Baltimore Baseball: Some Facts and Thoughts on the New Executive

[Can_of_corn]

2 hours ago, wildcard said:

Now there is a surprise.  No Brady in the interviews.

I hope they wait until the Astros are finished for the season so they can interview Mike Elias.   I am not saying he is the guy but I would like to see him interviewed and let the chips fall were they may.  Elias has been mentioned as a possible GM for the Giants also.

Gives me hope that the incoming person would in fact be able to fire Brady.

[spiritof66]

I am glad to hear that Brady isn't part of the interviewing process. But it would be nice to have someone involved in that process who (a) knows what a President/GM does in a well-run MLB organization generally, and one that's rebuilding  team specifically, and (b) has some experience or background qualifying him or her to assess whether a candidate would be good at doing those things. 

I am sure John and Lou Angelos will do better than their father would, if only because their promises of full authority will have some plausibility -- it remains to be seen how much, but some. But I'm concerned they haven't brought anyone from the organization with some knowledge and experience (like Brian Graham or Joe McIlvaine) into the process. Are these guys going to be like their father in thinking that they're so damn smart they don't need help or advice from experienced baseball experts?

I know very little about what John and Lou Angelos have done in their careers. I do know they've never worked for a well-managed franchise. How much did they interact with Duquette or MacPhail or their predecessors? Do they have sources of information about executives working for other teams, beyond what's publicly available? How much have they been involved in interviewing and hiring any executives? I posed similar questions a few months ago, and there was no answer.

I hope they know what they're doing, but my confidence level is not high.

[SteveA]

6 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

I am glad to hear that Brady isn't part of the interviewing process. But it would be nice to have someone involved in that process who (a) knows what a President/GM does in a well-run MLB organization generally, and one that's rebuilding  team specifically, and (b) has some experience or background qualifying him or her to assess whether a candidate would be good at doing those things. 

I am sure John and Lou Angelos will do better than their father would, if only because their promises of full authority will have some plausibility -- it remains to be seen how much, but some. But I'm concerned they haven't brought anyone from the organization with some knowledge and experience (like Brian Graham or Joe McIlvaine) into the process. Are these guys going to be like their father in thinking that they're so damn smart they don't need help or advice from experienced baseball experts?

I know very little about what John and Lou Angelos have done in their careers. I do know they've never worked for a well-managed franchise. How much did they interact with Duquette or MacPhail or their predecessors? Do they have sources of information about executives working for other teams, beyond what's publicly available? How much have they been involved in interviewing and hiring any executives? I posed similar questions a few months ago, and there was no answer.

I hope they know what they're doing, but my confidence level is not high.

The key isn't that they know what they're doing, as much as that they hire someone who does and hand him the keys.

I understand that they have to have some basis upon which to make the choice.   That is where the interviewee(s) have to explain to J&L how they feel a major league front office should be structured and run, and why, based on the experience they have.   In the end, it's true, that they don't necessarily have the experience to judge who is the best qualified, but that's probably a common situation in all walks of life.   Management/ownership is hiring someone to do a job, to run the show.   If they had the true expertise to do it themselves they wouldn't be hiring someone.  

Could you really count on a Graham to take a key role in hiring his next boss?   It just doesn't work that way.

When the names of interviewees start leaking we'll have an idea where they are going.   Hopefully they will have a number of modern-thinking executives from successful organizations to choose from, and then they probably can't go too wrong.

[gmelson26]

On 10/10/2018 at 3:17 PM, wildcard said:

It's possible but probably not likely that the O's hire a President and GM.    MacPhail had both titles.  Duquette was just a VP of Baseball Ops.   Beattie and Jim Duquette or Beattie and Flanagan never showed much success.  The O's are generally cheap.  Why hire two?

I think the Angelos will end up hiring a GM or what ever name they call him.   If they want someone like Sharpiro they may have to do the MacPhail thing and give him the Presidents and GM titles.

 

Been reading about this sort of thing for many years.. and yet it just hit me that we're probably the only fan base in all of baseball that hand-wrings over the very specific title an exec might be given.  Just a small window into the insanity of Baltimore Oriole fandom.

[wildcard]

2 hours ago, gmelson26 said:

Been reading about this sort of thing for many years.. and yet it just hit me that we're probably the only fan base in all of baseball that hand-wrings over the very specific title an exec might be given.  Just a small window into the insanity of Baltimore Oriole fandom.

The point is the O's seem unlikely to hire two expensive executives.  Whether they are called President and GM or something else.   MacPhail was President but also did the GM job.   Duquette was the EVP of Baseball Operations but there was no President of baseball Ops.   I think the O's hire one exec to run the Orioles, whatever title he turns out to have.

[wildcard]

3 hours ago, spiritof66 said:

I am glad to hear that Brady isn't part of the interviewing process. But it would be nice to have someone involved in that process who (a) knows what a President/GM does in a well-run MLB organization generally, and one that's rebuilding  team specifically, and (b) has some experience or background qualifying him or her to assess whether a candidate would be good at doing those things. 

I am sure John and Lou Angelos will do better than their father would, if only because their promises of full authority will have some plausibility -- it remains to be seen how much, but some. But I'm concerned they haven't brought anyone from the organization with some knowledge and experience (like Brian Graham or Joe McIlvaine) into the process. Are these guys going to be like their father in thinking that they're so damn smart they don't need help or advice from experienced baseball experts?

I know very little about what John and Lou Angelos have done in their careers. I do know they've never worked for a well-managed franchise. How much did they interact with Duquette or MacPhail or their predecessors? Do they have sources of information about executives working for other teams, beyond what's publicly available? How much have they been involved in interviewing and hiring any executives? I posed similar questions a few months ago, and there was no answer.

I hope they know what they're doing, but my confidence level is not high.

John Angelos has been the EVP of the O's business side for 9 years.   He also runs MASN with an executive title.   I am sure he has hired many people.  He may have had to get approval from his dad but he probably did the interviewing.  I belief John and sometimes Lou have attended baseball owners meetings and no doubt have rubbed shoulders with other baseball owners and executives.   John and Lou are both around 50 and are no dummies IMO.

[weams]

36 minutes ago, wildcard said:

The point is the O's seem unlikely to hire two expensive executives.  Whether they are called President and GM or something else.   MacPhail was President but also did the GM job.   Duquette was the EVP of Baseball Operations but there was no President of baseball Ops.   I think the O's hire one exec to run the Orioles, whatever title he turns out to have.

Who says they are expensive?

I bet you could get a President and EVP GM for less than five million a year.  Manager for 750,000.  Done. 

 

[mdbdotcom]

Just now, weams said:

Who says they are expensive?

I bet you could get a President and EVP GM for less than five million a year.  Manager for 750,000.  Done. 

 

That well could be. One of the problems the Orioles ran into in 2011 was that some Ass't GMs were making more than they were willing to pay an incoming EVP.

[wildcard]

Just now, weams said:

Who says they are expensive?

I bet you could get a President and EVP GM for less than five million a year.  Manager for 750,000.  Done. 

 

The O's just traded Gausman for salary relief and he was making 5.6m.  Yeah, yeah  I know it included O'day but the O's are cutting expenses big time because the attendance is way down and MASN viewership is also.  Next year will probably be worse.  Why pay two when they can pay one.    I agree the Manager will be under 1M.

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, mdbdotcom said:

That well could be. One of the problems the Orioles ran into in 2011 was that some Ass't GMs were making more than they were willing to pay an incoming EVP.

i don't think TLC was being looked at as an EVP.

[weams]

14 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

i don't think TLC was being looked at as an EVP.

No. He was not. 

[SteveA]

57 minutes ago, weams said:

Who says they are expensive?

I bet you could get a President and EVP GM for less than five million a year.  Manager for 750,000.  Done. 

 

Hmmm.... a manager for $750K?   It all starts to make sense now.   Maybe Jack Zoellner is our next manager.  

Maybe that will be the new trend...hire a 24 year old just a couple years out of college, he won't have been infected with all those un-analytical old school ideas like sac bunting, hitting line drives with little elevation, and starters going more than 4 innings.

[Tx Oriole]

25 minutes ago, SteveA said:

Hmmm.... a manager for $750K?   It all starts to make sense now.   Maybe Jack Zoellner is our next manager.  

Maybe that will be the new trend...hire a 24 year old just a couple years out of college, he won't have been infected with all those un-analytical old school ideas like sac bunting, hitting line drives with little elevation, and starters going more than 4 innings.

I don't know why I keep coming back to check if there is any developements on the GM/Manager front. It's the Orioles. I should know better.

[weams]

1 minute ago, Tx Oriole said:

I don't know why I keep coming back to check if there is any developements on the GM/Manager front. It's the Orioles. I should know better.

Come back after the World Series ends for that info. 

[LookinUp]

10 hours ago, SteveA said:

The key isn't that they know what they're doing, as much as that they hire someone who does and hand him the keys.

 While I understand and generally agree with the sentiment, I have a somewhat different take. 

 I think the key is that they understand that they do not know how to handle the details of building a great franchise. If they understand that, they will focus on finding the person with the right experience and forward thinking perspective. That is the type of person that they should be looking for to lead this organization moving forward.