Surprise! Eaton getting rocked

[Big Mac]

My job is to critique him. A lot of you fail to bring up the fact that I routinely praise Andy MacPhail. If you did that, it wouldn't serve your agenda very well. That said, I think MacPhail's done a nice job with everything except the off-season pitching staff needs, giving Pie the job in left field without as much as one day of competition (and taking Scott's job away from him despite the fact he was decent last year) and cutting Guthrie's salary by $120k when it wasn't necessary. The Wieters thing is dumb, too, but this is a club that always thinks "money first" and "fans second", so I can see where they'd wait to bring him up until July.

Your incredibly short-sighted thinking is all really summed up in this little bit.

You don't understand the Guthrie situation, we've been over that. You clearly don't understand the Wieters situation at all. Who says we're waiting to bring him up until July? I wish I had a radio show were I could just make stuff up.

Please, give it a rest.

[SilentJames]

The Weiters thing isn't about the money so much as it is waiting two weeks to keep himm under control for another WHOLE season.

The same thing that the Rays did with Longoria.

I guess they are classless as well?

I will gladly sacrifice two weeks for another full season of an All-Star caliber catcher.

[Frobby]

Mark Hendrickson is a year younger than Derek Lowe.

So what's your point? There's a difference between signing a 1-year stopgap for $1.5 mm and signing a guy to a 4 year, $60 mm contract. I didn't like the Hendrickson signing, but let's not pretend these are comparable.

[bobmc]

You're such a martyr. It is truly comical.

No, it isn't because the premise of your question skews and hyperbolizes the Orioles' stance. They aren't saying that we have to deal with losing for more years (2009 & 2010). They aren't even saying the young pitching won't start coming up this year.

IMO, a "real" columnist (you shouldn't portray yourself as a journalist; they should just report the news rather than offer commentary), one that was interested in both acting with integrity and actually swaying public opinion positively, would acknowledge that their premise differs from the Orioles' premise and set about convincing us as to why their premise is accurate and the Oriole premise is inaccurate. You just seem more interested in grinding an axe though. You spend almost no time actually selling your side. You spend most of your time spewing vitriol and trying to incite a response. And to be quite honest, you don't do it particularly well IMO. That doesn't make you a lot different than most of what I see on the airwaves these days, but it does make you yet another disappointment.

You've been asked to explain your stance several times and the best you can come up with is Derek Lowe (who signed for 4/60 at 36 years old and is obviously not a good solution) and Garland (who clearly signed a one year "prove myself" deal with a contender in a weaker division in order to get more money next year). Neither of these guys was going to sign here unless we did something stupid. A person with intelligence and baseball acumen should understand that. You're not stupid and you understand enough about baseball to get that. That leaves me to believe that your "solution" isn't really intended to be a solution. It is intended to be just plausible enough to look like you're proposing something so you can go back to bashing the Orioles. It is a sad, sad act IMO.

Finally, you are paid to present your opinions to the public and you've chosen to present yourself "in character" on this forum so I do hold you to a different standard. You could have posted here anonymously and just been another voice like the rest of us, but you enjoy your "notoriety" so you should be held to that higher standard. You don't meet that standard IMO. I'm fairly surprised that you meet the admin's standards.

Wow! Beautifully said, vatech1994! :clap3:

[Fan4Life]

You're such a martyr. It is truly comical.

No, it isn't because the premise of your question skews and hyperbolizes the Orioles' stance. They aren't saying that we have to deal with losing for more years (2009 & 2010). They aren't even saying the young pitching won't start coming up this year.

IMO, a "real" columnist (you shouldn't portray yourself as a journalist; they should just report the news rather than offer commentary), one that was interested in both acting with integrity and actually swaying public opinion positively, would acknowledge that their premise differs from the Orioles' premise and set about convincing us as to why their premise is accurate and the Oriole premise is inaccurate. You just seem more interested in grinding an axe though. You spend almost no time actually selling your side. You spend most of your time spewing vitriol and trying to incite a response. And to be quite honest, you don't do it particularly well IMO. That doesn't make you a lot different than most of what I see on the airwaves these days, but it does make you yet another disappointment.

You've been asked to explain your stance several times and the best you can come up with is Derek Lowe (who signed for 4/60 at 36 years old and is obviously not a good solution) and Garland (who clearly signed a one year "prove myself" deal with a contender in a weaker division in order to get more money next year). Neither of these guys was going to sign here unless we did something stupid. A person with intelligence and baseball acumen should understand that. You're not stupid and you understand enough about baseball to get that. That leaves me to believe that your "solution" isn't really intended to be a solution. It is intended to be just plausible enough to look like you're proposing something so you can go back to bashing the Orioles. It is a sad, sad act IMO.

Finally, you are paid to present your opinions to the public and you've chosen to present yourself "in character" on this forum so I do hold you to a different standard. You could have posted here anonymously and just been another voice like the rest of us, but you enjoy your "notoriety" so you should be held to that higher standard. You don't meet that standard IMO. I'm fairly surprised that you meet the admin's standards.

I agree with you that it isn't possible for us to know what their plans are for this season. In may even be possible that they don't know as it could depend on a variety of variables. However, their lack of investment in any (good) pitching this offseason, Burnett might be one example, tells me they are going to wait until their pitching is ready which by default is sacrificng at least 2009. Even Trembley in some comments this week essentially said this year isn't going to amount to much. Obviously nobody knows when this pitching we have will be ML ready. It could be as early as next season or it could go into 2011 before they can compete as ML pitchers on a daily basis. If that is the case, they've shown they aren't investing until that time arrives and so I don't think it's out of line for a fan(and perhaps a columnist) to express these sentiments. Roy has expressed the same feelings a few times.

[Hank Scorpio]

It's a fair question: What do the fans do for the next two years while we're waiting for this great tsunami of young pitching success to come crashing into Baltimore?

We sit around and listen to you and Nestor b*tch, of course.

[Don_Aase_Fan]

So what's your point? There's a difference between signing a 1-year stopgap for $1.5 mm and signing a guy to a 4 year, $60 mm contract. I didn't like the Hendrickson signing, but let's not pretend these are comparable.

I could be wrong here, but I think BmoreTerp was simply correcting Drew when he said...

I assume he forgot about Mark Hendrickson being two years older than Lowe.

That is incorrect. Hendrickson is, in fact, a year younger than Lowe. Not like it really matters anyway since Hendrickson is ultimately a 1-year placeholder, while Lowe would have required and much longer and more expensive commitment. That kind of investment for a declining pitcher makes no sense for a rebuilding team like the O's.

[howie14]

I hope everyone realizes that the last six pages were just cannon fodder for df to take out of context and make fun of on his show.

You apologists you! :laughlol:

[df1570]

Wow! Beautifully said, vatech1994! :clap3:

I had no idea my role/job was to "sway public opinion positively."

That's an interesting look at things, though.

Can you imagine how laughable that would be on my end if I had spent the last 11 years trying to convince you guys (and the other 35,000 a game who no longer go) that this is all "part of the plan" and that everyone should just "be positive"??

I thought my role/job was to watch how sports organizations operate and perform and offer my opinion and comments on such.

In this case, the facts are easy: The team hasn't won since 1997 and the crowds are at an all-time low.

There are 25 other things to discuss about the team and how BOTH of those things have happened...which is what I do.

When they fix those things and they start winning games and people go back to the ballpark, I will deem them "fixed" and won't need to offer my opinion on that stuff any longer.

Appearing here anonymously wouldn't interest me. I'm amazed that the majority of you are afraid to identify yourselves in the first place.

None of this has anything to do with "notoriety". After all, the Orioles told me last year I only have one listener. How notorious can you be when only one person tunes in? I'm a baseball fan and an Orioles fan, like all of you. I just have a different job than you guys.

Somedays, I'd rather "just be a fan" and I wouldn't have to talk or write about how the team continues to swindle the fan base.

Unfortunately, that's not how it goes.

You guys don't have to talk about that stuff. You can *ahem* sway public opinion positively with all of your opinions about the bright future of the team.

I'll stick with the facts of what's happened and what's happening currently and how it's not HELPING their cause either on the field or in the stands.

Again, though, that's just my opinion.

Every other Friday I get a paycheck in exchange for sharing it.

What a country...

[BaltimoreTerp]

I could be wrong here, but I think BmoreTerp was simply correcting Drew when he said...

That is incorrect. Hendrickson is, in fact, a year younger than Lowe. Not like it really matters anyway since Hendrickson is ultimately a 1-year placeholder, while Lowe would have required and much longer and more expensive commitment. That kind of investment for a declining pitcher makes no sense for a rebuilding team like the O's.

You are correct. It's kind of hard to take someone seriously when they get a fact wrong that I looked up in ten seconds on Baseball-Reference.

[NewMarketSean]

Drew, if nothing else with the Orioles changed, meaning they still treated you "unfairly", but they started winning and competeing for the playoffs, would you be happy? Or would you still be upset with the team and bad mouth them? Because fans only care about winning. Once the team wins, they will not care if you dont get press passes. They will not care about Brooks and Frank not being connected with the team. At least not as much as they do now.

So what will it be?

It sounds like if/when the O's start winning, you're going to have to make some changes to attract listeners. Because the same old same old will not fly in a Baltimore where the O's are winning.

[df1570]

You are correct. It's kind of hard to take someone seriously when they get a fact wrong that I looked up in ten seconds on Baseball-Reference.

I was looking at Paul Byrd's birthday when I wrote that. My bad.

In the end, though, there's probably not much difference, really...

Lowe has more ability in his nuts than than any of these left-handed re-treads have in their left arm.

Lowe is "above our preferred age demographic" but Hendrickson isn't...

Uehara is two years younger than Lowe but he's worth $5mm a year and Garland (at 29 with a proven record in the majors) isn't worth $15mm for two years?

What it REALLY is (or was), of course, is an issue of "cash".

Lowe, because he's quality, is expensive.

Hendrickson, because he's NOT of quality, is cheap.

Simple game there...

Angelos admitted it a couple of days ago. "When we're ready to be good again, we'll spend money."

At least he's finally being honest.

Perhaps the fans will say, "fair enough, when you guys get good, we'll come back and spend money."

That would be more than fair on their part.

[howie14]

Can you imagine how laughable that would be on my end if I had spent the last 11 years trying to convince you guys (and the other 35,000 a game who no longer go) that this is all "part of the plan" and that everyone should just "be positive"??

I doubt that anyone here thinks that should be your role. Most of them are probably just tired of you misrepresenting their position as being that of an "apologist". Not twisting everything into a negative = apologist to you.

In this case, the facts are easy: The team hasn't won since 1997 and the crowds are at an all-time low.

Something the current regime has virtually nothing to do with. It also isn't all the facts.

Appearing here anonymously wouldn't interest me. I'm amazed that the majority of you are afraid to identify yourselves in the first place.

Typical Drew bullying cheap shot. Most people use nicknames on forums. In my case, I use the same one on every forum. I'm not hard to find, but I'm not going to let you pull an "O'Reilly" and start stalking me.

Somedays, I'd rather "just be a fan" and I wouldn't have to talk or write about how the team continues to swindle the fan base.

Unfortunately, that's not how it goes.

Yes, you have to talk about what Nestor has programmed you to talk about. Life is hard.

Every other Friday I get a paycheck in exchange for sharing it.

Until Nestor thinks you've crossed him...

[Hank Scorpio]

Can you imagine how laughable that would be on my end if I had spent the last 11 years trying to convince you guys (and the other 35,000 a game who no longer go) that this is all "part of the plan" and that everyone should just "be positive"?

Drew, do you seriously believe that things are status quo now when compared to the past 8-9 years? Do you think this is business as usual for the franchise?

You just seem to take every situation and twist it to the point where there's something to complain about. For years, we have all clamored for some kind of a distinct "plan." Some kind of direction, some path leading to contention.

Most educated baseball fans can look at what MacPhail has done thus far and see a very distinct plan in place that has this thing moving in the right direction.

But for some reason, you don't seem to want to acknowledge that these "scoundrels" have a clue about what they're doing.

Hey man, you gotta feed your kids. Do what you gotta do, but don't come on here and act floored that some people are happy with what is happening with our baseball team... because although you don't want to talk about them, good things are happening.

Again, what the hell are you two gonna do when MacPhail gets this team into contention? What schtick will you adopt then?

What happens when the charlatans are fielding a winner?

[df1570]

Drew, if nothing else with the Orioles changed, meaning they still treated you "unfairly", but they started winning and competeing for the playoffs, would you be happy? Or would you still be upset with the team and bad mouth them? Because fans only care about winning. Once the team wins, they will not care if you dont get press passes. They will not care about Brooks and Frank not being connected with the team. At least not as much as they do now.

So what will it be?

It sounds like if/when the O's start winning, you're going to have to make some changes to attract listeners. Because the same old same old will not fly in a Baltimore where the O's are winning.

When they win again (which will probably coincide with me winning a Grammy award) and fans go back to the ballpark, THAT is what I will talk about.

Right now, what I talk about is the team LOSING games and fans that have stopped going. I talk about how that's happened and how they're completely to blame for it all.

Trust me, when they win, it will HELP me in a huge way. There will be more to sell - on our end - and more people will be interested in baseball and there will be more topical stuff to discuss every morning.

Treating me unfairly is now a merit badge I'm enjoying wearing. It's actually better this way. They're not smart enough to figure out the old adage: "better the devil you know than the devil you don't..." and how to use it to their advantage.