24fps

As far as personal income is concerned, I assume that some of it comes from the team, some from the law firm, some from investments and some is his wife's income. Maybe he sits on a couple of boards. But I'm just assuming. I know of no requirement for him to make all the revenues generated from the team public and by what method he chooses to reinvest what percentage in the team. If and when that knowledge becomes public then we will have a basis for concluding whether it's sufficient or not. It's pretty clear that he has no appetite for deficit funding, but hey John, prove me wrong.

A little optimistic on Adley maybe, but good to see nonetheless.

It's sad to say, but ever since Palmeiro's ridiculous GG award a couple of decades ago, I place roughly the same value on losing out on a GG as I do on a spring training error.

Dunno. JA never did open the books like he promised Melewski. Do you have any inside knowledge?

John Angelos has never had the final say on a genuinely competitive team until now, so there is no history of his decisions making tendencies in that environment. After several seasons in the $23-45 million range during the rebuild, payroll jumped to $71 million after their first winning season in 2022. (Total payroll numbers from Spotrac) The Orioles have a history of spending, if not generously then sufficiently, when the quality of the team warrants it. Elias has faithfully followed the Astros rebuild roadmap so far and that map indicates another meaningful payroll increase for 2024. I believe that's the plan he sold JA on five years ago and everything is right on schedule. Most here agree that 2024 will be a litmus test for John Angelos, and after 2023 there really is no place for him to hide, so I think that he'll make more that a token gesture - one large enough to make a difference, and the team doesn't need all that much. That said, if he has one superpower, it's probably his ability to not care about the Orioles fanbase, or at the very least understand it. So I get the skepticism and I don't expect a Mets/Padres/Yankees fireworks display, but I don't see what a rigid "show me" stance gains anyone along the way. We'll have our answer about what to expect going forward by Opening Day at the latest.

Seth Lugo Nick Martinez

Good fit. Affordable. Sign me up. Based on 2023 payroll numbers, a $20 million bump moves the O's from 29 to 26. A $25 million bump moves them to 23-24 in the MLB. It is time to stop acting as if they will stay in the bottom 2-3 teams when it comes to payroll. Bottom 10 for 2024? Sure.

1. Holliday SS 2. Henderson 3B 3. Kjerstad RF 4. Mayo 1B 5. Basallo DH (1B, C) 6. Rutschman C 7. Cowser LF 8. Westburg 2B 9. Bradfield, Jr. CF Rotation 1. Rodriguez 2. Bradish 3. Means (Extended) 4. Seth Johnson 5. Cade Povich Not a bad starting point at all.

Every pairing makes some kind of sense except 5. Why would you have to choose between Mayo and Basallo? In my mind both are as close to untouchable as anyone in the minors except Holliday.

The way I phrased it is just another way to emphasize that fans need to adjust their expectations about how the team will be run now that it is demonstrably competitive. I completely agree with Elias’ goal and that “competitive windows” is a stupid management concept.

This offseason, a meaningful number of other AL teams will be more aggressive than "this team does not need to add much {to} improve." IMO you've sketched a solid starting point for approaching 2024.

No major trades? If Elias is afraid of losing a trade every now and then, then he doesn't have any business being a GM. The more important variable to me is how many prospects turn into Actual Major League Baseball Players - a number we all know is well below 100%. 101 wins means the rebuild is over and the competitive window is open, so the job now is improving the team for 2024. To me that means cashing in a few prospects regardless of the risks. It also means spending more money whether John Angelos wants to or not. It doesn't need to be top-half, but if the budget for 2024 remains in the lowest quartile then we will all have our answer as to what aspirations JA has for the Orioles. After last season, I'm not going to assume the O's are going to remain bottom feeders, but I don't expect a huge, all-in strategy either. My guess is around a $20 million bump in OD payroll. I agree with trading one of Santander or Hays for SP. My preference is Hays. I don't care which of Cowser or Kjerstad is the one kept. I would love to see Mayo switched to RF at AAA as Santander's long-term replacement beginning in 2025.

I will be surprised and more than a little disappointed if he doesn't have at least another $20 million above 2023's payroll authorized and earmarked for the 26-man.

I don't believe Elias will spend more than $2.5-3 million on any pure reliever now or anytime in the near future. In the 5 years he's run the O's baseball operations, the only example of him spending that kind of money on relief pitching is reacquiring FA Mychal Givens for $3 million in 2023 and retaining Voth for $1.85. I don't believe Fujinami will be retained so his 2023 baseline salary won't factor in. My theory is that Sig has a super fancy algorithm showing it's a poor use of resources.

Jordan Hicks. The reliever.

Here's two more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/10/30/frank-howard-dies-tribute/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/10/30/washington-senators-frank-howard-dies/

I missed the part about the delayed response. Slow-rolling is unprofessional, shouldn't happen and definitely is a bad look. The industry norm is for permission to be granted for possible promotions, but the societal norm is for contracts to be honored and that is where the emphasis ought to be placed IMO. I despise the phrase "it's just business" but there are times when it's appropriate and preventing a genuinely key executive from being poached would be one of them. Elias wasn't under contract when he interviewed with the O's so it's a moot point. I believe the same was true with Sig but I'm not sure. If Sig was under contract and prevented from following ME then that would be regrettable but in no way outrageous.

I don't think it's necessarily a bad look. My argument is that the time and expense the Orioles just went through to rebuild the organization has a lot of value and the bad look is on Boston (or any other team) if they think they can swoop in and cherry pick a key component of another team's rebuild to speed up fixing their own mess. And if the Red Sox decide that they're going to retaliate in the future, well that's tomorrow's problem and one that's not likely to be all that impactful. No one will argue that maintaining morale is critical, but OTOH it's perfectly reasonable to expect loyalty commensurate to the opportunity an executive is being given. Say what you will about John Angelos, but it looks like he's provided Elias and Mejdal everything they've needed to do their job and it isn't finished yet. The Blue Jays trying to hire away Duquette was a different situation. He was directly contacted by the Blue Jays owner bypassing accepted procedure and directly flouting the rules against tampering. Understandably PA pushed back hard. There was very much a legal dimension to that situation that doesn't look to be the case here. I suspect that, industry wide, these interview requests are more common than we know and are denied more often as well, but I don't know for sure.

I’m sure he was consulted out of respect if nothing else, but if he’s under contract it wouldn’t be automatic. Because tampering is an issue the “courtesy” of allowing poaching if a promotion is attached is still formal.

More’s the pity. If that’s the case then I understand Manfred’s reluctance, but baseball would have survived.

Protocol would dictate the request first go to the top baseball guy, but we all know that Angelos would ultimately make the final decision.

Best news I've heard all day.

Santander, Henderson, Rutschman, O'Hearn and Hicks are all within .017 points of each other in OPS with Santander being lowest. That said, there's an overall truthiness to your statement that I hope Elias takes to heart.

Westburg: On the team and starting at 2B. Ortiz: On the team and starting at SS on opening day. Mateo not retained and Ortiz moves to Utility if/when Holliday is ready in 2024. Cowser/Kjerstad: On the team and splitting time in LF and DH. Hays traded. Hall: Bullpen assuming he doesn't win a rotation spot which I think is unlikely. Mayo, Holliday and McDermott in AAA to start the season. Agree that Stowers and Norby are trade bait along with one of Cowser/Kjerstad.

Take them into account all you want, but even bad gamblers pause before risking more than they can afford to lose. That includes those who are "certain" and consider $20 million "irrelevant".