MacPhail: Savior or not?

[TJ Wrangler]

WELL. Now we know his source's last name is Bavasi!

Shh! Don't tell anyone else.

[Sports Guy]

EXACTLY! And if the point has been reached where it's gone past that point, you really feel like they should keep upping their bid?? That's what you seem to be saying when you say if they let $X stand in their way, MacPhail should be fired.

Just because AM thinks it has reached that point, doesn't mean PA agrees...In other words, PA is likely to say, I am going to allow more money spent on payroll than Andy thinks.

I will tell you what...if the numbers we are hearing are accurate, it would be a joke for us not to have the highest offer out there.

[wickedwitch]

I've seen him interviewed on MASN. He came off as someone who really understood baseball and what was necessary for rebuilding. Maybe what he was saying was common sense, but there have been a lot of GMs without it.

And IIRC, a deal for Bedard was basically done in December, but MacPhail dragged it out to get Butler. The trade would have still been great in December. So that's an example of not going slow to cover his weaknesses.

[TJ Wrangler]

I will tell you what...if the numbers we are hearing are accurate, it would be a joke for us not to have the highest offer out there.

Completely agree 100%. We have to be willing to go to 8/180 if that's what it takes.

[geschinger]

Just because AM thinks it has reached that point, doesn't mean PA agrees...In other words, PA is likely to say, I am going to allow more money spent on payroll than Andy thinks.

Fair enough, but don't you think it would be a dysfunctional relationship between ownership and the GM that would not serve us well if PA wasn't communicating that that whatever additional monies are needed to sign Teix won't count against his budget? If Angelos was saying that to Andy, then I would find it hard to believe that Andy would prefer to walk away. So for that to be true we're screwed again with a dysfunctional owner/gm dynamic. One that will make it hard to ever get to the point where the organization is well run enough to put a consistent winner on the field.

[Sports Guy]

Fair enough, but don't you think it would be a dysfunctional relationship between ownership and the GM that would not serve us well if PA wasn't communicating that that whatever additional monies are needed to sign Teix won't count against his budget? If Angelos was saying that to Andy, then I would find it hard to believe that Andy would prefer to walk away. So for that to be true we're screwed again with a dysfunctional owner/gm dynamic. One that will make it hard to ever get to the point where the organization is well run enough to put a consistent winner on the field.

Well, i would rather be screwed with Tex on the team than without him.

[TakebackOPACY]

So what? Ultimately there is always some team that believes a player is worth more money than any other team...That is why the player signs.

If Boston decides not to go to 8/170, will that be a bad decision?

If the Angels decide not to go to 8/170, will that be a bad decision?

If the Nationals decide not to go to 8/170, will that be a bad decision?

How about the Yankees?

If it's a bad decision to stop bidding at 8/170, how about 8/174? Heck, that's only $500,000 more per season. You can't buy anything worthwhile for $500,000 per year for 8 years anymore, anyway. Right?

So, if Boston decides not to go to 8/174, will that be a bad decision?

How about the Angels? How about the Nationals? How about the Yankees?

If it's a bad decision to stop at 8/174, why not 8/178? Heck, that's only $500,000 more per season. You can't buy anything worthwhile for $500,000 per year for 8 years anymore, anyway. Right? ... But wait, that's $1m per year more than 8/170. Oh well, you can't buy anything for $1m per year for 8 years anymore, anyway.

What about 8/182 or 8/186 or 8/190? It's not that much more money, right?

I don't know what the magic number is that's too much. Although my posts lately don't reflect it, I do hope we sign Teixeira. Heck, I'm a Mt. St. Joe grad. Bring back Teixeira and Floyd, and give O'Connor a shot when the Nationals give up on him, too.

But back to the point of the thread, I am not going to judge MacPhail on where Teixeira lands. And I don't think this whole off-season will tell us much. I'll judge him a few years from now.

[TJ Wrangler]

I've seen him interviewed on MASN. He came off as someone who really understood baseball and what was necessary for rebuilding. Maybe what he was saying was common sense, but there have been a lot of GMs without it.

And IIRC, a deal for Bedard was basically done in December, but MacPhail dragged it out to get Butler. The trade would have still been great in December. So that's an example of not going slow to cover his weaknesses.

Just want to say that things could be a lot different when he's not talking to a national audience. Can he walk the walk instead of talking the talk? These remain to be seen.

Great point in the second part, but imagine what could have been if we could have gotten Butler in 2-3 weeks, not 2 months. Maybe we could have found a better deal for Roberts or finished a Markakis extension. Maybe we'd be better off in our rebuild if that were the case.

[Sports Guy]

If Boston decides not to go to 8/170, will that be a bad decision?

If the Angels decide not to go to 8/170, will that be a bad decision?

If the Nationals decide not to go to 8/170, will that be a bad decision?

How about the Yankees?

If it's a bad decision to stop bidding at 8/170, how about 8/174. Heck, that's only $500,000 more per season. You can't buy anything worthwhile for $500,000 per year for 8 years anymore, anyway. Right?

So, if Boston decides not to go to 8/174, will that be a bad decision?

How about the Angels? How about the Nationals? How about the Yankees?

If it's a bad decision to stop at 8/174, why not 8/178. Heck, that's only $500,000 more per season. You can't buy anything worthwhile for $500,000 per year for 8 years anymore, anyway. Right? ... But wait, that's $1m per year more than 8/170. Oh well, you can't buy anything for $1m per year for 8 years anymore, anyway.

What about 8/182 or 8/186 or 8/190? It's not that much more money, right?

I don't know what the magic number is that's too much. Although my posts lately don't reflect it, I do hope we sign Teixeira. Heck, I'm a Mt. St. Joe grad. Bring back Teixeira and Floyd, and give O'Connor a shot when the Nationals give up on him, too.

But back to the point of the thread, I am not going to judge MacPhail on where Teixeira lands. And I don't think this whole off-season will tell us much. I'll judge him a few years from now.

Personally, I think it is foolish to compare the reasons and situations of other teams to those of the Orioles, especially in regards to Tex.

[geschinger]

Well, i would rather be screwed with Tex on the team than without him.

Fair enough... I'd like to believe that either AM will be fully on board with acquiring Teix because Angelos ups the budget to help absorb an inflated contract or that AM convinces Angelos that we're better off walking away. I really hope it doesn't come down to being screwed with or without Teix.

I know you believe that Teix's localness will have a huge impact outside of his performance on the field which I am not so sure of (other than a short term bum). I think it's a dangerous approach to become so tied up in any one player that you throw fiscal responsibility completely out the window.

[SweetbabyJ]

To be fair, your username isn't one we see here a whole lot. I'm not familiar with your posts.

Long time lurker. When I look for insider info, I usually look for Belkfast, Big Bird, Sonny, and Peace. I guess I'll have to add Lier to my list now. For clarification is it pronounced "Leer" or "Lier" with a long "I" sound?

[Malike]

I don't find the OP really offensive. I just find it as one persons opinion, and nothing more. There is no evidence to support the fact that he has no baseball acumen. There is evidence to support that he does. Regardless of whether anyone thinks he's the right person for this job, or is qualified, this team is now heading in the right direction with a solid foundation on the farm and AM has done just about what could be expected.

Of course, the roto baseball wizards will not be happy because he hasn't traded Roberts, or Huff (despite reports at the deadline that it was odd that no team was interested in Huff). I'd really love to give the team to someone on this board who is smarter than AM, and let a camera follow them around for 3 years while they try to be a GM and find that its much more difficult to deal in real millions of dollars than it is to con Joe Shmoe out of Albert Pujols on Yahoo Fantasy Baseball.

I'd particularly love the episode of where our new GM was huddled in fetal position in the corner of his office crying once a week, because its much easier to read about Billy Beane, than be Billy Beane.

[TJ Wrangler]

Long time lurker. When I look for insider info, I usually look for Belkfast, Big Bird, Sonny, and Peace. I guess I'll have to add Lier to my list now. For clarification is it pronounced "Leer" or "Lier" with a long "I" sound?

Its a play on the words liar and exaggerate. Don't put me in the same league as those guys. I simply have a source outside of the organization that is in contact with the front office.

[TakebackOPACY]

Personally, I think it is foolish to compare the reasons and situations of other teams to those of the Orioles, especially in regards to Tex.

Right. Nobody did that.

[Shopay]

Just want to say that things could be a lot different when he's not talking to a national audience. Can he walk the walk instead of talking the talk? These remain to be seen.

Great point in the second part, but imagine what could have been if we could have gotten Butler in 2-3 weeks, not 2 months. Maybe we could have found a better deal for Roberts or finished a Markakis extension. Maybe we'd be better off in our rebuild if that were the case.

All indications from AM's post trade interviews are that Bavasi thought it was a 3 for 1 deal for several months and didn't cave in to a 5 for 1 until shortly before it got done. I think this was a big sticking point between AM and Bavasi, and AM waited him out.