MacPhail's frugality is hurting this team

[Mike B]

I have a conclusion that I want to force down everyone's throats. I look for any fact I can find to support said conclusion. I write one-sided, biased posts in the hopes that everyone else will look at the issue in the same closed minded way. Also, I overreact and come off as reactionary. Who am I?

Someone who very few take serious???

[Mike B]

You've got to spend money to make money. The Orioles problem used to be they didn't spend money wisely.

.

Now it seems they just won't spend.

What are they saving the money for exactly?

I believe I saw a column where the Orioles spent more than all but two teams this past off season

[Mizerooskie]

The Forbes information, check out 2008, our earnings and payroll.

Oh right, because we're actually supposed to believe that the Yankees have the second lowest operating income in the league?

Those numbers, while most likely technically correct, are useless. They have very little to do with the actual amount of money a team has available to spend.

[napbow]

Even if you take Forbes' numbers as the best guess on profitability, the Orioles haven't been doing as well as some other teams in the major leagues over the past few seasons. Here is Forbes' reported operating income and the Orioles ranks over the past three seasons:

2006: $17.1 million in income, ranking 17th in baseball

2007: $ 7.7 million in income, ranking 24th in baseball

2008: $27.3 million in income, ranking 5th in baseball

Meanwhile the Orioles have some debt, around $150 million. The Orioles are above average in their financial leverage in the league, with a debt to value ratio of 38% which ranks in the top half of the majors. Certainly a portion of this operating income goes to pay interest on this debt, and some goes to pay taxes.

If Andy MacPhail's primary motivation was counting pennies, he could certainly be doing a better job. He could have kept players like Jay Gibbons, Steve Trachsel, and Jamie Walker on the roster and saved a few million or so dollars by not paying at least major league minimum salaries for their replacements. He could have saved money by spending less on signing bonuses for the draft last season. He could have not made the investment in the baseball academy in the Dominican. He could have not spent $7.5 million combined on Koji Uehara and Ty Wigginton in the offseason, let alone extending Markakis and Roberts.

If MacPhail is trying to be frugal, he is not doing a very good job of it.

What would MacPhail's motivation for being frugal anyway? Angelos had one of the highest team payrolls in all of baseball when the team was leading the majors in attendance. Angelos was certainly willing to spend money 10 or 12 years back then. Now the Orioles are 25th ranked in MLB attendance, and our team payroll ranking is in line with our attendance ranking.

Perhaps the Orioles don't have as much cash laying around as you suspect, and the Orioles are just living within a reasonable budget.

Could you change your avatar? For a second I thought we had a breakthrough!

[Mark Carver]

More like they might not be spending 50% of what's possible. I submit they could afford a 120 million payroll. What do you say they could afford? Do you think its only the 50 or so they are headed for.

And what evidence do you have to back up this submission?

The Forbes information, check out 2008, our earnings and payroll.

Owed to in 2010

Roberts - $10.0m

Uehara - $5.0m

Markakis - $6.75m

Wigginton - $3.75m

Izturis - $2.6m

Zaun - $2.0m (option)

= $30.1m

2009 Salary/players arbitration eligible

Sherrill - $2.75m

Scott - $2.4m

Ray - $0.85m

Guthrie - arbitration eligible

Jones - arbitration eligible

Hill - arbitration eligible

= $6.0m minimum, not counting Guthie/Jones arbitration and increases in Sherrill, Scott and Ray.

Players to be paid ML minimum/close to it

Johnson - $420k (2009 salary)

Albers - $410k (2009 salary)

Sarfate - $410k (2009 salary)

Bass - $405k (2009 salary)

Reimold - $400k

Wieters - $400k

Pie - $400k

Andino $400k

= $3.65m

The team is committed to $39.65m and this does not include arbitration salary increases and money needed to be paid for a 1B/3B/DH (minus where Scott plays) and 3 or 4 other starters and a few more arms in the bullpen.

[The Wedge]

JTrea, you need a new avatar. Because Joe Cool you ain't...

[Fan4Life]

Originally Posted by waroriole

I have a conclusion that I want to force down everyone's throats. I look for any fact I can find to support said conclusion. I write one-sided, biased posts in the hopes that everyone else will look at the issue in the same closed minded way. Also, I overreact and come off as reactionary. Who am I?

Someone who very few take serious???

And yet his posts generate pages and pages of not only interest, but posters who will ad nauseum try to convince said poster of the error of his ways. Fruitlessly I might add, like every other time.

[Burg]

I bring up things that nobody else wants to question because those aboard the good ship S.S. MacPhail don't want to hear anything negative regarding their good captain...

Have you considered the strong possibility that nobody else questions these things because they only exist in your mind?

[Fan4Life]

Have you considered the strong possibility that nobody else questions these things because they only exist in your mind?

Perhaps you should consider that these types of posts are merely an attention gathering scheme and usually work flawlessly. If posters like yourself would not fall for this bait EVERY TIME and somehow think you'll be the one in the LONG line of reasonable posters that think they can fix him....

[NewMarketSean]

If saving money means Reimold over Payton and Bergesen over Kris Benson or Jared Wright, then I am perfectly OK with MacPhail's frugality.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Unless anyone has access to the Orioles' books, nobody can comment on where the money goes and how they spend it.

This, of course, includes JTrea but also the people jumping down his throats when he suggests Angelos may be attempting to line his pockets.

As with 95% of what goes on in the organization, we don't really have a clue.

I will say I am discouraged by the way the 2nd day of this draft has gone at least in terms of $.

[Pedro Cerrano]

I bring up things that nobody else wants to question because those aboard the good ship S.S. MacPhail don't want to hear anything negative regarding their good captain...

I want my Orioles to succeed and supposedly part of the plan to do that was to spend overslot in the draft like the big boys do to get more talent as the draft is our major pipeline. We did that under Duquette and Flanagan for a year and then for a few picks last year, and now we are doing anything but. So I question that as well as the other frugality I've seen with this club since MacPhail took over.

MASN was supposed to be an equalizer or at least a good supplement of income to match up with Boston or the Yankees, but I don't see any evidence of it helping us whatsoever. Where is that extra money going?

Well it's probably not fair to blame MacPhail. I've never heard of a GM telling his owner to trim payroll.

EDIT: In fact it's definitely not fair. I've never seen a situation in the history of baseball where a team's refusal to spend money can be laid at the feet of the GM. I don't think Billy Beane intentionally doesn't spend because he wants to challenge himself...

[Mad Mark]

Unless you are a team in contention, every dollar you spend over the absolute minimum accomplishes exactly as much as a dollar taken to the parking lot and burned in a barrel.

If the Orioles were the proverbial "one player away" from making the playoffs this season and they refused to spend the necessary money to acquire that player, I'd be all JTrea'd about it.

At this point in the process for the Orioles low payroll = lots of young guys on the roster. Not only can I live with that, I'm encouraged by that.

[SilentJames]

Hi I'm JTrea.

My fire Dave Trembley stuff failed so now I'm back to the good old "AM is too cheap" mantra.

[Mike B]

If saving money means Reimold over Payton and Bergesen over Kris Benson or Jared Wright, then I am perfectly OK with MacPhail's frugality.

Agreed, and it goes further, Jones over CPAT, Wieters over Ramon, Berken or DH over DCab. We are in the evaluation process of the rebuild. The kids will be given the chance for the next year and a half. We made offers to free agents, Looper, Wolf etc. but nothing that would get in the way of the kids. I think we will be more active this off season but more than likely no big splashes until the next. IMO, 2011 has been the target since day 1 of the AM regime.