Bowden claims Os have been aggressive

[Sports Guy]

I call bs on this but it’s what he is reporting.

https://theathletic.com/4056659/2023/01/04/mlb-front-offices-offseason-moves/?source=user_shared_article

Orioles — a veteran starting pitcher

The Orioles have signed pitchers Kyle Gibson and Mychal Givens and improved their veteran position-player depth with the acquisitions of second baseman Adam Frazier, catcher James McCann and first baseman/outfielder Ryan O’Hearn. Orioles fans are probably disappointed the team didn’t land a bigger-name starting pitcher, but it wasn’t because of a lack of effort. Baltimore’s front office was aggressive in trying to sign second- and third-tier starting pitchers in free agency (the pool of starters coveted most after Jacob deGrom, Justin Verlander and Carlos Rodón). The Orioles have a strong farm system they could dip into if they find an appealing, blockbuster-type trade, but their “big-splash moves” are probably a year away, which makes sense as it gives their young players further opportunity to develop and prove themselves this season.

[HakunaSakata]

I call BS too. Jim Bowden is essentially a used car salesman in an expensive suit. He's also a scumbag. 

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/sports/fanho-jim-bowden-accused-of-skimming-money-allotted-for-signing-prospects/1839840/

[Sanfran327]

Almost sounds like half excuse, half logic. Hard to argue the last sentence there, even if we wanted them to make a run at a top-tier FA this offseason. 

This FO is damned if they do and damned if they don't though, because even if we did sign a deGrom or even a 2nd tier SP, there would have been hand wringing about over-paying the guy. 

Put me in the camp that's okay with the marginal moves this year while they wait and see who's who for one more year. Full seasons of Adley and Gunnar should be enough to result in a real surge from last year. Hopefully this year it won't take a 13-game win streak to crack .500 and we come out of the gate playing competitive baseball for the whole season.

Edited January 5, 2023 by Sanfran327

[Sports Guy]

2 minutes ago, Sanfran327 said:

Almost sounds like half excuse, half logic. Hard to argue the last sentence there, even if we wanted them to make a run at a top-tier FA this offseason. 

This FO is damned if they do and damned if they don't though, because even if we did sign a deGrom or even a 2nd tier SP, there would have been hand wringing about over-paying the guy. 

Put me in the camp that's okay with the marginal moves this year while they wait and see who's who for one more year.

I don’t get how anyone is ok with throwing away Adley, Gunnar and GRod seasons, especially when the team could be a real contender.

[Tony-OH]

I don't really see what's wrong with this reporting. He said the Orioles were "aggressive" on going after the mid-Tier starting pitching and we heard many other reports that the Orioles were in on several of the guys who signed elsewhere.

Obviously, we can all argue to death over what aggressive means in this instance, but I do believe the Orioles most likely made offers to some of those pitchers, just they weren't willing to go to the lengths it took to get them.

Whether that's because of financial restraints put on by ownership or Elias' risk aversion to multi-year contracts is what's unknown.

[Sanfran327]

Just now, Sports Guy said:

I don’t get how anyone is ok with throwing away Adley, Gunnar and GRod seasons, especially when the team could be a real contender.

I don't think the only two options are to go all in or to call it a throw away. I edited my post after you saw it, and I think some of these smaller moves raise our talent floor from last year significantly. I also think full seasons from those guys this year probably push us right up to 90 wins on their own.

[Tony-OH]

1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:

I don’t get how anyone is ok with throwing away Adley, Gunnar and GRod seasons, especially when the team could be a real contender.

This I agree with 100%. The core of the best prospects is here and ready to go. It was time to surround them with top tier major league talent. So far, Elias has failed to do so.

[HakunaSakata]

6 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I don't really see what's wrong with this reporting. He said the Orioles were "aggressive" on going after the mid-Tier starting pitching and we heard many other reports that the Orioles were in on several of the guys who signed elsewhere.

Obviously, we can all argue to death over what aggressive means in this instance, but I do believe the Orioles most likely made offers to some of those pitchers, just they weren't willing to go to the lengths it took to get them.

Whether that's because of financial restraints put on by ownership or Elias risk aversion to multi-year contracts is what's unknown.

I call BS on this line in particular. I don't think Bowden has any definitive proof or inside information confirming that the Orioles aggressively pursued second and third tier starting pitching. The simple law of averages says they would have landed at least one of them if that was the case. Kyle Gibson isn't a second tier pitcher, he's a fourth tier pitcher. 

 

Orioles fans are probably disappointed the team didn’t land a bigger-name starting pitcher, but it wasn’t because of a lack of effort. Baltimore’s front office was aggressive in trying to sign second- and third-tier starting pitchers in free agency 

[Frobby]

My reaction is “not aggressive enough.”   

 

[Moose Milligan]

18 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I don't really see what's wrong with this reporting. He said the Orioles were "aggressive" on going after the mid-Tier starting pitching and we heard many other reports that the Orioles were in on several of the guys who signed elsewhere.

Obviously, we can all argue to death over what aggressive means in this instance, but I do believe the Orioles most likely made offers to some of those pitchers, just they weren't willing to go to the lengths it took to get them.

Whether that's because of financial restraints put on by ownership or Elias risk aversion to multi-year contracts is what's unknown.

 

3 minutes ago, Frobby said:

My reaction is “not aggressive enough.”   

 

I think Frobby nails it here.  You can be aggressive all you want, up to a certain point...but you also kind of told on yourself here, they just weren't willing to go to the lengths it took to get them and in the end that's all that really matters.  

 

A guy like Bassitt and the deal he signed wouldn't have crippled this franchise for years to come.  If it wasn't the dollars and it was the years to keep the Orioles out of the running, it would have been silly to not have given the extra year to bring a guy like that in.  

I suppose this reporting is supposed to give us the warm and fuzzies but it really doesn't do that for me.  This offseason, so far, has been a disaster and I don't care if they've been "aggressive" in free agency if they haven't been able to bring home anyone who can move the needle.

[oriole]

32 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

I don’t get how anyone is ok with throwing away Adley, Gunnar and GRod seasons, especially when the team could be a real contender.

I know I’m just kind of repeating what you’re saying here but we’ve got 5 more years with Adley on the team. 2023 is a wasted year. That makes a projected window of having at least one superstar level player to 4 years. It’s arguable whether or not the window is exclusive to Adleys tenure in Baltimore but it seems obvious after 2022 that the window should be open now. The moves by Elias has not reflected that and his “hard to chart a path to the division” comment speaks volumes as to the type of efforts I expect him to make in the coming years 

Edited January 5, 2023 by oriole

[Sports Guy]

38 minutes ago, Sanfran327 said:

I don't think the only two options are to go all in or to call it a throw away. I edited my post after you saw it, and I think some of these smaller moves raise our talent floor from last year significantly. I also think full seasons from those guys this year probably push us right up to 90 wins on their own.

These moves raised our talent significantly? Huh?

Im guessing we define the word significantly much different. I use the Websters definition. How about you?

[Sports Guy]

41 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I don't really see what's wrong with this reporting. He said the Orioles were "aggressive" on going after the mid-Tier starting pitching and we heard many other reports that the Orioles were in on several of the guys who signed elsewhere.

Obviously, we can all argue to death over what aggressive means in this instance, but I do believe the Orioles most likely made offers to some of those pitchers, just they weren't willing to go to the lengths it took to get them.

Whether that's because of financial restraints put on by ownership or Elias risk aversion to multi-year contracts is what's unknown.

It’s the word aggressive that I call Bs on. Aggressive means you get a deal done and do what it takes. Unless all of these guys don’t want to be here, this team has not been aggressive.

[HandsomeQuack]

27 minutes ago, HakunaSakata said:

I call BS on this line in particular. I don't think Bowden has any definitive proof or inside information confirming that the Orioles aggressively pursued second and third tier starting pitching. The simple law of averages says they would have landed at least one of them if that was the case. Kyle Gibson isn't a second tier pitcher, he's a fourth tier pitcher. 

Exactly. The fact that most of the key pieces don't hit FA until 2026 or later makes it particularly disappointing they didn't sign someone to fill out the payroll until then.

[Sports Guy]

Eovaldi got 2 years. An aggressive offer for him would have been 3/50 or so.