Heading down to Sarasota on Tuesday morning

[Frobby]

Nothing is really "wrong." Perhaps a little dip between 2nd and 3rd in the infield on Field 1. However, the other teams are playing on near major-league diamonds and the drought at Sarasota has been rough on the grass. However, it is still better than many SALLY league diamonds.

A couple of the players did tell me that the other teams don't want to come to Twin Lakes. When I saw the minor leagiue Quadraplex at Port Charolotte, it looked almost major league quality for ALL fields. At first they reminded me of Bowie's field, but as the games wore on, they looked even better in the way they played. The "facilities" are much more modern as well.

I'm about to go JTreas on this. How pathetic that not only are our major league and minor league facilities hundreds of miles from each other but our facilities are so substandard that other teams won't play there.

[DrShorebird]

other teams won't play there.

There's a difference between "won't" and "want." I am not aware of any teams saying they wont play at Twin Lakes. That said, it may be true, but I personally have not heard that said and I am not aware of such.

I have been told by players that they have been told that other teams don't WANT to play at Twin Lakes. That is only hearsay. It is true that I was told such by players I trust, but I can't verify the accuracy of what has been told to them or by whom.

[DrShorebird]

Frobby, I think I see where you got the impression that other teams "won't" play at Twin Lakes. I had not seen the blog by SM.

I wanted to be sure that no one thought I had said that teams WON'T come to Twin Lakes.

It would have cut off a couple of sources of information for me if it got around that I had said that.

[Frobby]

Frobby, I think I see where you got the impression that other teams "won't" play at Twin Lakes. I had not seen the blog by SM.

I wanted to be sure that no one thought I had said that teams WON'T come to Twin Lakes.

It would have cut off a couple of sources of information for me if it got around that I had said that.

Yes, my info came from Melewski's article. Not trying to put you in an awkward spot, Doc. And whether other teams don't want to play in Sarasota because of the field conditions, or literally won't play there, I am embarassed to hear that either way. I hate to think that our young players are getting the early impression that we run a second-class operation. I hate the idea that fans made plans to come to Sarasota on vacation to catch some O's minor league games, only to be told when they arrived that the teams are playing hours away because the other team didn't think our fields were adequate. It brings new meaning to the term "bush league."

[BowieMike]

If there is anything in particular you are wondering about ask in this thread and I'll see what I can dig up over the next three days in Sarasota.

Compared with the depth chart published on the Hangout in January, how much have things changed since then? Basically, nearing the end of March, do we have a more concrete idea of who will be starting out where?

[DrShorebird]

On the brighter side, I hear that it helped move along our efforts to get the ST complex deal done.

[Tony-OH]

I'm about to go JTreas on this. How pathetic that not only are our major league and minor league facilities hundreds of miles from each other but our facilities are so substandard that other teams won't play there.

My understanding after talking with a few people is that other teams won't play at Twin Lakes so the Orioles are forced to be road warriors. The Orioles obviously are not going to confirm that, but I talked with a few guys from Tampa and they indicated the Twin Lake fields were unacceptable.

Either way, it was nice to see all four teams at once today down in Port Charlotte.

[DuffMan]

Yes, my info came from Melewski's article.

Does anyone have a link to this article? I can't seem to find it.

And I agree that this is pretty pathetic that teams don't want to play on our fields.

[Frobby]

Does anyone have a link to this article? I can't seem to find it.

And I agree that this is pretty pathetic that teams don't want to play on our fields.

The Orioles moved some minor-league games that had been set for their Twin Lakes complex in Sarasota to road venues. They'll play four different games at Tampa's complex Tuesday and five contests at Boston's complex on Wednesday. This came after the Rays and Sox put up a beef about field conditions in Sarasota

http://masnsports.com/2009/03/waring-figueroa-and-floriman-m.html

[Lefty0315]

Does anyone have a link to this article? I can't seem to find it.

And I agree that this is pretty pathetic that teams don't want to play on our fields.

Doc,

Can you offer any insight or comment on what steve Melewski has reported in his latest blog?

Here is your link. If you view the post I quoted you will see the portion of the entry that talks about the field situation.

[LookinUp]

This is particularly troubling considering the fact that even many high school fields in Florida are beautiful. Years ago I played on a field in Apopka Florida. It was like playing on a putting green. Simply beautiful. The O's have to get this situation fixed. I'm sure that's part of AM's plans.

[BillySmith]

This is particularly troubling considering the fact that even many high school fields in Florida are beautiful. Years ago I played on a field in Apopka Florida. It was like playing on a putting green. Simply beautiful. The O's have to get this situation fixed. I'm sure that's part of AM's plans.

Down right embarassing. I hope Peter Angelos's trip to the potential spring training sites is a sign that this is about to get resolved. That's really, really, kinda pathetic.

[napbow]

Can you find out how Beato is performing?

[JTrea81]

This is particularly troubling considering the fact that even many high school fields in Florida are beautiful. Years ago I played on a field in Apopka Florida. It was like playing on a putting green. Simply beautiful. The O's have to get this situation fixed. I'm sure that's part of AM's plans.

AM doesn't have much to do with the ST facilities, that's all being handled by the Angelos family. And both complexes are a disgrace for a MLB organization to have their players play at. They need to resolve this yesterday...

Sarasota is willing to pay millions to fix up Ed Smith and Twin Lakes. Let's take them up on it...

[clarence]

I'd love to read about a few things:

-Any serious thoughts internally of moving anyone to first base to try and fill the void?

-How do you see Turner being viewed with BRob entrenched at second?

-What pitchers have been pleasant surprises so far?

Thanks Tony