I thought this deserved its own thread...

[LookinUp]

What does "meaningful improvement in the standings" mean to you?

That he expected the other 4 teams in the division to get much worse. It's really their fault that they didn't hold up their end of the bargain.

[Birds of B'more]

I have two guesses.

(1) The club is in financial trouble. Joe Jordan was given a budget cut; we will not see any Cameron Coffey-type overslot bonuses this year. We will once again not be a player in the high-level international talent market.

(2) Angelos is clashing with AM about the direction of the franchise. Angelos wants AM to trade young players for proven talent, and he wants to hire Rick Dempsey as the manager. AM's reluctance is putting his job in jeopardy.

I'm going with #2. If the club was in financial trouble, I think we would have seen guys like Millwood, Tejada and Wigginton dealt by now. And we'd have received absolutely nothing of value in return. I can see where Angelos would be getting frustrated with MacPhail. Frustrated to the point where some of Pete's old cronies are once again meddling in Warehouse affairs. Perhaps that's what Tony and Frobby are alluding to.

[Araqnid]

This team isn't in financial trouble. Angelos has MASN for crying out loud.

I'm guessing one of the major problems is a serious lack of communication throughout baseball operations as everything has to go through Andy to get an answer, and there are several reports that he's grown detached from the team.

Andy is the new Peter IMO, a guy who holds moves up uneccessarily because he needs to deliberate on every one.

Link? I would feel that this is a huge deal.

[geschinger]

This team isn't in financial trouble. Angelos has MASN for crying out loud.

And MASN is not a cash cow - at least not yet. It only this year started to make a profit. I'm not saying the Orioles are in financial trouble but citing MASN as the reason for why they are not is crazy.

[enchiridion]

Well, it's an open secret that AM wants to succeed Selig. Is it possible MacPhail has just said the 'heck with it' and is on cruise control until his contract is up?

[mcgraw238]

I'm going with #2. If the club was in financial trouble' date=' I think we would have seen guys like Millwood, Tejada and Wigginton dealt by now. And we'd have received absolutely nothing of value in return. I can see where Angelos would be getting frustrated with MacPhail. Frustrated to the point where some of Pete's old cronies are once again meddling in Warehouse affairs. Perhaps that's what Tony and Frobby are alluding to.[/quote']

History has shown us beyond a reasonable doubt that PA's meddling is not a good thing. Here is what we can expect:

Last May, Angelos was in attendance at Camden Yards when pitching prospect Denny Bautista, whom Beattie and Flanagan had unwisely called up to plug a shortage of right-handed bullpen arms, made his major league debut against the New York Yankees.

Instead of a talented young arm with loads of potential, there was a skinny kid who looked scared and lost on the mound. According to team sources, Angelos ordered his lieutenants to trade Bautista, which they did less than a month later -- giving up a 23-year-old power arm for a 38-year-old reliever, Jason Grimsley, who has since broken down.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49984-2005Jan30.html

[Austin]

History has shown us beyond a reasonable doubt that PA's meddling is not a good thing. Here is what we can expect:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49984-2005Jan30.html

I remember that being a big deal, but really, where is Denny Bautista now? Still though, point taken. No one wants Angelos meddling.

[bej6789]

The greater issue here then MASN, at least in my opinion, is the insurance policy of sorts that the MLB offered Angelos in exchange for not standing in the way of the Nationals move to DC. Basically, they guaranteed him that the franchise would never sell for below a certain value (some astronomically high number). Kind of makes you wonder how much he really cares to improve the team knowing that it's going to have a certain value come hell or high water.

[enchiridion]

I remember that being a big deal, but really, where is Denny Bautista now?

Funnily enough, he's in the SF bullpen. We could very well see him tonight or tomorrow.

[waroriole]

Link? I would feel that this is a huge deal.

You won't get a real one, because he just made it up, as he always does.

[Austin]

Funnily enough, he's in the SF bullpen. We could very well see him tonight or tomorrow.

Interesting. I remember his time on the Royals and then later Pirates, wasn't sure where he had bounced to after that. And hey, we got Jason Grimsely, one of the stars of the Mitchell Report, all thanks to meddling Peter.

[clarence]

Angelos and Sons in charge of day-to-day decisions. Bigbird for GM (Trea is the understudy). Crowley for head coach.

I was one of the more optimistic posters on this board, but the stench around this team right now is somewhere between skunk and rotting dead animal.

I'm quite certain oldfan would become director of scouting in this scenario.

[Birds of B'more]

I'm quite certain oldfan would become director of scouting in this scenario.

And JTrea could be the new club-level concessionaire. Who knows wining and dining better than he?

[JTrea81]

Link? I would feel that this is a huge deal.

Rosenthal pointed it out first:

...The greater issue, though, is MacPhail’s style. He is deliberate and conservative, at times even detached.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/baltimore-orioles-fire-dave-trembley-have-other-problems

And then Drew Forrester had this:

One possible explanation comes from a current O’s source who says MacPhail has distanced himself from the club’s day-to-day doings throughout this season. “I’ve seen less and less of Andy all season,” the source says. “He’s not on the road as much as he was in 2008 or 2009 and he’s not nearly as visible as he was in recent years. I can go an entire 3-game home series and not see him. Some people wonder how much he really knows about what’s going on with the team in the in-depth fashion you would want from the GM. I’m sure he’s spending a lot of time in scouting and player development stuff, but there’s no doubt he’s less visible than in the past.”

To wit, MacPhail evidently was told by Trembley and others that Nolan Reimold had some personal issues after the team’s 3rd series of the year (vs. Toronto) and that a trip to Norfolk might do him some good before he did too much damage to his confidence. MacPhail didn’t move on those suggestions and instead waited around four more weeks before finally shipping Reimold off to Triple-A.

“Everyone in the organization was whispering about Reimold’s personal situation after that Toronto sweep at home the first weekend,” says the team source. “Andy knew about it, but he didn’t move on it. That was a real eye-opener for a lot of people. They were like, ‘What’s Andy waiting for?’”

http://wnst.net/wordpress/drewforrester/2010/06/08/it-takes-20-minutes-dempsey-saga-more-about-macphail-than-dempsey/

[waroriole]

Rosenthal pointed it out first:

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/baltimore-orioles-fire-dave-trembley-have-other-problems

And then Drew Forrester had this:

http://wnst.net/wordpress/drewforrester/2010/06/08/it-takes-20-minutes-dempsey-saga-more-about-macphail-than-dempsey/

Seriously, you're citing Drew Forrester on this? Wow, that's bad.