As the reality of Manny leaving the O's sinks in

[wildcard]

While its not known if Manny will be traded this off season or stay for part or all of one more season. What does seem to be a reality from the goings on the past few days is the O's will not sign Manny to a long term agreement.   No 10/300m contract with the O's.  This means one thing.  Manny is leaving.  We just don't know when.

That in itself makes me give thanks for the 5 plus years that I got to watch Manny play.   His arm, this range, hit bat and him as a person have been a pleasure to watch.   And as I think about it,  I think that we have to note that the O's started winning almost from the day he joined the O's from the minors.  The turnaround began when  Dan  Duquette joined Buck Showalter  managing the team in 2012 and they promoted Manny mid season.   2014 was the peak of their 5 year run of winning baseball as the O's won  the division.    Manny has been a big part on all that.  In some ways it seems like the Manny era.

I don't know what happens next.   Whether the O's end up with the 30 something  pick in the 2019 draft or they make a trade to get back other players that help them continue to win..... or not.  That is yet to be seen.

However I for one I will always be glad that Manny passed this way.  That he give us all exciting baseball to watch for over 5 years.  I will always think of these years as special. 

 

 

[Frobby]

No question.    I’m sure there will be a full blown Manny appreciation thread whenever he leaves, so I’ll save my bullets.    

[joelala]

I have been in a state of mourning all morning.  He is perhaps the most exciting player to watch in the game, and an absolute game-changer. I feel so lucky that he is (was) on our team. 

[El Gordo]

I have no idea whether he will be traded or not but there seems to be a sea change regarding the team's willingness to entertain that notion. I would guess there are several major reasons, 1) Manny has made it clear he will not extend. 2) Stanton to the MFY has made the possibility of contending more distant, and 3) the difficulty of acquiring SP.

[BirdinBama]

I love Manny. I would love to have him for the next ten years, but that is not going to happen. 

So, let's pull the trigger now and trade for the future.

[weams]

Is this the Appreciation Thread?

[Sanfran327]

I'm not going to lie. I'm purely bitter over this. I'm not sure how I'll approach next year without Manny, but a lot will depend on where he ends up and what we get in return. I'm sure I'll watch every night as usual, but I'm going to be furious if he ends up in NY or Boston. Cards or Giants would be one thing, and an easier pill to swallow, but I'm pretty upset about this either way. 

[TheDirtyBird]

I just can't stomach the thought of seeing him go. Went to his first game with the excitement that we finally had the guy. I haven't been on the board much often but it seems everyone is ready to trade him. I still haven't gotten over resigning Davis last year and now we're going to ship Manny off. Going to be a tough pill to swallow. I want years of Manny (SS)/Schoop up the middle, guess not.

[clapdiddy]

1 hour ago, weams said:

Is this the Appreciation Thread?

Nope...that will have to wait until the end of July.

[McLovin]

I'm 43, and if Manny leaves, the only thing I think I could compare it to in my O's fandom career would be running Eddie out of town. If and when it happens, that may be it for me and the O's, for a long long time...

[Sanfran327]

3 minutes ago, McLovin said:

I'm 43, and if Manny leaves, the only thing I think I could compare it to in my O's fandom career would be running Eddie out of town. If and when it happens, that may be it for me and the O's, for a long long time...

Definitely the worst thing since watching Mussina go to the Yankees. 

[McLovin]

8 minutes ago, Sanfran327 said:

Definitely the worst thing since watching Mussina go to the Yankees. 

Mussina I didn't mind so bad. We got 2 contracts out of him, and there was a bit of risk giving him a big deal. Manny's best is yet to come.

[Frobby]

7 minutes ago, McLovin said:

Mussina I didn't mind so bad. We got 2 contracts out of him, and there was a bit of risk giving him a big deal. Manny's best is yet to come.

I hated losing Moose, because he wanted to stay and his contract demands were completely reasonable.   He clearly could have been signed a year before he hit free agency, but for Angelos’ stubbornness and greed.   Manny’s a little easier for me to take, because it’s been clear for years that this might happen, and the contracts under discussion in the press are astronomically high.  I’ll still hate seeing him leave, but it won’t be the same jolt as Mussina.

[Catch 8]

15 minutes ago, Sanfran327 said:

Definitely the worst thing since watching Mussina go to the Yankees. 

Moose was at least in our plans, and we tried to sign him.  We never had a plan for Machado.  Negotiate? Nope.