Is Everyone Really So Depressed?

[Owen21]

It is tough for me to get excited when I disagree with apparent direction of the franchise.

Part of the direction is correcting the minor leagues with improved scouting & development, as well as the international market. I'm assuming that you agree with that part.

[Can_of_corn]

Part of the direction is correcting the minor leagues with improved scouting & development, as well as the international market. I'm assuming that you agree with that part.

Oh I agree with it, however with the new rules in place I don't think it can be turned into a strength versus the rest of the division. I think the best case scenario is it is no longer a weakness.

What I see right now is a team with the goal of hitting .500 and no goal after that. I see no way the current core can realistically reach the playoff.

[Singleton]

It is tough for me to get excited when I disagree with apparent direction of the franchise.

This. I'm a huge O's fan but I don't understand most of the moves our new GM is making. It's very hard for me to feel good about the short or long term prospects of the franchise.

[Stotle]

Oh I agree with it, however with the new rules in place I don't think it can be turned into a strength versus the rest of the division. I think the best case scenario is it is no longer a weakness.

What I see right now is a team with the goal of hitting .500 and no goal after that. I see no way the current core can realistically reach the playoff.

With the new rules, Baltimore is actually much better positioned to compete with Boston, Toronto, New York and Tampa in the draft and on the international front. Boston was arguably hit harder than any other org when comparing how they operated under the old system with what is now available to them under the new system.

[Can_of_corn]

With the new rules, Baltimore is actually much better positioned to compete with Boston, Toronto, New York and Tampa in the draft and on the international front. Boston was arguably hit harder than any other org when comparing how they operated under the old system with what is now available to them under the new system.

I know, I am just still lamenting the inactivity of years past.

I don't think its possible under the new system to separate yourself in a good way from the rest of the AL East as the other front offices are all adept.

[jtschrei]

This is what happens when no major trades/deals/signings are done in an off-season following a season full of disappointment: Arrieta injured, Matusz historically ineffective, Brian Roberts hurt, Nick Markakis playing below his pay scale, etc. etc.

We'd have a lot to be excited about if 3 of Tillman, Arrieta, Matusz, Britton, or Bergesen were the starters we were hoping for. But right now they're all question marks.

Yup. I know people will disagree with me because they are so young, but I think this is a "make or break" year for Tillman, Bergy, and Matusz. I mean, I'm not saying that they need to win 20 games, but there HAS to be some progression on an upward trend. I just hope Britton stays healthy.

[Mongolbird]

What on earth is there to be excited about? This is our off-season thus far. (for the 14th year in a row, mind you)

AM leaves after taking almost two weeks to think about it. And he left behind a mess. His 5-year plan turned into a no-year plan, and he acquired more crap than quality, because he was budget shopping.

DD comes on board and shops at the outlet too. And with quality TOR pitchers available mind you. So, who'd we get? Yeah, that famous duo of Eveland and Hummel to bolster a greenhorn group of pitchers coming off a terrible year. Then DD makes a couple of head-scratching trades, one of whom is the only quality pitcher we did have, Guthrie, despite Guthrie's less than stellar season record because we had a lineup that couldn't hit the side of a barn when he pitched. DD then hires over-the-hill, past their prime, organizational ? heads and really, does anybody know what the Sunshine Boys have done so far, except offend all of Korea, then get their butts saved by the bell when MLB voids a signing we should never have made.

Ok, so then we needed a big bat, and who'd we get? Yeah, I don't remember either except his first name wasn't Prince.

So, basically what happened this offseason was that our new GM, Sid Thrift II, took a fisherman's net and threw it into the sea and came up with what we all hope, but know deep in our hearts isn't, (at least not to compete in the AL East) a net full of quality fish.

Meanwhile, our Red rivals down the road, have spent so much more than the O's it's a crime any way you look at it, considering we have to spend a bunch more to compete in the AL East, and they can spend a lot less to compete in the NL Least. But what do the Nats do? Hire our beloved Davey Johnson, then spend like crazy, leaving the O's fans wondering what on earth we did to deserve PA! I expect a mass migration of O's fans to support DC this year.

Speaking of PA, and at the risk of being redundant, because really it can't be stated often enough; the real kicker to the WOE's fans deep depression this is year, is the knowledge that we have the worst owner in all of sports. IN. ALL. OF. SPORTS!

So, yeah, I'm ready for the season. Got my radio ready 'cos that man is not going to see one dime of my money in any shape, form or fashion! And good luck Tampa Bay and Toronto going up against the perennial financial juggernauts, the, "let's buy the championship" philosophy of those famous cheaters, Bosox and the Yanks! But wait, let's not forget to welcome the newcomers into this cheating juggernaut hall of fame: the Phillies, the Angels, the Tigers and the Rangers!

And good on all you optimistic O's fans! I'm sure PA appreciates your money, as you most assuredly watch the debacle of another losing season. Unless a miracle occurs and we find three diamonds in a basket of nuts. Is that possible? Sure, anything's possible. But we have 14 straight losing season of paying for below average to average TOR talent to clue us in that miracles need more of a good faith effort, ie, we need to spend more $ for quality TOR starters, for that to happen.

OK, enough. TIME TO PLAY BALL!

[Fan4Life]

With the new rules, Baltimore is actually much better positioned to compete with Boston, Toronto, New York and Tampa in the draft and on the international front. Boston was arguably hit harder than any other org when comparing how they operated under the old system with what is now available to them under the new system.

Does this mesh with your analysis?

Below are the bonus pools for each club, along with how much it spent last year on draft bonuses, both in the first 10 rounds and in total.

Team	Picks	Bonus Pool	2011/Top 10	2011/TotalTwins	13	$12,368,200	$5,072,300	$5,902,300Astros	11	$11,177,700	$4,705,800	$5,545,800Padres	14	$9,903,100	$10,345,600	$11,020,600Cardina	14	$9,131,100	$4,055,000	$4,554,000Blue Ja	14	$8,830,800	$8,990,000	$10,996,500Athleti	13	$8,469,500	$2,612,300	$3,067,300Mariner	11	$8,223,400	$9,840,000	$11,330,500Cubs	12	$7,933,900	$6,559,950	$11,994,550Mets	12	$7,151,400	$5,070,000	$6,782,500Red Sox	12	$6,884,800	$10,048,700	$10,978,700Orioles	10	$6,826,900	$7,282,400	$8,432,100Brewers	12	$6,764,700	$6,793,300	$7,509,300Reds	12	$6,653,800	$3,701,400	$6,378,900Rockies	12	$6,628,300	$3,709,900	$3,967,900Rangers	13	$6,568,200	$3,021,500	$4,193,000Pirates	11	$6,563,500	$16,445,700	$17,005,700Royals	10	$6,101,500	$11,405,000	$14,066,000White S	11	$5,915,100	$2,126,300	$2,786,300Dodgers	11	$5,202,800	$2,978,800	$3,509,300Marlins	10	$4,935,100	$3,655,000	$4,135,000Phillie	12	$4,916,900	$3,855,300	$4,689,800Indians	10	$4,582,900	$6,362,500	$8,225,000Nationa	10	$4,436,200	$14,551,100	$15,002,100Yankees	11	$4,192,200	$4,202,500	$6,324,500Giants	10	$4,076,400	$5,021,000	$6,266,000Braves	10	$4,030,800	$2,522,200	$3,735,700Rays	10	$3,871,000	$11,309,400	$11,482,900Diamond	10	$3,818,300	$11,161,500	$11,930,000Tigers	9	$2,099,300	$1,815,200	$2,878,700Angels	8	$1,645,700	$2,656,600	$3,318,100Total	338	$189,903,500	$191,876,250	$228,009,050

[Tony-OH]

I wonder if the lack of enthusiasm is due to lack of playoff opportunity, likely very poor team, general apathy after so many losing seasons, etc (or some combination of the above), but it is depressing around here a good portion of the time when this should be one of the best times of the year.

I can see a lack of excitement around possibilities of continued mediocrity from Reynold, Matusz, Nick, AJ and some pitchers, but we do have many young guys with opportunities to become average or better than average major leaguers.

I still believe in a good portion of AM's core of Wieters, Matusz, Jones, Arrieta, Tillman, Britton, etc, new guys like Chen, Wada and Hammel, and possible resurgence from Reynolds, Nick and - let's be greedy - BRob.

I believe this is a better team than it is given credit for and, in addition to the above, a plus bullpen would help out a good bit.

Is everyone really so depressed or do folks just miss the wake up call?

Quite simply the Orioles are staring down their 15th straight losing season and they are coming off an offseason where they not only did not sign or acquire and impact guy but they also managed to tell one of their biggest fan bases that they don't matter. So yes. my excitement is an all-time low. This is the first time I can remember that seeing guys warming up in Floridian elicited no response from me. I'm hoping that changes as things get going but I'm pretty down about this organization right now. I'm sure part of it is how the orioles handled the Hangout after all these years, but its also the fact that even if I try to look at the best case scenario I don't see the Orioles breaking .500 and I certainly don't see them competing. I've always found a silver lining at the beginning of every season, but this year I just can't find one. Who knows, maybe that means they'll actually out perform my very low expectation instead of their annual under performing, worse case scenario ways.

Personally I think I'm going to focus myself as a baseball fan this year and enjoy baseball as a whole between MLB and the minors.

[NewMarketSean]

Just irritated that there is going to be another season in Baltimore that's essentially irrelevant. By my count that will be 15 in a row, basically half of my life. It's really nothing to be depressed about. It's a game.

Days after opening day, focus will be on the draft. Come July it will be on training camp. Once preseason football starts, the Orioles might as well be the Baltimore women's football team.

[Tony-OH]

If you're so uninterested, why do you bother posting here? Nothing for you to see here, move along.

Because there is more to this community than the Orioles. Why do you think you should be telling a long time Hangouter that he shouldn't post here? Last time I check, you don't pay the bills around here so keep your thoughts on who should and should not post and how they are supposed to feel to yourself.

[Tony-OH]

Depressed? No.

Aggravated? Yes.

Let's see last year to spend big on the draft before the CBA? We spend the 11th highest amount. Aggravating.

Last year to spend big internationally, where we've never spent anything of significance before? No big prospect signings (Kim is only a big prospect in the O's minds so far), No Darvish, No Cespedes, most likely no Soler. We signed Chen and Wada because there wasn't a strong demand for them. If there was, there price tags would've been higher. So that's a bit aggravating.

We were one of the worst teams in baseball which suggests minor tweaks to our "Depth" aren't going to result in massive improvements. When you are that bad, the Endy Chavez's and Wilson Betemits of the world won't be the cure.

We got a GM nobody else wanted who was coaching kids last year. Not "Young O's" kids...literally kids.

We are on, I believe it's year 3 of, having to rely on excitement from the progression of our Young O's. And right after watching a season of regression from them.

So that's aggravating in my book. We needed dynamic improvements this offseason. We got Chen, some filler players, a castoff GM, and his crew of "were great 10 years ago" execs.

If the O's were the only thing we had in our lives that'd be depressing. If there was nothing to substitute our time for when the games were on that'd be depressing.

But it's just aggravating instead. It's like when I'm forced to watch 2 and a Half Men or that show about the obese married couple with my inlaws - that's aggravating. But i'm not weeping and looking for a bridge to jump off of because I'm forced to watch bland and unoriginal television.

I think i'm like most O's fans where I care less and less about watching the team at all. This year is probably the least interested I've ever been in the team.

The painful truth. Well stated.

[Frobby]

I think the relative pessimism this spring is a reaction to the fact that last year folks were the most optimistic they had been in several years, and were rewarded with a cold slap in the face. Last year I think a lot of folks thought our young pitchers would break through, and since they didn't, now folks think it isn't likely to happen this year. Plus, I think a lot of folks were hoping that Vlad and Lee had something left in the tank, and were excited about what they might do. Nobody is flipping cartwheels over Wilson Betemit and Endy Chavez, even if they outperform Vlad and Lee.

Personally, I am not as optimistic about the pitching as I was last February, but I do think people have reacted a bit too far in the other direction.

[flashjordnk]

I do think people have reacted a bit too far in the other direction.

I tend to agree with you. But last year we all were thinking Matusz was starting to put it together. And then he completely fell apart. It's pretty hard to not swing that hard in the other direction after the first pitcher in the 2008 draft seems like he feel off the face of the earth.

I think the pitching might make really big jumps this year. And I'm really optimistic about that. But I'm not going to fault anyone for feeling like the bubble got burst on "the cavalry".

[Roll Tide]

Depressed? No.

Aggravated? Yes.

Let's see last year to spend big on the draft before the CBA? We spend the 11th highest amount. Aggravating.

Last year to spend big internationally, where we've never spent anything of significance before? No big prospect signings (Kim is only a big prospect in the O's minds so far), No Darvish, No Cespedes, most likely no Soler. We signed Chen and Wada because there wasn't a strong demand for them. If there was, there price tags would've been higher. So that's a bit aggravating.

We were one of the worst teams in baseball which suggests minor tweaks to our "Depth" aren't going to result in massive improvements. When you are that bad, the Endy Chavez's and Wilson Betemits of the world won't be the cure.

We got a GM nobody else wanted who was coaching kids last year. Not "Young O's" kids...literally kids.

We are on, I believe it's year 3 of, having to rely on excitement from the progression of our Young O's. And right after watching a season of regression from them.

So that's aggravating in my book. We needed dynamic improvements this offseason. We got Chen, some filler players, a castoff GM, and his crew of "were great 10 years ago" execs.

If the O's were the only thing we had in our lives that'd be depressing. If there was nothing to substitute our time for when the games were on that'd be depressing.

But it's just aggravating instead. It's like when I'm forced to watch 2 and a Half Men or that show about the obese married couple with my inlaws - that's aggravating. But i'm not weeping and looking for a bridge to jump off of because I'm forced to watch bland and unoriginal television.

I think i'm like most O's fans where I care less and less about watching the team at all. This year is probably the least interested I've ever been in the team.

Not too mention Kim's contract has now been voided by MLB ....OOPS

I agree with your post ....The Orioles arent interested in any player if they will have to bid against other teams. Sadly until the team is sold the fate of the team is sealed. I know Angelos approach changed drastically from the 90's to the 2000's ...But I dont see it changing again.