The State of the Orioles Address

[TonySoprano]

I've said this 100 times, we are going to grow the arms and buy the bats.

What [free agent] bats have you bought, Andy?

[RShack]

What bats have you bought, Andy?

When the cake is baked, he will then apply the icing.

Timing, grasshopper, timing...

He's his father's son. All you have to do is see what his Dad did, and AM is doing the same damn thing, just updated for modern times. The main characteristics are exactly the same.

[TonySoprano]

When the cake is baked, he will then apply the icing.

Timing, grasshopper, timing...

That ass-umes the "icing" will be available at the market. Heaven forbid we do some of our shopping now, since the "cavalry" is supposedly only a year away.

[isestrex]

That ass-umes the "icing" will be available at the market. Heaven forbid we do some of our shopping now, since the "cavalry" is supposedly only a year away.

Bats are ALWAYS on the market... name one year when there weren't...

[RShack]

That ass-umes the "icing" will be available at the market. Heaven forbid we do some of our shopping now, since the "cavalry" is supposedly only a year away.

Some of it is a year away. Some of it is 2 years away. Some if it is further away. It's not just a few guys on horses, it's a cavalry factory. That's the whole point.

As to who's available when, that comes down to whether he's looking at it the right way. Beats me. I expect we'll find out.

So far, he appears to know what he's doing. He clearly knows what he's trying to do. The implementation is a work in progress.

[JTrea81]

Bats are ALWAYS on the market... name one year when there weren't...

Bats may be on the market, but the competition to get them is increasing as well as their age and the talent level is decreasing.

Adrian Gonzalez will be the next prime bat on the market that will likely be in our price range but he isn't a FA until after the 2011 season. JJ Hardy is another bat not as potent as Gonzalez, but will be available after 2010.

Not to mention it's gonna be hard to convince AGon, Hardy or a bat like them to come to the Orioles when you'll have other teams that will be more competitive vying for their services. It will be interesting to see if the Orioles are actually willing to overpay to land a bat like that if they feel they are a bat or two away because they certainly won't come at market price for us until we show that we can make the playoffs in the AL East. And we can't do that until we land one or more of those bats.

[JTrea81]

Bats are ALWAYS on the market... name one year when there weren't...

Next offseason, the talent pool is pretty thin.

[El Gordo]

What [free agent] bats have you bought, Andy?

Since AM has been GM what bats do you feel he has failed to buy? Besides Tex of course.

[JTrea81]

Since AM has been GM what bats do you fell he has failed to buy? Besides Tex of course.

I think you can go back to MacPhail's tenure in Minnesota and Chicago and ask the same question TS did and get the same answer.

The only reason MacPhail will buy bats is if Angelos wants him to IMO...

[Mackus]

What [free agent] bats have you bought, Andy?

Since when does "are going to" imply something that occurred in the past?

Andy has given out big money to bats at each stop, they've usually just been ones he already had in the system.

There really isn't much difference between extending one of your players right before they reach FA and signing a FA in terms of committing money. You have to spend roughly the same amount.

[threedaysrest]

I think you can go back to MacPhail's tenure in Minnesota and Chicago and ask the same question TS did and get the same answer.

The only reason MacPhail will buy bats is if Angelos wants him to IMO...

I don't think that's entirely true. Angelos may have some say in what transpires, but MacPhail has much more latitude than anyone else under PGA and can sign whomever he chooses (who wants to play here). I think it was Teixiera and not MacPhail, Angelos, et al, that dictated where Teix ended up signing. The man never wanted to play for the Orioles and there's nothing we can do about it; neither is it fair to blame the FO for a player's oddball tastes and preferences. Teix will quickly learn the fickle and cruel nature of NY fans, and it serves him right.

[JTrea81]

Since when does "are going to" imply something that occurred in the past?

Andy has given out big money to bats at each stop, they've usually just been ones he already had in the system.

There really isn't much difference between extending one of your players right before they reach FA and signing a FA in terms of committing money. You have to spend roughly the same amount.

So then you do need to grow bats. And that will involve trading young pitching for young premium position talent, and also drafting premium position talent and signing premium Latin amateur talent.

I have no problem with MacPhail drafting or acquiring tons of pitching as long as he trades some of it to get premium hitting.

[Pickles]

I think you can go back to MacPhail's tenure in Minnesota and Chicago and ask the same question TS did and get the same answer.

The only reason MacPhail will buy bats is if Angelos wants him to IMO...

Chili Davis says hello.

[JTrea81]

Chili Davis says hello.

Since when was Chili Davis considered a premium bat?

[Pickles]

Since when was Chili Davis considered a premium bat?

I'd say when he put up that 140 ops+ and won a World Series with the Twins in 1991 that was a pretty good year.

Of course, this happened more than 2 years ago, and his name isn't MarK Texiera so I guess expecting you to know anything about it is a stretch.