Can_of_corn

This one?

Yea, once again, Rays are in this division. Your point still doesn't make sense.

That makes no sense. I mean, muting me does if you make posts like this all the time I can see how you wouldn't want to read my responses. The O's HAVE to tank so they can do the same thing as a team that has had one top 10 pick since 2008? Are the Rays still living off that Beckham pick?

Do you know Tampa is in a division with Boston, Toronto and New York? They won the division in 2020 and 2021.

Neither can I.

I go hard with Sumerian math and use base 12.

I'd rather the players get paid than the owners keep the money. I think the labor agreement between the two sides falls apart if ownership flatly refuses to spend money on players.

I agree with you. But the question is, does a team owe it to fans, players and the other teams to at least make an attempt to field a competitive team? MLB and the the PU seem to think so since rules have been put into place to curb the sort of behavior the O's engaged in.

I'm not really trying to. I'm just saying it's really hard to define. Voth and Scott were just two easy examples. Not as if Scott had been traded for Bautista, they could have had both or ended up with neither.

"Agreed in principal to a deal that will keep the Orioles in Baltimore and at Camden Yards for at least the next 30 years!" Is that too much legal jargon for you? They could have done that, they chose not to because the optics of that statement weren't as pleasing.

I read the actual statement. That is why I said it was an attempt at obfuscation in which they tried to fool people into thinking something has happened that hasn't. That statement is designed to make it appear that the deal is completed when it isn't. I think you know as well as I do that sometimes teams announce a free agent deal and it doesn't actually happen.

He's clearly a clubhouse cancer! Also, check out that goofy Mountcastle smile, what is with that guy?

No clue. It depends on your definitions. How much credit do you get for someone like Voth? He was pulled off the scrap heap in 2022 and had a solid half a season and then was below replacement this year. Is that a success? Tanner Scott put up a better rWAR than Bautista did. How big an L is that? I saw plenty of guys like Dwight Smith Jr filter through the program. Did he hit on a higher percentage or did he have more crap to throw at the wall? My instinct is that he hits (and misses) at pretty close the same rate as everyone else.

It's a deliberate attempt at obfuscation where they attempt to fool people into thinking one thing happened when something else happened. If you don't want to call that a lie, I guess I can't make you.

We've always had our own success stories. Steve Peace for example. Guthrie. O'Day. Hardy. That's not an Elias thing. You win some, you lose some. Not every developmental system is going to work for every player.

The question is how long. And you are kidding yourself if you don't think gutting payroll to increase profitability wasn't a core reason for the tank. Is the DSL facility completed? I've not heard that it is. Basallo has nothing to do with the new facility. The have still lost guys under Elias, Tanner Scott and Yaz for example. It's part of the game. I'm not mad about it but don't pretend Elias is immune.

If you were on the clock when you did it I suggest you don't mention it at all.

It means that John wanted to announce a deal was done in order to maximize positive press but of course nothing has actually been finalized.

This probably isn't going to be a popular take right now but I will say that how the team has done this year shows that they didn't need to show up with an intentionally noncompetitive roster in 2021. I don't think anyone had an issue with the 2018 sell off or the 2019 tank.

So it isn't signed. Can't imagine he'd back out now but still typical behavior.

MLB signed a deal with Roomba.

If you ain't first you stink!

If I had a guy working for me and I didn't agree with his decision making, I'd tell him. Elias also has the ability to remove Mateo as an option.

It might not have been. He seems dim enough that maybe he thought he could get the State to sweeten the deal, despite the matching language the Ravens had in place.