Umm... Adam? Jones' tweet...

[mdbdotcom]

Do you think AJ would have any better luck if he walked into Peter's office and demanded a bunch of extensions and free agent signings?

It's frustrating but the way our team is built, we have a bunch of arbitration increases that we can't do anything about. We lost Cruz, Markakis, and Miller, and yet our payroll is going to be higher this year than it was last year. We are already at $114M vs $107M last year. If he wants to cut out the middle-man, he should go to the players union.

Unless his tweet had nothing to do with who's on the team.

[Russsnyder]

Listening to Davis and Norris on the fan this morning and they both thought the tweet was in regards to the lost free agents this year, and the potential of losing the quality free agents next year. Can you blame Adam for being upset? You lose the home run champion, and in my opinion the reliever with the best stuff in club history ( and I go back to watching the O's in 1963).

[mdbdotcom]

Listening to Davis and Norris on the fan this morning and they both thought the tweet was in regards to the lost free agents this year, and the potential of losing the quality free agents next year. Can you blame Adam for being upset? You lose the home run champion, and in my opinion the reliever with the best stuff in club history ( and I go back to watching the O's in 1963).

Could be, but what if they were wrong? Which middle men do you think Adam has been speaking with about the roster? Does he really expect to have a voice in such matters?

[OFFNY]

Could be, but what if they were wrong? Which middle men do you think Adam has been speaking with about the roster? Does he really expect to have a voice in such matters?

I wouldn't be shocked if he thought that he actually did.

Adam does tend to be a little full of himself on occasion, although that is something that I actually like about him. This team needs/needed a solid player like himself to be a vocal leader with some swagger (and perhaps even a little bit of conceit) to make it clear that it's all about the Orioles, and not the media darling Red Sox, Yankees, etc., especially when we were struggling as badly as we were prior to the 2012 season.

[weams]

Could be, but what if they were wrong? Which middle men do you think Adam has been speaking with about the roster? Does he really expect to have a voice in such matters?

Hvve Davis or Norris spoken to him since the tweet? If not, their theory is as good as yours. Or mine. I'd ask Tony-OH he probably has a better take on this.

[crawjo]

I think any player would have to question the direction of the organization after this offseason. It has been a very bad offseason for the Orioles; there's no getting around it. It's not just losing Markakis and Cruz, it's also the impression that many have that Duquette is disengaged and looking to move on to another job. There's a million ways of sugar-coating it (it's only the offseason, arbitration was going to push our payroll higher no matter what, etc.) but there's lots of warning signs right now that the organization is drifting and rudderless. The impending free agency also doesn't look good given the proclivity of the team not to spend money on the free agent market.

[weams]

I think any player would have to question the direction of the organization after this offseason. It has been a very bad offseason for the Orioles; there's no getting around it. It's not just losing Markakis and Cruz, it's also the impression that many have that Duquette is disengaged and looking to move on to another job. There's a million ways of sugar-coating it (it's only the offseason, arbitration was going to push our payroll higher no matter what, etc.) but there's lots of warning signs right now that the organization is drifting and rudderless. The impending free agency also doesn't look good given the proclivity of the team not to spend money on the free agent market.

Yep. No doubt. It will be a bad year. Spending the most that the organization has ever spent.

[O-The-Memories]

I think any player would have to question the direction of the organization after this offseason. It has been a very bad offseason for the Orioles; there's no getting around it. It's not just losing Markakis and Cruz, it's also the impression that many have that Duquette is disengaged and looking to move on to another job. There's a million ways of sugar-coating it (it's only the offseason, arbitration was going to push our payroll higher no matter what, etc.) but there's lots of warning signs right now that the organization is drifting and rudderless. The impending free agency also doesn't look good given the proclivity of the team not to spend money on the free agent market.

I agree with you, but do you think the best move would be to sign our impending free agents to big contracts? That's what it's going to take and I don't think Wieters or Davis is going to be worth what they get in the open market.

[Can_of_corn]

Yep. No doubt. It will be a bad year. Spending the most that the organization has ever spent.

I can't get upset at the offseason.

I wouldn't have signed Cruz, Markakis or Miller to the contracts they got.

I wouldn't have signed any of the major free agents to the contracts they got.

I wouldn't have traded Bundy, Gausman or Harvey for anyone that was traded.

[weams]

I agree with you, but do you think the best move would be to sign our impending free agents to big contracts? That's what it's going to take and I don't think Wieters or Davis is going to be worth what they get in the open market.

I never thought the Orioles were going to spend 135 million this year. Do you think Adam did?

[mdbdotcom]

I think any player would have to question the direction of the organization after this offseason. It has been a very bad offseason for the Orioles; there's no getting around it. It's not just losing Markakis and Cruz, it's also the impression that many have that Duquette is disengaged and looking to move on to another job. There's a million ways of sugar-coating it (it's only the offseason, arbitration was going to push our payroll higher no matter what, etc.) but there's lots of warning signs right now that the organization is drifting and rudderless. The impending free agency also doesn't look good given the proclivity of the team not to spend money on the free agent market.

I have no problem with this off-season. We lost two premium players we were able to grab at non-premium prices. We lost a third player who hasn't contributed a lot at the plate or in the field the last few years, though he is a leader on the team.

We added Wesley Wright, Travis Snider, and paid a lot of raises so we could retain arb-eligible players. Machado and Wieters returning to the lineup should add a lot. Chris Davis may be more of a factor than he was last year. People forget that we scored more runs in 2013 than we did last year. Cruz helped fill the gap created by the loss of Machado, Wieters, and Davis, but he didn't fill it completely.

We still have the best defense in the division and a pitching staff that is no worse than second best. We have an offense that has some question marks, but also should be strong from 1-8 this year, as opposed to 1-6 last year.

We have players in the wings to replace most of the players we are likely to lose next year. The one glaring exception is Wieters. We will need a starting catcher.

I simply don't understand the hand-wringing, whether it's coming from OH members or the players.

I like our guys.

[Oriole1940]

If we take the tweet at what it appears to be, can we really blame him for being upset?

Adam has years remaining on his contract. Last year we came really close to the World Series, and the "middle men" reward the team by allowing Cruz, his buddy Markakis, and Miller go and replacing them with nearly nothing. And adding to that is the Duquette drama all winter and the impending 11 free agents next offseason. I can certainly see why Jones would be upset with the "middle men" and want to speak his mind to the owner.

As a fan, I am conditioned to try to be positive and always think we'll be okay, but if I was a member of the team, I could certainly see where Adam is coming from. He wants to know that the commitment from the team is going to be there for the length of his contract, and not a return to pre-Buck days of 4th and 5th place finishes.

If the tweet was really Adams feelings. I, too, can understand it. The better way to handle it though, would have been to make an appointment with Mr. Angelos and express the feelings to him, personally. Some- times an employee must go right to the top in any organization in order to correctly express ones feelings. And fair middlemen would understand that procedure. I have done it.

[Can_of_corn]

If the tweet was really Adams feelings. I, too, can understand it. The better way to handle it though, would have been to make an appointment with Mr. Angelos and express the feelings to him, personally. Some- times an employee must go right to the top in any organization in order to correctly express ones feelings. And fair middlemen would understand that procedure. I have done it.

You first have to make a fair attempt at dealing with the "middle men". Then preferably tell them you are going over their heads since the issue couldn't be reconciled.

[weams]

No one has a clue what that tweet meant specifically. No one is even sure it it has to do with the team.

Do union employees have access to ownership other than through noblesse oblige?

[MdSooner]

Do union employees have access to ownership other than through noblesse oblige?

Sorry, I had to look this up. I'm a redneck

Noblesse oblige is a French phrase literally meaning "obligation of Nobility". It is the concept that nobility extends beyond mere entitlements and requires the person with such status to fulfill social responsibilities, particularly in leadership roles.

The Dictionnaire de l’Acad?mie fran?aise defines it thus:

Whoever claims to be noble must conduct himself nobly.

(Figuratively) One must act in a fashion that conforms to one's position, and with the reputation that one has earned.