David Rubenstein in the Booth, Opening Day

[Bemorewins]

3 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

Yeah, I like him.  He's an impressive guy, he's done a lot of great philanthropic work.  Purchasing the Magna Carta is super impressive.  Also, it's clear he's a diehard fan and he seems to be comfortable enough with himself to allow others to make decisions.  

But I've said it before and I'll say it again, just because he's not Angelos doesn't mean he's going to spend money.  A lot of people around here seem to think it's a foregone conclusion that he will because...well, that's what people want to believe.  The good news here is that the Angelos group set a really low bar to compare to, practically anything will be better.  

Yesterday when that pinecone Brown asked him a question, something about how he and his new ownership group can help the team win, he didn't mention spending money in free agency.  I'm going to re-watch the game today while I'm working and I'll listen closer to what he said, but he said a lot of things and none of them had anything to do with spending money and raising the payroll.  

Now, maybe he was caught off-guard by that question and rattled off a few things that came to mind immediately, but if that's the case then spending money obviously isn't on the top of his mind.  He's not said anything about it anywhere, from what I've seen.  If someone can show me a quote where he's said that he'd like to spend in free agency, well, I'd love to be wrong.

So I think we're in great hands from a lot of perspectives, but the big thing that everyone wants to know remains to be seen.  And it's not a sure thing.

I hear what you are saying. There is no guarantee that he will spend. 

But I guess I look at it more like, “why wouldn’t he spend?” 

He wants to win and he has WAY MORE money than the Angelos family could dream of. 

Plus, the extreme frugality of the Angelos family is more the exception than the norm. There are not many owners who are as indifferent as JA appeared to be.

[SemperFi]

For me the biggest takeaway was his interest and appreciation of the game-I never felt that there was that kind of interest level from an Angelos and certainly not from JA.

[Bemorewins]

Some fans have been beaten down by the awfulness for so long and have been told that the Orioles “can’t spend” that they actually believe it and advocate for it.

Some even talk about “spending” like it’s a bad thing. But for every Mets and Padres who have spent and so far have gotten mediocrity, there is a Rangers and Phillies who have spent and won big as a result.

Rubentein’s resources/wealth are near the top of all owner’s in this sport. I don’t have a crystal ball that tells me for sure that he is going to spend. But he certainly has the capital to spend if he wants to.

And spending is not a bad thing especially if you spend on the right thing. If we “spend” to keep Adley, Gunnar, Holiday, etc and it leads to a championship or multiple championships or World Series appearances, it will have been a wise use of resources.

Finally, for those advocating that we don’t need to spend, I respect your right to that position/view point. However, I will say this.

Not spending will most likely limit our potential. When was the last time a World Series winner (or even better a team who made multiple World Series runs) had a bottom third payroll?

What “extremely frugal models” have produced bustling/engaged fan bases?

Why can’t we afford say a St. Louis Cardinals type spending model? Is their city/market significant larger than ours?

[Moose Milligan]

1 hour ago, Bemorewins said:

I hear what you are saying. There is no guarantee that he will spend. 

But I guess I look at it more like, “why wouldn’t he spend?” 

He wants to win and he has WAY MORE money than the Angelos family could dream of. 

Plus, the extreme frugality of the Angelos family is more the exception than the norm. There are not many owners who are as indifferent as JA appeared to be.

You can win without spending and you can lose a lot while spending a lot.  That's been proven time and time again.

I'm inclined to agree that he will spend more.  But that's based off hope and nothing else.

[interloper]

At least if he does spend, it sounds like it will be at the recommendation of smart people like Elias. Not just... "Owner like big home run man". 

[Orioles West]

2 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

You can win without spending and you can lose a lot while spending a lot.  That's been proven time and time again.

I'm inclined to agree that he will spend more.  But that's based off hope and nothing else.

I think this is where I'm at.

I'm hopeful, but there are no guarantees. Elias has shown he can do a lot without big market money, so I don't see huge changes coming, but hopefully some more investment in keeping talent around versus developing talent for other teams.

[Moose Milligan]

3 minutes ago, Orioles West said:

I think this is where I'm at.

I'm hopeful, but there are no guarantees. Elias has shown he can do a lot without big market money, so I don't see huge changes coming, but hopefully some more investment in keeping talent around versus developing talent for other teams.

That sums it up really well.  I don't want to see Gunnar and Adley go anywhere else.  If they do, I'd hope it's after their age 34 seasons or something.

[interloper]

I think at some point during the broadcast, DR said in a couple years OPACY will be the "most modern stadium in the game" or something like that. That was probably the boldest promise he's made yet. Sounds like some really big upgrades are coming with that state money. 

[Can_of_corn]

5 minutes ago, interloper said:

I think at some point during the broadcast, DR said in a couple years OPACY will be the "most modern stadium in the game" or something like that. That was probably the boldest promise he's made yet. Sounds like some really big upgrades are coming with that state money. 

I'm sure the experience of placing a bet there will be second to none.

[interloper]

8 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I'm sure the experience of placing a bet there will be second to none.

The more people that are stuck in a gambling room, the better the beer line will be. 

[LookinUp]

19 hours ago, Fiver6565 said:

One thing I learned about DR last day or so is that he really loves 'Baldimore' and wants to give back, unite the community, etc. 

As a fan of the O's and Redskins, it's almost like the leagues went out of their way to find rich people who 1) are likeable and 2) agree that career professionals are better at running sports organizations than they are. In that sense, I feel very fortunate for both ownership changes.

The one thing that [slightly] raises my antenna from both ownership groups though is some of the political language I've heard. Don't get me wrong, I'd love if he gives back in the form of supporting youth leagues, ticket giveaways, etc., but I really dislike when my sports teams become connected to political movements. I'm not trying to make any political statement other than I'm happiest when I can view sports and exchange high fives with people who look at the world differently. 

And yes, I did mean this is a slight concern. Just something I fear in general. 

[Billy F-Face3]

8 hours ago, Bemorewins said:

I hear what you are saying. There is no guarantee that he will spend. 

But I guess I look at it more like, “why wouldn’t he spend?” 

He wants to win and he has WAY MORE money than the Angelos family could dream of. 

Plus, the extreme frugality of the Angelos family is more the exception than the norm. There are not many owners who are as indifferent as JA appeared to be.

Here's the thing: Different people have different ideas of what it takes to win. Some people might believe that drafting and developing is a more sustainable winning strategy than getting locked in on big expensive contracts of free agents.

David said he believes in Mike Elias so he will be following the recommendations of "The Best GM in Baseball".

If Elias wants a free agent that he feels will improve the overall team, I'm sure David will support him in that quest. But if Elias thinks they can win without that free agent because they have other methods of getting talent and production, they'll probably not spend on such a free agent.

But all of that is conjecture and we don't know what David and the other owners (or even Elias at this point) believe it takes to win. They might believe that pricy contracts hinder the team's ability win because it limits their mobility/options.

What one person thinks will win, another person might think will lose. And what one person thinks will lose, might be another persons idea of what they think could win.  This has been ever so clear even more so from all the Jackson Holiday posts I've seen.

[Bemorewins]

42 minutes ago, Billy F-Face3 said:

Here's the thing: Different people have different ideas of what it takes to win. Some people might believe that drafting and developing is a more sustainable winning strategy than getting locked in on big expensive contracts of free agents.

David said he believes in Mike Elias so he will be following the recommendations of "The Best GM in Baseball".

If Elias wants a free agent that he feels will improve the overall team, I'm sure David will support him in that quest. But if Elias thinks they can win without that free agent because they have other methods of getting talent and production, they'll probably not spend on such a free agent.

But all of that is conjecture and we don't know what David and the other owners (or even Elias at this point) believe it takes to win. They might believe that pricy contracts hinder the team's ability win because it limits their mobility/options.

What one person thinks will win, another person might think will lose. And what one person thinks will lose, might be another persons idea of what they think could win.  This has been ever so clear even more so from all the Jackson Holiday posts I've seen.

It doesn’t and shouldn’t be an either/or proposition. We can and should do both to the best of our ability. And even then, we will need some luck along the way.

[Birdland in NC]

I don’t think he chases free agents, but I do think he spends on guys like Adley, Gunner, Grayson, etc because of what guys like Frank and Brooks meant to him as a fan. Thats part of giving back to the city, and I believe his love of the game and Bmore is genuine 

[foxfield]

22 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Huh?

You can both spend money and win.

 

 

Like the Mets?