Buster Olney misses the point

[Slappy]

Good thread, and I believe Olney makes a very valid (if not original) point. The Orioles are not the kind of team that plugs in a superstar and wins championships right now. They need to follow the Tampa blueprint to competing, not the Yankee one. Also, 1B is one of the least "valuable" positions in the research of Bill James - in any given year there are usually plenty of quality bats available at the position.

Olney is also spot on in his analysis of the Orioles' problems - starting pitching. MacPhail probably wants to drop out of the bidding and focus on getting a starter or two and acquiring more prospects by any means necessary. Angelos could be meddling up the team's future by insisting on overbidding for Teix.

But, again, that's just one viewpoint.

[davearm]

Obviously, but I think he comes off as somewhat of an elitist. He seems to be saying that it's pure folly for the O's or Nats to even think of signing someone away from the Red Sox or Yankees or Angels or whomever. How could they even dream of bettering their team?

Nobody's saying the O's should crawl back in their hole and leave the big boys to enjoy the limelight.

Olney's point is the O's and Nats should not be players for Teix because of where they are on the competitive spectrum, not because of where they are on the popularity spectrum.

[ledzepp8]

Nobody's saying the O's should crawl back in their hole and leave the big boys to enjoy the limelight.

Olney's point is the O's and Nats should not be players for Teix because of where they are on the competitive spectrum, not because of where they are on the popularity spectrum.

I understand the man's point. I simply said that he came off as an elitist in this article.

[davearm]

I guess I'm with Stotle in that I don't see why the article even discusses the Orioles. If Olney can't figure out that we're potentially on the doorstep of contention because of our MiL talent that is on the verge, then he isn't studying enough. If Wieters, Jones, Markakis, and Roberts do what is expected and just a decent amount of our top flight pitching prospects turn out, we've got a shot in the next couple of years if we sign Texiera.

I would have no problem with the argument that we should wait another couple years to make this sort of move if I saw any sign of another player that fits like Texiera available in the next couple of years. I don't. He plays the right position at the right offensive performance with the right defense at the right age with the right intangibles and he is from the area. That is just a perfect storm. Most free agents that come onto the scene are past their prime. Tex isn't like that. He is a special case.

Putting this piece in place before the remaining pieces are set in stone is a bit risky, but it is what it is. We can't delay his free agency for two more years and I don't see another Tex on the horizon so I don't have any problem with this gamble.

I suspect Olney would disagree with the bolded, given his assertion that the O's "would still be two or three top-flight starting pitchers short of contending with the Red Sox, Rays and Yankees. They would still be two or three top-flight starting pitchers short of contending with the Jays for fourth place."

If that's how he feels about the O's proximity to being a contender, I doubt names like Tillman and Matusz are going to sway him all that much. Nor should they, frankly.

[davearm]

I understand the man's point. I simply said that he came off as an elitist in this article.

Not if you read it without any preconceived notion that the O's are being attacked by the dastardly national media once again.

[Oscar]

we're potentially on the doorstep of contention because of our MiL talent that is on the verge, then he isn't studying enough.

You seriously believe that?

[Baltimoron]

OMG Davearm to the rescue!

Logic is fun.

[Frobby]

I suspect Olney would disagree with the bolded, given his assertion that the O's "would still be two or three top-flight starting pitchers short of contending with the Red Sox, Rays and Yankees. They would still be two or three top-flight starting pitchers short of contending with the Jays for fourth place."

If that's how he feels about the O's proximity to being a contender, I doubt names like Tillman and Matusz are going to sway him all that much. Nor should they, frankly.

This is what it all boils down to. We could become a contending team in 2-3 years if our pitching develops the way we hope. But that is no sure thing, and if the pitching doesn't develop the way we'd like, we'll continue to be a bad team.

[davearm]

Vatech hit the nail on the head as always.

It's not about being sentimental. It's a combination of that, and the fact that here is a guy who fills a huge need since Raffy left the first time, will be here for the large duration of our current group of talent (Markakis, Jones, Wieters, Guthrie, Tillman, Arrietta, Matusz, Ray, BROB, 15+ young, talented, cheap arms that will make up our bullpen and round out our rotation)

Now, would we be having this discussion if he wasn't from Baltimore? Not likely because it's not likely he'd consider coming here.

But this isn't some ploy to get the guy because the fans want him and that's it. If AM sticks to his plan and it works, Tex will be a HUGE part of contending for multiple years under the plan.

And again, as Vatech said, there isn't another Tex in the next 2-3 years when we are closer to contention. So if AM thinks he needs an elite bat, which he would be right about, should we sign Tex for 8 years at age 29 and maybe not compete in his first year or at worst first 2 years, or does he wait 1-2 years, and sign a 33 year old Lance Berkman to 3/4 the contract of Tex? That is when you have to take into account the hometown/marketing aspect, before you even mention that Tex is just better than a guy like Berkman or any guy that will be a FA in the coming years.

How a national guy misses the point of an obvious strategy being executed here by the O's is just absolutely beyond me and it takes him down a big notch in my book.

Disagreeing with the strategy is not the same as failing to grasp the strategy in the first place.

Seems obvious to me which is happening here.

[Stotle]

I suspect Olney would disagree with the bolded, given his assertion that the O's "would still be two or three top-flight starting pitchers short of contending with the Red Sox, Rays and Yankees. They would still be two or three top-flight starting pitchers short of contending with the Jays for fourth place."

If that's how he feels about the O's proximity to being a contender, I doubt names like Tillman and Matusz are going to sway him all that much. Nor should they, frankly.

The bottom line is, if you want to write an interesting article about WAS/BAL and Teix, why not make it interesting? Instead, we get the same tired "storylines' re-hashed by sports writers looking to churn out pieces with no real care as to whether they are adding anything to the national discussion. This is particularly inexplicable when you are talking about an opinion piece.

Again, it isn't a matter of "Buster doesn't get it -- there are millions of reasons why Teixeira is the perfect move!" I'm just tired of the "leader in sports" providing us with writers that don't put in the effort to write something original. Any college kid could take the angle of "winning teams should spend now; losing teams should focus on the future."

Eh, maybe I'm expecting too much? I know if I could write about baseball for a living I'd maybe enjoy challenging myself AND my readers...

[The Wedge]

I said it before, but it bears repeating:

Is it just me, or do some people (not all people, obviously) just jump all over some sports writers simply because they're saying things they don't want to hear?

[Insomniac]

Not if you read it without any preconceived notion that the O's are being attacked by the dastardly national media once again.

I agree with you, Dave, except for Olney's last line. His point is otherwise valid, and perhaps much more accurate than many of us on this site would like to admit. However, to say that the Orioles are "lunatics" for trying to bring Tex home crosses the line of impartial journalism. Are their efforts to get him misguided? Perhaps. If they sign him will they later regret it? Maybe. But they are not lunatics for trying.

[ledzepp8]

Not if you read it without any preconceived notion that the O's are being attacked by the dastardly national media once again.

I'm not sure where you get that from because I never made that argument. But you be sure to attack away at it.

It has nothing to do with the O's (or Nats) being attacked, it has to do with Olney's notion that really only teams like the Red Sox, Yankees, Angels, etc should be signing premier FA. Couple that with the fact that he said on the radio this morning that Tex signing with the Red Sox "would be good for baseball".

[Sports Guy]

This is all very simple:

1) You only sign Tex to a contract where you can continue to put money into the draft, development, other FA and keeping their own...When the money hits the level that these things halt, then you say no thanks.

2) Signing Tex makes a ton of sense for us...First of all, it makes the Orioles relevant again...Secondly, it gets us a much needed middle of the order guy and helps stabilize the IF defense.

3) We are signing Tex for 8-10 years, not 2009...anyone looking at signing Tex as a poor short term move is correct but they are also completely absurd in looking at only the short term.

[Birds08]

Olney is a national writer. To think he understands the entirety of every major league organization is naive, in my opinion. I believe if he knew more about our minor league system, and the potential of Adam Jones, he would have a different take.