Are the Orioles committed to winning?

[Hank Scorpio]

What's your major malfunction H-Scorp?

I'm getting old, I guess.

[33rdst]

If Macphail adds a couple of veteran pieces, either short term or long term then I will agree that he is commited to winning next year. Let's say he adds Lackey and a short term power bat like Thome, Delgado or vlad, then I would say he expects the O's to compete for at least the wildcard next year.

If he makes a trade for more young position players with he potential then I think the expectations for winning in 2010 will be lestioned.

I think the O's are in a similar position to the A's of a few years ago when they picked up Frank Thomas. The O's have their young core now they need to add veteran help.

[mweb]

Of course they are, and committed to win for the long-run at that.

[hoosiers]

We are on pace to lose almost 100 games this year.

This would only be an issue if our TALENT level was indicative of a 100 loss team - which this will not be next year.

AM is a master at throwing games - at bringing in Eaton and starting Hendrickson, at putting our young SPs through the ringer, trading Sherrill, etc, etc, etc. People assume we lose these games and it's indicative of our talent - but we moved Sherrill and the talent received in that deal is at Bowie.

IMO, AM could just as easily have won five more games this year by spending $10M on another SP and a bp arm and perhaps other, but that's a waste of resources and potential LT commitments.

When AM is ready to ramp up the win engine, I expect he'll be acquiring a whole different type of player than Adam Eaton. In the meantime, AM is expanding our draft spend, avoiding LT commitments to marginal talent and letting the youngsters play. He's patiently following his plan and we will be better off for it soon enough.

[Flosman]

Sly seems to lose the fact that using resources when you can't win makes them unavailable for the time that you can. I think the O's were really hopeful tha Tex would fall into thier lap, but they realized much earlier than most of us that was a fantasy. What is important now is adding as many potenitially above average Mlers as possible. This is why trading for Agon is a fools errand, IMO.

BTW, Sly is correct in that there are no gaurantees, however in order for us to get to a competive status we have to be good at evualuating talent. Honestly the jury is still out on this. This factor more than any other is what will determine AMs legacy in Baltimore.

[DrungoHazewood]

This would only be an issue if our TALENT level was indicative of a 100 loss team - which this will not be next year.

AM is a master at throwing games - at bringing in Eaton and starting Hendrickson, at putting our young SPs through the ringer, trading Sherrill, etc, etc, etc. People assume we lose these games and it's indicative of our talent - but we moved Sherrill and the talent received in that deal is at Bowie.

IMO, AM could just as easily have won five more games this year by spending $10M on another SP and a bp arm and perhaps other, but that's a waste of resources and potential LT commitments.

When AM is ready to ramp up the win engine, I expect he'll be acquiring a whole different type of player than Adam Eaton. In the meantime, AM is expanding our draft spend, avoiding LT commitments to marginal talent and letting the youngsters play. He's patiently following his plan and we will be better off for it soon enough.

Nah... he's just going to cut the payroll to a Marlins + Roberts + Markakis level, collect the revenue sharing checks, divide them up between him and Angelos, and laugh and laugh and laugh.

[Shopay]

What do you think he is committed to? Dropping the payroll and putting money into PAs pocket?

That he doesn't care about winning?

This is a little ridiculous...He doesn't need to hold a press conference to say "we want to win"...That is freakin obvious!

Thank you. Someone needed to say that. :clap3:

[Tx Oriole]

Hey Moose, good to see you again. I have a valium if you want it.:laughlol:

Get a bottle of Jack. Good to see you again Moose.

[TiredofLosing20]

Nah... he's just going to cut the payroll to a Marlins + Roberts + Markakis level, collect the revenue sharing checks, divide them up between him and Angelos, and laugh and laugh and laugh.

Seriously, this is bascially what he saying right. No committment to win, all about lining PAs pockets, Roberts and Markakis signings are just a smokescreen..

Putting up this act is probably harder than actually winning...

I still don't understand why he is still a fan if he truly believes they are not trying to win.

I guess the only way to win is the JTrea way which includes spending money on the Pat Rapps of the world and trading our "abundant" pitching for a powerhitting 1st baseman.

[Shopay]

**Biting tongue, trying to hold back....**

Welcome back Moose. Glad to see your return.

[wickedwitch]

What a dumb thread. People are free to disagree with the way MacPhail works, but to ask whether or not he is committed to winning is ridiculous.

[RShack]

Are the Orioles committed to winning?

From the way MacPhail has said he's approaching things, he's ending the season before it starts next year as well...

This organization does not seem committed to winning, bottom line.

Are the Orioles committed to winning? What a dumb question.

Of course they're not committed to winning. By now, AM' plan should be abundantly clear to anybody who understands how baseball works:

• He wanted to uproot his family and move back to Baltimore so he could blow it.
• He's got psychological issues left over from his childhood: because his Dad succeeded here, he wants to do the exact opposiste: Fail.
• It's also partially due to all the crap he took as a kid because of his name: He was teased about being "MacFail", and that got burnt into his subconscious as what his true fate is.
• The very last thing he wants to do is succeed and join his father and grandfather in Cooperstown. Why should he want to be in Cooperstown when he can go down as the disappointing end of a family tradition?
• Plus, despite the fact that he grew up with a dog named Brooks, what he really wants to do is to put the ultimate stamp of failure on the once-great Baltimore franchise.
• Therefore, he's decided to get players whose real goal is to see how long they can get away with goofing off and not really trying. He's picked guys who need punishment, and he's making a point of not giving it to them.
• He's also decided to sign a bunch of talented players from the draft, and see if he can make them turn into failures too.
• In addition, he wants to see if he can take a guy, DT, who was voted one of the best MiL managers of the last 20 years, and see if he can kill the guy by making him cope with constant disappointment.
• His reward for doing this is whatever salary PA is paying him to do this. PA is paying him to do this because he wants to cement his own legacy as a long-time owner who never, ever corrected his mistakes and eventually fixed it.

Any fool could see this. If he wanted to win, he'd do the things JTrea wants him to do. Clearly, JTrea understands baseball and AM doesn't. We know this for a fact because AM grew up with the game, while JTrea picked his team based on the hats he saw in a gift shop in DC when he was a teenager who had never followed the game before. So AM was corrupted by knowledge and understanding, whereas JTrea is liberated by ignorance and a lack of understanding. I don't see why there's any discussion about it. I can see the truth of AM's commitment to not-succeeding, and I don't even live in Maine. I can see it, and despite the fact that I'm a grown man, my surviving parent lets me go outside without making me wear a football helmet to protect myself from banging my head against the wall. So, if I can see it, why can't everybody else?

ps: K-Mart sucks.

[ChaosLex]

[Hans Moleman]

Who's that looker in the background. Meow!!

[DuffMan]

MacPhail is playing chess here not checkers. Every move being made has a purpose and is part of a bigger plan here that is leading to a checkmate or in this case a winning team.