the high ceilings already, we talk about it all the time. Whether someone thinks Henderson is over Holiday or vice versa is a bit nit picky, they both have high ceilings at the end of the day.

Lllllluuuullllllz a day and 6 pages later you bring it up.

I’ve yet to see anyone embrace that stance. It is a straw man.

That’s the thing, I lose interest in this exercise when his list hits Bautista. And I like Bautista, but he made me too nervous far too many times last year to really want to rank him that high. IMO there’s the top 5-6 guys you could put in any order and not feel wrong about it and then there’s a mishmash of other guys. I would say the wildcard (no pun intended) could be RMC. The peripherals say he was unlucky last year. He’s got some thump and he can make contact. I don’t think his OBP will ever crack .350 and he’s never going to walk at a good clip but I could see some 40 homer seasons if he puts it all together.

It’s practically a rehash of a top prospects list. I agree ceiling is hard to define in some respects but I don’t find this really interesting at all. Adley, Gunnar, G-Rod, Hall, Holiday, Cowser in some varying order…I mean, c’mon.

Is this really a thread

Yeah, I bet this won’t flare up at all this season.

Bassitt. Verlander, too.

I think so. But they won’t be there by much.

I wanted to get the Murray one, kicking myself for not doing it. The prints usually go for a good bit more on eBay than they do if you were to purchase them directly.

Whoops, you're right.