BJ Surhoff Is Angry

[TonySoprano]

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“Am I pissed? Yeah. I’m unhappy about what happened,” Surhoff said. “Do I have sour grapes toward the organization? Well, I don’t like the way things are being handled. I just don’t like how they’re treating people. I want that to be known. It’s not that I’ve got sour grapes just because they’ve decided not to bring me back.”

Surhoff, an Orioles’ special assignment instructor for the past six seasons, was fired this month as part of the 30-plus non-renewals orchestrated by first-year general manager Mike Elias in his attempt to re-energize and restructure a moribund franchise.

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“I’m not happy, not at all, that they don’t see a value in what I do. And they’ll spin it some other way: A reallocation of resources and new people and a different, fresh set of eyes,” Surhoff said. “OK, except my eyes have 35 years of experience in pro ball.”

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Earlier this month, however, Surhoff received a call from Elias. It was the only time they have had a conversation since Surhoff introduced himself on the November day Elias was announced as the club’s GM.

“He just said that my contract wasn’t going to be renewed,” Surhoff recalled. “(The Orioles) were going to be doing some different things and consultancy wasn’t really valued, because I was considered a consultant, a part-timer. … I was basically told that I’m not capable of doing the job. And I would argue to the contrary that I am more than capable and, in fact, probably overqualified to do the job I was doing.”

One of the things that irk Surhoff is that he never felt there was any evaluation process in place, and therefore, “No, time was spent trying to find out whether I really helped or not and whether I brought anything to the table or not,” Surhoff said. “I didn’t feel like I was evaluated on anything. It was indicated to me they were going to make changes, do things differently, and I got the impression that they didn’t think that I was capable of doing those things.”

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“I was disappointed in (Elias’ communication). I thought there’d be more. I thought they would want to come in and get everybody on the same page and get everybody pulling in the same direction,” Surhoff said. “That’s what I’d like to do. That’s what I wanted to do. And if you don’t want to, then you’ve made your own bed.”

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However, speaking in general terms, Elias reiterated his mission of improving in all facets an organization that has had three winning seasons this millennium.

“We are experiencing a lot of change, industry-wide, but also particularly in this organization. And we are trying to position this organization for the future,” Elias said. “These are difficult changes to go through, but we have a specific plan in mind for player development, for scouting, for baseball operations that require management decisions at times that are uncomfortable and take some thought and foresight with respect to where we’re going. I think we’ve experienced a ton of improvement in the minor leagues this year by partially introducing some of the programs we’re gonna be using but, going forward; we’re gonna continue to build towards that.

“So, I very much respect and appreciate the work of people that have been here and, by no means, as I’ve said, is this a commentary on people’s value as baseball people and coaches. But, for our particular situation, we are seeking some change.”

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“We have, and will continue to have, several Orioles players, past and future, working for us in scouting and player development,” Elias said. “But our main focus and main goal is finding the best coaches and the best scouts and having an elite player-development apparatus. This, in my judgment and the judgment of objective measurements, has not been an area of particular excellence in recent years.”

When they spoke about the termination, Elias told Surhoff he’d be welcome at Camden Yards anytime.

 

 

[CallMeBrooksie]

Surhoff comes off like the grumpy Old Guard of scouts as portrayed in the Moneyball film. I've always liked Surhoff, but I found it humorous.

As a younger fan who's never rooted for a championship caliber O's team, I've grown to lament the endless pumping up and promotion of the great teams and players of Baltimore's distant past, with post-prime Cal being the only one I have any personal memories of. I'm mostly jealous that there are no moments that are seen worthy of celebration that feel like I can call my own. Only exception would be the streak, which barely feels like a baseball accomplishment to me as time goes by.

What I'm trying to get at is.. the Oriole way died a long time ago, and it feels way past due to me for the franchise to start anew and stop clutching so tightly to a past that almost feels like a taunt to those of us who can hardly imagine such a successful baseball club. I get that these promotions are the only thing that gets the aging Orioles fanbase to come out these days given the on field product... And I do think that the club's history is important and worth celebrating ... But it feels so refreshing to see this regime come in and show a commitment to doing things a completely new way. I'm ready for my own Oriole Way. 

[Ohfan67]

Pfffttt. 

[7Mo]

Completely agree with Brooksie ^^^.

And the comments on The Athletic are pretty critical of Surhoff. And Connolly. 

[interloper]

Bye.

Elias's communication has already been worlds better than Duquette's. Dan would not have even called.

[Tony-OH]

I've heard from multiple people that they have felt Elias and his regime have been very cold when dealing with them so it's not surprising to hear of Surhoff's concerns.

I will say this, change is never fun for the people who are already there. I have no opinion one way or the other about Surhoff's abilities as a coach or evaluator, but at the end of the day, Elias is the new sheriff in town and change is inevitable when that happens.

[Going Underground]

36 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I've heard from multiple people that they have felt Elias and his regime have been very cold when dealing with them so it's not surprising to hear of Surhoff's concerns.

I will say this, change is never fun for the people who are already there. I have no opinion one way or the other about Surhoff's abilities as a coach or evaluator, but at the end of the day, Elias is the new sheriff in town and change is inevitable when that happens.

Yup,he has a nickname of the HAG.That is one of the nicer names I heard.Heartless Analytics Guy.

[Going Underground]

40 minutes ago, interloper said:

Bye.

Elias's communication has already been worlds better than Duquette's. Dan would not have even called.

Really? How you come across on TV and how you treat people in a normal day at the job might be completely different. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

2 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

Really? How you come across on TV and how you treat people in a normal day at the job might be completely different. 

Yes, I've known many two faced people in my career. Not saying this applies here, but public persona and how you address employees are two different things. 

[OsEatAlEast]

I totally get what Surhoff is saying. He wanted to help with whatever they wanted to implement but they didn't let him stick around to find out. As a guy who faces losing his job because a bunch of hedge fund guys took over his company. I feel his pain.

Edited September 21, 2019 by OsEatAlEast

[HowAboutThat]

 I feel very strongly that any action that is made must be made as courteously as possible. I will never forget when Mark Reynolds was non-tendered at the end of the 2012 season, Dan called him about 10 minutes before the deadline to deliver the news. I don’t know whether that is typical, but it sure seemed brusque at best.

Bad news remains bad, but I do wonder why someone with as much baseball experience as Surhoff has was not given the opportunity to adapt to the new system.

 

[7Mo]

16 minutes ago, Philip said:

 Bad news remains bad, but I do wonder why someone with as much baseball experience as Surhoff has was not given the opportunity to adapt to the new system.

 

Do we know he wasn't given an opportunity?

He's had a new boss since November. 

[HowAboutThat]

7 minutes ago, John Welch said:

Do we know he wasn't given an opportunity?

He's had a new boss since November. 

Didn’t he specifically say in his interview that he wasn’t?

[HowAboutThat]

9 minutes ago, John Welch said:

Do we know he wasn't given an opportunity?

He's had a new boss since November. 

“One of the things that irk Surhoff is that he never felt there was any evaluation process in place, and therefore, “No, time was spent trying to find out whether I really helped or not and whether I brought anything to the table or not,” Surhoff said. “I didn’t feel like I was evaluated on anything. It was indicated to me they were going to make changes, do things differently, and I got the impression that they didn’t think that I was capable of doing those things.”

its possible that he WAS evaluated, but it was behind the scenes without any interaction or discussion, and without any opportunity to adapt.

If someone came up to me and said “ you’re out. We have a new system.” Without giving me any chance to show I could benefit the organization in the new system, I’d be fried too.

[HowAboutThat]

Just now, John Welch said:

This comes across to me as "why don't you show me how to do my job". That's not the employers responsibility. 

I think rather it comes across as the company denying him the opportunity to show whether he can do the new job, and not even explaining that the job was changing. The job is changing, yes, but there was no ongoing explanation of new goals or parameters or methods. He didn’t say whether he had reached out( which means he probably didn’t) but I think that would have been fruitless.

The new king’s First job is to eliminate all the folks loyal to the old king...which is a bit hard on those who were willing to work with the new one.