Moose Milligan

Does wildcard have a new man crush? I remember the halcyon Pat Valaika days.

If it's a lease extension, big eyeroll from me. That's something that doesn't really need a "big announcement," IMO. A press release would suffice.

The Matt Harvey stuff is pretty sad. I bet blow is pretty prevalent in the MLB today.

Higher end of the .689 range. He's really fun to watch, though. That speed is incredible.

Rutschman should be higher than the both of them. But Mullins and Urias in the top two spots isn't bad.

I'm excited about this season, too. But I don't have confidence that it'll start anytime soon. I'd rather have another high OBP in the 2nd spot.

Well most of the players aren't Scherzer rich types. And the Scherzer rich types want everyone to make more money. I don't think Scherzer just wants the wealthier players to get even more wealthy without league minimum guys benefitting either. We agree that the younger, more productive players should get more money early on but the MLBPA is worried about the older stars being able to get paid, too. I don't think it's an argument between younger players and older players, but the MLBPA just wants everyone to earn more. I don't really have much of an issue with it. I wish I could say I care about games being played but I kind of don't right now. Maybe that's just because ST hasn't started yet and I'm really not in the mood but as I said before, the relationship between us and the MLB is purely transactional. They only care about us to the extent of which we can pay to buy tickets and tv packages and from that perspective I think everything is pretty honest. I'm not under an illusion that the owners and players care about us past the point of which they can dip their hands into our wallets. And that's fine, I'm happy to buy a ticket every so often, but I don't pretend to think they care about me personally or the fans as a collective group. So to that angle, while I'd prefer to see some baseball soon, I'm happy seeing these two groups that aren't likable duke it out over millions of dollars I'll never be able to relate to. In regards to small and mid-market fans losing, I'm assuming you mean if these guys make more money, it'll hurt the smaller and mid-market teams from the perspective of making it difficult to retain talent. I suppose that's true but we'd have to see exactly how true it is. But I don't think Tampa is still going to have a hard time competing and I keep thinking of a team like Atlanta that knew what they had in Acuna and locked him up for 10/120 early in his career which looks to be a steal. Small and mid-market teams can compete, they just need to be smart about it. I will agree that there's an emotional part to all of this, there's been a lot of time equity invested and that hurts. But I would also argue that there's more of my time spent on this board and not on the Orioles themselves. Every hour spent watching a game is probably multiplied by 3x at least in the time spent here. It's hard to divorce the two. That said, I'd be much more upset about this board shutting down instead of the Orioles missing games as I think this board has kept me invested more than the team actually has.

1.250. Anything less is unacceptable.

In 5 posts you've gone from wondering if players should be guaranteed a career in baseball and then pointing out a Rosario is rich while ignoring the Plutko saga. What's the point of this thread, WC?

I didn't really get the notion that anyone was being wronged. It merely said that not all of these guys are retiring rich.

Playing baseball and selling mainframe computers are different things. Selling to the government and baseball are two different things. @wildcardit's nothing against you when I say this but I can't stand it when people try to compare every day jobs (I work one, too) to professional athletes. On many levels, it's just not the same. That said, to answer your question, I don't think they should be guaranteed a job anywhere. A deeper dive into the article you posted: I don't disagree with any of that, except that Plutko was talented enough to help this team. But the summary that the average major leaguer does need a job after baseball, I do agree with. I also agree with this, not every player who steps on a field deserves to retire wealthy. It's a meritocracy, those who are good enough to land a big contract are able to do so. Someone like Plutko is not. But I'm not seeing anything in this article, @wildcard, that's pondering if a player should be "guaranteed a career in baseball." I find the title of your thread to be a bit misleading from that perspective. That said, I agree with your argument in response to a stance that no one else has made; that players shouldn't be guaranteed a career in baseball. I will say this: as someone who's worked as a recruiter for several years, anyone who has been a professional athlete has a leg up on anyone else competing for an entry level role. If I see anything about someone playing a professional sport on their resume, I'm calling them. There will be a lot of companies out there who'll at least interview someone based on the fact that they played professional sports. But during this whole labor thing, it seems like people are somehow thinking that the players are asking the general public to feel sorry for them which I don't really understand. It seems to be a bit of a straw man. Ive yet to see any player anywhere looking for sympathy despite claims to the contrary.

I'm not sure where the press is "taking their side" unless it's someone in an op-ed piece. Most things I've seen/read are simply stating the facts and reporting on what's happened in the negotiations. But if the press is "taking their side" I'm assuming it's because a sportswriter knows what it's like to work hard and have a publication like ESPN/Disney to make more money while their salary stays the same. That's a concept that many can relate to. In terms of your concern with the public perception, it's simple. The players are vocal, they communicate to the public about what they're doing and what they want. The owners, for the most part, do not. As many have stated in this thread, it's millionaires vs. billionaires in this dispute and I don't really have a horse in this race. You've made it very clear that you're anti-player which is puzzling to me. Looking at this in from a very black and white perspective, it's obvious to me if I had to pick a side here, who'd I'd align with: Would I want a guy like Cedric Mullins or Trey Mancini to get a little more money? Or would I rather have the Angelos family get it? From that angle, the decision is obvious.

Yep, I agree. Depends on how much time is missed. I said it before, there are other things in life. The one thing that makes me think I'd jump right back is that I watch this team out of habit and I don't know how hard it is to break that habit. The other thing, it's finally time for Rutschman and others to come up and I don't want to miss that.

I think they're going to miss a good chunk of games. It's going to take a hell of a lot to recover from this. There's no Cal Ripken Jr. about to break a record that people thought couldn't be broken to regain interest. They turned the other cheek on PEDs once already, they can't do that again. They've juiced the ball already, they can't do that again either. They better have a hell of a marketing campaign (hahaha, they're the worst) up their sleeves for when games start up again. There's really nothing on the horizon to help recover.

.825

.810+. Here's hoping he's not the slow starter type. He was brutal to watch in the early going last year.

Great move! Well done.

Seems like a good dude. I agree, good interview.

Gotta love pitchers leaving Baltimore and becoming all-stars.

Draft lottery?!?!??! No more tanking?!?!?!? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!11

Of course they don't. I mean, why should they? The exchange between fan and player and owner is purely transactional. I pay a few bucks to go to Camden Yards to see the Orioles probably lose. I buy an overpriced (they are overpriced, no one can tell me otherwise) sandwich from Boog's or one of those crab + mac and cheese hot dogs from Stuggy's (not overpriced). I cheer for the home team, I go home, end of transaction. On a similar note, I pay for a streaming service that gets me MASN for like an extra 15 bucks a month on top of what I'd normally pay. I don't buy any of the gear because I'm of a certain age and speaking for myself, I find team gear on adults to be goofy, except a hat. My dollar amount invested in the Orioles is low. As I said, it is transactional. I wouldn't pitch a fit if Tom Cruise and Paramount Pictures had an argument that would delay the next Mission Impossible movie. Do Tom Cruise and Paramount Pictures care about their fans? Of course they do, but only at 15 bucks a pop or however much a movie ticket costs these days. So they can miss a chunk of games this year. Hell, cancel the season for all I care because there's life outside of being an Orioles fan and watching this miserable franchise. There's more rewarding ways to spend time instead of watching whatever Quad-A guy they've brought up to get sacrificed to the Sox or Yankees. Sure, I'll miss it if they don't play any games but there's a lot of other stuff to do. More enriching, rewarding stuff than watching this team lose 100 games. I think part of the reason I'm invested in the team to this degree is this board and without this I probably wouldn't pay as much attention as I do. However, habits are hard to break, so if and when they do come back, I'll tune in. But it won't be because I think they value me anywhere past my wallet. That's the only degree that they care. They don't care about anything else, which I'm comfortable with.

Eh, maybe. I mean, it depends on a few things.

I'd take 25 satan worshippers if it meant winning. I really don't care.

Sure, assuming that the Dodgers cut him. He wouldn't come to a losing franchise though. Look at SG trying to start static on the board by suggesting a player he knows 90% of the people are going to be revolted by!

.725 or so. I don't really have high hopes for him. Low OBP.