Andy MacPhail - Disappointing GM

[Orioles_Magic]

And the Cubs made the playoffs in 2007 and 2008 when they finally decided to open the coffers that were closed shut under MacPhail.

MacPhail was running the Cubs when they traded for Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton in 03. They got within five outs of the World Series that year.

He then traded for Derrek Lee that offseason and extended both Ramirez and Lee.

Those two just happen to be their #3 and #4 hitters when they are both in the lineup.

Andy gave Ramirez 4/42 prior to the 05 season. Ramirez opted out after 06 and is now midway through a 5/75 contract.

Lee got 3/22.5 following the trade and is currently working through a 5/65 deal that MacPhail signed him to.

Following MacPhail's departure, the new management gave Soriano 8/136 that will be paying him $18 mil a year from ages 34-38. If this year is any indication, he's in decline and they will be badly overpaying him.

[Crazysilver03]

That guy wasn't signed until the 2006 offseason, after MacPhail left the Cubs.

And the Cubs made the playoffs in 2007 and 2008 when they finally decided to open the coffers that were closed shut under MacPhail.

And the Cubs have maxed out their payroll and still aren't going to make the playoffs and have a poor farm system.

[birrman54]

I guess Beckett and Sabathia aren't worth their contracts.

MSK

How can you possibly know whether or not they'll be worth their contracts in year 1? You're completely ignoring the idea that the margin for error in Yankee-land and Beantown is significantly larger. The big contracts to JD Drew, Posada, Pavano, Lugo, Matsui, Smoltz, etc - just aren't a big deal.

That kind of lost money would crush the Orioles.

[MemorialStadKid]

MacPhail stated that he was deviating from the plan when he was going after Tex. We still need to grow the arms. When Gonzalez, Fielder, Howard, and Pujols are free agents after 2011, the Orioles should be in a good position to go hard after a big bat, if they havent acquired one already, because that will be part of the plan at that time.

ARE YOU INSANE?

Do you honestly believe we will come close to signing Fielder, Howard or Pujols?

If we sign ANY of those guys, and feel free to put this in stone, I WILL RUN ONTO THE FIELD AT OPACY in the middle of the ALCS and eat my shoe on the pitcher's mound.

The reasons why this is impossible are that we won't sign an elite-level bat and we won't be in the ALCS then either. Fielder will either end up on the Dodgers, Giants or White Sox. Howard will end up on the Rangers, Angels or Braves. And Pujols will be a DH for Boston or the Yanks.

These are my predictions. And while I might be wrong, one prediction will come true, if AM is still GM by 2011, there is no way in hell he will persuade them to come to Baltimore.

MSK

[tywright]

If we offered $184 million off the bat on the first day we could and Tex turned it down, I'd feel alot better, yes.

But the fact that we offered the lowest amount of any team, including the Nationals after they and the Angels both had higher offers, is unacceptable.

But that also fits the way Andy has dealt with FA his whole time as a FO executive. And I fully expect those who are expecting us to sign a Fielder or Howard in FA to put us over the top, will be extremely disappointed.

So basically you wanted to overpay him before another team even put out an offer? You would have fallen into Boras' trap. Tex was never going to come here...get over it.

[Hank Scorpio]

If we offered $184 million off the bat on the first day we could and Tex turned it down, I'd feel alot better, yes.

But the fact that we offered the lowest amount of any team, including the Nationals after they and the Angels both had higher offers, is unacceptable.

But that also fits the way Andy has dealt with FA his whole time as a FO executive. And I fully expect those who are expecting us to sign a Fielder or Howard in FA to put us over the top, will be extremely disappointed.

Please. You'd still be on here trumpeting your criticisms.

MacPhail doesn't really air out his negotiating techniques, anyways. It's not his style to broadcast how he goes about his business, and I for one applaud that.

[McLovin]

My interpretation of these threads:

<img src="http://rageblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/punch.gif">

[Malike]

If we offered $184 million off the bat on the first day we could and Tex turned it down, I'd feel alot better, yes.

But the fact that we offered the lowest amount of any team, including the Nationals after they and the Angels both had higher offers, is unacceptable.

But that also fits the way Andy has dealt with FA his whole time as a FO executive. And I fully expect those who are expecting us to sign a Fielder or Howard in FA to put us over the top, will be extremely disappointed.

The lowest amount over the life of the contract, not the lowest amount per year. Clearly, MacPhail is a good GM, and you, like the pitbull you are, grab onto something and then never let go of it. Its been said a ton in this thread, and you keep ignoring it. Just because he didn't drop hundreds of millions on a rebuilding team, does not mean he wont spend the money when this team needs a piece or two to get over the top. You can't know what he will do, and when you speak about it like its fact when you clearly have no clue, well.....it makes you look foolish.

[MemorialStadKid]

Beckett wasn't a FA and Sabathia is in his first year of an 8-year deal so that jury is still well out.

Go back and look at all the FA pitching signed to big deals. They are very rarely successful. Note I didn't say never, which makes your comment above (assuming you replace it with relevant names that were successful FA pitchers like, say, Mike Mussina) unnecessary. Its a fact that FA hitters are FAR more likely to be worth their contracts than pitchers. You can argue with that if you want, but you'll just be proven to be wrong.

Guys don't have to be great pitchers in every year of their deal to be worth the contract, they just have to be worth it overall. Very few starting pitchers signed to big deals end up working out well for their teams. The ones that do join teams that are very close to the playoffs or already playoff teams and help them in their first two or three years. In years 4-6 of FA pitching deals, the contracts almost always are worth far more than the pitcher is producing.

Right, Beckett was a trade along with Mike Lowell and we see how that all worked out.

But when it came time to extend Beckett in 2006, the Red Sox didn't hesitate about spending money to keep an elite-level pitcher.

And as far as FA pitching goes, Andy Pettite seems to be working out fine.

MSK

[hatepaste]

I assume you have been an Orioles fan for a while. The Orioles have consistently spent on FA's. Some good, some bad, but they have always spent. And MacPhail has said he would to, when the time is right. Now isn't that time.

And the Orioles as a whole have always had big offers on the table for Vlad Guerrero, Carlos Lee and others.

[freethebirds]

And many people think I'm angry at MacPhail for not signing Tex, and while I'm dissapointed, I'm not angry.

I am however angry at the approach he took in his pursuit of Teixeira.

And it's amazing to me, that when you had a player like Tex that had hometown ties, that had Baltimore as a potential destination even though it wasn't #1, and that you gave the lowest offer of any team that tried to land him, that people think MacPhail will suddenly change his pursuit tactics for a FA like Gonzalez, Fielder, Howard or Pujols who, don't have hometown ties, and don't have the Orioles on their list at all most likely.

Why will MacPhail suddenly be aggressive and go after guys that don't want to play here when he was so passive with one that might have had the offer been right. And why will he overpay for those FAs over the Yankees and Red Sox when he wasn't willing to for Teixeira?

And why will he do this when he's never done it in his career?

He has a history of making great trades and stockpiling pitching. He has no history of keeping a good stockpile of position players or pursuing and signing that premium bat or arm to put a team over the top.

There is a certain humility in realizing what you do not know. You have no idea what did and did not go on with Teixeira or anyone else. You have no idea what has been done to court various players. It's just absurd how much speculation goes into your critique of MacPhail.

[JTrea81]

The lowest amount over the life of the contract, not the lowest amount per year. Clearly, MacPhail is a good GM, and you, like the pitbull you are, grab onto something and then never let go of it. Its been said a ton in this thread, and you keep ignoring it. Just because he didn't drop hundreds of millions on a rebuilding team, does not mean he wont spend the money when this team needs a piece or two to get over the top. You can't know what he will do, and when you speak about it like its fact when you clearly have no clue, well.....it makes you look foolish.

It's still the lowest amount total. We offered the most per year to Vlad too, but it wasn't the total highest dollar amount.

What makes you think he will spend that money? I'm going off of track record. All those who think he'll change the way he does things are basing their opinons on hopes and dreams.

[hatepaste]

Right, Beckett was a trade along with Mike Lowell and we see how that all worked out.

But when it came time to extend Beckett in 2006, the Red Sox didn't hesitate about spending money to keep an elite-level pitcher.

And as far as FA pitching goes, Andy Pettite seems to be working out fine.

MSK

Beckett is still young. Who knows what arm problems he might develop. They also had to give up Hanley Ramirez to get those two.

As for Pettite, he is an ok starter. I've never been a huge fan. But for ever Andy Pettite, there is a Jason Schmidt, Mark Mulder, Barry Zito, Vincente Padilla, Bartolo Colon, and on and on and on...

[DrungoHazewood]

ARE YOU INSANE?

Do you honestly believe we will come close to signing Fielder, Howard or Pujols?

If we sign ANY of those guys, and feel free to put this in stone, I WILL RUN ONTO THE FIELD AT OPACY in the middle of the ALCS and eat my shoe on the pitcher's mound.

The reasons why this is impossible are that we won't sign an elite-level bat and we won't be in the ALCS then either. Fielder will either end up on the Dodgers, Giants or White Sox. Howard will end up on the Rangers, Angels or Braves. And Pujols will be a DH for Boston or the Yanks.

These are my predictions. And while I might be wrong, one prediction will come true, if AM is still GM by 2011, there is no way in hell he will persuade them to come to Baltimore.

MSK

While you're looking into that crystal ball could you tell me some Power Ball numbers to look out for?

[Mooreisbetter27]

It's still the lowest amount total. We offered the most per year to Vlad too, but it wasn't the total highest dollar amount.

What makes you think he will spend that money? I'm going off of track record. All those who think he'll change the way he does things are basing their opinons on hopes and dreams.

IIRC, we offered the most period to Vlad but he kept waiting and waiting because he didn't want to play for us. Then the Angels came in and offered him either around the same or maybe a bit more and he signed.

But originally we offered more then everyone. The fact is, Vlad didn't want to play for us and that's why he didn't.