What's at stake for the O's?

[wildcard]

I would like to hear your opinion on this subject.     If the O's do not improve the team to have a fighting chance to contend, what is at stake for the the O's.  Drop in attendance?  Reduced viewers for MASN?

The O's had about 11.000 fans attend FanFest.   After a couple of years of  around 15,000.   The weather was decent.    That is a 26% drop in FanFest attendance.  I have to think that indicates the interest level of the fans.

If the O's do not improve the pitching before opening day which means poor  projections from media  and fan mood leaning toward the O's having a bad year, what is at stake for the Orioles?

[Luke-OH]

7 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I would like to hear your opinion on this subject.     If the O's do not improve the team to have a fighting chance to contend, what is at stake for the the O's.  Drop in attendance?  Reduced viewers for MASN?

The O's had about 11.000 fans attend FanFest.   After a couple of years of  around 15,000.   The weather was decent.    That is a 26% drop in FanFest attendance.  I have to think that indicates the interest level of the fans.

If the O's do not improve the pitching before opening day which means poor  projections from media  and fan mood leaning toward the O's having a bad year, what is at stake for the Orioles?

A one year drop isn’t the end of the world, if they don’t sign anyone major, payroll will be down as well. However, if the team is going that route they should trade Manny, Brach, etc and let the fans know they have a plan to reload for another competitive window.  

The worst possible thing the Orioles could do IMO, is sign mediocre talent (insufficient to move the needle for fans or on-field product), “try to contend”, fail miserably, and then see Jones, Manny, Brach, and Britton walk. THAT will alienate fans in a much better way than fans just not being particularly excited.

[LC_O's_87]

49 minutes ago, Luke-OH said:

A one year drop isn’t the end of the world, if they don’t sign anyone major, payroll will be down as well. However, if the team is going that route they should trade Manny, Brach, etc and let the fans know they have a plan to reload for another competitive window.  

The worst possible thing the Orioles could do IMO, is sign mediocre talent (insufficient to move the needle for fans or on-field product), “try to contend”, fail miserably, and then see Jones, Manny, Brach, and Britton walk. THAT will alienate fans in a much better way than fans just not being particularly excited.

Couldn't agree more, and you can add Buck and DD to that mix.  Apathy and/or complacency from ownership when everyone with a brain can now see how this 6 year party is going to end is the biggest risk. 

At least they can sell a rebuild.  They can't sell this offseason, and the one that will follow.

[interloper]

There's plenty at stake, but I'm not sure the O's really understand that. Or they'd have prepared better for what's happening.

[Yardball85]

1 hour ago, Luke-OH said:

A one year drop isn’t the end of the world, if they don’t sign anyone major, payroll will be down as well. However, if the team is going that route they should trade Manny, Brach, etc and let the fans know they have a plan to reload for another competitive window.  

The worst possible thing the Orioles could do IMO, is sign mediocre talent (insufficient to move the needle for fans or on-field product), “try to contend”, fail miserably, and then see Jones, Manny, Brach, and Britton walk. THAT will alienate fans in a much better way than fans just not being particularly excited.

That is EXACTLY what they are going to do.  Because Orioles.

[25 Nuggets]

27 minutes ago, Yardball85 said:

That is EXACTLY what they are going to do.  Because Orioles.

It's plain as day except to a select few people at the Warehouse.

There will be one last final opportunity - the trade deadline - but that will still mean months of fan malaise.

[esmd]

The fanbase is restless, I think mostly at the inaction, and the perceived lack of a coherent plan.  Are they trying to compete?  Are they trying to reload on the fly?  Are they laying the groundwork for a rebuild?  Nobody knows.

[Tx Oriole]

3 hours ago, wildcard said:

I would like to hear your opinion on this subject.     If the O's do not improve the team to have a fighting chance to contend, what is at stake for the the O's.  Drop in attendance?  Reduced viewers for MASN?

The O's had about 11.000 fans attend FanFest.   After a couple of years of  around 15,000.   The weather was decent.    That is a 26% drop in FanFest attendance.  I have to think that indicates the interest level of the fans.

If the O's do not improve the pitching before opening day which means poor  projections from media  and fan mood leaning toward the O's having a bad year, what is at stake for the Orioles?

I think they will have a bad year. I believe fan attendance will be down. I just don't think DD can or will get the pitching this team needs. That goes on Angelos. 

[Ripken]

27 minutes ago, esmd said:

The fanbase is restless, I think mostly at the inaction, and the perceived lack of a coherent plan.  Are they trying to compete?  Are they trying to reload on the fly?  Are they laying the groundwork for a rebuild?  Nobody knows.

Worse, it's looking more and more like the front office doesn't know either.

[Tx Oriole]

2 hours ago, Luke-OH said:

A one year drop isn’t the end of the world, if they don’t sign anyone major, payroll will be down as well. However, if the team is going that route they should trade Manny, Brach, etc and let the fans know they have a plan to reload for another competitive window.  

The worst possible thing the Orioles could do IMO, is sign mediocre talent (insufficient to move the needle for fans or on-field product), “try to contend”, fail miserably, and then see Jones, Manny, Brach, and Britton walk. THAT will alienate fans in a much better way than fans just not being particularly excited.

Well you know as well as I do that DD will bring in mediocre pitchers. Angelos won't allow four year contracts  for top flight pitchers. I wish DD would sign Cobb. But bottom of the tier pitchers won't work. IMO 

[Frobby]

I think attendance will be WAY down.     The lack of direction of this team, following its first losing season in six years, doesn’t give fans a lot of motivation to buy tickets.    

[glenn__davis]

7 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I think attendance will be WAY down.     The lack of direction of this team, following its first losing season in six years, doesn’t give fans a lot of motivation to buy tickets.    

I'm not sure if it will impact the casual fan as much, but I know that I just can't stomach another season of watching starting pitching as bad as last year.  I know we were technically "in contention" until September, but being down 4-5 runs after 3rd inning every game was just dreadful to watch.

[tntoriole]

The problem is that everyone in senior positions including the owner are all short timers.   You would think the heir apparents would seize the "vision" issue if it is going to be their team, but perhaps they are going to sell. 

But you cannot guide any organization in any business in a long term direction without vision and planning.  And there is little of this evident except year to year, contract to contract.  

[Frobby]

14 minutes ago, glenn__davis said:

I'm not sure if it will impact the casual fan as much, but I know that I just can't stomach another season of watching starting pitching as bad as last year.  I know we were technically "in contention" until September, but being down 4-5 runs after 3rd inning every game was just dreadful to watch.

I couldn’t agree more.    We just have to hope we get some better-than-expected pitching from some source.    It does happen, often enough.    

[MikeAD]

I think this is a really important year for many reasons.  TV viewership has been up across the league as fans move away from cities and prices continue to go up.  Having low ticket prices attracts locals but not when your team is reliant on fans traveling in.  I think both ratings and ticket sales plummet sharply this year.  The Orioles need to find a way to bring back casual fans in Baltimore proper. 

 

The future of the CBA is up in the air, players have started to discuss a strike.  This has been a particularly boring off-season but next off season is going to be huge, some of the biggest names together all at once like we haven't seen in years.  The good teams are positioning to have the financial flexibility and trade capital to make these moves.  Those teams are only going to get better.  


This is a very important year for the Orioles.  We do not have the talent to contend.  The Rays will get better throughout the season so a 5th place finish is likely but a 4th place finish may be our ceiling. Management has shown they are committed to giving the fans one more season of Manny, Jones etc, I just hope they find a way to build new fans and connect with the city to keep them.  Any fans who are fooled into sticking around by one year of Manny (and Jones) aren't going to be very happy one year from now.  

 

I can't overstate how important our (lack of) pitching is right now.  Even if we put buts in seats they aren't going to stay there when most games are a blow out and the bullpen is held together with knock off dollar tree tape by June 1st.  We are at a pretty serious crossroads right now.  We've contended for a few seasons and had success but the teams around us are drastically better and are only getting better by the day, move by move.  NYY and BOS have the capital to do whatever they want next off season as well.  We could re-tool right now and get back in the thick of it, but seems the team has decided to bank on trying to keep as many fans as possible and hope for the best.