Keith Law hating on the Orioles big time.

[carolinaoriole]

Keith law always makes the same mistake when he discusses baseball.

He shares his opinions!!!

[Abadie]

Here's what I want to know.

Law and posters on this board are commenting on the following:

*bad contracts for Vets that won't live up to their contracts and/or make a difference with the end result of the 2011 season for the Orioles

*taking $ away from international scouting and locking up our 2011 amateur draft picks

Honestly, NO ONE knows how much $ Angelos is willing to spend. We could turn it around this season, finish in 3rd place, generate some excitement around the city and PA might pony up some additional cash for the draft/international scouting.

My only gripe and agreement w/Law is the limited # of at bats for Pie/Reimold at the ML level. At the same time, injuries always arise and they'll get more at bats than people think.

[markdublya]

I usually like Law's articles, but this is a bit of a head scratcher (and I am not an orange colored glasses guy).

Wasn't he also the author of "Unleashes Hellfire"??

[Sports Guy]

Keith law always makes the same mistake when he discusses baseball.

He shares his opinions!!!

Really? Law has been higher on many of our pitching prospects than most of the prognosticators out there. Is he wrong there too? Or is he only when wrong when those with their heads buried in the sand don't like what he has to say?

If he was blowing sunshine up your butt about the O's this year, would you be saying he is wrong?

This board is so predictable.

[PrivateO]

I can agree with him on the Vlad move and how that COULD be a hindrance on our international scouting and draft money. If signing that eliminates some cash for those funds, then I bet a lot of people here would agree that that was a very poor move. We'll find out come summer time.

I disagree with his take on Reynolds. The strikeouts don't lie, but we've read from several people that Reynolds' defense is actually better than advertised. Just from reading the quotes, it looks like Law has a serious issue with him.

I am very happy with the O's moves this off season. Some pundits are, some are not. But to say this team is not improved is pretty inane. Glaring holes at 1B, 3B, and SS were filled. Time will tell whether these will prove to be successful, because all have a few risks. But from what we had in 2010, there wasn't much to trade away to get young talent that Law talks about. The good news is that none of the contracts that the O's made will kill them for multiple seasons. In a perfect world, Vlad, Lee, and Hardy have monster first halves so that MacPhail can trade them at the deadline or net some draft picks at the end of the season.

But again, time will tell whether this offseason was a good one or not.

[Sports Guy]

One of the constants of many of these national guys is them bringing up the amount of money we are wasting and how it should be used in other ways.(ie, amateur talent)

Well, if the Orioles show that they will spend a lot of money in those areas this year and bring in a lot of international talent and spend big in the draft, then I think a lot of these people would say that what they did this offseason ended up being a good thing.

But right now, they are basically saying, prove to me that you will spend that money where you need to spend it, while also ramping up your team payroll.

I see nothing wrong with that thought process.

I don't agree with his assessment about Reynolds and I don't think you can state, CLEARLY, that the Orioles are the worst team in this division HOWEVER, I don't take issue with anything else he said.

[PrivateO]

One of the constants of many of these national guys is them bringing up the amount of money we are wasting and how it should be used in other ways.(ie, amateur talent)

Well, if the Orioles show that they will spend a lot of money in those areas this year and bring in a lot of international talent and spend big in the draft, then I think a lot of these people would say that what they did this offseason ended up being a good thing.

But right now, they are basically saying, prove to me that you will spend that money where you need to spend it, while also ramping up your team payroll.

I see nothing wrong with that thought process.

This is how I see it too. Come June, if the Orioles take the BPA or a guy in a position of need (rather than a signable player) and the guys they signed/traded for are playing well, then I think some analysts will ease off of their criticisms. It all depends if the money for someone like Vlad was taken out of the international/draft budget, or it came from somewhere else.

[lanslaxcj]

[quote name=

by the way: Hardy and Reynolds are old now?

Agreed. Just because these guys have mashed before and may be a season or two removed from huge numbers doesn't make them old. They are still young, just not as young as they used to be. Silly quote by Mr. Law. I guess if you're not the Red Sox or Yankees you get no love.

[Singleton]

Truth hurts...I know people have been excited because we have been making SOME kind of moves, but in the long run he's right, we aren't doing anything to grow as a young team, just adding complementary pieces to a team still in need of an identity.

This!

There is a reasonable chance that Lee, Vlad and Hardy will not be on the team this time next year. It's hard not to view them as band-aids.

There is some logic to each move on its own but the strategy of relying on 2 aging vets and a brittle player in his contract year for the team with the 4th worst record in baseball (year after year) is certainly worth questioning.

I know there is some thought that by being a middle of the pack team, things will get better for us. The dark cloud will go away. Higher lever free agents will take our money with a smile instead of a grimmace. Maybe it will work.

But without adding any young talent (upper level minor leaguers with significant promise) I worry that we will be in the same situation next year.

[ilbm88]

What other younger players?

Fielder, gonzalez, reyes, broxton and papelbon.

[Tony-OH]

http://www.masnsports.com/steve_melewski/2011/02/keith-law-criticizes-the-os-offseason-moves.html

Steve Melewski did a phone interview with Kieth Law yesterday and let's just say he's not a fan of the O's chances or the moves we made. A few quotes below, but I encourage you to read the whole article.

I understand how difficult the AL East is, but I don't think you can say that we are clearly the worst team in the division and to say we have very little chance of getting to .500

Let's just say I seriously disagree and think he ought to keep his focus on the minors.

[El Gordo]

I'm surprised he was so against the Reynolds acquisition. Keith Law seems like the last person who would care about high strikeout numbers for a hitter-- it's like he was possessed by Joe Morgan. That's very unlike Law.

Also, why does he consider Reynolds a "brutal" defensive third baseman? By most reports, isn't he about average or slightly below?

KL thinks Reynolds is a brutal 3B. Cal thinks he's very good. Guess who's opinion I give credence to? :rolleyestf:

[Tony-OH]

Really? Law has been higher on many of our pitching prospects than most of the prognosticators out there. Is he wrong there too? Or is he only when wrong when those with their heads buried in the sand don't like what he has to say?

If he was blowing sunshine up your butt about the O's this year, would you be saying he is wrong?

This board is so predictable.

So the O's are the worse team by far in the AL East? If you agree with that, just say it and go on record.

The only predictable thing is you talking in absolutes and making lumping the board into some group think mentality that doesn't exist.

You wanna hate on the Orioles with Law go right ahead, but go on record and don't hide behind Law's opinions.

[Sports Guy]

So the O's are the worse team by far in the AL East? If you agree with that, just say it and go on record.

The only predictable thing is you talking in absolutes and making lumping the board into some group think mentality that doesn't exist.

You wanna hate on the Orioles with Law go right ahead, but go on record and don't hide behind Law's opinions.

LOL...Yea Tony, I hide from other opinions. How about you continue reading other posts before you respond to this one and you will see how silly this sounds.

However, if Law was praising the Orioles, you can bet there wouldn't be comments like the one Carolinaoriole said.

When Law has praised Britton, Tillman and Arrieta, how many posters have come on here bashing his opinion about them?

[carolinaoriole]

Really? Law has been higher on many of our pitching prospects than most of the prognosticators out there. Is he wrong there too? Or is he only when wrong when those with their heads buried in the sand don't like what he has to say?

If he was blowing sunshine up your butt about the O's this year, would you be saying he is wrong?

This board is so predictable.

Good morning sunshine