Keith Law hating on the Orioles big time.

[SilentJames]

I think the Rays have regressed a bit, but I think if Manny is healthy, he is going to have a monster season. Just a hunch.

I doubt it. I mean people are worried about Vlad, Manny is two years older; put up a sub-800 OPS as a DH last year and is a clubhouse disaster.

Can you really see Maddon putting up with Manny's sulking?

[Sports Guy]

Dude get off it already. You are on a website for BALTIMORE ORIOLE FANS! Get it? If Law said this stuff about any other team, and you posted it to their board, what do you think they would say? EVERY fan base has fans like this. I don't get why you keep bringing this up. Why waste your time? Some fans don't ever take off their "team colored" glasses, some fans are very negative, and some fans are in between. You act like because someone disagrees with Law over something that is negative, that he/she is in this group of people that will never accept anything negative about their team. Then you generalize most of the board as being the same.

I don't read Law, but based on these comments, I don't agree with a lot of what he said. I guess I'm predictable to.

The issue isn't that people disagree with him. The issue I have is how he is getting slammed by some.

If you think Law is some hack and has no knowledge, I am fine with that.

But if link to his stuff about him liking our young pitching and saying how good it is to hear someone like Law pumping up our players, then you can't think he is some hack.

Essentially, you like him and his knowledge if he says good stuff but have no respect for him if he says bad stuff. That's hypocritical.

Personally, I think his Reynolds stuff is wacky. I think SayO was 100% correct in his assessment of Law and how he probably used to view Reynolds.

But just because I disagree with him doesn't mean I think he is some guy that has no knowledge or anything like that.

I respect what he has to say and I think he is largely correct. I think we are the 4th best team in the division with the chance to be better or worse than that but I think its wrong to say we are clearly the worst.

I also think he is way off about Reynolds.

Disagreeing is fine...Taking it to the next step like some have isn't fine.

[reisig08]

I'll be more impressed with Keith Law if he admits he was wrong in September when the Orioles finish in 3rd place. THAT would be something...

[RandyM]

Well, apparently your version of the truth might hurt, but I think it's a bunch of crap.

The Orioles added two players in their prime in Reynolds and Hardy and filled in areas of need with solid veterans without blocking a single realistic minor league option.

It's pipe dream to think the Orioles just took $8 million from their scouting and development budget. Guess what, the Orioles weren't going to spend that money on scouting regardless. People like Law and other so-called experts in the national media have no clue how things work in the organization so they assume money spent here means money not spent elsewhere.

The Orioles did exactly what they should have done this offseason. They improved in four positions in their lineup without touching their core young starting pitchers.

I'd like to know what these experts think we should have done this offseason? I guess the Orioles are not suppose to better themselves because clearly we are not going to contend right? Bullcrap!

We have our core pitching prospects (minus Britton) here now. Wieters is here now. It's time to get out of the defeatist attitude that the Orioles are supposed to just lay down. Lay down until when? When in the hell are we supposed to "go for it?" Who in the hell are we waiting on?

Should the Orioles do more in international scouting? ABSO-Freakin'-lutely. Should the Orioles pour more money into the Rule-4 draft and hiring more scouts? Sure. But anyone who thinks the $8 million spent on Vlad somehow set us back just doesn't get how things work.

The Orioles success hinges on the continued development of the young starting pitchers, along with the development of players like Markakis, Jones, and Wieters.

I've been a critic of MacPhail when I thought it needed to be said, but at the same time I'm giving him credit for making this team much better than it was last year. Did the Red Sox improve? Absolutely. Are we in the toughest Division in baseball? Right on the mark!

But at the end of the day I don't see how anyone can not think this team is better than the team from last year, a team who's historically bad start made their record much worse than it should have been.

We might not contend this year, I certainly don't know, but I do know that if things break for the team that they can be much more competitive and could be in the wild card hunt.

I completely and utterly reject any notion that this off season hurt the organization's development in any way. If we were trading young core pieces for guys like Lee or Vlad then I could understand, but the only player we gave up of value this offseason with David Hernandez and Kevin Gregg was signed as his replacement.

The only truth is the haters are hating because it's convenient. The Orioles are going to be continually bashed in the national press until they start to win. I completely understand that, but it's sad to see some around here buy into what the national media tells them is right.

Maybe someone shot me up with orange koolaid steroids or something but I tell you what, for the first time in many, many years, I believe in this team. I believe for once they have the horses to challenge for a wildcard if some things go right.

I'd be shocked and disappointed if this team doesn't win at least 85 games. That won't win them a WC, but it certainly shows they are moving in the right, not wrong direction.

Have we improved from last year? Yes, we clearly plugged in some serious holes.

Is there more excitement than previous years? Yes

Are we moving in the right direction? I say that we are moving laterally, but not keeping up with the Jones's (AL East)

Are we clearly the worst team in the toughest division? No, but I would think the odds of us making the playoffs are greater than us finishing last in the division.

Is it a terrible idea to take a shot at making the playoffs with these 1 year type deals? Not at all especially if you energize your fan base.

Law was pretty harsh with his assessment, but the general idea is there. This year can be a lot better year than years/decades before, but don't get too excited about suddenly becoming a wild card team.

[mefogus]

As is your reaction to my reaction.

Yes, but as you like to point out you've been here for years and years and have almost 100k posts. My predictable reaction(s) contribute far less to the mindless buzzing.

[Mr Snuffleupagus]

I agree with what Law says about Vlad. I never supported the acquisition for the same reasons. That said, he's just flat wrong about a couple of things here.

Reynolds. Isn't the total scrub he makes him out to be. He's way off base with his comments about his defense and it's been well documented that while his 200 K's are a bit daunting but that he makes up for that by getting on base at a good clip. He's 27, has room to improve, and could be locked up long term if he's everything we hope he is. If not, maybe Josh Bell is the answer, but at least we have 2 viable possibilities

Hardy. Same as Reynolds. Young and capable. Worst case he flounders and we have Machado starting OD 2013. Again, we have 2 viable long term solutions.

Lee. He basically suggesting that we should have solved the problem internally. But, who else did he expect us to run out there on OD? Lee is going to provide value to us at a position of great need and if this team is way out of it come July we might be able to get a nice piece in return for him.

[Tony-OH]

I thought the exact same thing when reading Law's comments.

Like I've said, I really like the moves because they are solid decisions for the 2011 season. They don't affect payroll for future seasons. They are risky, but they have a lot of reward. And really, there weren't many other players that MacPhail could sign that would have made this team better.

Just once, instead of criticizing every team, I'd like to see an analyst be "armchair GM" and go through each signing/trade that they would make in an off-season, given the minor league and payroll knowledge they have.

On top of it all, the Orioles did not sign or take on any potentially damaging contracts. The two guys they signed for the lineup were one-year deals.

I can understand if someone doesn't like the guys acquire, and I can understand if someone doesn't think our young players are that good, but I can't for the life of me understand how anyone could think the Orioles damaged their long-term health with this off season.

Make no sense, NONE!

[Fan4Life]

Are we moving in the right direction? I say that we are moving laterally, but not keeping up with the Jones's (AL East)

This seems to be a common theme. Shouldn't we wait until the year plays out and see what pieces, if any, are acquired from the FA assets we've signed?

The only criticism I can support at this point is that AM has not shown the ability to bring in any talent that wasn't discounted for one reason or another. So we don't know if he can / is able to that when the time arrives. He may not be here to find out.

[clapdiddy]

Have we improved from last year? Yes, we clearly plugged in some serious holes.

Is there more excitement than previous years? Yes

Are we moving in the right direction? I say that we are moving laterally, but not keeping up with the Jones's (AL East)

Are we clearly the worst team in the toughest division? No, but I would think the odds of us making the playoffs are greater than us finishing last in the division.

Is it a terrible idea to take a shot at making the playoffs with these 1 year type deals? Not at all especially if you energize your fan base.

Law was pretty harsh with his assessment, but the general idea is there. This year can be a lot better year than years/decades before, but don't get too excited about suddenly becoming a wild card team.

I agree with what you are saying here and even if we get to the playoffs, it doesn't mean that we're done building this organization.

I think what a lot of people miss here is that we didn't have any type A or B free agents this offseason that would help us add to our development pool. We didn't have the trade chips to make a significant move. Teams were not going to give up premium young talent for Scott and/or Guthrie.

As I stated, I think there were some other fringe moves we could have made to add talent to this team. I don't think there were necessarily any long-term solutions, though.

[Phantom]

In general, I like Law and respect his opinions. He usually does not slam 1-year contracts even when others classify them as "overpaying" because they are low-risk maneuvers. So I am a bit surprised at his trashing of the O's offseason moves.

His main weakness in evaluations is that he stubbornly clings to his past assessments. While he does admit when players do change, he is slow to come around on those assessments.

Mark Reynolds WAS a bad defender, perhaps the worst fielding 3B in 2008 according to the fielding bible. But is that an accurate assessment of Reynold's capabilities and his future performance? Many feel that he is slightly below average to average at the hot corner NOW.

Similarly, KLaw loved Josh Bell and continues to believe in him. But Josh Bell was clearly overmatched last year and has no business on a big league roster right now.

At various points over the last few years, Vlad has looked like toast. But he has also produced >.900 OPS for portions of a season.

Law picks an evaluative position and asserts that. But his assertions come across as ignoring the range of outcomes possible. And that's tough to swallow as a baseball observer.

Well written and much better than most of the responses here:

- He's not trashing the 1 year moves because of their risk, he's trashing them because they are blocking young players development (or at least information gathering about young players) and because he thinks the cash could have been better spent elsewhere. While we have no idea if that cash relates to other cash, this organization has a certain history, and thus the critique is fairly legitimate, at least in my eyes.

- I agree that he was too harsh on Reynolds on all fronts.

- Your point about VLAd having ">.900 OPS for portions of a season" is your weakest I feel. Clearly there are a lot of baseball people that feel that Vlad is washed up, or near washed up, and Law is one of them. All the risk statistics seem to back him, as Vlad has a huge collapse percentage.

- Maybe he's ignoring the range, but I think his point was, the range puts us at a high of .500, which is not the sort of team that should be bringing in old talent on short term contracts that blocks young talent. It's the type of team that should be using every resource it has to develop scouting, development, etc. With the exception of being too hard on Reynolds, I think he makes some solid points.

[Tony-OH]

I doubt it. I mean people are worried about Vlad, Manny is two years older; put up a sub-800 OPS as a DH last year and is a clubhouse disaster.

Can you really see Maddon putting up with Manny's sulking?

Absolutely. Manny might have been cheaper, but who thinks that situation is going turn out good? Add in the fat that the guy gave nothing, and I mean nothing to the White Sox after being acquired during a pennant race and I think his chances of rebounding are a lot smaller than some might think.

Imagine what Law would have said if we had signed Manny and Damon? The Rays apparently get a pass. It's a double standard if you ask me.

[ScottieBaseball]

But not signing those guys doesn't somehow magically create sure-fire, can't miss prospects...this is a false dichotomy. What's wrong with improving the MLB club on deals that have no negative impact on our future? Answer: Nothing.

Oh, I agree and I'm not saying I agree totally with Law. But like I said, outside of Baltimore, 85 wins will get a "so what"? and probably a 4th-place finish in the AL East.

As an O's fan, I haven't been this excited about an off-season and headed into spring training in a long, long time. However, I still have long-term concerns regarding organizational depth as it pertains to position players.

Law's flaw, in my opinion, is drawing a conclusion between that lack of depth and the moves the O's made this off-season. There's no proof that the O's robbed Peter (player development, international scouting, etc.) to pay Paul (the Big League club). There's not really a link between the off-season acquisitions of Vlad, Lee, Reynolds, and Hardy. It's not like there were surefire, can't miss, MLB-ready, and available young players that could have been acquired in the place of those names.

Drafting/acquiring/developing those players is something that the club still needs to do.

In comparison to the 2010 roster, I'm sure Buck's satisfied with the improvement. At this point, if Buck's happy I'm happy.

[Sports Guy]

I think the Vlad signing is the one that most of these guys have issue with.

Whether you want to believe in Pie and/or Reimold is on you. However, it is naive to deny that the talent is there and the possibility of them being long term options is there.

That doesn't mean it will happen..It just means it is possible.

So, because of that possibility, these writers feel those guys should have the at bats...Personally, i think they are correct.

While there is some long term upside with Vlad, a lot of that upside is very limited and there is a much better chance of this move not helping us long term.

The Gregg signing was just poor...A horrible use of money. HOWEVER, as poor as that signing was, its not like we have some more DH's in the immediate future to come up and be in the pen. So, as long as the Gregg signing doesn't prevent us from doing anything else, its probably relatively harmless in terms of blocking anyone.

I don't see how you can even question the Lee, Hardy and Reynolds moves. I mean, you do have to try and put a good product out there and if you do that without blocking anyone, that's even better...The Orioles aren't blocking anyone.

If Bell shows he is ready to be a star, he will get time up here...There is no doubt about that.

But I still think it comes back to the Vlad deal. The salary was too much, it blocked 2 potential long term options and he appears to be breaking down physically. So, you can question that signing.

I think if Vlad had not been signed and Pie and Reimold were going to be out there, that the "outrage" wouldn't really exist from guys like Law.

[Sports Guy]

On top of it all, the Orioles did not sign or take on any potentially damaging contracts. The two guys they signed for the lineup were one-year deals.

I can understand if someone doesn't like the guys acquire, and I can understand if someone doesn't think our young players are that good, but I can't for the life of me understand how anyone could think the Orioles damaged their long-term health with this off season.

Make no sense, NONE!

I think the only true damage that was POTENTIALLY done comes back to keeping Scott and Guthrie, coming off of years where their value was likely at its highest.

If those guys have off years this year, going into their last arb season where they will make good money, the Orioles will have really screwed up by not trading them.

But I don't think any of these moes will really hurt the long term health of the team...provided that money is spent on amateur talent.

[mefogus]

I don't see how you can even question the Lee, Hardy and Reynolds moves. I mean, you do have to try and put a good product out there and if you do that without blocking anyone, that's even better...The Orioles aren't blocking anyone.

I think I agree with everything you've written, especially the quoted part. I take a softer stance on the Vlad signing, but my leaning is generally that it was unnecessary. But at least it wasn't crippling. After 1,000,000 bad seasons in a row I suspect my expectations have been dampened. :-(