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Buck Speaks his Mind


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"I look at it like there's nothing else coming. There may be. I think that's such a poor reflection for the manager to be talking about everybody else's players and people that are out there. I think we're at 55 coming to camp right now. I guarantee there are a lot guys pulling for us not to sign anybody or trade for anybody because it gives them a better chance to make the club. I think what we miss in a lot of this is, you saw how much Chris Tillman improved from 2012 to 2013. Who's to say that can't be Zach Britton? Wei-Yin Chen was hurt for it seemed like half the season. To get him back healthy again... Who's to say Kevin Gausman won't take that step that we all feel like he will at some point in his career? Miguel Gonzalez was hurt for a lot of the year last year. I think Tommy Hunter's only going to be better. Steve Johnson was hurt last year for a lot of the season and wasn't able to do what he's capable of doing. T.J McFarland had a great winter ball and his experience last year is going to be invaluable as he goes forward. Bud Norris made an adjustment to the American League. I talked to him some. I think the arrow is only pointing up on him to be better. We all feel like Matt Wieters, as well as he caught, is capable of a lot better and more consistent things offensively. He's shown that in the past. Ryan Flaherty, we all think the sky's the limit on what he might be able do as a second baseman if he ends up there. Are we going to sit here and say that Manny Machado's never going to be any more than what he did offensively last season? We know he has a chance to be even better. And I think if anybody wants to make a bet on what type of year Nick Markakis is going to have, I know where I'd be putting my money. Nolan Reimold, we all forget about him. This year might be the year Nolan finally gets everything together health-wise. Even a guy like Henry Urrutia, his track record is as good as anybody we've got in the minor leagues. He followed that up with a good fall league. And of course, David Lough, who we traded for, has a chance to very quietly be one of the better transactions of the offseason. I could go on and one, but I feel like it's half full."

http://www.masnsports.com/school_of_roch/2014/01/showalter-this-isnt-about-being-competitive-this-is-about-winning.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

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Needs line breaks. Too large a block of text for this early in the morning.

"I look at it like there's nothing else coming. There may be. I think that's such a poor reflection for the manager to be talking about everybody else's players and people that are out there.

I think we're at 55 coming to camp right now. I guarantee there are a lot guys pulling for us not to sign anybody or trade for anybody because it gives them a better chance to make the club.

I think what we miss in a lot of this is, you saw how much Chris Tillman improved from 2012 to 2013. Who's to say that can't be Zach Britton? Wei-Yin Chen was hurt for it seemed like half the season. To get him back healthy again...

Who's to say Kevin Gausman won't take that step that we all feel like he will at some point in his career?

Miguel Gonzalez was hurt for a lot of the year last year. I think Tommy Hunter's only going to be better.

Steve Johnson was hurt last year for a lot of the season and wasn't able to do what he's capable of doing.

T.J McFarland had a great winter ball and his experience last year is going to be invaluable as he goes forward.

Bud Norris made an adjustment to the American League. I talked to him some. I think the arrow is only pointing up on him to be better.

We all feel like Matt Wieters, as well as he caught, is capable of a lot better and more consistent things offensively. He's shown that in the past.

Ryan Flaherty, we all think the sky's the limit on what he might be able do as a second baseman if he ends up there.

Are we going to sit here and say that Manny Machado's never going to be any more than what he did offensively last season? We know he has a chance to be even better.

And I think if anybody wants to make a bet on what type of year Nick Markakis is going to have, I know where I'd be putting my money.

Nolan Reimold, we all forget about him. This year might be the year Nolan finally gets everything together health-wise.

Even a guy like Henry Urrutia, his track record is as good as anybody we've got in the minor leagues. He followed that up with a good fall league.

And of course, David Lough, who we traded for, has a chance to very quietly be one of the better transactions of the offseason. I could go on and one, but I feel like it's half full."

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"I'm not going to sit here and tell you Dan and I don't talk about players every day and talk about things that are out there and what fits for who we are and where we're trying to go, Let's face it, it's going to be about how quickly the process of the pitching comes together.

People forget how many years Tampa Bay went through trying to get to that process and they got there. And regardless of what someone like Tampa does with other places on their team, it all revolves around their pitching. They run five quality starters out there every five days. When we can get to that point...I'll match up with anybody in our division position player-wise, and I still feel that way. And we've got a chance to do some things to make that even better between now and the time we break camp. But until something else shows up, I'm looking at our own people. I'm not looking in somebody else's pasture. I'm just looking in ours, and that's what I want our players to feel like their manager and coaching staff are doing. And I'm perfectly content with that. But don't take content to mean not looking for ways to get better.

So, what about the fans and media who are venting about the lack of activity this winter and question whether this team can contend? Why are those expectations there? Because we created them the last couple years by being more competitive, This isn't about being competitive, this is about winning. This isn't about being a wild card. This is about winning your division, OK? I like the direction in which we're trying to go. And why are those expectations there? I like the fact that our fan base and our people in our city hold us accountable. They want us to be good. Every offseason has that somewhat. But are we basing it on what everybody else is doing? Should we go looking for a shortstop? Should we go looking for a first baseman? A third baseman? A center fielder? A catcher? We've got 29 pitchers coming to camp right now and only 12 of those are going north. Just because they're not household names or they don't have some illustrious track record and they don't carry a 10-year contract or a seven-year contract next to their name doesn't mean that they're not going to be able to compete in our division.

I just don't get too bogged down in perceptions and reality. I love it, and I know our players love it, when they tell us we can't do something. If that's the case, then you're going to miss the boat. We actually sit down when the season's over and we talk about what I call 'points of emphasis, We had about five last spring and I felt like we accomplished about three of them. I want to accomplish all five of them, and we're in that process. Some will be very obvious to you guys because you follow our club. Whether it be on-base percentage, whether it be pitching in general, whether it be keeping the ball in the ballpark. It's one thing to identify them, and then it's another thing to say, 'OK, how are we going to do that?' It's like if you go into your first meeting and go, 'We need to improve on X,' and the players just nod.

In a position of leadership, you've got to be able to say, 'Here's how we're going to do it.' And the way I like doing it is go and tell the players, 'How are we going to do it? You give me the feedback. How are you going to do this?' Whoever it may be. 'How are you going to improve on this?' That's what spring training is about. You've got to identify them and try not to be Captain Obvious. But there's about five areas that we're really going to emphasis. And don't tell me you can't improve on it in the spring.

Unfortunately, once the season starts, you're playing every day and it's just not good to be out there working on things every day at 3 o'clock in the heat when you're trying to play games seven days a week for six or seven months. And that's why spring training is so precious and I get very protective of the time that we have down there with these guys, and that's why I look forward to it so much."

Roch got him to talk.

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I had to resist the urge to group all the injured pitchers into one paragraph.

And yes Buck, if everyone that had a down year improves, no one gets hurt, and no one that had a good season regresses then the O's will have a great season.

Exactly. And everyone hopes for this outcome. But, of course, the odds are that some players who had great years, like Chris Davis, will regress and there is always the injury factor. The absolute one player that the Orioles could not replace is Adam Jones.

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I mean what would you expect him to say? He prefaces everything with "I think that's such a poor reflection for the manager to be talking about everybody else's players and people that are out there." I would hope that Buck is pulling for his player but I can assure you that the guys that are proven and have jobs locked up are pulling for us to make moves to improve the team. Buck is backing his guys but please don't tell me that he wouldn't rather be talking about Matt Garza and Kendry Morales than Zach Britton and Nolan Reimold.

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I mean what would you expect him to say? He prefaces everything with "I think that's such a poor reflection for the manager to be talking about everybody else's players and people that are out there." I would hope that Buck is pulling for his player but I can assure you that the guys that are proven and have jobs locked up are pulling for us to make moves to improve the team. Buck is backing his guys but please don't tell me that he wouldn't rather be talking about Matt Garza and Kendry Morales than Zach Britton and Nolan Reimold.

I think Buck is also more of a big picture guy. Of course Morales and Garza are the superior players but Buck is aware of the baggage...big contracts on a limited payroll. Im not trying to defend the "self imposed cap" of the Orioles but that is the reality. In a perfect world we have a cheat code like the big market teams where exceeding the luxury tax threshold is more of a problem than actually getting there. That's not where the O's stand and Buck is probably wise enough to not let things like that bog him down.

Right now with no lineup cards to be made, Bucks job is to sweet talk the press. This is a good example of that.

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"I suck, the entire teams sucks, and you shouldn't even bother coming to Oriole games this season."

Love it.

Crash Davis: It's time to work on your interviews.

Ebby Calvin LaLoosh: My interviews? What do I gotta do?

Crash Davis: You're gonna have to learn your cliches. You're gonna have to study them, you're gonna have to know them. They're your friends. Write this down: "We gotta play it one day at a time."

Ebby Calvin LaLoosh: Got to play... it's pretty boring.

Crash Davis: 'Course it's boring, that's the point. Write it down.

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Here's the thing: I don't think Buck's optimistic response is just coach speak. I believe he believes it in his heart, and he's going to carry the message to spring training with him 100%. There are a lot of young players on the team with a lot of talent.

And that's one reason why I love Buck.

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I love Buck for saying things like this. His job is to take the players he has, create as much competition as possible, and get everybody thinking positive. Every single thing he said is true. There are many glass half empty things you could say, but why should he say them? I'm sure he and Dan discuss the teams weaknesses and how to address them, but that's not what he wants the players or the public to hear. And yes, I think he believes in his team.

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Here's the thing: I don't think Buck's optimistic response is just coach speak. I believe he believes it in his heart, and he's going to carry the message to spring training with him 100%. There are a lot of young players on the team with a lot of talent.

And that's one reason why I love Buck.

Buck is a very good team motivator and he believes in getting the most out of the players he goes into a season with. And that makes him an excellent manager. And he is also a very savvy, knowledgeable baseball man and, behind closed doors with DD, I am sure that he offers very frank opinions about all the other players out there on the market and compares them to the current roster and whether certain moves would improve the team or not. This too makes him an excellent manager. I would never expect Buck to say anything differently in public because it detracts from that motivational edge he wants.

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I think Buck is also more of a big picture guy. Of course Morales and Garza are the superior players but Buck is aware of the baggage...big contracts on a limited payroll. Im not trying to defend the "self imposed cap" of the Orioles but that is the reality. In a perfect world we have a cheat code like the big market teams where exceeding the luxury tax threshold is more of a problem than actually getting there. That's not where the O's stand and Buck is probably wise enough to not let things like that bog him down.

Right now with no lineup cards to be made, Bucks job is to sweet talk the press. This is a good example of that.

I'm not picking on you but I can't stand hearing this...We have money that we don't want to spend. We've become much to accepting as a fan base to he fact that we are just not gonna spend money. We have money, we are not a small market!

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I think Buck is also more of a big picture guy. Of course Morales and Garza are the superior players but Buck is aware of the baggage...big contracts on a limited payroll. Im not trying to defend the "self imposed cap" of the Orioles but that is the reality. In a perfect world we have a cheat code like the big market teams where exceeding the luxury tax threshold is more of a problem than actually getting there. That's not where the O's stand and Buck is probably wise enough to not let things like that bog him down.

Right now with no lineup cards to be made, Bucks job is to sweet talk the press. This is a good example of that.

I'm not advocating either signing, but they most certainly are not "big contracts on a limited payroll." Baltimore is not Tampa, no matter how much they'd like to be portrayed in the same light.

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By the way, the OP quotes a salient part of Roch's interview, but that entire interview is worth reading. Here's the link again: http://m.masn.mobi/school_of_roch/2014/01/showalter-this-isnt-about-being-competitive-this-is-about-winning.html. Note the title: "This isn't about being competitive, this is about winning."

Nice to hear that in plain English. Buck identified OBP, keeping the ball in the ballpark, and pitching in general as the three areas the team needs to address.

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