I'm going to make a bold statement. I don't think Andy MacPhail is employed by the Orioles any more.

[crawjo]

Except MacPhail's moves were not the best ones possible for the team. He had other alternatives that would have been better, but he could not deviate from his own philosophy in order to pursue them.

A GM should put the team's success over their own philosophy. MacPhail has never done this.

He's constantly made statements about "this is the only way we can win" when teams in the very same division have proven otherwise and their ability to adapt to take advantage of opportunities when they arise is what keeps them a level above the Orioles.

Every GM has a philosophy. Putting "the team" ahead of your philosophy is like saying they should do things they think won't help the team. Anyway, despite the failures of the young players MacPhail has made three trades that have brought more talent to the team than we gave up: the trade for Jones, the trade for Hardy, and the trade for Reynolds. But I guess he doesn't care if the Orioles win or lose, otherwise he would have traded for Prince Fielder or some other nonsense that you think would have made things better than they are right now.

[Frobby]

Every GM has a philosophy. Putting "the team" ahead of your philosophy is like saying they should do things they think won't help the team.

Exactly. You go into the job with a plan for how you want to build the team, and you try to execute that plan. MacPhail's plan didn't involve going out to spend huge dollars on free agents before the team was improved significantly, so JTrea faults him because MacPhail's plan wasn't his plan. Not that Angelos would have gone for that plan.

MacPhail's plan has not succeeded, but I am not going to blame the guy for sticking with his philosophy. I have other criticisms, but that isn't one of them.

[Tony-OH]

I think Andy MacPhail was hired because his philosophy and management style appeal to Peter Angelos and align with his goals. MacPhail operates very conservatively and doesn't make a lot of high risk moves. MacPhail doesn't believe in international scouting/spending or high-priced pitching free agents. None of the moves MacPhail has made really differ from what we have done the last 13 years. I feel that Angelos is comfortable letting MacPhail have autonomy because MacPhail is not going to rock the boat or want to make a ton of risky moves.

If Angelos wanted to spend tons of money on free agents and international scouting, he would make sure those moves happen. While I don't have any big insight into the way a front office is ran, it is logical that a GM must stay within a set budget and constraints given by an owner. Changing a GM isn't going to make that budget go up or change Angelos' philosophies on how the team should be operated. I think Angelos wants to win so long as it happens in a way that he approves.

Post of the thread!

[clapdiddy]

Post of the thread!

And unfortunately, this team will continue to roll around in the mud following the accurate, honest post by Rconnell.

[Hank Scorpio]

I think Andy MacPhail was hired because his philosophy and management style appeal to Peter Angelos and align with his goals. MacPhail operates very conservatively and doesn't make a lot of high risk moves. MacPhail doesn't believe in international scouting/spending or high-priced pitching free agents. None of the moves MacPhail has made really differ from what we have done the last 13 years. I feel that Angelos is comfortable letting MacPhail have autonomy because MacPhail is not going to rock the boat or want to make a ton of risky moves.

If Angelos wanted to spend tons of money on free agents and international scouting, he would make sure those moves happen. While I don't have any big insight into the way a front office is ran, it is logical that a GM must stay within a set budget and constraints given by an owner. Changing a GM isn't going to make that budget go up or change Angelos' philosophies on how the team should be operated. I think Angelos wants to win so long as it happens in a way that he approves.

This is very obviously the 100% truth.

[Hank Scorpio]

And unfortunately, this team will continue to roll around in the mud following the accurate, honest post by Rconnell.

And the reason they'll continue to roll around in the mud?

[clapdiddy]

And the reason they'll continue to roll around in the mud?

Because of the "winning" philosophies of Mr. Angelos.

[Hank Scorpio]

Because of the "winning" philosophies of Mr. Angelos.

Absolutely.

I just envisioned the "burn the witch" scene from Holy Grail.

[24fps]

So is everybody saying that AM's choices were the best possible within the confines of Peter Angelos' comfort zone? I agree that Rconnell's post might accurately describe the general situation and things could be better, but that doesn't mean that all is lost. It's getting too easy to shrug our shoulders and conclude things won't get better until PA is gone.

[tommyboy]

Hank,

I hear it's suppose to do wonders for one's skin in the anti-aging process....

[JTrea81]

I think those that are hoping for the best are banking on PGA changing his stripes. My only saving grace is that if he wasn't going to, I doubt Buck Showalter would still be here or would even had taken the job in the first place.

Whoever the GM is will show if PGA is willing to go back to his ways when he first bought the team.

I doubt he'll change his mind on the scouting and development aspect and the international signings, but he can go back to his free spending ways when he desperately wanted to give the Baltimore fans a winner.

[osfan83]

I don't think the philosophy will change under a new GM..but there is always hope....I mean the 2011 team could have been a .500 or better. It's not impossible to think that Matusz/Guts/Britton/Arietta could have pitched better than league average, and Lee/Vlad could have held off their aging decline a year or so. I could see in January where one might have thought BROb would have an excellent year, and Wieters/Jones/Markakis would all play at near all star level.

As long as PA is in charge we probably will never be a great team for a long period of time....but we could get lucky and have a good season here and there if we catch some good luck.

[SammyBirdland]

Whoever the GM is will show if PGA is willing to go back to his ways when he first bought the team.

We've been losing for 14 years. To put that in perspective, our last winning season was before the final episode of Seinfeld. Angelos ain't changing or going back to anything.

[LookinUp]

And that shouldn't have stopped him from winning at the ML level. How he chose to allocate those resources within those parameters did.

When people on this site become as obsessed with going after you the same way you go after AM, they get banned. Why can't you simply say that he's done his best, but he doesn't appear to be the right man for the job, and let it go?

AM is a person hired to do a job. That has gone very poorly, and something tragic happened under his umbrella (very broadly speaking) in the past week. He certainly is going through his own personal emotion right now.

I think AM should issue a statement, or give a brief interview so it doesn't look forced, and then go back to doing whatever he needs to do. However, I'm also betting that he's having a particularly hard time in his own life right now (speculation) given the state of this franchise and the recent events.

People need to give the man a break.

Some people never learn.

[ShaneDawg85]

I think those that are hoping for the best are banking on PGA changing his stripes. My only saving grace is that if he wasn't going to, I doubt Buck Showalter would still be here or would even had taken the job in the first place.

Whoever the GM is will show if PGA is willing to go back to his ways when he first bought the team.

I doubt he'll change his mind on the scouting and development aspect and the international signings, but he can go back to his free spending ways when he desperately wanted to give the Baltimore fans a winner.

I really don't understand why it is so hard to understand that an 80 something year old man is not going to decide at that age to act and behave in ways that he did when he was a 60 or 70 something year old man. That...doesn't...happen. Nothing is going to change Peter Angelos, except for Peter Angelos, and that's not going to happen.