Andy MacPhail - Disappointing GM

[JTrea81]

What are you even talking about? AM has never said that he doesn't believe in free agency, he has in fact said that he knows the O's have to take advantage of free agency when the time is right.

Now, does that mean a Huff player or Tex player? We have no clue...There is no basis to speculate on that. All you can do is look at how AM does business, and the majority of his business turns out to be successful. It's naive and you have no merit to assume that he is a top GM at aspects and turns a blind eye to free agency just because he hasn't "proven" that he can go after the big bat.

Why didn't you answer my Theo Epstein question? Do you think Theo would go after a big bat if available? If so, why? Because he has never signed a premium bat.

If you use the same exact logic you are using for AM, you would say that there is no reason to believe that Theo would spend on a premium bat. You agree with that?

JD Drew says hi. He was considered a premium bat and say what you want, but he helped the Red Sox get that WS championship in 2007.

And he pursued Teixeira pretty aggressively as well...

[Sports Guy]

What are you even talking about? AM has never said that he doesn't believe in free agency, he has in fact said that he knows the O's have to take advantage of free agency when the time is right.

Now, does that mean a Huff player or Tex player? We have no clue...There is no basis to speculate on that. All you can do is look at how AM does business, and the majority of his business turns out to be successful. It's naive and you have no merit to assume that he is a top GM at aspects and turns a blind eye to free agency just because he hasn't "proven" that he can go after the big bat.

Why didn't you answer my Theo Epstein question? Do you think Theo would go after a big bat if available? If so, why? Because he has never signed a premium bat.

If you use the same exact logic you are using for AM, you would say that there is no reason to believe that Theo would spend on a premium bat. You agree with that?

He has pretty much said that about long term deals for pitchers(which for the most part I agree with him)...As for hitters, I am sure he would at a certain level but for the most part, you can bet premium FA will not be signing here while AM is here. It better be a Vlad or Tejada like bargain or its not happening.

Theo Epstein hasn't needed to go after a premium bat yet but yes, I think he would...There is no reason to think he is against it...He spends money. He has spent on FA pitching. He spent on JD Drew.

[amateurfan]

Sorry if the point I want to make has already been stated. My vision gets blurry and my memory a little bad after such a very long thread.

I understand when people get upset at the use of the phrase drinking the kool-aid, but I never would have known what it referenced before coming here. The first time I read that phrase was a few years ago in Roch's old blog. He used the phrase "orange kool-aid". It made sense to me for the obvious color reference and because kool-aid is delicious. For me, the deliciousness of orange kool-aid matched the excitement I had for that season. I was genuinely excited for the Os' chances. The phrase is so widely used now that the only way someone will know its origin is if they read about it when the tragedy took place, or occasionally appears again in the media. Otherwise, in the right context, it makes sense, and I honestly thought it was peculiar to Orioles fans.

Phrases like "idiotic monkey humper" on the other hand do not require a time specific, incident reference point. It's obviously demeaning to anyone who speaks English, and what it evokes doesn't need explanation. VaTech, I understand what you were doing, though, and make no judgment considering that the use use of the term was to make a point at a distance.

I am surprised this thread has lasted so long, but it has been entertaining.

[Sports Guy]

Yes and no.

To add to the "no" though, I think we can and have done a lot worse. However there are aspects of previous GMs that MacPhail doesn't have that are holding us back IMO.

Outside of Tex and that whole situation, what do you think AM should have done that he didn't. I am not talking about philosophy or aggressiveness here..I mean actual moves.

[Roll Tide]

Yes and no.

To add to the "no" though, I think we can and have done a lot worse. However there are aspects of previous GMs that MacPhail doesn't have that are holding us back IMO. He could be doing so much more with the resources available to him IMO.

Beattie, Flanagan and Duquette could only dream about the power he has...

McPhail as been able to do 1 thing most GMs couldnt have pulled off. He has been given control & been allowed to run the team. You guys shouldnt discount this after all the years that Angelos was really the GM.

[SteveA]

How can there be 271 posts in a thread debating whether MacPhail is a disappointing GM when in another thread there is a poll about MacPhail and it's 75-0 in favor of "I would hire him again"?

I guess some people just like to argue.

[Sports Guy]

This is funny.

Premium bat huh? You think they would give Drew 5/75 if they had to do it over?

The fact you're using that JD Drew deal to make a point shows how sorry you're argument really is.

He has a career 888 OPS..His career slash line is just under 400/500/900.

The length of the deal was poor because of his injury history but yes, Drew is a premium bat.

Thus far, he has almost been worth his contract in the first 3 years and Boston has won with him...So I doubt they regret it.

[MemorialStadKid]

How can there be 271 posts in a thread debating whether MacPhail is a disappointing GM when in another thread there is a poll about MacPhail and it's 75-0 in favor of "I would hire him again"?

I guess some people just like to argue.

Non-scientific polls on message board websites are not an accurate measure of fan sentiment.

MSK

[Crazysilver03]

Non-scientific polls on message board websites are not an accurate measure of fan sentiment.

MSK

Well we know who that one nay sayer is.

While this is a non-scientific poll, it is geared toward the population of fans that are more comprehensive of the team.

[JTrea81]

Outside of Tex and that whole situation, what do you think AM should have done that he didn't. I am not talking about philosophy or aggressiveness here..I mean actual moves.

I would have liked to have seen us pursue and sign Burnett and Wolf, draft Smoak instead of Matusz. Those moves do go against MacPhail's philosophy, yet neither would set the Orioles back.

I would have not signed Eaton to fill a spot and Hendrickson would be out of the bullpen. Bergesen and Hernandez would have started the season in the rotation.

You'd have a future lineup of:

2B Roberts

RF Markakis

C Wieters

1B Smoak

CF Jones

LF Reimold/Scott

3B Bell

DH Snyder/Scott

SS

And a rotation of

Burnett

Wolf->Tillman

Guthrie->Arrieta

Bergesen

Hernandez

And that would give Tillman and Arrieta time to pitch in the minors and you'd have pitching to deal at the deadline with Wolf and Guthrie if Tillman or Arrieta showed they were ready. And Luke Scott, Reimold or Snyder could be dealt for even more minor league prospects, such as a SS or pitching. You just have more options IMO.

[Sports Guy]

Fair enough....We are arguing semantics here, we both know that Epstein would go after a premium bat regardless of if he signed Drew..It's just foolish you are not giving AM the same credit.

So how about this...Show me when AM should have bought a bat? The only intance I can see is Tex, I thought it make sense. Now, there are also a lot of arguments against it that are very logical. But still, I think he should have went farther than I think he did.

But I'm certainly not going to say that he's unlikely to go after a big bat because of one instance in which we were a last place team going into a last place season.

Off the top of my head, Tex is the only guy..at least in FA.

[MemorialStadKid]

Well we know who that one nay sayer is.

While this is a non-scientific poll, it is geared toward the population of fans that are more comprehensive of the team.

Actually, I didn't vote in the AM poll.

And I do understand the team. I just don't follow popular opinion because its nifty or the "positive" thing to do.

Its okay to disagree folks. The sun will rise tomorrow.

MSK

[Crazysilver03]

Actually, I didn't vote in the AM poll.

And I do understand the team. I just don't follow popular opinion because its nifty or the "positive" thing to do.

Its okay to disagree folks. The sun will rise tomorrow.

MSK

I agree it is okay to disagree.

I wasnt trying to take a stab at you regarding understanding the team. I would just rather look at polls on OH, then say Baltimore Sun.

[BaltimoreTerp]

And I do understand the team. I just don't follow popular opinion because its nifty or the "positive" thing to do.

Its okay to disagree folks. The sun will rise tomorrow.

MSK

And just because it is the popular opinion doesn't mean it is the wrong opinion.

[TonySoprano]

Theo Epstein hasn't needed to go after a premium bat yet but yes, I think he would...There is no reason to think he is against it...He spends money. He has spent on FA pitching. He spent on JD Drew.

I agree. He tried to trade for ARod but the players union wouldn't let him restructure ARod's deal despite his approval to do so. They did make a real play for Tex, also.