Poll: Are you disappointed with the lack of international signings?

[Tx Oriole]

I thought we were in the running for Sano...

I truly hope so.

[TonySoprano]

I can understand missing out on Sano and Chapman (if we do), but I'm concerned that we haven't signed anyone yet.

Is that normal? Especially for a team as depleted as we are when it comes to position prospects?

Ours is not to question why.

We are to sit cross-legged, meditate, and trust in all things MacPhail.

ommmm

If you aren't going to spend in the draft and you aren't going to spend in Int'l talent and you aren't going to make more trades and you aren't going to sign the big time FAs, how exactly are you going to get better?

By playing Pie 2-3 times a week. of course.

[Sports Guy]

I thought we were in the running for Sano...

And if we don't sign him or at least don't put the most money on the table, it will have been a waste of time.

I hope we get this kid but we need more than 1 player...The Orioles have the money to spend and they should be using it...especially since they went cheap in the draft.

[JTrea81]

I thought we were in the running for Sano...

So are the Pirates, Twins and Rangers, but that's not stopping them from signing international talent.

[Moose Milligan]

So are the Pirates, Twins and Rangers, but that's not stopping them from signing international talent.

Interesting, I guess Koji and Tanaka don't mean anything.

Oh, but I get it, the main gripe here is not international signings, its SOUTH AMERICAN signings. I understand now.

We'll get there, Trea. Stop getting your Underoos in a knot.

[Sports Guy]

Interesting, I guess Koji and Tanaka don't mean anything.

Oh, but I get it, the main gripe here is not international signings, its SOUTH AMERICAN signings. I understand now.

We'll get there, Trea. Stop getting your Underoos in a knot.

They mean something but not much.

JTrea is 100% right here MM...You guys can b**** and moan all you want about him but this time he is right..There is no excuse for this but the Oriole apologists always find a way to make one up.

[maudibjr]

They mean something but not much.

JTrea is 100% right here MM...You guys can b**** and moan all you want about him but this time he is right..There is no excuse for this but the Oriole apologists always find a way to make one up.

Do you need help holding up that paintbrush?

Since the O's have a long history of making group announcements after all the 't's' are crossed, I can wait till they do or don't do something to whine about it.

[TonySoprano]

Interesting, I guess Koji and Tanaka don't mean anything.

Oh, but I get it, the main gripe here is not international signings, its SOUTH AMERICAN signings. I understand now.

We'll get there, Trea. Stop getting your Underoos in a knot.

Hey now, are you forgetting how Stockstill went across the border for something other than authentic Mexican food and signed Alfredo Simon? Sure, Mexico's not South America, but Sano's not from South America either.

John Stockstill, who was named international scouting director in 2008, scouted Uehara several times in Japan last year and found Simon, a hard-throwing Dominican right-hander, in the Mexican League.

"It is way ahead of schedule," MacPhail said. "[stockstill] has populated 40 percent of our starting rotation in one year."

New scouting endeavors normally take years to develop while young foreign players learn the game. That is still the long-term plan.

"In my wildest dreams, I didn't expect to have that much of an impact right away," MacPhail said. "And it is really primarily based on [stockstill's] globetrotting over the course of the last year."

Source - Baltimore Sun, April 10

[Moose Milligan]

They mean something but not much.

JTrea is 100% right here MM...You guys can b**** and moan all you want about him but this time he is right..There is no excuse for this but the Oriole apologists always find a way to make one up.

I'm not apologizing for anything here and I do see where you're coming from...it's not like our organization is devoid of talent right now. If we were ranked close to last I might be changing my tune here. We're doing fine.

I agree with Mackus, we're in essentially year one of going after Dominican prospects and we've jumped right in and shown we're serious about Sano. At least we're in the running for him, we've got a shot. We'll put serious money down on the table for him, I don't doubt that.

I just think it's unrealistic for MacPhail to say on Day 1 that we're starting an international scouting/signing campaign in South America and on Day 2 for the OH horde to wake up and go "well, where's the progress? where are our signings?"

It's not a law I abide by, but I often think that if people on here seem to think that things are so easy in the life of running a franchise, it probably isn't.

Let's see how things pan out over the next few years. If we're still in the same spot in 2011, I'll be more upset. As for now I'm just waiting and seeing whats going on and not leaping down anyones throat for not giving 5 million to a teenager.

[Dr. FLK]

Interesting, I guess Koji and Tanaka don't mean anything.

Oh, but I get it, the main gripe here is not international signings, its SOUTH AMERICAN signings. I understand now.

We'll get there, Trea. Stop getting your Underoos in a knot.

Are you saying that Koji isn't from Essex?

[Arthur_Bryant]

This isn't (necessarily) a vote on MacPhail. I'm a big MacPhail backer, but I'm still disappointed.

I'm disappointed that the Orioles have never been serious players in this market and that they've allowed other teams to run around enriching themselves. I'm disappointed that the same apparently is happening this year.

I understand that things are supposed to be changing in this regard, but I'm going to be disappointed until the talking stops and the signings start.

Maybe that starts with Sano. In that case, great.

Until then...

...I'm disappointed.

[Sports Guy]

I'm not apologizing for anything here and I do see where you're coming from...it's not like our organization is devoid of talent right now. If we were ranked close to last I might be changing my tune here. We're doing fine.

I agree with Mackus, we're in essentially year one of going after Dominican prospects and we've jumped right in and shown we're serious about Sano. At least we're in the running for him, we've got a shot. We'll put serious money down on the table for him, I don't doubt that.

I just think it's unrealistic for MacPhail to say on Day 1 that we're starting an international scouting/signing campaign in South America and on Day 2 for the OH horde to wake up and go "well, where's the progress? where are our signings?"

It's not a law I abide by, but I often think that if people on here seem to think that things are so easy in the life of running a franchise, it probably isn't.

Let's see how things pan out over the next few years. If we're still in the same spot in 2011, I'll be more upset. As for now I'm just waiting and seeing whats going on and not leaping down anyones throat for not giving 5 million to a teenager.

First of all, you can never have too much talent so even bringing this up is pointless.

Secondly, once the big 3 graduate to the majors, it becomes a mediocre at best system.

This was a top heavy system with some decent pieces below the top 5(reimold, wieters, big 3) and now, its just ok at best..once those 3 leave.

[Moose Milligan]

Hey now, are you forgetting how Stockstill went across the border for something other than authentic Mexican food and signed Alfredo Simon? Sure, Mexico's not South America, but Sano's not from South America either.

Source - Baltimore Sun, April 10

Well it seems that international talent means different things to different people here. To me, it means anyone who isn't a US born citizen. To others it means teenage talent from the Dominican.

[Can_of_corn]

I agree with Mackus, we're in essentially year one of going after Dominican prospects and we've jumped right in and shown we're serious about Sano. At least we're in the running for him, we've got a shot. We'll put serious money down on the table for him, I don't doubt that.

I just think it's unrealistic for MacPhail to say on Day 1 that we're starting an international scouting/signing campaign in South America and on Day 2 for the OH horde to wake up and go "well, where's the progress? where are our signings?"

How is this year one and not year two?

The O's do need to get to stepping on this, hopefully this is the last season in a long while where the O's will be getting a top 5-10 draft pick. They will not have the luxury of picking kids that will be major league ready in two years. The Matt Wieters in the draft are not going to drop to the 20th overall pick.

[Moose Milligan]

First of all, you can never have too much talent so even bringing this up is pointless.

Secondly, once the big 3 graduate to the majors, it becomes a mediocre at best system.

This was a top heavy system with some decent pieces below the top 5(reimold, wieters, big 3) and now, its just ok at best..once those 3 leave.

Show me a system that has always been top 10 after graduating the amount of players we're about to graduate, including the Big 3, Wieters, Reimold and Bergesen.

Any system that graduates 6 of their best prospects and has them making significant contributions at the ML level will take a hit for awhile.

I agree you can never have enough talent but it's not like we're hurting right now. Crying because we haven't signed any Dominican talent right now when we're in year one of what probably is a long term plan isn't making me too terribly upset already.