Poll: Grading Elias' Tenure Thus Far

[maybenxtyr]

11 hours ago, CallMeBrooksie said:

Was Alberto not a solid "under the radar" signing? Picked up from the garage bin and came within one good week of contending for the batting title.

He's not a star nor a difference maker.. but he sure was a big help to last year's club and will be an interesting piece to watch this year.

 

You are correct about Alberto. I would like to see him continue what he was able to accomplish last season. I don't remember his defense, but what he brought last year, he could definitely be a starting 2B on most teams.

[Mr. Chewbacca Jr.]

17 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

i think this is a decent critique.  Especially pointing out that Mancini, Hays, Mountcastle, Hall, GrayRod all being here.

In regards to roster construction, we all know what's going on here.  Wins at the ML level aren't being prioritized which I, personally, am ok with.  We knew it was going to be ugly.  In regards to the draft, taking AR was a no brainer, for sure.  But the rest of the draft appeared to have a philosophy and a targeted effort behind it, too.  

IMO, he's done a fantastic job with the international program.  I am not sure if you're lumping that in with the behind the scenes stuff but the J2 signings this year were pretty much on front-street.  There wasn't anything behind the scenes about it.

Also, in contrast to the previous GM (who I think gets unfairly criticized around here), he's very accessible, engages with the fans, media...that accounts for a lot in my book.  I'm aware that it's window dressing and ultimately doesn't really matter but it's nice to have someone who is a relatively open with what their ideas and goals are and what they're doing to achieve them.

I'm glad Elias is doing things internationally, but again, I'd expect any GM to do that. The Orioles didn't do that for a long time, but that was because Peter Angelos forbid it. Now that his sons are in charge, baseball operations has the green light.

I feel like a lot of people are really happy about Elias because he's simply doing things that other teams are already doing. I think that has to do more with the change in ownership from Peter Angelos to his sons than anything.

[NCRaven]

22 hours ago, Greg Pappas said:

Do you honestly feel Elias is the one keeping Davis on board?

At the very least, I don't think he's been a forceful advocate for releasing Davis and accepting that it's a sunk cost.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, Mr. Chewbacca Jr. said:

I'm glad Elias is doing things internationally, but again, I'd expect any GM to do that. The Orioles didn't do that for a long time, but that was because Peter Angelos forbid it. Now that his sons are in charge, baseball operations has the green light.

I feel like a lot of people are really happy about Elias because he's simply doing things that other teams are already doing. I think that has to do more with the change in ownership from Peter Angelos to his sons than anything.

He snagged a very highly regarded director of international scouting, and they managed a very respectable showing in terms of talent acquisition considering how far behind they were in the recruiting process.   I don’t see how he realistically could have done better.   (Obviously it will be a long time before we know if anyone signed so far pans out.)

[Mr. Chewbacca Jr.]

24 minutes ago, Frobby said:

He snagged a very highly regarded director of international scouting, and they managed a very respectable showing in terms of talent acquisition considering how far behind they were in the recruiting process.   I don’t see how he realistically could have done better.   (Obviously it will be a long time before we know if anyone signed so far pans out.)

That's my point - really too far in advance to really evaluate. Everything sounds good, but we don't have results yet.

As far as hiring well regarded people - again, sounds good. Everyone here thought the Calvary was going to turn into Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz because the O's hired Leo Mazzone.

[AnythingO's]

2 hours ago, Mr. Chewbacca Jr. said:

Everyone here thought the Calvary was going to turn into Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz because the O's hired Leo Mazzone.

TINSTAAPP

[Frobby]

3 hours ago, Mr. Chewbacca Jr. said:

As far as hiring well regarded people - again, sounds good. Everyone here thought the Calvary was going to turn into Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz because the O's hired Leo Mazzone.

While I agree with the point you are making here, Mazzone predated the cavalry by a couple of years.    For example, Matusz and Tillman weren’t even in the organization, and Arrieta hadn’t pitched a day in the minors yet.    

[Satyr3206]

On 1/30/2020 at 11:27 AM, DrungoHazewood said:

I know I was expecting the entire tectonic shift in organizational structure and philosophy to be wrapped up in four to six weeks.

No smartass. My reasoning is easy to understand if you stop to think about it. The Team hasn't improved at all. The Marketing Team of the Orioles is hideous. There is no solution to the MASN dispute, and Davis is still on the roster. 

[Satyr3206]

Now I'm sure I'll get a snarky response. Have at it.

[DrungoHazewood]

4 hours ago, Satyr3206 said:

Now I'm sure I'll get a snarky response. Have at it.

The MLB team wasn't supposed to improve yet; the plan was to put almost all of their resources into development for 2022 or later.  Elias is the GM, he probably doesn't have anything to do with Marketing.  The MASN dispute is a legal matter, again out of the hands of Elias.  And it's very clear that the Davis situation is being handled by people outside of baseball operations.  For what Elias controls he's doing or at least saying all the right things.

[Can_of_corn]

6 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

The MLB team wasn't supposed to improve yet; the plan was to put almost all of their resources into development for 2022 or later.  Elias is the GM, he probably doesn't have anything to do with Marketing.  The MASN dispute is a legal matter, again out of the hands of Elias.  And it's very clear that the Davis situation is being handled by people outside of baseball operations.  For what Elias controls he's doing or at least saying all the right things.

No not sure how it is very clear when the official stance of the team is that Elias has total control.

Now do I believe it's ownership meddling?  Yes, but it isn't very clear.

[DrungoHazewood]

8 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

No not sure how it is very clear when the official stance of the team is that Elias has total control.

Now do I believe it's ownership meddling?  Yes, but it isn't very clear.

Okay, all the circumstantial evidence points in that direction.  And most people don't take sports teams literally when they say things like "total control".  Clearly Elias wouldn't' be allowed to sign six $300M free agents this winter.  He wouldn't be allowed to try to move the team to Greenland.  He could't change the team name to the Charm City Murder.  And he's not allowed to release Chris Davis.

[Frobby]

4 hours ago, Satyr3206 said:

No smartass. My reasoning is easy to understand if you stop to think about it. The Team hasn't improved at all. The Marketing Team of the Orioles is hideous. There is no solution to the MASN dispute, and Davis is still on the roster. 

I don’t understand what Elias has to do with the marketing team or the MASN dispute.    Those are entirely out of his jurisdiction.    

I don’t have a problem if you’re not satisfied with what has happened within Baseball Operations so far.   I disagree, but that’s fine.    And that includes Davis.    We have no idea whether ownership is interfering in that decision or not, but it’s Elias’ responsibility to convince them, if they are involved.    
 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Okay, all the circumstantial evidence points in that direction.  And most people don't take sports teams literally when they say things like "total control".  Clearly Elias wouldn't' be allowed to sign six $300M free agents this winter.  He wouldn't be allowed to try to move the team to Greenland.  He could't change the team name to the Charm City Murder.  And he's not allowed to release Chris Davis.

One of these things is not like the others.  One of these things is not the same.

[DrungoHazewood]

3 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

One of these things is not like the others.  One of these things is not the same.

So?  It's just as obvious as the others.