MacPhail's frugality is hurting this team

[csgordos]

jTrea, have you ever played baseball?

Have you ever worked for a baseball team?

Please, give us some of your credentials.

Sometimes the ridiculous comments you spew on a daily basis are funny. You don't intend them to be that way, but they are.

You are chicken little, the boy who cried wolf, and the town drunk all rolled into one.

Give it a rest. It gets old.

I'll also say, if anyone honestly thinks this thread wasn't started based off the Hobgood pick, think again.

Wouldn't it be great if clarence could redo the Tex / Hitler film parody to now include Hobgood? That was the most I laughed in the past 10 years. I still look for it every now and then just for a great laugh. If somebody has already requested this in the 13 pages and I missed it, sorry I had to skip many posts.

Thanks to Tony and Bigbird to giving my time to read this thread some actual meaning.

I think we are on the right path. Defense, surpulus of pitching, and spending only when appropriate. It is not my money. I happily give the Orioles my money 2 times a year and am happy that they seem to be using it to develop young talent that gives us a chance (not a guarantee) the next 4-5 years to compete. Signing Payton, Millar, Segui, washed up pitchers were not working so lets try this approach and give it some time.

[JTrea81]

I'll also say, if anyone honestly thinks this thread wasn't started based off the Hobgood pick, think again.

This thread was started because of this:

As for the money, the Orioles won't shy from the top-dollar demands of some players, according to MacPhail.

"It's an important avenue of talent for us," MacPhail said. "We pay attention to 'signability.' But at the end of the day, we know this is the most important entry of talent in our system.

"We know we can't buy three [major league] players for a half billion dollars. That's not in the cards for us, so this is an area that we are pretty aggressive."

They didn't show it in this draft. Actions speak louder than words, and the Orioles actions in this draft went against what MacPhail had said the day before.

The Orioles were not "aggressive" in drafting above slot talent in the lower rounds like the A's or Rays for example.

I can buy the Hobgood pick, but there was too much talent passed over in the later rounds for me to buy that the Orioles drafted primarily on BPA as they should be and that is all because of the limited budget Jordan has to work with under MacPhail. It's clear MacPhail tried to snow the Orioles fanbase and some of you bought it, but I haven't...

[Satyr3206]

This thread was started because of this:

They didn't show it in this draft. Actions speak louder than words, and the Orioles actions in this draft went against what MacPhail had said the day before.

The Orioles were not "aggressive" in drafting above slot talent in the lower rounds like the A's or Rays for example.

I can buy the Hobgood pick, but there was too much talent passed over in the later rounds for me to buy that the Orioles drafted primarily on BPA as they should be and that is all because of the limited budget Jordan has to work with under MacPhail. It's clear MacPhail tried to snow the Orioles fanbase and some of you bought it, but I haven't...

I have been staying out of this but I have to put in my 2 cents. You sure do love stirring the pot. Again, and again, and................you get the point. Why do I have the feeling this all stems from not signing Tex?

You're entitled to your opinion but this is like beating a dead horse.

[PitchingWins]

This thread was started because of this:

They didn't show it in this draft. Actions speak louder than words, and the Orioles actions in this draft went against what MacPhail had said the day before.

The Orioles were not "aggressive" in drafting above slot talent in the lower rounds like the A's or Rays for example.

I can buy the Hobgood pick, but there was too much talent passed over in the later rounds for me to buy that the Orioles drafted primarily on BPA as they should be and that is all because of the limited budget Jordan has to work with under MacPhail. It's clear MacPhail tried to snow the Orioles fanbase and some of you bought it, but I haven't...

I honestly think with the draft its a big crapshoot. IMO, I think swinging an aluminum bat and a wooden bat, create very big differences in your ability to hit, and be hit (in the case of pitchers). I have often wondered why, especially with the size of kids now adays compared to say 15 years ago, we still continue to use aluminum bats(im not sure if they are allowed to use composite bats, though I dont think so) in developmental leauges, such as HS and college.There are countless late round underslotted draft picks that have turned out to be better an average players, i.e. Albert Pujols. with the exception of Strasberg (sp?) and Ackley I think was a very mediocre draft. Much like the upcoming Free Agent class. I personally would like to have seen Crow drafted but, I trust they had reasons for not doing so, A guy with all the talent who wants crazy money and wont sign is of no value here. Crow would have been my pick again as I said, but I dont think he had MW potential(I know he they do not play the same position, I mean in terms of Major League promise).

[JTrea81]

I have been staying out of this but I have to put in my 2 cents. You sure do love stirring the pot. Again, and again, and................you get the point. Why do I have the feeling this all stems from not signing Tex?

You're entitled to your opinion but this is like beating a dead horse.

This offseason was an example of how MacPhail is not aggressive in going after premium talent, this draft provides another example.

I can live with Tex spurning us, and I know he didn't want to play here, but we had the lowest offer of any other team pursuing him and that's a fact.

And now we get a chance to draft names like Stassi, Bailey, Krol, Malm etc. but don't because of signability, as we'd have to give them a large bonus above slot, but we'd get some of the best talent in the draft by doing so.

Oakland knows they can't buy premium FA's so they go above and beyond in the draft and international signings. The Orioles can't seem to buy FAs either as MacPhail admitted, yet they don't seem to want to spend in this draft or in the area of international amateur talent. We'll see if the latter changes, but I doubt it.

There is a history of reduced spending since MacPhail has taken over, and this can't be denied. And with MASN profits increasing as the Orioles continue to win legal agreements to expand coverage as well as revenue sharing and merchandising $, the Orioles spending does not seem to be following suit.

[Moose Milligan]

This thread was started because of this:

They didn't show it in this draft. Actions speak louder than words, and the Orioles actions in this draft went against what MacPhail had said the day before.

The Orioles were not "aggressive" in drafting above slot talent in the lower rounds like the A's or Rays for example.

I can buy the Hobgood pick, but there was too much talent passed over in the later rounds for me to buy that the Orioles drafted primarily on BPA as they should be and that is all because of the limited budget Jordan has to work with under MacPhail. It's clear MacPhail tried to snow the Orioles fanbase and some of you bought it, but I haven't...

If you can buy the Hobgood pick, you should be able to buy the rest, for Jordan seems to have gone after guys that were off others radar this year. They finally grabbed a slugging first baseman, so I figured that would keep you from whining for awhile, but clearly that hasn't been the case. Berry also seems to be a good pick that people are excited about as well.

The fact remains is that you hadn't heard of any of these guys before two days ago and all of a sudden are leaping to conclusions based on very little fact or very little information.

On top of that, the draft is an absolute crap shoot. It's not even a given if Hobgood will reach the majors, let alone players in the 2nd round and after.

So please, stop whining and stop crying about frugality.

MacPhail hasn't tried to "snow" the Orioles in any way...this team has come a long, long way from where it was when he took over.

I've still yet to figure out what your agenda is besides the Orioles not spending copious amounts of money and trying to make big sexy FA splashes like the Yankees and Red Sox. If that's your barometer, you're missing out on a lot of things and you're missing out on someone who knows a little more about baseball than you bring a franchise up with good, young talent.

I'll also direct you back to my previous post in here which talks about being frugal in this economy that we're in. Conveniently you ignored it, but I'm not surprised as you usually ignore posts that put your feet to the fire. I've seen you post numerous times about players taking "less in this economy" when talking about FA's and talking about the prospects of Huff's future with the team.

So you're fully aware of this economy and what's going on which doesn't mesh well with the fact that you keep thinking that the Orioles should go on frivolous spending sprees on FA's that don't work for our budget and high school pitching prodigies and late round talent that are no sure bets whatsoever to reach the majors.

But hey, it's not your money, right?

Get used to it, dude. We're not the Sox. We're not the Yankees. We don't have a national following like those clubs. We'll never spend like them.

[JTrea81]

So you're fully aware of this economy and what's going on which doesn't mesh well with the fact that you keep thinking that the Orioles should go on frivolous spending sprees on FA's that don't work for our budget and high school pitching prodigies and late round talent that are no sure bets whatsoever to reach the majors.

But hey, it's not your money, right?

Get used to it, dude. We're not the Sox. We're not the Yankees. We don't have a national following like those clubs. We'll never spend like them.

I'm asking us to spend like Oakland and Tampa Bay, not like the Yankees and Red Sox. That's the point.

Tampa drafted Bailey and Malm, Oakland took Stassi and Krol all after the Orioles made their picks.

Oakland also drafted Grant Green.

If you are going to not go after the premium FA talent, fine, but you can't skimp on the draft and international signings as well, not with the resources you have available.

[rooster]

If you don't like the board, you are free to go elsewhere. There is no reason to degrade an entire community because you feel left out. Quality posters with good posts, thoughts, and temperament are always welcome in this forum.welcome in this forum.

I do not feel degraded. Please don't speak for me.

[csgordos]

I'm asking us to spend like Oakland and Tampa Bay, not like the Yankees and Red Sox. That's the point.

Spend like Tampa Bay? Please God no!!!! I don't want their tiny payroll. However, props to them for doing a great job with such limited financial flexibility.

[Moose Milligan]

I'm asking us to spend like Oakland and Tampa Bay, not like the Yankees and Red Sox. That's the point.

Tampa drafted Bailey and Malm, Oakland took Stassi and Krol all after the Orioles took their picks.

Do you know how much we'll spend this year compared to Oakland and Tampa?

It's a Yes or No question.

[JTrea81]

Do you know how much we'll spend this year compared to Oakland and Tampa?

It's a Yes or No question.

Less on the draft, that's for sure.

[Moose Milligan]

Less on the draft, that's for sure.

Oh really? You're SO positive about that.

We'll resume this conversation when the draft picks have been signed and the money has been tallied.

[Satyr3206]

This offseason was an example of how MacPhail is not aggressive in going after premium talent, this draft provides another example.

I can live with Tex spurning us, and I know he didn't want to play here, but we had the lowest offer of any other team pursuing him and that's a fact.

And now we get a chance to draft names like Stassi, Bailey, Krol, Malm etc. but don't because of signability, as we'd have to give them a large bonus above slot, but we'd get some of the best talent in the draft by doing so.

Oakland knows they can't buy premium FA's so they go above and beyond in the draft and international signings. The Orioles can't seem to buy FAs either as MacPhail admitted, yet they don't seem to want to spend in this draft or in the area of international amateur talent. We'll see if the latter changes, but I doubt it.

There is a history of reduced spending since MacPhail has taken over, and this can't be denied. And with MASN profits increasing as the Orioles continue to win legal agreements to expand coverage as well as revenue sharing and merchandising $, the Orioles spending does not seem to be following suit.

I think there are some faults in your logic. One, who really knows what MASN is making. The Nats are almost definitely losing money for MASN.

Drafting name players and paying big bonuses doesn't mean they will pan out.

And like Moose said, the draft is a huge crapshoot. You could probably throw darts at the names and have close to the league average sucess.

[glenn__davis]

If you are going to not go after the premium FA talent, fine, but you can't skimp on the draft and international signings as well, not with the resources you have available.

We don't know what they're going to spend on international talent yet. Let's at least wait until that signing period is over before we criticize them for it. I will say that if we don't see an increase in what we've paid there in the past, I'll be disappointed.

[DrungoHazewood]

This thread was started because of this:

They didn't show it in this draft. Actions speak louder than words, and the Orioles actions in this draft went against what MacPhail had said the day before.

The Orioles were not "aggressive" in drafting above slot talent in the lower rounds like the A's or Rays for example.

I can buy the Hobgood pick, but there was too much talent passed over in the later rounds for me to buy that the Orioles drafted primarily on BPA as they should be and that is all because of the limited budget Jordan has to work with under MacPhail. It's clear MacPhail tried to snow the Orioles fanbase and some of you bought it, but I haven't...

One of many points that you intentionally misrepresent is that being willing to pay more for some players doesn't mean they're willing to pay more for all players.

You're suggesting that the Orioles budget $X for the draft and spend that no matter what. You're asking someone to go to the car dealer with $40k in their pockets and spend it that day no matter what cars happen to be on the lot.

Your draft strategy is one of drafting by bonus demand without much regard for quality. If Fred is demanding $8M and is scouted as a 65, and Wayne is demanding $2M and is scouted as a 60, you're beyond outraged that the O's didn't draft Fred.