Maese on the O's Rep

[JTrea81]

I don't care about AM's PR skills as long as he keeps his GM skills up to par.

Ultimately, I agree this is the most important, but in a day in age where the media creates public perception, you would think it would be nice if his PR skills were a little better.

[glorydays]

Even before AM was hired, the O's already had a reputation for being slow, disorganized, mismanaged and micromanaged by PA and his boys - whether they be blood or the hired help.

AM had a self-admitted reputation for being slow and deliberate.

Aren't we seeing "the perfect storm" being played out before our own eyes?

[SevisonJN]

What a load of crap.

First of all, his reputation will be based on the deals he makes, not how long it takes to make them, and the results the team has.

Second of all, the only reason this deal is "taking so long" is because leaks about it hit the media. How do we know the Tejada deal was "relatively quick and painless"? Maybe he was talking about it with Houston for three weeks and that just didn't get leaked.

And how do we know that the Orioles "pulled back" after a deal was done? Perhaps it was Seattle acting too swiftly in telling Jones about the deal, maybe becuase they didn't want him to play any more games in Venezuela and risk injury. All we KNOW is that a deal hasn't yet been made. And when a deal is announced, we will KNOW that too. That's it. This is typical of the way the media behaves (both in sports and news arenas) when they aren't fully in the loop on everything that is going on. They interpret their not knowing something or being able to get access to the details a restriction of their right to pursue a story and get all the details. It must be incompetence or dishonesty, never just the desire to keep negotiations a secret.

I am tired of reading this type of response from people. You are respected by your peers and adorned by your fans if you make good deals. I totally agree with that statement. The Orioles FO being a pain in the tukus to work with is counter productive for what we are trying to do.

[SevisonJN]

Ultimately, I agree this is the most important, but in a day in age where the media creates public perception, you would think it would be nice if his PR skills were a little better.

The public perception is that the Orioles are a poorly run organization. Fans, media, Gm's, and front office executives all feel the same way.

[geschinger]

Ultimately, I agree this is the most important, but in a day in age where the media creates public perception, you would think it would be nice if his PR skills were a little better.

Why should MacPhail care about the public perception of how he goes about making a deal? I'm sure he wishes that Seattle's brass was a bit more professional and things could of been kept under wraps until everything was completed.

[itsernst]

I would rather have Millar at what we pay him than Huff. That is a HUGE difference between two mediocre players and about 5 million bucks.

Good luck trying to trade salary dumps though, guys like Mora and Millar.

[JTrea81]

The public perception is that the Orioles are a poorly run organization. Fans, media, Gm's, and front office executives all feel the same way.

Exactly, and the way MacPhail has handled the media throughout this trade saga hasn't helped things...

This is how a FO should negotiate. Here's how the Red Sox handled the A-Rod talks:

Epstein declined to comment to the paper on the negotiations, and Boston president Larry Lucchino has said the team was going into "radio silence" on the talks until they conclude, one way or the other.

That's all you have to do - no comment. Denying positive things that the fanbase perceives as true, just makes things worse.

[hoosiers]

Agree with VTech and others here about this very poor article.

It's funny that we see "real" sports journalists get on shows and make fun of the lack of real journalism, the ability to make up or expand on rumors by the internet journalists, and then see this article. The lack of quotes from other executives is appalling, IMO.

There's no information here. Zero. It's no different than a hack job by an internet blogger.

[glorydays]

From all reports AM is ripping off the M's. Many also agree that we got the best of the MT deal. Let's imagine that the BROB deal plays out in our favor.

Will teams be less likely to deal with us because AM has built the reputation for such sly deals or because of this fiasco?

[SevisonJN]

From all reports AM is ripping off the M's. Many also agree that we got the best of the MT deal. Let's imagine that the BROB deal plays out in our favor.

Will teams be less likely to deal with us because AM has built the reputation for such sly deals or because of this fiasco?

The fiasco, the A's and Twins had ripped people off, but everyone deals with them.

[SouthRider]

Wow, I am amazed at most of the posts in this thread regarding the Maese column. IMHO, Maese has hit the nail squarely on the head. We all hoped that the hiring of Macphail signaled a change in how the Orioles do business. We all hoped having him 100% "in charge" would end the days of Angelos' meddling involvement. Bottom line is it hasn't. By all accounts this trade was agreed to by all parties until Angelos stuck his big, fat, Greek nose into it. He took an insignificant molehill of a comment by an excited 22 year old and turned it into some kind of 'breach of contract' mountain. Do you know of any other team which would jeopardize a deal they want done so badly? Maese isn't bashing Macphail. He is simply saying the Orioles' mode of operation continues as it always does under Angelos: slow and difficult to deal with. He is 100% correct.

[Insomniac]

Neither should have to talk to the press to explain their actions while the deal is still being finalized. How about contacting SEA? Agents of the players? Or better yet, how about simply not writing this unsubstantiated garbage if you can't get any of your suppositions confirmed?! There is plenty else to discuss, this is just the easy write.

Maese may be writing an opinion piece, but the opinion is tired and there is nothing to indicate this delay 1) is unnecessary, or 2) has its roots in any kind of "bungling" by the BAL FO.

I've read that SEA players were announcing to the press that a deal was finalized. I've read Bavasi continually state to the press that he really wants this deal to get done and he thinks it's close. Obviously SEA isn't shy about blathering to the media -- if PA and AM are being unreasonable, my guess is we all would have heard about it from SEA by now. The only people complaining about the O's front office are lazy sports writers and the people that read them.

Exactly. As has been repeatedly said by others smarter than me, the only reason this is an issue for anyone is that the story was leaked by Jones. Absent that, like the Tejada deal, we would all have been pleasantly suprised when the deal was announced on Monday.

AM keeps his mouth shut on these things for a good reason. As fanantical Os fans we hate the wait, and we hate the suspense, but this is the best way to run a front office. IMO, the Os would actually find it harder in the future to deal with other teams if those teams think that AM will negotiate through (or pander to) the press.

If any front office took a real hit here with other teams, it is probably that of the Mariners, which established that they can't even be trusted to tell their players not to mention a pending trade to the press.

[morris]

I'm just commenting on his poor PR skills in this scenario, instead of saying no comment he flat out kept denying things, which just made things worse. The Orioles' reputation is in the toilet. It would just be nice if we could take the opportunity to use the national attention to reflect on the Orioles positively instead of showing that we are the same old Angelos run franchise that is slow and indecisive.

If PR wasn't so important to a franchise, then why even have a Communications section?

The problem for you is he is not saying what you want him to say. He is not here to make you or anybody else feel better about the Orioles. He is here to make the team better. That is exactly what he is doing.

[Elbren]

Admittedly, I haven't read the entire thread, but I think everyone's getting the wrong message from this article.

Maese isn't speculating on what happened. He's basically saying that there is several preconceived notions about this team and it's owner and current events do nothing to help that.

Many believe that this team is hard to deal with ...

... a deal is supposedly done last week, the Mariners call Jones in the middle of a playoff series and tell him "you've been traded, come back to the States.", but it suddenly gets put on hold late Sunday night for unknown reasons. In 30 minutes it will be one week since the trade was supposedly done and we still have no announcement.

Many believe Angelos meddles in any/all decisions made by his Front Office ...

... MacPhail has deal in place last weekend but things are mysteriously put on hold. Multiple rumors are floating around and, like usual, most center around our lovable owner.

MacPhail supposedly has "full autonomy" over baseball operations ...

... yet rumors abound that Angelos put yet another deal on hold making MacPhail look like he has as much power as Duquette, Thrift, Wren, etc.

Maese freely admits that he doesn't know what happened. That's the point ... no one does and I doubt Angelos or his FO people are going to come rushing to answer any questions about the manner.

To be fair, MacPhail didn't earn that over the course of the previous week; his employer earned it over the course of the past decade. The Bedard trade was another chance to reshape the Orioles' reputation; instead, it validated it.

It's not about the truth of what happened ... no one outside of the Oriole FO is ever going to know that. It's about perception and the current perception is that things are status quo in Baltimore.

[square634]

Admittedly, I haven't read the entire thread, but I think everyone's getting the wrong message from this article.

Maese isn't speculating on what happened. He's basically saying that there is several preconceived notions about this team and it's owner and current events do nothing to help that.

Many believe that this team is hard to deal with ...

... a deal is supposedly done last week, the Mariners call Jones in the middle of a playoff series and tell him "you've been traded, come back to the States.", but it suddenly gets put on hold late Sunday night for unknown reasons. In 30 minutes it will be one week since the trade was supposedly done and we still have no announcement.

Many believe Angelos meddles in any/all decisions made by his Front Office ...

... MacPhail has deal in place last weekend but things are mysteriously put on hold. Multiple rumors are floating around and, like usual, most center around our lovable owner.

MacPhail supposedly has "full autonomy" over baseball operations ...

... yet rumors abound that Angelos put yet another deal on hold making MacPhail look like he has as much power as Duquette, Thrift, Wren, etc.

Maese freely admits that he doesn't know what happened. That's the point ... no one does and I doubt Angelos or his FO people are going to come rushing to answer any questions about the manner.

It's not about the truth of what happened ... no one outside of the Oriole FO is ever going to know that. It's about perception and the current perception is that things are status quo in Baltimore.

Yeah, I agree with you, that's how I read it. But others say that Maese doesn't know what the perception is around the league, so he shouldn't write anything.