Connolly: Q&A with Mike Elias

[interloper]

27 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Didn't he flat out state that he wasn't going to trade any slots from this signing period?

I'm not imagining that right?

If that changes I think it's noteworthy.

I still don't really understand your beef with how they've been handling the international thing. 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, interloper said:

I still don't really understand your beef with how they've been handling the international thing. 

Do you want me to explain?

[interloper]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

Do you want me to explain?

Sure, I wouldn't mind hearing it again. I don't see a lot of room for criticism in what they've done so far in this area considering where they started from. And I don't see any reason to think they're trying to pull the wool over our eyes about it.

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, interloper said:

Sure, I wouldn't mind hearing it again. I don't see a lot of room for criticism in what they've done so far in this area considering where they started from. And I don't see any reason to think they're trying to pull the wool over our eyes about it.

First off I don't think ownership gave Elias the budget to participate more fully in the 2018-2019 season.

I don't have a huge issue with how the 2019-2020 season is progressing.  We've spent a reasonable amount to date.  Obviously you don't want to leave any money on the table so ideally more would have been spent.

I have a thing for folks saying one thing and doing another.  So if Elias said that they were not going to trade the slots and they end up trading some slots I'd like to know about it.

[Frobby]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

First off I don't think ownership gave Elias the budget to participate more fully in the 2018-2019 season.

I don't have a huge issue with how the 2019-2020 season is progressing.  We've spent a reasonable amount to date.  Obviously you don't want to leave any money on the table so ideally more would have been spent.

I have a thing for folks saying one thing and doing another.  So if Elias said that they were not going to trade the slots and they end up trading some slots I'd like to know about it.

As I noted, I don’t think that’s exactly what he said.    And we’ll see what happens.    I imagine he’ll be asked about this if any slots are traded.  

[Moose Milligan]

Elias has a blackbelt in saying a lot without saying anything at all.  He's on a Bruce Lee level.

 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

As I noted, I don’t think that’s exactly what he said.    And we’ll see what happens.    I imagine he’ll be asked about this if any slots are traded.  

I don't think he will.  Not by our media.

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, Moose Milligan said:

Elias has a blackbelt in saying a lot without saying anything at all.  He's on a Bruce Lee level.

 

Even so I was disappointed he didn't do another AMA.

[interloper]

Just now, Moose Milligan said:

Elias has a blackbelt in saying a lot without saying anything at all.  He's on a Bruce Lee level.

 

Sort of, but he also doesn't shy away from giving some pretty straight and detailed answers. We know more about the front office structure now than we ever did when Duquette was GM. He doesn't assume everyone's an idiot, it's nice to hear a GM be detailed about stuff.

That said, yeah, he'll repeat some tried and true things to different reporters if they ask similar questions. 

[interloper]

3 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Even so I was disappointed he didn't do another AMA.

He did that on like the first day he was in the Warehouse or whatever. I'd love more AMA's, too, but if he's busy I'd rather he just do the work. There's a lot of stuff to be done. He's going to be out at a lot of these caravan spots interacting directly with fans. Duquette would never do something like that.

[Camden_yardbird]

I think the most important thing he said was "I want to win as much as we can with guys who will be for a long time."

That explains villar

That explains free agency

That explains promotion strategy

There is a lot wound up I to that little line.

[Mr. Chewbacca Jr.]

6 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

First off I don't think ownership gave Elias the budget to participate more fully in the 2018-2019 season.

I don't have a huge issue with how the 2019-2020 season is progressing.  We've spent a reasonable amount to date.  Obviously you don't want to leave any money on the table so ideally more would have been spent.

I have a thing for folks saying one thing and doing another.  So if Elias said that they were not going to trade the slots and they end up trading some slots I'd like to know about it.

Elias clearly said he didn't want to spend money just to spend money. If they don't feel like the players they'd sign are worth it, I'd rather them keep the money and spend it elsewhere - which, again, Elias noted in the article.

 

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, interloper said:

Sort of, but he also doesn't shy away from giving some pretty straight and detailed answers. We know more about the front office structure now than we ever did when Duquette was GM. He doesn't assume everyone's an idiot, it's nice to hear a GM be detailed about stuff.

That said, yeah, he'll repeat some tried and true things to different reporters if they ask similar questions. 

Agreed.  He makes no bones about how far behind this franchise was when he arrived.

FYI, to anyone who cares, I'm a big Elias honk.  Dude is pissing excellence all over the place all the time.

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

I don't think he will.  Not by our media.

Our media is wimpy but I think that’s too obvious of a question not to ask.    And it’s not like they need to be obnoxious about it.    “You previously said you weren’t expecting to trade any slots.    What changed your mind?”    And the answer would probably be something like, “we were able to spend the vast majority of our slot money this year, but towards the end of the cycle there weren’t players remaining who we thought were worth the expenditure, so we got value out of these slots by trading them.”

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Mr. Chewbacca Jr. said:

Elias clearly said he didn't want to spend money just to spend money. If they don't feel like the players they'd sign are worth it, I'd rather them keep the money and spend it elsewhere - which, again, Elias noted in the article.

 

I know what he said.

I also know that every dollar that they traded away got spent by teams that had a better 2018-2019 International signing period than the O's did.

Unless someone produces actual proof I'm not going to back off of this opinion. 

Mind you I was asked to go over this again.