Actions Speak Louder than Words

[NewMarketSean]

It's not as easy as that given the current political situation in Venezuela.

Are other teams in VZ now? Are they having trouble? I don't know...but if they are able to maintain facilities and keep their workers safe, there is no excuse for the O's not to be there in full force too.

[Mackus]

Also, "sharing" a facility with the Tigers is a freaking embarrassment.

I think many teams share facilities. Its embarrassing that they aren't already in Venezuela, but it wouldn't be embarrassing that they share resources with another squad.

[flashjordnk]

True, MacPhail wasn't the only reason, but I think he was majorly responsible.

Had he offered 8/184 out of the gate who knows? But now we do no he has no intention of spending that much. And people are really glossing over this fact and I'm glad you aren't.

MacPhail has never paid more than $30 million to any FA and it appears he isn't about to change that now, even when the Orioles are desperate for outside talent.

But that would just be playing a part in a bidding war and getting used by Boras to get what he wants. Maybe at some point you have to sacrifice what you're trying to get in exchange for risk, but in this case I agree with AM.

If you called and said, this is our starting point...but we're willing to go higher and they never call you back. It's like trying to get a job that's open that you applied for but they never called you for an interview.

At some point, AM wasn't prepared to just get used.

The flip side of that is that if I was Boras and wanted to get a guy signed, and I knew you were a GM Trea you'd be the first person I'd call. And I'd immediately leak what you'd say you would pay just to drive up the price.

[NewMarketSean]

Another thing -- the quotes from AM on the manager search don't give me much hope. He never mentioned Showalter's name once, or said anything about a time table.

If Samuel oversees this team be the least bit competitive over the second half, I beleive he will be named full-time manager.

[twoBshorty]

Why is he making so much of the new computer system as if this is some big accomplishment? From his descriptions of it, it sounds like something pretty basic. A minor-league report! On a computer, with numbers and stuff! Other teams have been doing this for years, so of course it's good that we now have one, but it's hardly something to tout as if you've just invented Unix. That's pathetic.

AM's explanations about international scouting and the draft didn't make much sense to me. I understand a hesitation to get involved in Venezuela due to the unpredictable political situation. Chavez occasionally seizes international property and has made noises about banning players from leaving the country, so it would be too bad to have something set up and then nationalized. There's no practical recourse and it would probably make this organization gun-shy for years. But AM seemed to be stating that his draft results have been good and scouting reforms well-founded when we haven't seen any results. I just didn't understand what he was saying; it didn't make sense.

Good article; thanks so much for all your work, Tony.

[JTrea81]

Man I am totally utterly depressed after reading that.

We have an owner who supposedly wants to spend on FAs but not invest in international scouting.

And we have a GM who supposedly wants to invest in scouting and development but not FAs.

And neither appear willing to move off of their positions...

[SilentJames]

I wouldn't expect anything less from the 0's though.

If they want to be in VZ -- BE IN VZ!!! Build your own facility...be the pioneers somewhere! Stop just ho-humming your way through EVERYTHING!!!

It's standard window dressing. It's something to prove to fans and media that they have a VZ facility.

It's like someone using a fake address to prove they live in a good neighborhood so their kids can go to good schools.

This is from an ESPN article from 2007,

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3077371

San Diego is not alone. Baltimore ceased operating its academy following the 2006 season. The Red Sox -- one of the teams the Padres shared an academy with -- left when San Diego did in 2005. Cleveland pulled out in 2004.

There has been speculation, more internal than public so far, that Ch�vez, a socialist and self-proclaimed revolutionary who took office in 1999, will turn Venezuela into the next Cuba. In other words, some worry that baseball in Venezuela will serve to illustrate (once again) how politics spills over into sport. Cuba is an international power in baseball and, as in Venezuela, the game has long been a part of the nation's cultural landscape. But since Fidel Castro took power, the Cuban government hasn't allowed its players to sign professional contracts

On the other hand, there appears to be just as great a chance that baseball could provide the groundwork for solidifying the now-tenuous relationship between the U.S. and Venezuela.

Illustrates a couple things: One, sharing an academy is not unheard of and many teams do it and two, dealing with Venezuela is not as simple as dealing with the Dominican.

[TiredofLosing20]

So you don't care at all that we have completely failed in 3 years under MacPhail to make progress on the scouting side, or to even get our scouting and player development people reading out of the same book?

Those are the type of things that a new GM should concentrate on immediately and after 3 years should have made a lot of progress on. And those are things that will AFFECT our "progress on the ML level" for the next decade. Fix it today and you see positive impact on the ML level 5 years from now. Failing to start fixing it immediately after taking over... and you are delaying that progress.

We hired a respected baseball man who had been with good, well-run organizations and had a family history with the Orioles organizaiton which did these things right. Regardless of whether a Matusz or a Wieters was producing at the ML level, before this season I at least had hope that MacPhail was taking steps to get rid of the systemic flaws in the organization ( lack of scouting, lack of coherent coaching philosophy, lack of communication between scouting and player development ). As this season droned on I started hearing hints from Tony and other sources that wasn't true. And now that has been confirmed. He's been here three years nad has done VERY LITTLE to address those systemic flaws. As long as we have those flaws we will wind up having kids come up who are not prepared well for the majors, and who perhaps are not as good as we thought they were.

If you read this and you aren't extremely disappointed in MacPhail, then you are looking at the wrong thing. Whether we got a player for Bradford, or whether Deal X or Deal Y got made, has FAR LESS IMPACT on the long term future of this organization as fixing the systemic problems. And this article seems to indicate that very little progress in fixing the systemic problems has taken place under MacPhail.

LOL. Of course I am concerned, where in my post did I say I wasn't. The point being is that we sorta knew most of this. It is also pretty clear from Tony's article that when it comes to the organizational people, Angelos is still very involved. That is in no way absolving AM from not moving quicker (or frankly quitting) but clearly indicates that there he does not have full control of the organization. There are clearly barriers that have been laid to slow down the reform of the organization. What we also do not know is what type of budget he is working which is a big variable in all of this.

My patience is wearing thin with AM as well. I am one that is willing to give him until the All-Star break next year to get things at the ML level turned around. Others have less patience, whatever, to each their own. I believe his "plan" is the right one and if I turn on him it will be his lack of execution.

[NewMarketSean]

I think many teams share facilities. Its embarrassing that they aren't already in Venezuela, but it wouldn't be embarrassing that they share resources with another squad.

I don't care if other teams do it. I want to see the Orioles do something good for a change that no other teams have done, or haven't done at the same level as the O's.

Building their own facility in VZ, and trying to become the leader in scouting and development down there would be a huge step in the right direction.

I understand there are some political issues. That can't be ignored.

[SilentJames]

Man I am totally utterly depressed after reading that.

We have an owner who supposedly wants to spend on FAs but not invest in international scouting.

And we have a GM who supposedly wants to invest in scouting and development but not FAs.

And neither appear willing to move off of their positions...

If you actually believe that after reading that argument then I question your reading comprehension skills.

[OrioleMagic]

Thank you for the insight Tony. I feel like Tony is the Doctor who just confirmed that I have a horrible disease. I think we all want to really know the true state of affairs with our beloved Orioles, but this sure is depressing even though very little is surprising after reading this board for seven years.

Fact: Peter Angelos has ran this franchise into the abyss whether he meant to or not!

Opinion: We are doomed for the foreseeable future, unless Peter has an epiphany and changes his behavior.

Opinion: I am not confident that MacPhail is the guy to rebuild the once-proud Orioles franchise.

Question: What can be done?

The only logical answer: Wait for Peter to sell the team. Hope for Cal playing a critical executive role for the new Orioles ownership.

The teenage boy from Western Maryland with the full size Cal Ripken: "Milk, it's fitness you can drink" poster on his bedroom wall, the boxes of Orioles baseball cards, the caps and shirts, and the precious ticket stub from the one trip to Memorial Stadium is heart-broken and feels betrayed. It's a good thing I have grown up and fully realize that there is much more to life than Orioles baseball!

[NewMarketSean]

If you actually believe that after reading that argument then I question your reading comprehension skills.

Actually, I would say Jtrea's post is a pretty accurate paint-by-numbers summary of the article.

[PrivateO]

Why is he making so much of the new computer system as if this is some big accomplishment? From his descriptions of it, it sounds like something pretty basic. A minor-league report! On a computer, with numbers and stuff! Other teams have been doing this for years, so of course it's good that we now have one, but it's hardly something to tout as if you've just invented Unix. That's pathetic.

AM's explanations about international scouting and the draft didn't make much sense to me. I understand a hesitation to get involved in Venezuela due to the unpredictable political situation. Chavez occasionally seizes international property and has made noises about banning players from leaving the country, so it would be too bad to have something set up and then nationalized. There's no practical recourse and it would probably make this organization gun-shy for years. But AM seemed to be stating that his draft results have been good and scouting reforms well-founded when we haven't seen any results. I just didn't understand what he was saying; it didn't make sense.

Good article; thanks so much for all your work, Tony.

What I got from the article (and maybe someone can refute/back me up on this) is that no such reports or statistics system was put in place before MacPhail was in office. He was probably as shocked as all of us that the team didn't have one.

It was 2007. If the Orioles did not have a computer system that could track prospects, stats, etc., that's just downright embarrassing.

[SilentJames]

Another thing -- the quotes from AM on the manager search don't give me much hope. He never mentioned Showalter's name once, or said anything about a time table.

If Samuel oversees this team be the least bit competitive over the second half, I beleive he will be named full-time manager.

Andy said he doesn't have a timetable for that, so he did mention it - he doesn't have one. If you were expecting him to mention Showalter's name in any context other than a list of people interviewed then you have not been paying attention to MacPhail since he has been here.

He doesn't do do that.

[DuffMan]

Great article! Thanks to Tony for taking the time and effort getting this done.

A few thoughts. Hard to believe that Ponson could have helped us net both Joe Nathan and Josh Beckett:eektf:

My biggest concern/disappointment involves the managerial search. His excuse that the team has been playing better the last few weeks gives him reason not to have to rush just doesn't sit well with me.