Actions Speak Louder than Words

[Dipper9]

Doesn't this discussion ignore that the Yankees basically came out of nowhere at the 11th hour and sealed the deal with Tex very quickly and quietly?

For weeks all you heard was Boston, Washington, and Baltimore.

The O's very conceivably didn't really even know they were bidding against the NYY.

Whenever a premiere free agent is available, you are ALWAYS bidding against the Yankees.

[Sports Guy]

Whenever a premiere free agent is available, you are ALWAYS bidding against the Yankees.

And even if they didn't know, they still didn't beat anyone else's offer so what difference does it make?

[Dipper9]

And even if they didn't know, they still didn't beat anyone else's offer so what difference does it make?

Exactly.

I would say MacPhail dropped the ball, but I really don't think he was ever holding the ball to begin with.

[Dipper9]

BTW, in regards to Roch and Steve's comments on MASN.com.

I know that they don't NEED to respond to the article, and I know that they won't support or confirm anything, but why do they get so snarky about it? Why do they act like any critism of the team is not accurate, or is just frustration coming out? Why do they act like Tony and his sources are to be discounted? That's what gets tiresome to me. I don't expect them to agree with the article, but don't bash Tony and the OH just because, GASP, an article comes out that explains the failures of the organization. These guys act like everything is fine in Orioleville and there are no issues. Give me a break.

What's amazing to me is that after all the years of me being upset with the NST boys, not much of what they have complained about is too far off from the truth.

[Frobby]

BTW, in regards to Roch and Steve's comments on MASN.com.

I know that they don't NEED to respond to the article, and I know that they won't support or confirm anything, but why do they get so snarky about it? Why do they act like any critism of the team is not accurate, or is just frustration coming out? Why do they act like Tony and his sources are to be discounted? That's what gets tiresome to me. I don't expect them to agree with the article, but don't bash Tony and the OH just because, GASP, an article comes out that explains the failures of the organization. These guys act like everything is fine in Orioleville and there are no issues. Give me a break.

What's amazing to me is that after all the years of me being upset with the NST boys, not much of what they have complained about is too far off from the truth.

I don't think either of them said that criticism of the team isn't accurate. They said there isn't much new in the article. Fine, that's their opinion. Tony decided now was the time to write a comprehensive piece that covered a lot of things some people already know but sort of gave an encylopedic synopsis of everything that has gone on with the team over a long time. For someone who hasn't been on this website 12 hours a day for the last 10 years, it is very informative to have all of this detail in one, comprehensive article, even if a lot of it has been said before. And Melewski and Roch are simply wrong in saying there's nothing new in here. It's not the majority of the article, but there are several worthwhile nuggets.

[Hank Scorpio]

Whenever a premiere free agent is available, you are ALWAYS bidding against the Yankees.

Dip, this is just patently false.

Drungo touched on why a few posts above. The Yankees aren't going to be in the market for a first baseman for a good 6-7 years going forward. They likely won't be in the market for a third baseman for the next 4-5 years, either.

They can only sign so many 10 year deals.

[TiredofLosing20]

Nothing more to add to this conversation but after reading Tony's article the other day I decided to break this avatar back out...

[Dipper9]

I don't think either of them said that criticism of the team isn't accurate. They said there isn't much new in the article. Fine, that's their opinion. Tony decided now was the time to write a comprehensive piece that covered a lot of things some people already know but sort of gave an encylopedic synopsis of everything that has gone on with the team over a long time. For someone who hasn't been on this website 12 hours a day for the last 10 years, it is very informative to have all of this detail in one, comprehensive article, even if a lot of it has been said before. And Melewski and Roch are simply wrong in saying there's nothing new in here. It's not the majority of the article, but there are several worthwhile nuggets.

To your point, Roch and Melewski have NEVER written about this stuff for their readers, so to that extent, this entire article would be NEWS to many fans who are not OH addicts like ourselves.

[Dipper9]

Dip, this is just patently false.

Drungo touched on why a few posts above. The Yankees aren't going to be in the market for a first baseman for a good 6-7 years going forward. They likely won't be in the market for a third baseman for the next 4-5 years, either.

They can only sign so many 10 year deals.

I disagree. Tex is their first baseman, but you don't think they'll be in on Gonzo or Fielder to be their DH? If Longoria's contract was coming up, they wouldn't be in on him? I just disagree with you. But to each their own.

[Mark Carver]

Really? You really think that?

The Yankees mostly stayed out of the free agent markets for Bay and Holiday last offseason. They didn't do it because they weren't at-all interested. IIRC, reports were saying that they wanted to save money for future expenditures. Just because "Yankees" is emblazoned across their uniforms doesn't mean they can afford to hand out 100 million dollar contracts like candy (and the same goes for 30 million dollar K's).

From Sports Guy in another thread... the Yankees need to save money?!?!?!?

Darren Rovell said today that the Yankees projected revenue for 2010 is going to be 600 million....and that does NOT include the yes network, which is valued at over 1 billion dollars.

That is just freaking insane.

They had 400 million in TICKET revenue last year!!!

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100027

[NewMarketSean]

BTW, in regards to Roch and Steve's comments on MASN.com.

I know that they don't NEED to respond to the article, and I know that they won't support or confirm anything, but why do they get so snarky about it? Why do they act like any critism of the team is not accurate, or is just frustration coming out? Why do they act like Tony and his sources are to be discounted? That's what gets tiresome to me. I don't expect them to agree with the article, but don't bash Tony and the OH just because, GASP, an article comes out that explains the failures of the organization. These guys act like everything is fine in Orioleville and there are no issues. Give me a break.

What's amazing to me is that after all the years of me being upset with the NST boys, not much of what they have complained about is too far off from the truth.

If this was "old news" to many of the media guys around town (Roch, Melewski) -- how come they didn't write it themselves when it was "new news"?

That is what baffles me.

For years we have heard rumblings coming out of the warehouse about the infighting and the disorganization -- but no one has written extensively about it until now.

The local guys should be bitter. They either were handcuffed by their employers to write a piece like this or it never dawned on them to do it.

[Hank Scorpio]

I disagree. Tex is their first baseman, but you don't think they'll be in on Gonzo or Fielder to be their DH? If Longoria's contract was coming up, they wouldn't be in on him? I just disagree with you. But to each their own.

You think Gonzo or Fielder would be willing to DH? Yeah, we disagree.

So if they sign Longoria to be their DH, they've a got $28 million DH in A-Rod. I can't fathom that circumstance.

There is a limit to what they can do. The contracts they hand out are NOT tradeable unless the eat unprecedented amounts of money.

Why weren't they in on Matt Holliday when they had Brett Gardner starting in their outfield?

[Tony-OH]

If this was "old news" to many of the media guys around town (Roch, Melewski) -- how come they didn't write it themselves when it was "new news"?

That is what baffles me.

For years we have heard rumblings coming out of the warehouse about the infighting and the disorganization -- but no one has written extensively about it until now.

The local guys should be bitter. They either were handcuffed by their employers to write a piece like this or it never dawned on them to do it.

I'm going to try to take the high road in all of this, but I agree with this. I was not surprised at all by Melewski's comments, but I was by Roch's, especially considering the amount of support I've given him over the years. His response was very disappointing to me from several angles, but hey, he's allowed to have any opinion he wants.

[JTrea81]

You think Gonzo or Fielder would be willing to DH? Yeah, we disagree.

So if they sign Longoria to be their DH, they've a got $28 million DH in A-Rod. I can't fathom that circumstance.

There is a limit to what they can do. The contracts they hand out are NOT tradeable unless the eat unprecedented amounts of money.

Why weren't they in on Matt Holliday when they had Brett Gardner starting in their outfield?

Because they wanted Crawford and his speed more.

[Dipper9]

You think Gonzo or Fielder would be willing to DH? Yeah, we disagree.

So if they sign Longoria to be their DH, they've a got $28 million DH in A-Rod. I can't fathom that circumstance.

There is a limit to what they can do. The contracts they hand out are NOT tradeable unless the eat unprecedented amounts of money.

Why weren't they in on Matt Holliday when they had Brett Gardner starting in their outfield?

You're taking my comment a bit too literally. Obviously the Yanks can't be in on EVERY free agent, but you better believe the biggest ones they will be involved in. I mean hell, they were ready to bring in Cliff Lee to the team that already has 5 pretty darn good (and some expensive) pitchers. As for Holliday, as previously stated by others, The Yanks are waiting for Crawford.