Some things that will make this season interesting

[Just Regular]

6 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

They're in a similar spot to the 2010 Orioles.  A seemingly long way to go to relevance, and it's been a very long time since they were any good. 

Hmmm....Buck was Jeter's manager for his first cup of coffee in '95.  The Marlins are kind of loading up the farm with their flavor of toolsy guys.  He missed the plum Astros job Dusty got, but maybe here is another last best chance to helm a roster gearing towards Win Now in a couple years.

[Just Regular]

I'm guessing we'll see the schedule this week since the Opening Day tease is a day old now.  I hope our 58/59/60 is one of NYY/TB/BOS - fair chance for some Andino-ish stuff to be possible there, perhaps even executed by interesting personnel getting cups of coffee.

Suppose even WAS a longshot as interleague play a daily necessity, to excite MASN rivalry diehards.

In a weird year, it actually could be kind of fun to make 58/59/60 the hottest batch of NYY/NYM, CHC/CWS, LAD/LAA type stuff that could be concocted.  You have to think 12-15 teams will be alive for the 10 slots the final three days.

[survivedc]

5 hours ago, eddie83 said:

Tanking to me is perhaps the most overblown topic in baseball. It’s being driven by the players union and the media. Apparently teams like the Orioles would be more competitive signing at best middle and lower level FA’s to contracts. Few talented players make their way into FA anymore with the aging curve of the sport and the top FA’s are being sought after by the good teams.

The thing is if Hanser Alberto signs for $7M last year the Orioles in some people’s minds would get credit for that. Instead they bring him in as a AAAA player and he has a nice season. It’s not about the productivity of the player it’s about how much money he is making.  

Whether or not it matters to you, if you look at the attendance numbers there seems to be a pretty direct correlation between falling attendance and falling W/L record. 
Fans want to watch good games. Sure it’s nice to have a laugher but there are more eyeballs on games with quality teams and quality players.

[eddie83]

1 hour ago, survivedc said:

Whether or not it matters to you, if you look at the attendance numbers there seems to be a pretty direct correlation between falling attendance and falling W/L record. 
Fans want to watch good games. Sure it’s nice to have a laugher but there are more eyeballs on games with quality teams and quality players.

In 2018 with Adam Jones and half a year of Manny, Schoop, Gausma, Britton etc, what was the attendance? They weren’t tanking in 2018, the season tanked.

I’m not arguing fans don’t like to see better players but if you are going to win it isn’t going to be with older players past their prime which is what is exactly what is available for the most part in FA. 

The next good teams built by the teams that are bad teams will not be built around a core of FA’s.  

[eddie83]

3 hours ago, OrioleDog said:

I'm guessing we'll see the schedule this week since the Opening Day tease is a day old now.  I hope our 58/59/60 is one of NYY/TB/BOS - fair chance for some Andino-ish stuff to be possible there, perhaps even executed by interesting personnel getting cups of coffee.

Suppose even WAS a longshot as interleague play a daily necessity, to excite MASN rivalry diehards.

In a weird year, it actually could be kind of fun to make 58/59/60 the hottest batch of NYY/NYM, CHC/CWS, LAD/LAA type stuff that could be concocted.  You have to think 12-15 teams will be alive for the 10 slots the final three days.

They can actually for once try and set up the schedule for Opening Day buzz. Of course the Orioles right now will create no buzz. We know they are playing one of 7 teams. Can’t be themselves, NYY or Washington.  

Really curious how they set up these schedules. 

[DrungoHazewood]

14 hours ago, eddie83 said:

In 2018 with Adam Jones and half a year of Manny, Schoop, Gausma, Britton etc, what was the attendance? They weren’t tanking in 2018, the season tanked.

I’m not arguing fans don’t like to see better players but if you are going to win it isn’t going to be with older players past their prime which is what is exactly what is available for the most part in FA. 

The next good teams built by the teams that are bad teams will not be built around a core of FA’s.  

Let's see what the next CBA ends up with as far as free agency rules and other compensation.  I think most people agree that the current system where a 30-year-old veteran who hits .280-25-80 can get paid $18M a year, while a 24-year-old who hits .280-25-80 gets paid $550k is kind of messed up.  Not only is it not fair to young guys, it means that a fair number of veterans get offered token contracts because there's just no reason to pay $18M for something you can get for under $1M, even if the younger guy isn't quite as good.

In a world where everything is scrapped and a new system put in its place there would be some advantage for being a proven, experienced player instead of someone who got hot for three months.  But not 30 times the salary.  If they fix that, or even take steps to fixing that, there will be less of a penalty for signing free agents.

[eddie83]

On 6/29/2020 at 7:22 AM, DrungoHazewood said:

Let's see what the next CBA ends up with as far as free agency rules and other compensation.  I think most people agree that the current system where a 30-year-old veteran who hits .280-25-80 can get paid $18M a year, while a 24-year-old who hits .280-25-80 gets paid $550k is kind of messed up.  Not only is it not fair to young guys, it means that a fair number of veterans get offered token contracts because there's just no reason to pay $18M for something you can get for under $1M, even if the younger guy isn't quite as good.

In a world where everything is scrapped and a new system put in its place there would be some advantage for being a proven, experienced player instead of someone who got hot for three months.  But not 30 times the salary.  If they fix that, or even take steps to fixing that, there will be less of a penalty for signing free agents.

Certainly things need to change. The whole sport needs to undergo major financial adjustments. 

I just get really frustrated with the whining about tanking. Heck years ago teams tried to save money on the draft for crying out loud. Think that is why Wieters got to us.  

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

Certainly things need to change. The whole sport needs to undergo major financial adjustments. 

I just get really frustrated with the whining about tanking. Heck years ago teams tried to save money on the draft for crying out loud. Think that is why Wieters got to us.  

It's why the O's picked Markakis.

[eddie83]

4 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

It's why the O's picked Markakis.

Who was the highest rated player when we took him? I honestly don’t recall that draft as much. 

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, eddie83 said:

Who was the highest rated player when we took him? I honestly don’t recall that draft as much. 

I don't recall but Markakis was a signability pick.  Of course in this case it got the team the best player in the draft.

 

[Sports Guy]

5 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I don't recall but Markakis was a signability pick.  Of course in this case it got the team the best player in the draft.

 

Remember, the Os were one of the few teams who viewed Nick as a hitter and not a pitcher.

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, Sports Guy said:

Remember, the Os were one of the few teams who viewed Nick as a hitter and not a pitcher.

I never forgot.  What does that have to do with anything? 

[DrungoHazewood]

14 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I never forgot.  What does that have to do with anything? 

Highlighting the idea that the Orioles' choices were idiosyncratic and probably driven by cost as much as signing the best player available.

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, DrungoHazewood said:

Highlighting the idea that the Orioles' choices were idiosyncratic and probably driven by cost as much as signing the best player available.

The cost driven part was the exact point I was making. 

[Frobby]

11 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I don't recall but Markakis was a signability pick.  Of course in this case it got the team the best player in the draft.

 

The best player drafted in the first round.  Ian Kinsler (55 rWAR) was drafted in the 9th round that year.    (And technically, Max Scherzer was drafted in the 43rd round, though he didn’t sign.)