TT: Orioles Games of Thrones and the Way Forward

[spiritof66]

1 hour ago, Aristotelian said:

I agree, but not being on the inside I wouldn't necessarily assume that nothing was tried. It would not surprise me if Manny's agent said something that signaling that they would only embarrass themselves by leaking numbers to the public. If the Orioles never talked to Manny's agent once or even considered the idea of an extension, I agree of course that would be foolish. I can't believe they are that stupid, but it's pretty sad that a reasonable person could certainly conclude that they are from the totality of the evidence.

Why wouldn't you believe the Orioles are that stupid?

[Nevermore]

Slightly off the current discussion: Tony, thanks for all of your research and writing your article. I got a lot of information from it.

And yes I agree. Orioles management can be that stupid.

[Rene88]

6 hours ago, Frobby said:

Look, if the two sides couldn’t come to a deal, that’s one thing, but I’ve seen zero signs that the Orioles tried any time in the last 4 years or so.    And Manny made numerous statements that he was open to it and would like to be here long term.   You can question whether those statements were sincere or just made to keep the fan base happy, but there’s no indication that Manny’s agent wouldn’t have engaged if seriously approached.    

I would not have signed Manny regardless because he is high risk. Much value tied to defense and has some injury  history there. But signing Davis long term eliminated any possibility of that so its irrelevant anyways.

This org doesn’t operate like a normal baseball team. If we want to put in a solid foundation and develop a winning org, this needs to change. The GM has more power than the manager and there aren’t parallel or shadow positions. There is investment in the international market and more investment in player development. It’s that simple.

I don’t think signing Davis or Manny made sense for us, but now there is no decision to make. And we cost ourselves a lot of draft picks and prospects by waffling. What a mess...

[weams]

Jon Shepherd also did a piece. 

http://camdendepot.blogspot.com/2018/05/welcome-to-abyss.html?m=1

[Flacco Machado]

Tony,

Have you heard anything about Gary Rajsich's standing with the club?

He and DD, both came out of "retirement" together. He's done such a good job and it is really going to stink if he leaves with Duquette.

Losing him concerns me more than anything with this whole mess.

Thanks.

[allquixotic]

The Orioles have not lost a game since this article was posted.

[wildcard]

11 hours ago, weams said:

Jon Shepherd also did a piece. 

http://camdendepot.blogspot.com/2018/05/welcome-to-abyss.html?m=1

Sometimes when an author tries to paint a bad picture they goes too far.   The pitchers in the low minor will only help the pen?  No mention or Harvey or Akin.   The O's have Santander who will soon be in the high minors developing, Mullins, Hays, Stewart.   The catching in the system is 5 deep.  

Yes the O's have a lot of key players that are FAs.   Manny is unsignable for the O's at this point.    But not every one will leave.   The O's have 60m coming of the books that can be used to replenish the team.  They actually signed major league starters this year in Cobb and  Cashner.  A very hard thing to do with Camden Yards as a home park.  FA hitters are an easier sell.

[VaBird1]

9 hours ago, wildcard said:

Sometimes when an author tries to paint a bad picture they goes too far.   The pitchers in the low minor will only help the pen?  No mention or Harvey or Akin.   The O's have Santander who will soon be in the high minors developing, Mullins, Hays, Stewart.   The catching in the system is 5 deep.  

Yes the O's have a lot of key players that are FAs.   Manny is unsignable for the O's at this point.    But not every one will leave.   The O's have 60m coming of the books that can be used to replenish the team.  The actually signed major league starters this year in Cobb and  Cashner.  A very hard thing to do with Camden Yards as a home park.  FA hitters are a easier sell.

That raised my eyebrows as well.  

[Tony-OH]

12 hours ago, Flacco Machado said:

Tony,

Have you heard anything about Gary Rajsich's standing with the club?

He and DD, both came out of "retirement" together. He's done such a good job and it is really going to stink if he leaves with Duquette.

Losing him concerns me more than anything with this whole mess.

Thanks.

The only thing I heard about Rajisch is he stays out of the warehouse as much as possible and stays focused on his job and out of the "politics". It's probably why he's been pretty successful overall.

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, Tony-OH said:

The only thing I heard about Rajisch is he stays out of the warehouse as much as possible and stays focused on his job and out of the "politics". It's probably why he's been pretty successful overall.

He’s done a very good job IMO.    I’d think that no matter who’s in charge this offseason, they’d want to keep him.   Whether he’ll want to stay is another story.

[eddie83]

5 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

The only thing I heard about Rajisch is he stays out of the warehouse as much as possible and stays focused on his job and out of the "politics". It's probably why he's been pretty successful overall.

Even more reason to like him. 

[eddie83]

22 hours ago, Aristotelian said:

I agree, but not being on the inside I wouldn't necessarily assume that nothing was tried. It would not surprise me if Manny's agent said something that signaling that they would only embarrass themselves by leaking numbers to the public. If the Orioles never talked to Manny's agent once or even considered the idea of an extension, I agree of course that would be foolish. I can't believe they are that stupid, but it's pretty sad that a reasonable person could certainly conclude that they are from the totality of the evidence.

My bet is the Orioles knew what Manny wanted and they were not willing to come close enough to actually have anything to negotiate. 

It falls on the owner. I find it laughable that any GM in the sport would not want a Manny on their team. This is all about money. Sometimes you can see why a GM may want to go in another direction, like perhaps when Markakis left.  No GM just tells a potential HOF young talent in their prime thanks but we don’t want you.  

[Ballmer Bruce]

I am the last guy to defend Orioles management but they simply cannot pay one guy $300 million and compete in the AL East. More and better paid scouts and really competing the Latin American amateurs is the only way to do it. 

Does anyone remember when the Orioles dominated in the 60's and 70's with better scouts than the other teams.  I have not forgotten and will never get off this soapbox.

 

[wildcard]

10 minutes ago, Ballmer Bruce said:

I am the last guy to defend Orioles management but they simply cannot pay one guy $300 million and compete in the AL East. More and better paid scouts and really competing the Latin American amateurs is the only way to do it. 

Does anyone remember when the Orioles dominated in the 60's and 70's with better scouts than the other teams.  I have not forgotten and will never get off this soapbox.

 

I agree with you.

But that was before free agency.

[Ballmer Bruce]

Probably more important now than then.  Think about it. More better younger players who you can control for at least seven years of Major League service before free agency kicks in.