TT: Matusz speaks to the fans

[Tony-OH]

It wasn't a press release. He emailed the same thing to several media sources, because his goal was to get his message relayed to Orioles fans. I don't think he has all of our email addresses, so he sent the emails to the ones that are readily available, those of the reporters who cover the O's.

The only problem with that is he didn't address the e-mail like it was going to multiple outlets. He addressed the e-mail Mr Pente, which to me meant it was for me and the Hangout. Now, had he stated, Dear members of the media, it would have been pretty obvious this was a statement for multiple outlets and would have been treated as such.

I've been doing this for a little while now so i know the difference between press release statements and personally addressed e-mails. Either way, the kid is new at all of this and perhaps he was just trying to be respectful (which he was) and didn't realize his note would come off looking like an exclusive when it was addressed personally instead of what he was going for which was mass media.

Like I said, he's a young kid in all of this "game" and really, it's not a big deal one way or the other. Whether his agent crafted the words or Matusz did it on his own, realistically, it's not going to matter much in the negotiations with the Orioles.

The Orioles are not going to feel any more pressure from the fans in the last three days of this thing then they are already under to get this done. To me, really this is about Matusz showing some goodwill towards the fans and I don't see anything wrong with that.

If it was designed to be an agent-inspired PR stunt, then I would question the methods of Agar because honestly, I don't see any of this affecting the negotiations one way or the other.

[sector7g]

The Pirates drafted Moskos because he would sign for slot money.

And didn't they announce straight after he'd be a reliever? Although this year they have actually had him starting (with terrible results). He was a big reach at No.4. Lincoln not so much, I thought he was a genuine top of the rotation prospect whose had serious injury problems.

[tywright]

And didn't they announce straight after he'd be a reliever? Although this year they have actually had him starting (with terrible results). He was a big reach at No.4. Lincoln not so much, I thought he was a genuine top of the rotation prospect whose had serious injury problems.

Yes you're correct

[Mackus]

The only problem with that is he didn't address the e-mail like it was going to multiple outlets. He addressed the e-mail Mr Pente, which to me meant it was for me and the Hangout. Now, had he stated, Dear members of the media, it would have been pretty obvious this was a statement for multiple outlets and would have been treated as such.

I've been doing this for a little while now so i know the difference between press release statements and personally addressed e-mails. Either way, the kid is new at all of this and perhaps he was just trying to be respectful (which he was) and didn't realize his note would come off looking like an exclusive when it was addressed personally instead of what he was going for which was mass media.

Maybe he felt that addressing each email seperately to each recipient was more professional than sending a mass email with a "To whom it concerns" type title.

[bigbird]

I doubt that unless Agar's idea of what's fair is way above last year's slot money.

I have no idea of the actual dollar amount the Orioles have offered since I don't talk money with Joe during negotiations and MacPhail does not negotiate through the media.

However, I do know that Joe has gone from completely understanding of the "process" to increasing "concerned" about how these negotiations have gone forward.

The one thing we've heard from MacPhail about all of this is that the Orioles are willing to take a deferred pick next year if things can't get done which sounds to me that they are willing to walk away of they can't get Matusz signed to a "fair" contract.

It's easy to say just pay the guy, but the Wieters numbers last year are probably already effecting this year's negotiations and the team can't be held hostage every year while agents try to get $5-6$ million bonuses for amateur players that have never played the game professionally yet because the Orioles suddenly have a history of caving at the last second.

Sometimes a line has to be drawn in the sand. Hopefully this won't happen and Matusz will be signed and everyone can move on.

The question is what is the line????????????

[davearm]

The only problem with that is he didn't address the e-mail like it was going to multiple outlets. He addressed the e-mail Mr Pente, which to me meant it was for me and the Hangout. Now, had he stated, Dear members of the media, it would have been pretty obvious this was a statement for multiple outlets and would have been treated as such.

I've been doing this for a little while now so i know the difference between press release statements and personally addressed e-mails. Either way, the kid is new at all of this and perhaps he was just trying to be respectful (which he was) and didn't realize his note would come off looking like an exclusive when it was addressed personally instead of what he was going for which was mass media.

Like I said, he's a young kid in all of this "game" and really, it's not a big deal one way or the other. Whether his agent crafted the words or Matusz did it on his own, realistically, it's not going to matter much in the negotiations with the Orioles.

The Orioles are not going to feel any more pressure from the fans in the last three days of this thing then they are already under to get this done. To me, really this is about Matusz showing some goodwill towards the fans and I don't see anything wrong with that.

If it was designed to be an agent-inspired PR stunt, then I would question the methods of Agar because honestly, I don't see any of this affecting the negotiations one way or the other.

Agreed.

A scenario where MacPhail gets flustered and caves out of fear of fan backlash inspired by Matusz emailing some Baltimore media figures is just too farfetched and silly to contemplate. Doubly so after we've seen how MacPhail has stuck to his guns in the past.

You also hit the nail on the head earlier about drawing a line in the sand. Every negotiation impacts the next one, and caving on $100K (or whatever) today will likely cost even more down the line.

I figure the guy gets signed on the O's fair terms.

[tywright]

The question is what is the line????????????

7 of the 11 teams that drafted in the top 11 are dealing with the same problem. It's just how the dynamics are now with draft pick signings.

[Fan4Life]

The only problem with that is he didn't address the e-mail like it was going to multiple outlets. He addressed the e-mail Mr Pente, which to me meant it was for me and the Hangout. Now, had he stated, Dear members of the media, it would have been pretty obvious this was a statement for multiple outlets and would have been treated as such.

I've been doing this for a little while now so i know the difference between press release statements and personally addressed e-mails. Either way, the kid is new at all of this and perhaps he was just trying to be respectful (which he was) and didn't realize his note would come off looking like an exclusive when it was addressed personally instead of what he was going for which was mass media.

Like I said, he's a young kid in all of this "game" and really, it's not a big deal one way or the other. Whether his agent crafted the words or Matusz did it on his own, realistically, it's not going to matter much in the negotiations with the Orioles.

The Orioles are not going to feel any more pressure from the fans in the last three days of this thing then they are already under to get this done. To me, really this is about Matusz showing some goodwill towards the fans and I don't see anything wrong with that.

If it was designed to be an agent-inspired PR stunt, then I would question the methods of Agar because honestly, I don't see any of this affecting the negotiations one way or the other.

Agreed.

A scenario where MacPhail gets flustered and caves out of fear of fan backlash inspired by Matusz emailing some Baltimore media figures is just too farfetched and silly to contemplate. Doubly so after we've seen how MacPhail has stuck to his guns in the past.

You also hit the nail on the head earlier about drawing a line in the sand. Every negotiation impacts the next one, and caving on $100K (or whatever) today will likely cost even more down the line.

I figure the guy gets signed on the O's fair terms.

I don't have any fault with the intent. I hope we sign the kid. But I do wonder if anyone thinks this was done without consult of his agent? If the answer is no, then his age an inexperience really don't come into play.

[Mackus]

7 of the 11 teams that drafted in the top 11 are dealing with the same problem. It's just how the dynamics are now with draft pick signings.

Agreed. Having a hard deadline and compensation means that teams have leverage if they can't sign the picks, but it also means that the players need only to wait about two months in order to put a ton of pressure on the teams to squeeze some more money out of them.

I have a feeling the overall number of unsigned 1st rounders will go down under the new rules, but the number of 1st rounders that take negotiations down to the wire will be far higher than it used to be (when the deadline was the day of the next draft).

[Tony-OH]

Maybe he felt that addressing each email seperately to each recipient was more professional than sending a mass email with a "To whom it concerns" type title.

What is your problem here? Are you just playing devil's advocate or do you have some other motivation?

You seem to have taken some type of stance that we have gone after Matusz or something. I'm not sure what you are looking for here really.

We can keep playing the "what if game" or the "maybe he meant...." game all day long but it's really not going to change anything.

There's a right way and wrong way to do things. He's young and inexperienced so it's not a big deal that he choose to personalize the e-mails, but in reality, you don't do that unless you are giving an exclusive. It's really that simple.

Can you imagine Andy MacPahil writing me an e-mail and then reading the exact same e-mail somewhere else? No, Why, because it's not done that way.

I've gotten e-mails from plenty of people in the business from front office people, to managers, to coaches, agents, scouts and players, and I've never gotten one that addressed me personally and then put a statement that everyone in the media also got.

Again, I'm not upset at Matusz, nor should anyone else be, but it's not the way things are done and he'll learn that.

[Owatcher]

Thanks Tony! Pretty nice gesture to reach out to the fanbase like that.

I can't believe how people are eating this s*** up?? Are you kidding me?

Jeez! Grow up people. It's nothing more than spin. It's all about controllimg the message and ultimately the sentiment. He romances the gullible fans and simultaneously tightens the screws on the O's. If it's affective, the O's look like the jerks if they don't pay top dollar and he slides away with his reputation unscathed. It's a brilliant business/negotiating move and nothing else!

It's OK to be a hardcore fan, but don't be a naive, stupid one. It's not attractive.

[beantownrefugee]

Tony, I think we can all appreciate if you feel like you were emailed on less-than-sincere terms, but I think you have done a service to the OH community here in getting Brian's perspective out...no matter how people want to view his words or intent. I personally view this thru the prism that Mackus is saying, but none of us know for sure.

To Brian Matusz- my advice to you in the next couple days is, sit down with your family, decide what price would make you happy- not feel vindicated and fair! If you view is thru the latter, you'll always be thinking, man, I could have gotten more, if the other side hadn't screwed me. Let your agent make your case, don't get involved in hearing what the other side says about why they shouldn't pay you that much. Its business. I remember Ben McDonald's agent recommending to him that he sit thru arbitration to hear just how bad the Orioles were bad-mouthing his performance. Big mistake. Let your agent handle it. You decide what will make you happy, not what is "fair". This coming from a poster who will be making far less than you in a week's time, but has handled his own share of negotiations (including my own, of course!)

What is your problem here? Are you just playing devil's advocate or do you have some other motivation?

You seem to have taken some type of stance that we have gone after Matusz or something. I'm not sure what you are looking for here really.

We can keep playing the "what if game" or the "maybe he meant...." game all day long but it's really not going to change anything.

There's a right way and wrong way to do things. He's young and inexperienced so it's not a big deal that he choose to personalize the e-mails, but in reality, you don't do that unless you are giving an exclusive. It's really that simple.

Can you imagine Andy MacPahil writing me an e-mail and then reading the exact same e-mail somewhere else? No, Why, because it's not done that way.

I've gotten e-mails from plenty of people in the business from front office people, to managers, to coaches, agents, scouts and players, and I've never gotten one that addressed me personally and then put a statement that everyone in the media also got.

Again, I'm not upset at Matusz, nor should anyone else be, but it's not the way things are done and he'll learn that.

[DREKTUNES]

Not to add fuel to the fire, but it looks like he sent it to Roch, too -

Meanwhile, Matusz sent out an e-mail to a few media outlets last night. I just received mine because the first one went to my old Sun address.

Link.

It does seem really odd that they'd put Tony's name in there. Wonder if they have the Word macro that lets you address a letter individually, with Baltimore contacts? However they did it, bad pool I'd say.

[Mackus]

What is your problem here? Are you just playing devil's advocate or do you have some other motivation?

I was disagreeing with Scott who said it was insincere to do that. I stated why I don't think it was insincere, it was just the way he went about doing it. Either from not knowing "the correct" way of doing things or whatever. Nothing more.

If I was writing a thank-you letter to a perspective employer after a job interview, theres a decent chance I'd write the same, or very similar things to each person who sat in on the interview, but I'd certainly personally address each individual person. Seems like a similar situation to me.

[tywright]

Not to add fuel to the fire, but it looks like he sent it to Roch, too -

Link.

It does seem really odd that they'd put Tony's name in there. Wonder if they have the Word macro that lets you address a letter individually, with Baltimore contacts? However they did it, bad pool I'd say.

This is new...

I talked with someone close to the negotiations with first-round pick Brian Matusz who said he's certain that a deal will get done. The two sides are very close and are just working out "some details."