TT: Silence of Ownership is Deafening

[Moose Milligan]

7 minutes ago, weams said:

Psst. We are small market. But I want a winner too. 

No we're not.  Just stop it.  

I mean, if you're saying we're not Chicago, Boston, LA or NY, well then yeah.  But this team has shown it can be a top 10 payroll.  If you can afford top 10 payroll for any stretch, you are not small market.  Tampa is a small market, yet they can make winners.

 

[foxfield]

53 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Day 36.  A Nation Waits.

My issue isn't necessarily the waiting, it's the idea that the maroons in the front office should have had some idea heading into September that they weren't planning on bringing DD and Buck back.  

Even if they were 50/50 on whether DD and Buck should return heading into September, it would have been prudent to have drawn up a short list of candidates that they'd want to fill for both positions.  I don't think I'm wrong about this, for two reasons:  One, it's logical...and two, I've been a recruiter for far too long and a well run org would do something similar and any sports franchise has to do one thing, which is to recruit...at all levels, on the field and off.

So we can get uppity about whether they're being too slow or how methodical they need to be, but the title of the thread is exactly true.  At the very least, there's no reason to think that they're hot on the trail of any candidate.  They're not communicating with the fanbase to let them know "Hey, we know we had a terrible year, we know we know we need to get this on track and we're going to make it better."  There's none of that.  NONE.  Nothing to make any of us (the die-hard, rabid fans) or the casual fan think that they're working hard to make it better.  

Great post.

Fact, nothing the Angelos ownership has done gives any Oriole fan or any baseball fan for that matter, confidence in a "process".  That said, I think all of us recognize that a process to completely rebuild is needed, and underway.  Personally, it is easy for me to believe that current leadership will completely screw it up.  But that does not change the fact that a process must be followed.  Leaks are beginning to appear that interviews have begun.  Let's see where that lands.  I can't see continuing to bash before the results of that process are complete.  

I do agree that it seems we reached this position with ownership unaware and unprepared.  It also seems they missed an opportunity to speak at seasons end about the process.  Both of those seem, at least to me to have been a mistake.  But it doesn't rule out that the process they are following can work and work well.  It does however, leave the seeds of doubt firmly planted in the minds of skeptics who have watched years of mismanagement unfold in Baltimore.

So, Day 36, I continue to wait with high hopes with the knowledge that one good thing has already come.  An acknowledgment that the entire Baseball organization of the Baltimore Orioles is needed and underway.  I also wait with those high hopes...tempered by what can only be described as low expectations.  That's where I am...on day 36.  Hoping we are in the abyss with only time to pass before we begin a very long and difficult climb.

[weams]

1 minute ago, Moose Milligan said:

No we're not.  Just stop it.  

I mean, if you're saying we're not Chicago, Boston, LA or NY, well then yeah.  But this team has shown it can be a top 10 payroll.  If you can afford top 10 payroll for any stretch, you are not small market.  Tampa is a small market, yet they can make winners.

 

Small, tiny, Insignificant.  A poor baseball market.  Now, have they overspent two or three times in the Angelos years?  Yeah. Have they been stupid with money? Yeah. 

[weams]

3 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

No we're not.  Just stop it.  

I mean, if you're saying we're not Chicago, Boston, LA or NY, well then yeah.  But this team has shown it can be a top 10 payroll.  If you can afford top 10 payroll for any stretch, you are not small market.  Tampa is a small market, yet they can make winners.

 

I NEVER said a small market can't win.  Florida is not small market. Just bad market. 

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, weams said:

Small, tiny. Insignificant.  A poor baseball market. 

Broseph, this team has a big TV deal (I'm not getting into the MASN thing, I admittedly don't understand it, nor do I really care, it just comes across as sour grapes at the Nationals) and a sizable fan base.  It's NOT small market. 

We can meet in the middle and say it's a medium market with large market capabilities but I refuse the narrative that this team is closer to the Miami Marlins than the Sox.

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, weams said:

I NEVER said a small market can't win.  Florida is not small market. Just bad market. 

I never said you said that a small market can't win.  Tampa is just well run.  Orioles are not.

[Can_of_corn]

19 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Well considering you're just cooler than everyone else, yeah.  You would have lower expectations.

 

You know I can't really help that. 

[weams]

3 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I never said you said that a small market can't win.  Tampa is just well run.  Orioles are not.

We can always find common ground. 

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

You know I can't really help that. 

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, weams said:

We can always find common ground. 

Of course.  

The fact that Tampa can create winners with a far lesser payroll than what the Orioles are capable of is infuriating.  

[TonySoprano]

1 minute ago, weams said:

Psst. We are small market. But I want a winner too. 

Quote

The Cleveland Indians will listen to trade offers for some of their veteran players this winter as they face the sort of difficult choices that small-market teams must address, according to sources.

 

Quote

The Indians ranked among the top half of teams in payroll last season and ran away with the AL Central, but their attendance dipped again and was among the worst in MLB. With Lindor, Ramirez and others due for raises, the Indians will be willing to move some salary in the right deals.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/25157907/cleveland-indians-listen-trade-offers-veteran-players

Attendance (in Millions)
2018 CLE 1.926 (21st); BAL 1.564 (26)
2017 CLE 2.048 (22); BAL 2.028 (23)
2016 BAL 2.172 (20), CLE 1.592 (28)
2015 BAL 2.320 (19); CLE 1.389 (29)
2014 BAL 2.464 (13); CLE 1.437 (29)
2013 BAL 2.357 (18); CLE 1.572 (28)
2012 BAL 2.102 (20); CLE 1.603 (29)
2011 CLE 1.840 (24); BAL 1.755 (26)
2010 BAL 1.733 (24); CLE 1.395 (30)
2009 BAL 1.907 (21); CLE 1.777 (27)
2008 CLE 2.170 (22); BAL 1.950 (24)
2007 CLE 2.276 (21); BAL 2.165 (30)

Over the last 12 seasons, Baltimore has drawn more than Cleveland 7 times.

[weams]

Just now, TonySoprano said:

 

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/25157907/cleveland-indians-listen-trade-offers-veteran-players

Attendance (in Millions)
2018 CLE 1.926 (21st); BAL 1.564 (26)
2017 CLE 2.048 (22); BAL 2.028 (23)
2016 BAL 2.172 (20), CLE 1.592 (28)
2015 BAL 2.320 (19); CLE 1.389 (29)
2014 BAL 2.464 (13); CLE 1.437 (29)
2013 BAL 2.357 (18); CLE 1.572 (28)
2012 BAL 2.102 (20); CLE 1.603 (29)
2011 CLE 1.840 (24); BAL 1.755 (26)
2010 BAL 1.733 (24); CLE 1.395 (30)
2009 BAL 1.907 (21); CLE 1.777 (27)
2008 CLE 2.170 (22); BAL 1.950 (24)
2007 CLE 2.276 (21); BAL 2.165 (30)

Over the last 12 seasons, Baltimore has drawn more than Cleveland 7 times.

A waterfront in common. 

[Moose Milligan]

6 minutes ago, weams said:

We can always find common ground. 

She was hot.  Pretty sure she didn't save her pits though.

[TonySoprano]

15 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Is your point that the sons are slower than their father?

I don't know how I can assume either way, since reportedly, they are hiring for two different positions.  Peter was hiring a GM; the boys could be hiring a President with a broader job description.

[spiritof66]

There's no question that the most important part of the AngelBros' immediate task is to find a really good President who can head up a rebuild of both the front office and the roster, and that they should take the time that's required to get that choice as right as they can, and to convince that person to take the job. But there is some urgency to getting a President in place, given the number and importance of the decisions that lie ahead for that person (many of which, I am confident, the AngelBros will have to approve even if they don't participate in them).

What's also important, in my opinion, is that the AngelBros show the world -- the media, other teams, potential hires as the team's GM, manager and on down the line, the hard-core fans who post on this board, casual Oriole fans (and former Oriole fans) -- that the team has taken a real turn in the direction of competence, both in the way its front office operates (free of interference from the owner, among other things) and in deciding to direct resources to the future of the franchise by increasing significantly its spending on building its international profile and talent base, upgrading its analytics capacity, and improving the scouting function.

Duquette made his announcement that the team would move in that new direction almost four months ago. So far, the AngelBros have shown they can cut payroll and fire personnel, but there's no record yet on hiring or on investing or building of any kind -- unless you count the failed venture of trading for international spending capacity and then failing to sign any of the Miami Three, or the signings of a few lower-priced Latin American players.

The slow pace at which the Orioles are moving to hire a President has confirmed to many observers that the team is still wracked by the incompetence and indecisiveness that Peter Angelos made its calling card. It suggests that the Orioles waited until late in the failed 2018 season to decide to dump Duquette, and that they did little or nothing over the summer to think through who they wanted to consider as President, do some due diligence on them, and interview any candidates who were available (other than maybe Colletti). Their continued adherence to the Angelos code of silence with respect to this process suggests that they are no different from their father in their determination to do things their way, without giving a rat's ass about what the media, their past, present or future fans, or anyone else would like to know about what's going on.

Can the AngelBros make it up, and show that they do know what they're doing and that the team is going to be run differently and competently? That's possible, and they can start by making  a great hire as President, moving quickly to bring on a capable and respected GM and manager, etc., etc. But they're not off to an auspicious start, and they don't seem to care.