Maese on the O's Rep

[Boy Howdy]

You can say that now, but the media makes and breaks people nowadays. Teams are not an exception.

With all due respect, huh?

Worst case scenario ain't Britney Spears at shortstop. Luis Hernandez might hit .202, but I think we can keep him off suicide watch.

[square634]

I don't care about the media's opinion, but how can anyone say it isn't troubling when they have executives from other teams saying that this is a vintage Orioles and moving way too slowly.

[TerpmanJay]

Respect will come when we win the division.

Period.

You don't get respect for making quick, efficient trades. Or for getting nice things said about your cool uniforms or pretty ballgirls.

You get respect when you win.

THAT is the reason we're a media joke & there's only one way to ever end it.

[ChaosLex]

If we announced that Nick Markakis was available, every team on MLB would come knocking on MacPhail's door.

We've lost nothing, IMO.

[JTrea81]

If we announced that Nick Markakis was available, every team on MLB would come knocking on MacPhail's door.

We've lost nothing, IMO.

How about Kevin Millar or Melvin Mora? Or Aubrey Huff? That's where it matters. It's the smaller deals where we are going to have trouble.

[SrMeowMeow]

But the press creates the perception of the Orioles, because MacPhail handled this trade so badly media wise, the Orioles look like idiots...

Honestly, all this ruckus about 'our reputation' is nonsense in my opinion. People disrespect us because we SUCK. We are currently a bad baseball team. That's it. When we make the playoffs our critics will go play somewhere else.

Andy McPhail never promised us anything with regards to the recent trade speculation. Leaks we get third- and fourth-hand are not his responsibility, and to pretend that people are going to judge him based on the frantic expectations of OH readers is dumb.

[SteveA]

You can say that now, but the media makes and breaks people nowadays. Teams are not an exception.

I just want somebody in the national media to mention our team with respect instead of chuckling and shaking their head. If other people respect your team, it allows you to have even more pride in your team. And right now that is sorely lacking for the Orioles...

This trade is just another example of how the Orioles can take a momentous ocassion for their ballclub and install more team pride, but instead completely shoot themselves in the foot.

You just don't get it. Winning will change our reputation. Continuing to lose will keep it the same.

THAT'S IT!

Do you realize how little play this whole thing has gotten in the true NATIONAL media. That's Sportscenter, the USA Today, etc. Not the local Baltimore media that has followed this closely that 99% of the country never sees. Not mlbtraderumors.com or whatever it's called that 98% of sports fans have never actually read. When we have been reported at all in the true national media that most sports fans pay attention to, it's been a one line story. Details like Jones telling a reporter about the deal or the rumor of a hip condition may have briefly been reported but are as forgotten as which hockey player scored 3 goals Wednesday or who won the Butler/Evansville basketball game. You overestimate the amount of attention that the average fan in anywhere but Seattle or Baltimore has paid to this deal this past week. You project our obsessions about the Orioles on others to whom we are one major league team out of 32. "Oh yeah, they're the team with the idiot owner, what's his name, Argeros? Yeah, they used to be good when Cal was there and now they suck." The only way we get any other reaction is if we WIN.

[OsLuvrInKy]

I have said this before. Don't play poker with Andy. Why do I say that. Let me paint a scenario for you. Andy hates the media and Bill Bavasi loves it. Months back Bill comes to Andy and says

I hear you want to get rid of Bedard. Andy says only for the right deal. He offers Andy 1 B level and 2 C level prospects. Andy says nope. Gotta do a lot better. Bills says lemme think about it. He goes back to Seattle and promptly tells the press they are IN THE RUNNING FOR BEDARD!!!!

Now how long does it actually take for people to realize that Andy is NOT BLUFFING!!! He will go into opening day with Erik pitching.

Now by this time Bavasi has put his job on the line. Common knowledge that the M's are not likely to WIN IT with the way thier pitching staff stands. They NEED a front of the line pitcher to put them over the top (Maybe).

You are Andy. Knowing this what would you do. Well if it is me, and I got the Ace of Trump card in my hand, I sweat you for everything I can. You all would hate me. And god help him if another team really did put thier hat in the ring. I get a bidding war going and I drag this out right into spring training. Now if you can tell me where to get another pitcher of Erik's quality then this idea does not hold water. But if I am right and Erik is it, then I am gonna milk every drop of sweat and blood I can get out of you. Not to mention every bit of talent possible. I agree screw the media. If me keeping my mouth shut makes Bavasi go as crazy as some people are getting. Then I am playing the hand right.

Said it before, I'll say it again, DON'T PLAY POKER WITH ANDY!!!

[Terps23]

As much of an ordeal the Bedard trade has been, what it will come down to is the return and how much they contribute to each team.

The Twins have shopped one player constantly this offseason and basically traded him for nothing after months and months of speculation. They were close to trading him countless times for better packages. They blew it.

McPhail, on the other hand, appears to have a good to great return depending on the players coming back. Yes, this past week has been hectic with speculation, but compared to the Twins trade, this one will blow it out of the water when compared to both the return and how hard it was to deal him. It has been frustrating, but mostly because of the added frustration 10 years of running in circles.

Also, I think Roberts will be traded, and it will be much quicker. A deal seems likely in place and I doubt we'll see anything like this past week if we deal him.

[JTrea81]

You just don't get it. Winning will change our reputation. Continuing to lose will keep it the same.

THAT'S IT!

Do you realize how little play this whole thing has gotten in the true NATIONAL media. That's Sportscenter, the USA Today, etc. Not the local Baltimore media that has followed this closely that 99% of the country never sees. Not mlbtraderumors.com or whatever it's called that 98% of sports fans have never actually read. When we have been reported at all in the true national media that most sports fans pay attention to, it's been a one line story. Details like Jones telling a reporter about the deal or the rumor of a hip condition may have briefly been reported but are as forgotten as which hockey player scored 3 goals Wednesday or who won the Butler/Evansville basketball game. You overestimate the amount of attention that the average fan in anywhere but Seattle or Baltimore has paid to this deal this past week. You project our obsessions about the Orioles on others to whom we are one major league team out of 32. "Oh yeah, they're the team with the idiot owner, what's his name, Argeros? Yeah, they used to be good when Cal was there and now they suck." The only way we get any other reaction is if we WIN.

I agree winning will utimately give us our respect back, but wouldn't it be nice if we could gain a little bit back by making a successful trade for Bedard without having it become a fiasco? It shouldn't have been this hard to trade Bedard, yet it turned into a production.

I'm just saying it would be nice if we helped ourselves earn credibility and respect instead of shooting ourselves in the foot all the time. The Bedard deal was national news, and we completely blew the opportunity to exploit that for positive press.

[square634]

Maese should be completely embarrassed to write this a column with this theme while having no actual idea what went on. How do I know he has no clue what went on? Because he told me so.

Maese wrote this paragraph in the middle of his own article

I say that without knowing all of the details surrounding the stalled trade talks between MacPhail and the Mariners. The trade could ultimately happen, and we might learn that the impediments were minor and insignificant. We might learn that owner Peter Angelos played an inconsequential role. We might learn that through cunning and savvy, MacPhail managed to rob the Mariners blind.

What a joke. He is openly admitting he has drawn conclusions about what happened w/o actually having any clue what happened. This guy is paid to do this for a living. He should be embarrassed.

It is just as embarrassing that some of us are applauding him for this tripe. This is nothing more than all the worst things about journalism today.

But we do have quotes from officials of other teams that are saying that it seems Angelos is meddling or that the O's are making things too difficult. And those other teams aren't going to know exactly what happened either, so I think it's a fair point that at the very least this does not help our perception around the league.

[clarence]

How about Kevin Millar or Melvin Mora? Or Aubrey Huff? That's where it matters. It's the smaller deals where we are going to have trouble.

Your overreactions to everything this offseason are well established. Everyone understands by now that AM is incompetent in your opinion and no one will ever want to deal with the O's again. If AM had felt like all of this needed to be done a month ago, we wouldn't be getting a 5-1. It seems like half the board was willing to take a 3-1 of the same players if he would just do it quickly. I can't imagine how you deal with day-to-day issues and anything that involves patience and rational thought.

If you don't think a team that has a need, and we have a player that can fill that need, won't call us you are wrong. The way I see it, if GM's don't call for a reason it will be because AM got 3 players for Trachsel, 5 for Tejada, and it appears another 5 for Bedard. Also, the Bedard deal looks better on paper than what the Twins got for Santana. If GM's arent' calling, it is because they are worried they are going to get fleeced by someone who isn't going to settle for the first thing thrown at him.

[Stotle]

But we do have quotes from officials of other teams that are saying that it seems Angelos is meddling or that the O's are making things too difficult. And those other teams aren't going to know exactly what happened either, so I think it's a fair point that at the very least this does not help our perception around the league.

What hurts BALs reputation is lazy sports writing and crappy journalists who would rather pump out 1000 words in an hour on the convenient story than take three hours and actually try to dig into the issue....

[boogidownoriole]

You just don't get it. Winning will change our reputation. Continuing to lose will keep it the same.

THAT'S IT!

Do you realize how little play this whole thing has gotten in the true NATIONAL media. That's Sportscenter, the USA Today, etc. Not the local Baltimore media that has followed this closely that 99% of the country never sees. Not mlbtraderumors.com or whatever it's called that 98% of sports fans have never actually read. When we have been reported at all in the true national media that most sports fans pay attention to, it's been a one line story. Details like Jones telling a reporter about the deal or the rumor of a hip condition may have briefly been reported but are as forgotten as which hockey player scored 3 goals Wednesday or who won the Butler/Evansville basketball game. You overestimate the amount of attention that the average fan in anywhere but Seattle or Baltimore has paid to this deal this past week. You project our obsessions about the Orioles on others to whom we are one major league team out of 32. "Oh yeah, they're the team with the idiot owner, what's his name, Argeros? Yeah, they used to be good when Cal was there and now they suck." The only way we get any other reaction is if we WIN.

I dont agree with your choice of a cluttered 2000 word paragraph. But I agree with everything else.

Here in NY, no one has even heard about this trade.

[Shopay]

What's laughable about these type of articles is that, if the O's had completed the trade for AJ and he actually had a hip degeneration problem, then these same media types would be writing how the O's failure to do their due diligence here is further evidence of how inept they are.