Lack of international talent

[bpilktree67]

We can go back and fourth on what has caused the issue for this organization but I think everyone can agree until we become more involved in international market for young talent it will be difficult for any GM.  The Nats just added 19 year old Juan Soto to their roster.  We don’t spend money to get these type guys is one problem but also the lack of money spent on scouting and being visual contributes just as much.  This will not change until Peter and maybe even one of his sons realizes this main issue.

[spiritof66]

It's hard to believe the Angeloses don't realize the competitive disadvantage that the Orioles face in trying to bring in talent while pretty much ignoring one of the basic sources of talent.

I think it's far more likely that the Orioles simply don't care about that disadvantage. Top international talent is acquired when it's young, and it takes at least a few years, often more, before that talent is major-league ready. The Orioles have decided, I believe, not to invest the millions of dollars that would be required to build a Latin American infrastructure for identifying, selecting and developing top-tier talent because that investment will not return value in the next few years -- which is all that Peter Angelos cares about. They would rather put that money into the current ML payroll. Right now, that plan is not helping the ML club, while continuing to cripple the future of the franchise. So most of the international talent that finds its way to the Orioles comes in the form of players that other organizations have given up on, or at least have not protected by giving them roster spots.

Nice work, Peter. If there's someone out there who knows less than you do about how to run a baseball franchise in 2018, I'd like to know who it is. Now, running a franchise into the ground -- that's something you're real good at.

 

[joelala]

5 hours ago, bpilktree67 said:

We can go back and fourth on what has caused the issue for this organization but I think everyone can agree until we become more involved in international market for young talent it will be difficult for any GM.  The Nats just added 19 year old Juan Soto to their roster.  We don’t spend money to get these type guys is one problem but also the lack of money spent on scouting and being visual contributes just as much.  This will not change until Peter and maybe even one of his sons realizes this main issue.

It is completely and utterly negligent, and I'm not sure how much longer I can tolerate it to be honest. 

Look at the league, and young players like the aforementioned Soto, Acuna and Albies in Atlanta, Torres in NY, Devers in BOS, Vlad Jr. coming very soon to Toronto and many more coming to the majors as soon as this season as well.  These guys are so exciting and it infuriates me that we don't have a chance to have players like this.  We will NEVER be a consistently good team until our stance on this changes.

My only hope is that the Angelos' are starting to recognize this GLARING trend that is on full display in our own division and reverse course. 

Or just sell the team.  Makes me sick.

[joelala]

2 hours ago, spiritof66 said:

It's hard to believe the Angeloses don't realize the competitive disadvantage that the Orioles face in trying to bring in talent while pretty much ignoring one of the basic sources of talent.

I think it's far more likely that the Orioles simply don't care about that disadvantage. Top international talent is acquired when it's young, and it takes at least a few years, often more, before that talent is major-league ready. The Orioles have decided, I believe, not to invest the millions of dollars that would be required to build a Latin American infrastructure for identifying, selecting and developing top-tier talent because that investment will not return value in the next few years -- which is all that Peter Angelos cares about. They would rather put that money into the current ML payroll. Right now, that plan is not helping the ML club, while continuing to cripple the future of the franchise. So most of the international talent that finds its way to the Orioles comes in the form of players that other organizations have given up on, or at least have not protected by giving them roster spots.

Nice work, Peter. If there's someone out there who knows less than you do about how to run a baseball franchise in 2018, I'd like to know who it is. Now, running a franchise into the ground -- that's something you're real good at.

 

That's changing now a bit.  Seems like some of these guys like Soto, Albies, and Acuna are being fast-tracked.  Arguably its not much different than drafting a 17 year old High Schooler

[Sessh]

I don't remember where on the board this was posted, but wasn't that long ago. Someone had information that PA "doesn't trust any of them" in regards to IFA. Seems borderline racist and definitely discriminating. I could understand taking extra measures to make sure players are who and what they say they are age wise or whatever concerns there are, but to make the leap to deciding you don't want any of them in your organization at all? I don't know... how I feel about that.

[Moose Milligan]

It's f'ing pathetic.  

We're going to have to watch Vlad Jr. kill us for the next 10-15 years, meanwhile we're holding tight with DJ Stewart, Austin Hays and Cedric Mullins.

I mean, Schoop is from Curacao.  It's not like Angelos can't see success from signing international talent on his very own roster.  I'm banking on Angelos' kids being more forward thinking than the old man, but I should know better than to get my hopes up.

I'd love it if anyone were to ask DD at FanFest why this gets ignored.  The Baltimore press doesn't seem to be interested in doing anything hard hitting.

[Tx Oriole]

50 minutes ago, joelala said:

That's changing now a bit.  Seems like some of these guys like Soto, Albies, and Acuna are being fast-tracked.  Arguably its not much different than drafting a 17 year old High Schooler

The Angelos's need to wake up. They need to sign international market players. It's really stupid of them not to be in that market. 

[Tx Oriole]

3 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

It's f'ing pathetic.  

We're going to have to watch Vlad Jr. kill us for the next 10-15 years, meanwhile we're holding tight with DJ Stewart, Austin Hays and Cedric Mullins.

I mean, Schoop is from Curacao.  It's not like Angelos can't see success from signing international talent on his very own roster.  I'm banking on Angelos' kids being more forward thinking than the old man, but I should know better than to get my hopes up.

I'd love it if anyone were to ask DD at FanFest why this gets ignored.  The Baltimore press doesn't seem to be interested in doing anything hard hitting.

They can ask DD and Buck about it but that is an Angelos attitude. So we have put with it and hope his sons are more forward thinking.

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, Tx Oriole said:

They can ask DD and Buck about it but that is an Angelos attitude. So we have put with it and hope his sons are more forward thinking.

I'd secretly hope that DD would throw Angelos under the bus.

[spiritof66]

30 minutes ago, Tx Oriole said:

They can ask DD and Buck about it but that is an Angelos attitude. So we have put with it and hope his sons are more forward thinking.

Here's a rumored explanation I don't recall seeing: Rosenthal says that his sources say that the Orioles have not brought international free agents into their system at least in part because "Angelos never found anyone he trusted to run the international department.”

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/dan-duquette

I can't decide whether that explanation is too stupid to be true or too stupid for someone to have made up. In either case, 

 

[panick]

Didn't Duquette hire someone named Fred who was supposed to be good at getting young international players?

[Can_of_corn]

13 minutes ago, panick said:

Didn't Duquette hire someone named Fred who was supposed to be good at getting young international players?

Hard to do without money or as many scouts as your opposition has.

[spiritof66]

3 hours ago, joelala said:

That's changing now a bit.  Seems like some of these guys like Soto, Albies, and Acuna are being fast-tracked.  Arguably its not much different than drafting a 17 year old High Schooler

That's true, and if you were thinking this through from scratch it might make a difference.

But Angelos made this choice years ago,.To change course and put the Orioles in a position to identify, sign and develop useful players would require the investment of lots of money and some time (I would guess a few years, but that's just a guess). For an 89-year-old owner fixated on the short term, it's too late to start that process now; better to invest that money (including he proceeds from selling international slot money) in ML payroll rather than building out a Latin American infrastructure and signing 16-year-olds, even if the path to the major leagues for a few of them has gotten a little shorter. 

[Lt Melmo]

Quote

It's not a one-year or a two-year aberration. It's a deliberate approach that the Orioles have taken for years, one that spans multiple management teams, because the decision comes from above the general manager. Ownership simply does not give the team’s scouts adequate resources to be able to do their jobs.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/international-reviews-baltimore-orioles-2018/

You don't even have to look at Albies, Acuna, Vlad Jr, etc. 

Look at Miguel Cabrera. Adrian Beltre. Pudge Rodriguez. Vlad SENIOR. It's not like international signings are a new trend. These are HOFers.

If Angelos doesn't care then he doesn't really care if the Orioles win or lose. 

[sportsfan8703]

The O's were EXTREMELY close to signing Sano.  They had slow played their interest the whole time we were there. They brought Miguel in for two days of back to back tryouts just before July 2nd, the day he became eligible to sign. Stockstill was there and was high on the kid. At one point, the O's were ready to offer $5 Million for Miguel, but they were concerned about his investigation. They weren't willing to take a chance on it and lost out to the Twins. The O's had the inside track to secure a cornerstone player here and failed to act. Trust me, the vision of Miguel Sano wearing orange and black and how close they were has kept me up nights. 

 

-from the maker of the movie Pelotero. 

 

After this Angelos obviously swore off spending money down there.