You're DD and PA says to "buy"

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, DirtyBird said:

We need to play .641 baseball from here in to get to 90 wins.

That means we'd have to win over 3 out of every 5 games.

Someone could just give us the best pitcher in the league and we still wouldn't get there.

 

The cut line for the wild card looks like it will be significantly below 90 wins.    Presently the Yankees are in 1st WC position at an 87-win pace, and the Royals are in 2nd position at an 85-win pace.

Right now, I doubt we'd compete for either spot even assuming those numbers hold up, but the task isn't quite as daunting as your post suggests.     

[FlipTheBird]

51 minutes ago, Sessh said:

If I'm DD and PA tells me to buy, I'd probably walk away from the job. I wouldn't let some crazy, billionaire owner destroy what's left of my reputation instead of destroying his own which is what he had been doing prior to my arrival because he doesn't have the sense to let the GM he hires do the job he was brought in to do and certainly not share the authority with the manager as well. I really think PA hires GM's for no other reason than to shield him from the anger of the public and take the heat for him.

If PA tells DD to buy, DD ends up looking like a moron instead of PA and, of course, Buck gets zero blame and a new pedestal to perch himself on. If I'm DD and PA tells me to buy, I get out of the way and let PA destroy himself and turn it on his head instead of mine especially if I'm hired to be the GM and I can't really do that because of a meddling owner and a manager that has been given too much power over what I do and don't do with the personnel. I'd even be honest about it when asked by the media. Why should I take the fall for the actions of another that I would have never done if left to my own devices?

If PA tells DD to buy, DD has to do his job. There are only 30 MLB clubs. It's not a huge industry. The other owners, other executives, know all about Peter Angelos. If he issues an edict, his employees have to carry it out. It's his pig, his farm.

Blowing your owner off would do more damage to an executive's rep. DD isn't the owner. It's not his property. Not his business. And it's not like buying instead of selling will create a "catastrophic" future for the organization. Set 'em back? OK, maybe. But it's a baseball team. It will remain profitable, one way or another. It's not like tanking a Fortune 500 and erasing it from existence. There's nothing ethically wrong with buying.

Fans everywhere need to take a step back and remember that, at the end of the day, this is Peter Angelos' pig and farm. He gets to do what he wants.

[DirtyBird]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

The cut line for the wild card looks like it will be significantly below 90 wins.    Presently the Yankees are in 1st WC position at an 87-win pace, and the Royals are in 2nd position at an 85-win pace.

Right now, I doubt we'd compete for either spot even assuming those numbers hold up, but the task isn't quite as daunting as your post suggests.     

So, we'd only need to play .600 ball. My point still stands.

if we hypothetically had one starter who we won for every single start, we'd need to find a way to play .500 ball in our other games.

It is as daunting as I suggest. 

[Sessh]

6 hours ago, FlipTheBird said:

Fans everywhere need to take a step back and remember that, at the end of the day, this is Peter Angelos' pig and farm. He gets to do what he wants.

Well, that's fine and everything, but if that's how he's going to run the organization (ie: do everything himself through a GM who is essentially a puppet that can't even use the toilet without getting permission first), then don't hire a GM at all if you refuse to let him do his job. I honestly don't think DD would be doing things this way if he wasn't being forced to. I don't think he would have signed Davis and anyway, that was way more PA than it was DD. I bet this organization would look a lot better if his decisions weren't being entirely made for him.

[Sessh]

6 hours ago, FlipTheBird said:

Blowing your owner off would do more damage to an executive's rep. DD isn't the owner. It's not his property. Not his business. And it's not like buying instead of selling will create a "catastrophic" future for the organization. Set 'em back? OK, maybe. But it's a baseball team. It will remain profitable, one way or another. It's not like tanking a Fortune 500 and erasing it from existence. There's nothing ethically wrong with buying.

..and who cares about ethics? I'm not even talking about that. I'm talking about this being a team that is not competitive this season for multiple reasons that will only get worse by maintaining this course of action. It is, in no way, good for the organization to buy anymore than it's good to avoid the international market. It is delusional and shows a complete disconnect with both the game and the organization you are the GM of. It makes DD look like a complete moron to buy at this point and I'm not convinced he is a moron or would willingly adopt such a strategy. PA, on the other hand, is, would and has many times in the past made extremely stupid decisions that continually set this organization back and now he's doing it again. He is and has been known as the worst owner in professional sports for a long, long, long time and there's a good reason for that. He doesn't have a CLUE how to run a baseball organization personnel wise, doesn't have a clue that he doesn't have a clue and he refuses to let the ones who do know how to do those things do their jobs once they get here. He continually meddles and interferes and just can't help himself. The Orioles have a real chance to flirt with the Cub "curse" if John is anything like Peter. The worst thing that could happen now is to find out that it's been John making decisions for years now.

[weams]

3 minutes ago, Sessh said:

..and who cares about ethics? I'm not even talking about that. I'm talking about this being a team that is not competitive this season for multiple reasons that will only get worse by maintaining this course of action. It is, in no way, good for the organization to buy anymore than it's good to avoid the international market. It is delusional and shows a complete disconnect with both the game and the organization you are the GM of. It makes DD look like a complete moron to buy at this point and I'm not convinced he is a moron or would willingly adopt such a strategy. PA, on the other hand, is, would and has many times in the past made extremely stupid decisions that continually set this organization back and now he's doing it again. He is and has been known as the worst owner in professional sports for a long, long, long time and there's a good reason for that. He doesn't have a CLUE how to run a baseball organization personnel wise, doesn't have a clue that he doesn't have a clue and he refuses to let the ones who do know how to do those things do their jobs once they get here. He continually meddles and interferes and just can't help himself. The Orioles have a real chance to flirt with the Cub "curse" if John is anything like Peter. The worst thing that could happen now is to find out that it's been John making decisions for years now.

107 years is a lot different than 35. Milwaukee beat the Cubs 11-to 2 today. 

[spiritof66]

When Duquette was hired by the Orioles, I said -- and I may have stolen the line from someone, just can't recall -- that Dan wanted to get back into MLB in the worst way, and by being hired by Angelos he'd done just that. 

[24fps]

12 hours ago, Sessh said:

If I'm DD and PA tells me to buy, I'd probably walk away from the job. I wouldn't let some crazy, billionaire owner destroy what's left of my reputation instead of destroying his own which is what he had been doing prior to my arrival because he doesn't have the sense to let the GM he hires do the job he was brought in to do and certainly not share the authority with the manager as well. I really think PA hires GM's for no other reason than to shield him from the anger of the public and take the heat for him.

If PA tells DD to buy, DD ends up looking like a moron instead of PA and, of course, Buck gets zero blame and a new pedestal to perch himself on. If I'm DD and PA tells me to buy, I get out of the way and let PA destroy himself and turn it on his head instead of mine especially if I'm hired to be the GM and I can't really do that because of a meddling owner and a manager that has been given too much power over what I do and don't do with the personnel. I'd even be honest about it when asked by the media. Why should I take the fall for the actions of another that I would have never done if left to my own devices?

If I have one of only 30 jobs of that type in the entire world, I think the perfect way to insure long-term employability is to quit in a snit every time I don't get my way.  The more public the better, because, by God, nobody is going to call me a moron!

I mean it's a no-brainer, right?  Well if not exactly that, certainly evidence of no brains...

[FlipTheBird]

5 hours ago, Sessh said:

..and who cares about ethics? I'm not even talking about that. I'm talking about this being a team that is not competitive this season for multiple reasons that will only get worse by maintaining this course of action. It is, in no way, good for the organization to buy anymore than it's good to avoid the international market. It is delusional and shows a complete disconnect with both the game and the organization you are the GM of. It makes DD look like a complete moron to buy at this point and I'm not convinced he is a moron or would willingly adopt such a strategy. PA, on the other hand, is, would and has many times in the past made extremely stupid decisions that continually set this organization back and now he's doing it again. He is and has been known as the worst owner in professional sports for a long, long, long time and there's a good reason for that. He doesn't have a CLUE how to run a baseball organization personnel wise, doesn't have a clue that he doesn't have a clue and he refuses to let the ones who do know how to do those things do their jobs once they get here. He continually meddles and interferes and just can't help himself. The Orioles have a real chance to flirt with the Cub "curse" if John is anything like Peter. The worst thing that could happen now is to find out that it's been John making decisions for years now.

My point was that DD couldn't just throw up his hands and walk away because he felt he couldn't ethically do his job. It's not like the organization is falling into ruin and about to start hemorrhaging money.

If you think PA is the worst owner in all of professional sports, you haven't been paying attention.

[Sessh]

23 hours ago, 24fps said:

If I have one of only 30 jobs of that type in the entire world, I think the perfect way to insure long-term employability is to quit in a snit every time I don't get my way.  The more public the better, because, by God, nobody is going to call me a moron!

I mean it's a no-brainer, right?  Well if not exactly that, certainly evidence of no brains...

Every time? He didn't quit after not being allowed to leave for Toronto, but if he's being hired to do a job and being handcuffed and leg ironed to the point he can't do his job and being made to look like a much worse GM than he actually is because he's PA's puppet, I think that's a pretty solid reason to consider not working at such a place anymore. It's not like DD would have trouble finding work after Baltimore even if it meant he retired for a year or two and came back. Not being able to do the job you were hired to do because of very poor work conditions and a crappy owner has got to be a horrible gig especially when it makes you look like it's making him look. Not saying he is blameless, but I would be real surprised if this was the vision DD had for this organization. It's what PA would do and has done for a long time, though. You act like this is all trivial stuff; it's not. I wouldn't blame him for leaving.

As for his "family and children", I'm sure he has more than enougb dough for everyone to live comfortably and would still be able to find work somewhere based on the success the team did have for awhile. I don't think PA trusted DD anymore after the Toronto deal; I think that really changed things in the warehouse in that he entertained the offer instead of shooting it down and focusing on the job he had. That was the one blunder that was certainly 100% on him and it was a big one IMO.

22 hours ago, FlipTheBird said:

My point was that DD couldn't just throw up his hands and walk away because he felt he couldn't ethically do his job. It's not like the organization is falling into ruin and about to start hemorrhaging money.

If you think PA is the worst owner in all of professional sports, you haven't been paying attention.

I don't care about that. If it's me and the job I am doing is just playing a puppet for a bad owner that makes horrible GM decisions that I get the blame for, that doesn't really sound like a good time to me. Of course, if it's all about the money for him, so be it. Maybe it is; he wanted to go to Toronto, after all. If you're going to hire me to run a baseball team and then run the baseball team yourself, what's the point of having me there except to take responsibility for your decisions as opposed to having the freedom to make my own and take responsibility for those instead? One is right, one isn't. No amount of money would be enough for me. Either let me do my job or don't hire me and do it yourself.

[24fps]

55 minutes ago, Sessh said:

Every time? He didn't quit after not being allowed to leave for Toronto, but if he's being hired to do a job and being handcuffed and leg ironed to the point he can't do his job and being made to look like a much worse GM than he actually is because he's PA's puppet, I think that's a pretty solid reason to consider not working at such a place anymore. It's not like DD would have trouble finding work after Baltimore even if it meant he retired for a year or two and came back. Not being able to do the job you were hired to do because of very poor work conditions and a crappy owner has got to be a horrible gig especially when it makes you look like it's making him look. Not saying he is blameless, but I would be real surprised if this was the vision DD had for this organization. It's what PA would do and has done for a long time, though. You act like this is all trivial stuff; it's not. I wouldn't blame him for leaving.

As for his "family and children", I'm sure he has more than enougb dough for everyone to live comfortably and would still be able to find work somewhere based on the success the team did have for awhile. I don't think PA trusted DD anymore after the Toronto deal; I think that really changed things in the warehouse in that he entertained the offer instead of shooting it down and focusing on the job he had. That was the one blunder that was certainly 100% on him and it was a big one IMO.

I don't care about that. If it's me and the job I am doing is just playing a puppet for a bad owner that makes horrible GM decisions that I get the blame for, that doesn't really sound like a good time to me. Of course, if it's all about the money for him, so be it. Maybe it is; he wanted to go to Toronto, after all. If you're going to hire me to run a baseball team and then run the baseball team yourself, what's the point of having me there except to take responsibility for your decisions as opposed to having the freedom to make my own and take responsibility for those instead? One is right, one isn't. No amount of money would be enough for me. Either let me do my job or don't hire me and do it yourself.

Or he could hire one of the other 2,000,000 people lined up who would happily (or not so happily but nonetheless willingly) step in and accept the position regardless of any constraints.  The history of Duquette's hiring notwithstanding, a handful of them would be sufficiently capable and none of them would have the attitude permeating the posts you've made in this thread.

People of real accomplishment like Peter Angelos don't hire others to tell them to piss off if there's a disagreement.  If you can't get along, you can't have the job.  It's that simple.