Keith Law on 105.7 right now

[byrdz]

He actually turned down a front office job offer last month to stay at ESPN.

With the Astros, a perfect place to show off your rebuilding skills, put your theories into practice, and show the world that you're not just all talk.

[Tony-OH]

I'm good with trying something else but I was thinking more in the realm of hiring more scouts and developing deeper roots outside of the US and then developing a consistent philosophy throughout all levels of our minor league system. That would have been a great start for me.

Wiping out pro scouting and blazing this trail seems like high risk strategy of epic proportions.

Gulp.

Hope it works out

He did this by hiring a hitting and pitching coordinator for the minor leagues. He also didn't wipe out pro scouting. He reassigned them to amateur spots until the draft when they will pick up pro scouting again.

[Fan4Life]

He did this by hiring a hitting and pitching coordinator for the minor leagues. He also didn't wipe out pro scouting. He reassigned them to amateur spots until the draft when they will pick up pro scouting again.

Yeah, as I said, I don't get the DD slamming... organization and /or ownership slamming sure...

[Slappy]

Holding a vendetta against a team accomplishes his goals of getting attention, but it's not very professional. I'm fine with him criticizing the moves made, but it seems more of a backlash because he's not doing it the same way everyone else does. That's not always a bad thing.

Of course Angelos sucks, and no matter how much everyone whines and complains it isn't changing. So stop being whiners and complainers. There's literally nothing you can do about it. Even not going to the park hasn't changed anything.

[El Gordo]

After listening to the interview I certainly didn't hear the bias that the OP characterized. It seemed a fairly reasoned critique. I would take exceptions to his points about the scouting shifts, his generalizations about DD's being out of touch, as well as the Guthrie trade. As to the scouting, it makes sense to me in the light of budget constraints to place an emphasis on the draft rather than on MiL players who might help the ML club short term. And it is not like we have no ML scouts left. The alternative af hiring more MiL scouts might not have been fiscally possible nor would the level of expertise necessarily be available. He gave no examples other than the scouting rearrangement to support his contention that Duq is out of touch. As to the Guthrie trade, he seemed to be under the impression that we could keep Guthrie and get a pick, which is very unrealistic under the new CBA. To my mind it is still a matter of getting something over nothing.The business about PA's meddling, and Buck's unhappiness, rings true to me, sadly.

[TGO]

After listening to the ineterview I certainly didn't hear the bias that the OP characterized. It seemed a fairly reasoned critique. I would take exceptions to his points about the scouting shifts, his generalizations about DD's being out of touch, as well as the Guthrie trade. As to the scouting, it makes sense to me in the light of budget constraints to place an emphasis on the draft rather than on MiL players who might help the ML club short term. And it is not like we have no ML scouts left. The alternative af hiring more ML scouts might not have been fiscally possible nor would the level of expertise necessarily be available. He gave no examples other than the scouting rearrangement to support his contention that Duq is out of touch. As to the Guthrie trade, he seemed to be under the impression that we could keep Guthrie and get a pick, which is very unrealistic under the new CBA. To my miond it is still a matter of getting something over nothing.The business about PA's meddling, and Buck's unhappiness, rings true to me, sadly.

Yeah, I generally agree with this. I listened and was not offended by anything. I still don't like the Guts trade but you're certainly right that we probably are not likely to get a pick for him. I agree that he's a little too negative on Duquette when his real beef is with the Angeloses and their organizational allies.

[ChicagoBird]

I just listened to the entire interview and I didn't hear any bias or any schtick. I think Law's assessment is spot on. This organization is broken from the top down. Tony LaCava would've been the perfect hire, but he simply wasn't willing to walk into a position where he couldn't drop the Stockstills or Carlos Bernhardt et al. DD was just happy to get an opportunity and is willing to work within PA's limitations. There is no scenario where a GM can succeed with PA as the owner. There simply is too much involvement by PA and his sons in baseball operations to let anyone implement their own plan for a rebuild, whatever that plan may be.

I don't see any way that the O's finish ahead of last place for the remainder of PA's (or his sons') ownership tenure. Hopefully, that will not be a long time.

[Frobby]

I've said it before, but it bears repeating. When anybody can get their factual information from any number of sources, the only real way for a media member to stay relevant is to have a schtick. For example, look at the difference between when Roch and Law report something. When Roch reports something, a thread on here is started and we discuss the information he delivered. We rarely if ever talk about Roch himself. When Law reports something, at least half of the discussion is about Law rather than the focus being on the information. That's successfully garnering attention, if you ask me.

Great points. Definitely the difference between a real reporter and guy with a schtick.

Except that Law isn't supposed to be a reporter. He's a former scout whose supposed value is in offering his opinions about players and moves made by teams. Yes, Law has a shtick, but his function is simply not the same as Roch's. And, I am sure he is giving his honest opinion about Duquette and the O's, even if his opinion is wrong or perhaps biased.

[Lucky Jim]

Except that Law isn't supposed to be a reporter. He's a former scout whose supposed value is in offering his opinions about players and moves made by teams. Yes, Law has a shtick, but his function is simply not the same as Roch's. And, I am sure he is giving his honest opinion about Duquette and the O's, even if his opinion is wrong or perhaps biased.

Right. He's in some middle-ground. An "analyst." Though there's a spectrum.

[TGO]

Right. He's in some middle-ground. An "analyst." Though there's a spectrum.

An opinionist, as it were.

There's definitely a spectrum. Think of Mike Preston, who is somewhere between a straight up reporter and Keith Law. Or to give a baseball example, Jim Palmer. And there are guys to the other side of Law who report less information but still express their opinions, though I confess specific examples are escaping me right now.

[Orioles fanatic]

"Steve Melweski with a much more positive spin on the conversation"

Steve Melweski could spin a turd on a plate into a 'Victoria's Filet' at The Outback Steakhouse if we gave him the chance.

[section 34]

I don't understand why people can look at a team that hasn't been over .500 since 1997 and think that outside analysts "hate" them.

Law's right. He's completely right. He was right last year, and the year before, and the year before that. I'm glad he went on the radio in B-more to say it because there's too much happy-talk about the Orioles from the local media. Whatever pressure there is on Angelos to be a better owner, it needs to be increased.

Duquette was a terrible hire. He MIGHT turn out to be an adequate GM, but a guy out of baseball for a decade who had to be brought in after the top candidates turned the O's down, that's desperate.

I have my own version of irrational exuberance and I hope Duquette isn't a disaster. Maybe he won't be. Something he has done well this off-season is avoiding big, long contracts with mediocre players. He deserves credit for the O's not pursuing the kind of waste-of-money free agents they have in the past. Remember the frenzy over Guerrero last winter? Would you like to have Mark Teixeira's contract now?

I'm also willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on the scout thing. It makes sense to me, even if it is an old approach designed to save money.

I don't understand the Guthrie trade, but it's also not that big a deal.

I like the idea of importing Asian pitchers by the bushel. Why not?

BUT all of this needs to be measured against the reality that the O's front office is still lousy with unfireable guys who have presided over a losing team for 14 seasons. Stockstill and the rest of the farm system staff have turned one high draft pick after another into retired minor league players. That's a subtle thing, harder to notice than 14 seasons of losing, and it needs to be pointed out often until fans complain loudly and specifically about that.

[atomic]

Stockstill and the rest of the farm system staff have turned one high draft pick after another into retired minor league players. That's a subtle thing, harder to notice than 14 seasons of losing, and it needs to be pointed out often until fans complain loudly and specifically about that.

Well you might not want to look at DD's record of 1st round picks in Boston if you want to remain optomistic at all.

[El Gordo]

I don't understand why people can look at a team that hasn't been over .500 since 1997 and think that outside analysts "hate" them.

Law's right. He's completely right. He was right last year, and the year before, and the year before that. I'm glad he went on the radio in B-more to say it because there's too much happy-talk about the Orioles from the local media. Whatever pressure there is on Angelos to be a better owner, it needs to be increased.

Duquette was a terrible hire. He MIGHT turn out to be an adequate GM, but a guy out of baseball for a decade who had to be brought in after the top candidates turned the O's down, that's desperate.

I have my own version of irrational exuberance and I hope Duquette isn't a disaster. Maybe he won't be. Something he has done well this off-season is avoiding big, long contracts with mediocre players. He deserves credit for the O's not pursuing the kind of waste-of-money free agents they have in the past. Remember the frenzy over Guerrero last winter? Would you like to have Mark Teixeira's contract now?

I'm also willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on the scout thing. It makes sense to me, even if it is an old approach designed to save money.

I don't understand the Guthrie trade, but it's also not that big a deal.

I like the idea of importing Asian pitchers by the bushel. Why not?

BUT all of this needs to be measured against the reality that the O's front office is still lousy with unfireable guys who have presided over a losing team for 14 seasons. Stockstill and the rest of the farm system staff have turned one high draft pick after another into retired minor league players. That's a subtle thing, harder to notice than 14 seasons of losing, and it needs to be pointed out often until fans complain loudly and specifically about that.

Since you believe that Law is "completely right", explain why using the scouting changes, which Tony has explained as short term, and focused on the upcoming draft, as proof that DD is out of touch

[allstar1579]

An opinionist, as it were.

There's definitely a spectrum. Think of Mike Preston, who is somewhere between a straight up reporter and Keith Law. Or to give a baseball example, Jim Palmer. And there are guys to the other side of Law who report less information but still express their opinions, though I confess specific examples are escaping me right now.

Law presents things as if they are his own opinion sometimes that are actually from talking to various people. I don't think there is anyone in the game more connected short of maybe Peter Gammons.

While I do think there is some previous beef with DD, he's pointing out things that really are wrong here, most of us argue the SAME points he's making throughout the season, but we can't stand to hear someone OUTSIDE of our group say them.

All this stuff we read religiously online is opinion in the end, but the reason we read it is because these people are accepted as some level of expert, you can't just start discounting their opinion when you don't agree with it. He's still entitled to his opinion right or wrong but you can't acting like he doesn't know what he's talking about ever because you don't agree with his position on one team.

(Not YOU specifically, your post was just a segway.)