I thought this deserved its own thread...

[LookinUp]

Would you like to expand on that? How is his weight technically very wrong and if you are suggesting he's lost weight since the end of last season I'd like to see your proof.

I consider this first hand account pretty authoritative.

I hope these two photos of Matt Hobgood show up here. They were taken on June 6. His chest was solid as a rock (see photos) and can cover ground very quickly. He feels that his loss in velocity may be due to the fact that he trimmed down so much during the off-season (from 265 to 250).

http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1649521027/a=1717053027_1717053027/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

P.S. I can verify that he weighed 250 when I interviewed him in March and he looks slimmer now. I think the t-shirt photos above show he is slimmer.

[RichmondVA Orio]

2nd page status? No way!

Bump.

[NewMarketSean]

Bump. So I was away all weekend. Was there any further developments on Tony's info?

[SteveA]

Bump. So I was away all weekend. Was there any further developments on Tony's info?

Nothing.

Nada.

Rien.

[JTrea81]

Bump. So I was away all weekend. Was there any further developments on Tony's info?

I think he said it's a week or two away in another thread...

He has to have the meeting with his contact first, and I don't believe that has occured yet...

[carolinaoriole]

What a great thread!

Obviously Angelos and MacPhail are having problems. I am looking forward to hearing the extent of these problems and other details that this thread will eventually produce.

My own two cents:

When I look at MacPhail's history with the Orioles, I get the sense he read Moneyball before taking the job, and thought, "hey, I can do that." Unfortunately, he has proven he can't.

Moneyball was all about smart drafting, signing bargain free agents, and making timely trades. MacPhail has proven to be mediocre at drafting, ineffective at trading(thus far, although I still have hopes for Adam Jones), and unbelievably inept at signing free agents.

The Garrett Atkins signing was, and still is, shocking. Even though it's only a one year deal, it is the dumbest signing I have ever seen. It makes me seriously question MacPhail's basic intelligence.

Furtheremore, the Mike Gonzalez signing, without an MRI, is dumbfounding.

Beyond embarrassing signings, its the free agent moves he hasn't made that have hurt the Orioles the most. He could have added countless free agents, big and small, that would have made this team decent.

If I were Angelos, I would be steaming mad. MacPhail has done a terrible job. If Angelos reinserted himself at this point, I would not be upset.

I hope he did not read moneyball and think that.

Moneyball is the silliest "Theory" to ever hit baseball.

Billy Beane has never made it work.

[mweb]

I hope he did not read moneyball and think that.

Moneyball is the silliest "Theory" to ever hit baseball.

Billy Beane has never made it work.

So I guess your defintion of working is winning the World Series?

[RVAbird]

I hope he did not read moneyball and think that.

Moneyball is the silliest "Theory" to ever hit baseball.

Billy Beane has never made it work.

Could you please briefly explain what you believe this "theory" to be?

[PrivateO]

I hope he did not read moneyball and think that.

Moneyball is the silliest "Theory" to ever hit baseball.

Billy Beane has never made it work.

Have you checked the AL West standings for the late 90's/early 00's?

[RVAbird]

Uh oh, this makes it sound like the higher ups ordered Jordan to save money. I hope I'm wrong about that.

This doesn't make sense. Despite going slot with their first overall pick, the Orioles still ended up spending 8+ MM on their 2009 draft. While this was no record-breaking figure, it was decidedly above average (~6.2 MM). If Jordan was ordered to save money, why did he go on to grab a number of overslots in the later rounds?

Jordan could have probably picked and signed Matzek with his first overall pick, gone slot or slightly over with all of his remaining picks, and still spent about the same amount of money.

[BaltimoreTerp]

I hope he did not read moneyball and think that.

Moneyball is the silliest "Theory" to ever hit baseball.

Billy Beane has never made it work.

So, you didn't read the book, or start following baseball until the second-half of the 2000s?

[JTrea81]

Saw this tweet from Duquette:

@jsh2185 - They need an experienced, hard-ass manager there and I'll feel better about them. There are ppl there that are toxic to what's

1,276,718,622,000.00 via web in reply to jsh2185

good for a healthy organization. AM has been weeding them out. Always someone there trying to undermine what's going on though!

1,276,718,669,000.00 via web

Interesting...

BTW Duquette also seems to think Wedge is the perfect candidate for the Orioles.

[mcgraw238]

Saw this tweet from Duquette:

Interesting...

BTW Duquette also seems to think Wedge is the perfect candidate for the Orioles.

Help me out here...So its Duquette saying is saying there are toxic people that AM has been trying to weed out?

If so, I wonder what's been done?

I listened to the WBAL interview with Duquette and he endorsed Showalter and Wedge for the job.

[El Gordo]

Saw this tweet from Duquette:

Interesting...

BTW Duquette also seems to think Wedge is the perfect candidate for the Orioles.

The toxic people. Dauquettes been alluding to them for a while. So if AM is trying to weed them out, doesn't it make sense that they would be leaking stuff to make him look bad. It seems that the team's tailspin is the perfect opportunity for them to keep their jobs. So which side is Tony's source on?

[rooster1]

The O's deserve their own reality TV show after this season