O's were contenders!!

[Sports Guy]

5 minutes ago, Just Regular said:

Those mouthwatering midseason lists should give MASN a lot of graphics fodder.    Tork, Witt and Julio nearing their 130 at-bats, Baz is down with elbow surgery, Greene broke his foot, Abrams at 10-for-55 has lightly Kelenic'd, Gunnar outplaying Volpe.   We need DL Hall to get hot, and the list to be made right after a Druw Jones selection.    Keep Adley under his 130 at-bats at the All-Star break and post draft you might get a window like:

1-Adley, 2-Rodriguez, 15-Hall, 20-Jones, 25-Henderson

Can Kjerstad go all Yordan on Delmarva in June?

I’m sure the campaign will be riveting.

[sportsfan8703]

18 minutes ago, Just Regular said:

Those mouthwatering midseason lists should give MASN a lot of graphics fodder.    Tork, Witt and Julio nearing their 130 at-bats, Baz is down with elbow surgery, Greene broke his foot, Abrams at 10-for-55 has lightly Kelenic'd, Gunnar outplaying Volpe.   We need DL Hall to get hot, and the list to be made right after a Druw Jones selection.    Keep Adley under his 130 at-bats at the All-Star break and post draft you might get a window like:

1-Adley, 2-Rodriguez, 15-Hall, 20-Jones, 25-Henderson

Can Kjerstad go all Yordan on Delmarva in June?

I can see the “Help is on the way” graphic now. No need to focus on the big club being 19-47. 

[foxfield]

2 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

You can use whatever wording makes you feel better but winning isn’t his priority in 2022.

You are supposed to want to win in pro sports.  That supposed to be the goal. That’s not his goal.

You're saying the Orioles, when they win, is an accident?  They are not trying to win?  Or they are simply not spending the amount you deem appropriate.  

For what it is worth I wish they were making a faster effort too.  I don't get to make those calls.  Sure I would not have paid Chris Davis and I would have offered the moon for Manny, but those were not my calls either.  But spending money doesn't guarantee wins.  2017 was an example of that and it garnered 47 wins for around $170 MM.

To me, we are building a house.  A spec house.  Meaning we are building a house so we can sell it for a profit.  MLB hates the Angelos family as much as if not more than the Oriole fan base.  There will be a new owner upon the death of PA.

Are the owners pocketing gobs of money in the meantime.  It sure seems so.  But saying they are trying to lose is as wrong as saying that the Orioles were trying to win in 2017.

And I dislike ownership as much as anyone, but it is unfair to continue to term the rebuild as as being in the 5th year of futility.  Unless the focus is squarely on ownership.  Because that is where the blame for where this franchise is resides.

Elias had all of 2019 and the Orioles won 54 games.  2020 was reduced and there were no...NO minor league games.  The Orioles won 25 games.  Last year, 2021,  the Orioles won 52 games.  Minor league games were reduced again.

Elias has stated from day one the Orioles were not focusing on the ML level.  When he got here the team was still paying Chris Davis to be the worst player in the Majors.  

The focus has not been on ML results and all of MLB and the Oriole fanbase see that.  But it is time for that to change.

The current team has shown signs of life and have spent most days being competitive whether they won or lost.  It's too early to judge this team. This team is not in contention....as it was viewed by some on Thursday.  But it's not the worst team in the majors that it looked to be against Detroit either.

I think this is a pretty critical year in the development of the franchise.  Injuries to Means and others really should not be an impact to that either.  But what would success look like?  For me about 67 wins.  That would be a pretty big improvement and would set the team up for a chance to be a winning team or a long shot contending team next year.  

Judging Elias will be easier next year than last year, because at the end of the day it really is time to show progress.  But...I really do not care about how much money they spend.  I don't care whether they bring up one guy or ten.  I don't care whether they draft Jones or Green or whoever.

For me....there are three things that I want.  The first two are simple asks but over the last 30 years have not happened much.  The idea of a total rebuild was that it would allow us to have:  1) a winning team and 2) contend for the AL Division.  and 3) The third thing is to do that on a repeatable basis.

I think most of us want that.  But there is disagreement on what is required.  We have had big budgets, small budgets, no budgets.  The one constant in our franchise is ownership.  Until that changes, there will be no long term success.  So to me, when I look at the obstacles to what is holding back the Orioles.  It isn't the amount of money being spent on the ML product.  Its the Owners.  And as you often say, you can dress that up anyway you want but it won't change the fact that the single biggest issue for the Baltimore Orioles is Peter Angelos still owns the team.

 

[Sports Guy]

I’m simply saying the Os could accomplish everything they want to while also fielding a far more competitive team right now.  It’s that simple.

All of the other stuff is meaningless, window dressing bs.  It’s all a distraction from the simple point that you can build a franchise, look long term and field a better team right now..especially for an organization that has basically been total garbage for most of the last 25 years.

[Yardball85]

2 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Or 2 weeks ago 

Correct.

[Bird Is The Word]

First goal is to finish .500 and then we can move on from that.

[maybenxtyr]

27 minutes ago, Bird Is The Word said:

First goal is to finish .500 and then we can move on from that.

That's hard to do when they don't make any additions or promotions of higher end players.

[Going Underground]

So if they are not trying to win this year,why are they playing with a short bench again today instead of putting someone on the IL?

[sportsfan8703]

14 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

So if they are not trying to win this year,why are they playing with a short bench again today instead of putting someone on the IL?

Only player to call up is Adley. Diaz is hurt. The rest of the position players on the 40 man roster are up here. Any other move would just be shuffling back through failed experiments. The Hays and Mountcastle injuries hurt bad. Mateo too. 

[NCRaven]

Vavra getting hurt and Stowers sucking hasn’t helped.

[Camden_yardbird]

4 hours ago, NCRaven said:

Vavra getting hurt and Stowers sucking hasn’t helped.

 

4 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Only player to call up is Adley. Diaz is hurt. The rest of the position players on the 40 man roster are up here. Any other move would just be shuffling back through failed experiments. The Hays and Mountcastle injuries hurt bad. Mateo too. 

Oh no, everyone is hurt.  Time for Elias to announce were pushing the window out another two years...blech.

WTF.  Injuries or young players not advancing doesn't matter as much if you actually try to have depth in your organization and don't make throw away signings like Rognud Odor and Chris Owings...

Real teams, contending or rebuilding, don't sit there and say we can't block our prospects.  They block their prospects, and then injury opens spots, or God help them both the prospect and the MLBer both produce and they find new positions, make trades or create a culture of excellence where everyone knows they are being pushed for the job.block.

That three years in the Orioles can't bring up one meaningful position player reeks of terrible management.

[OriolesMagic83]

How long is Hays out for?  This is just unbelievable.

[Frobby]

13 minutes ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

How long is Hays out for?  This is just unbelievable.

He might be back tomorrow, from the sound of things.  He took BP today.  

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

5 minutes ago, Frobby said:

He might be back tomorrow, from the sound of things.  He took BP today.  

I hope so this lineup is overmatched when Hays and Mountcastle are playing, but this like watching a minor league lineup tonight.

[Moose Milligan]

Are they still contenders?