John Angelos/Mike Elias 1 hour interview 105.7 today

[drjohnnyfever1]

12 hours ago, Ohfan67 said:

As I’ve seen you write many times, actions speak louder than words. I really don’t care if he ever speaks to the media, I just want the orioles to improve. 

And this is how you know the guy just loves the attention the Press Conference brings and not day to day of the club's management.  The fact that there have been only a handful of them over the past 3 years and that because of that the expectation by fans and media that the TEAM will be the biggest topic of them only to be brushed off when team questions are asked... ugh.  Then it's about him, building up the attractions around the park, etc. 

It really seems best that he maybe separate from the baseball part and allow the GM and his people run the PC's when it's about the Orioles proper and then for him to do these announcements of donations and civic projects.   This last "interview" with the Fan was ridiculous.  John loves to have his ego stroked.  It really does seem kind of "Irsay-ish" as someone commented a few days ago.

[JR Oriole]

13 hours ago, Ohfan67 said:

As I’ve seen you write many times, actions speak louder than words. I really don’t care if he ever speaks to the media, I just want the orioles to improve. 

I don't ever want to see or hear from him again, unless he 1. announces they are selling the team and/or 2. is accepting the World Series trophy.  Of course, if the latter happens on All Saints Day or Will Rogers Day, he may be hesitant to speak about baseball so as not to offend anyone or interrupt his observance of the holiday.

[Can_of_corn]

8 minutes ago, JR Oriole said:

I don't ever want to see or hear from him again, unless he 1. announces they are selling the team and/or 2. is accepting the World Series trophy.  Of course, if the latter happens on All Saints Day or Will Rogers Day, he may be hesitant to speak about baseball so as not to offend anyone or interrupt his observance of the holiday.

I think it would be great if he held a press conference for when he finally passes the bar.

Would be a great story of perseverance, inspiring even.

[emmett16]

On 1/20/2023 at 11:09 PM, eddie83 said:

Barbalace asking about guys like Hall, Means, Wells, Grod and how hard to juggle staff with innings limits. 

 

Elias said pitching limits will not be hard and fast. Case by case basis. Advanced pitching department. They have a biomechanist. Don’t want to shut someone down in August due to innings limit. THERE is NO REAL SCIENCE BEHIND THAT, NOTHING EVER PROVEN MORE INNINGS LEADS YOU TO INJURY. They will bring their brains to workload management and get our pitchers to pitch as much as possible. 

It’s not really a pitch limit they are managing.  They are watching the players acute and chronic workload & where they are in their cycle.  What you see on TV is only a small portion of their total workload.  

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

It’s not really a pitch limit they are managing.  They are watching the players acute and chronic workload & where they are in their cycle.  What you see on TV is only a small portion of their total workload.  

What was going on with Grayson sure looked like a pitch limit from the outside.

[emmett16]

On 1/21/2023 at 9:30 AM, SemperFi said:

Turner field was built for the Atlanta Olympics and repurposed-it hosted track and field events.  Because of the repurpose it was cookie cutter like and had crappy sight lines; it was in a less desirable area than the new park which is located much closer to the affluent northen suburbs, home of their fan base.  Many fans objected to traveling south of the city, in heavy traffic to see games and parking in sketchy areas.  

But you could go to Magic City (prominently featured in quite a few Outkast songs) after the game!  New Stadium in Atlanta is nice.  Let’s be real clear, though.  There is no place in Atlanta that is walkable.  It is THE worst example of suburban sprawl in the world.  

Edited January 22, 2023 by emmett16

[SpOkane]

50 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I think it would be great if he held a press conference for when he finally passes the bar.

Would be a great story of perseverance, inspiring even.

Hopefully it is not this year when the O's win the World Series on November 3rd, which is National Love Your Lawyer Day. Baseball wouldn't be an appropriate topic.

[emmett16]

5 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

What was going on with Grayson sure looked like a pitch limit from the outside.

 Before the season or after the injury? 
 

He could very likely have been working on polishing 1 or 2 pitches in side BP sessions that pushed his side session workloads up.  Pure Speculation.  Just pointing out there are a lot of things that go into as opposed to a blanket pitch count per game.  

[Can_of_corn]

12 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

 Before the season or after the injury? 
 

He could very likely have been working on polishing 1 or 2 pitches in side BP sessions that pushed his side session workloads up.  Pure Speculation.  Just pointing out there are a lot of things that go into as opposed to a blanket pitch count per game.  

Sure, but they seemed pretty consistent when they were pulling him. 

It very much appeared is if he was under a strict pitch count and innings limitation.

[Just Regular]

To borrow Elias phrase, I don't think in 2022 they put "their brains" on the notion of pitcher workloads pushing past a pre-planned strategy to increase platform.

The more uncomfortable a position Grayson puts the biomechanists in this summer, the more fun we'll be having watching him and the team.

Say Sunday Game 159 Grayson turn 29 gets him to 170 innings and sews up a wildcard spot.    He's probably the best guy for Game 1 that Friday.      And then the ensuing Wednesday if Weekend1 is survived.    And then, and then....

Hopefully for about 15 years.

[emmett16]

12 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Sure, but they seemed pretty consistent when they were pulling him. 

It very much appeared is if he was under a strict pitch count and innings limitation.

I can't argue with that.  It was frustrating to watch.  

But we don't see what goes on with them the other 6 days in the week.  These guys are all wearing sensors than monitor their total throws, high intensity throws, and elbow torque measured in Newton-metres.   There is a sweet spot they want the athletes to be in and they have the info to make real time decisions.   

Edited January 22, 2023 by emmett16

[Going Underground]

John Angelos was going to break open the books and talk to the local media tomorrow. He found out that tomorrow is National Pie Day and he didn't want to take away from former Oriole, Felix Pie. Angelos said that he would get back to the media on a day more appropriate. 

[Big Mac]

On 1/21/2023 at 7:26 AM, eddie83 said:

Gotcha. 
 

He really hammered home the idea of the stadium area being built up. How significant that is. I think he mentioned Detroit and maybe Texas?? as other clubs along with Atlanta where this has happened. 

Texas is not built up at all...it's in Arlington halfway between Dallas and Ft. Worth next to Six Flags.  They have their "Texas Live!" entertainment venue which has several bars and restaurants in it similar to what they have in Philly, but that's it. 

[spiritof66]

Mike Elias: "You see a trade like today where it was two teams kind of exchanging major league pieces. That's been more of the nature of what's out there in terms of dialogues this year because everyone's kind of going for the playoffs."

___________________________________________________________________

This is exactly what concerns me about Elias. He did a good job stripping the team of veterans and salary commitments -- not a very difficult task, but Elias was willing and able to do it in the extreme way he planned, to field  terrible teams, and to accept the criticism that came his way for tanking. He did it so completely, and incurred so much criticism for it, that MLB made it more difficult for others to repeat it. So far, Elias appears to have done a very good job drafting, except that it's still not clear, to me anyway, what his plan was and is for acquiring top pitching talent since he hasn't drafted it. 

The next challenge for Elias and the Orioles is turning that young talent into a division-contending team. I think, along with most people and, it appears, Elias himself, that taking this step will entail acquiring additional talent through free agency or trades or both. So far, Elias hasn't done much to ramp up the team's talent level with free agent acquisitions, and he's done nothing to accomplish that via trades. Elias blamed the Orioles' lack of marquee free-agent signings on unexpectedly strong competition among buyers for those top-level guys and the length of the contracts they commanded. Now he seems to be attributing his difficulty in trading for high-level talent through trades on the need to trade major-league talent, rather than prospects, to acquire the major league talent sought by the Orioles. (While I don't think Elias is wrong about either of those things, I think he's left some things out: what I believe is Angelos's prohibition of, or at least resistance to, long-term contracts for veteran players, even stars, and the marketability of the Orioles' top prospects, even those who have not arrived in the major leagues or had just a taste of ML baseball in 2022. If Elias is saying he can't acquire good major league starting pitching by trading Holliday or Westburg or Cowser, I don't believe him.)

As I've said before, as far as I know Elias has zero experience in signing top free agent -- which almost always will involve incurring the risk, if not the near certainty, of committing the team beyond the player's expected productivity -- or in trading top-flight talent for to-flight talent. (I always think of the 1960 Rocky Colavito-Harvy Kuenn trade, the reigning league HR leader for the  reigning batting average leader, as the epitome of those trades.) Both involve difficult decisions, in that you're parting either with valuable talent or with dollars for what's likely to be diminished or no production. Elias is saying that he hasn't used either free agency or trades this off-season to move the Orioles toward contention because he misjudged the cost of acquiring and top talent in both those markets, and his main response has been to stand pat. (I like the McCann addition, and I'm OK with Gibson, Frazier and Givens. But those aren't the kind of moves I expected or that represent serious commitments or difficult decisions.) I understand that in order to get a top-flight starter or a lefty slugger, Elias will have to trade a guy who might star for the team he's traded to, and that if that happens Elias will be criticized for giving away that star. I also believe Elias is constrained by Angelos's reluctance to acquire a veteran with a long-term contract and the lack of value it the Orioles of a guy with just another year or two before he departs as a free agent since the Orioles don't expect to sign him. Of course, he can't say those things.

A general manager has to be willing and able to take some risks in acquiring talent from outside the organization. So far Elias has been unwilling or unable to do that. I believe that will have to change for the Orioles to contend. Another roadblock that may stay in place until there's new ownership. 

Vaguely related point from the interview. How does John Angelos have the nerve, to use a nice word, to say that "This job stinks with low payrolls, right. I'd love to be sitting in New York with $300 million payrolls." Talk about self-inflicted injury! If the CEO of a poor-performing sports team said anything like that in Philadelphia, where I grew up, or in New York,  where I live now, he would be pilloried -- justifiably, I think -- in the press and on sports radio for weeks if not months. Angelos has a point: the Orioles are in a tough competitive environment, and have been for decades. The continuing challenge that creates has been increased significantly by his father's  incompetence and arrogance. John Angelos is not qualified by talent or experience to run a major league team; his only qualifications are being the son of the guy who owns the team, that guy's inability to run the team himself, and his mother's loyalty to him. What he thinks "stinks" about the job is not going to change. Angelos is merely confirming that he's not up to it. He should resign as CEO, get his mother to hire a competent baseball executive to replace him, and continue as non-executive chair.  

  

 

[sportsfan8703]

From Elias’ viewpoint he’s taken all the criticism and rebuilt the way he’s wanted for years. Why rush now to make a deal?  What’s another half season or even next offseason?

We all suffered enough as fans during those years, why do a deal that would really strip away prospects that we suffered years for acquiring?  
 

I’m ok with Elias being patient this offseason. At this point, let’s just see what we have.