Actions Speak Louder than Words

[Ruzious]

Just wanted to thank Tony for his efforts. It can't be fun to document 14 years of failure. I've only had a chance to skim it so far. One thing surprised me - that the O's could have gotten Hudson as well as Marcus Giles for BRob. I don't remember Hudson's name being discussed before. I just recall Giles and LaRoche.

[JTrea81]

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

And this is part of the problem I am talking about.

Angelos wants to spend money on established players IMO, so MacPhail should be taking advantage of that.

The Orioles can survive without investing as much as other clubs in the international scouting area, but that means they have to commit to spending money on premium talent, something MacPhail is adverse to.

MacPhail needs to realize he isn't going to make the Orioles successful by sticking to his philosophy and needs to work with ownership to get this team to win games.

If he's not willing to do this, then he needs to resign and let Angelos choose somebody that will.

The bottom line is the Orioles need to win and need to sustain that winning.

How that happens isn't important.

[PrivateO]

My intent was not to paint anyone in a bad light but to get as much of the story out there as possible. Some things I heard that made me very upset could not be corroborated, so they were not included. That doesn't mean the source lied, it meant I could not get it corroborated and I wasn't going to run something I couldn't get corroborated.

I know some people will be upset that I didn't make MacPahil out to be the anti-christ, but I thought I did a fair job.

There are some that will think "this is nothing new" and that's fine, but there are multiple things in this that have never been reported.

As for the hype, that got out of control. Nothing I was going to deliver was going to be enough for some.

I'm ok with the criticism. I wasn't able to put some stuff in due to concerns over outing my sources and that hurt the "oomph" a bit. But I'm ok with that as well.

Thank you for the piece. I agree with you in that the article was made to speak the truth, not butcher the organization for a prolonged era of losing. If anyone thought that, they would be sorely mistaken.

I definitely support your decision to wait for MacPhail's interview to include in the article. It's a shame that Angelos couldn't comment, because I know you would have asked serious questions that Orioles fans have been clamoring for answers for for years.

The most disappointing thing for me is Angelos' trust of several people that somehow remain in the organization. Change cannot be change unless everyone is OK with it. It sounds like many GMs have wanted to get rid of a few members (i.e. Stockstill) but Angelos has refused. Just disheartening.

It all comes from the top, after all.

[PBR Street Gang]

It just seems to me that there aren't enough solid baseball people involved in the organization and because Angelos and his sons (no mention of them in the piece so maybe that's the next expose') are involved quality people avoid the O's like the plague.

Tony said it right from the beginning....lack of leadership. There's your bottom line Andy and Pete.

[NewMarketSean]

And this is part of the problem I am talking about.

Angelos wants to spend money on established players IMO, so MacPhail should be taking advantage of that.

The Orioles can survive without investing as much as other clubs in the international scouting area, But that means they have to commit to spending money on premium talent, something MacPhail is adverse to.

MacPhail needs to realize he isn't going to make the Orioles successful by sticking to his philosophy and needs to work with ownership to get this team to win games.

If he's not willing to do this, then he needs to resign and let Angelos choose somebody that will.

The bottom line is the Orioles need to win and need to sustain that winning.

How that happens isn't important.

Well, Angelos chose AM for a reason.

I think pre-MacPhail, Angelos clearly wanted name players. But since AM has arrived, he's allowed AM to trade away the team's better players for MiL guys. That never happened before.

What I think is happening is what Tony alluded to...Angelos has given up. Right now he wants to make the team as valuable as it can be for a potential sale or for his children.

He's missed his window to make this team a winner, and it was his own damn fault.

[Mackus]

I felt after reading the article that the things that MacPhail can control, he's doing pretty well. I may not exactly agree with the precise plan that he has for each little aspect of the game, but he's got valid reasons for going about things in each way he's chosen to go about them. The only real concern I have about MacPhail was from the section on his leadership style, being so tight-lipped even among the inner circle of management and taking on the lead of each aspect of trying to rebuild the organization may be a bit much. It'd be nice if he had an assistant he really trusted to spearhead some things, such as perhaps the Venezuela

The really rough part, though, is the things he can't control. Having to continue to employ Berhard and D. Stockstill, not being able to get into Venezuela, and some other things. Angelos is still very much an obstacle in the team's hopeful return to prominence. I can understand why MacPhail would prefer to rotate his domestic amateur scouts through the DR on occasion rather than trust the imbedded scouts in our organization down there. I think that'd be a good reason to hire a few more trusted domestic scouts though, if they are essentially covering the US and the DR.

I didn't have any problem with the Teixeira stuff. I think MacPhail has the right mindset for the managerial stuff. I don't have a problem with going overslot on later picks to partially justify losing draft picks to FAs (although Gonzalez has been a disaster) and recoup some value that way.

The best description of why we are where we are was in the last section.

The minor league system has one impact prospect in the upper level of the system in Zach Britton, and the young cavalry of Brian Matusz, Chris Tillman, and Jake Arrieta has a combined for a 7-16 record with a 5.42 ERA (through 7/20). The "can't miss" Matt Wieters is currently on the disabled list but has put up an anemic .672 OPS this season. In other words, the core that MacPhail was counting on has mainly arrived, and the Orioles are the worst team in baseball.

We suck this year and have major doubts about the future because the young promising core that MacPhail went with has sucked this year. They are still young and have time to bounce back, but they've been terrible as a group. That's our future. If they don't play well, we're screwed. MacPhail will get the blame for this group not performing if they end up falling short, but anyone here who is saying they also thought this young core would flop heading into this season is speaking completely out of hindsight and not being honest.

There is no amount of smart international signings, good drafting, and big free agency spending that would be able to overcome the complete implosion of this young core of 8-12 players. We just don't have that type of margin for error. There is some margin, but its not that much. We really have to hope that these guys can provide us with what we need. The other things that need to improve won't matter unless we get these guys straightened out (not that we shouldn't try to improve those things anyways).

[SilentJames]

And this is part of the problem I am talking about.

Angelos wants to spend money on established players IMO, so MacPhail should be taking advantage of that.

The Orioles can survive without investing as much as other clubs in the international scouting area, but that means they have to commit to spending money on premium talent, something MacPhail is adverse to.

MacPhail needs to realize he isn't going to make the Orioles successful by sticking to his philosophy and needs to work with ownership to get this team to win games.

If he's not willing to do this, then he needs to resign and let Angelos choose somebody that will.

The bottom line is the Orioles need to win and need to sustain that winning.

How that happens isn't important.

But your way the Orioles won't sustain it. You can't just spend money you need to build something first. I know you will never get over your precious little Tex, but this is what you don't get. The Orioles need to scout and develop much better.

They need to get better FA's, no doubt but they will never go nuts in FA. The Orioles will not make someone the highest paid player in the league.

[Kevin Lomax]

Thanks Tony. Appreciate you taking the time.

[SilentJames]

Well, Angelos chose AM for a reason.

I think pre-MacPhail, Angelos clearly wanted name players. But since AM has arrived, he's allowed AM to trade away the team's better players for MiL guys. That never happened before.

What I think is happening is what Tony alluded to...Angelos has given up. Right now he wants to make the team as valuable as it can be for a potential sale or for his children.

He's missed his window to make this team a winner, and it was his own damn fault.

No arguments there.

[SilentJames]

The best description of why we are where we are was in the last section.

We suck this year and have major doubts about the future because the young promising core that MacPhail went with has sucked this year. They are still young and have time to bounce back, but they've been terrible as a group. That's our future. If they don't play well, we're screwed. MacPhail will get the blame for this group not performing if they end up falling short, but anyone here who is saying they also thought this young core would flop heading into this season is speaking completely out of hindsight and not being honest.

There is no amount of smart international signings, good drafting, and big free agency spending that would be able to overcome the complete implosion of this young core of 8-12 players. We just don't have that type of margin for error. There is some margin, but its not that much. We really have to hope that these guys can provide us with what we need. The other things that need to improve won't matter unless we get these guys straightened out (not that we shouldn't try to improve those things anyways).

I don't think any org really has room for that kind of error. This is the season right here. If those guys are performing to the level we all expected Dave Trembley is still the manager and this article probably doesn't get written.

[NewMarketSean]

We suck this year and have major doubts about the future because the young promising core that MacPhail went with has sucked this year. They are still young and have time to bounce back, but they've been terrible as a group. That's our future. If they don't play well, we're screwed. MacPhail will get the blame for this group not performing if they end up falling short, but anyone here who is saying they also thought this young core would flop heading into this season is speaking completely out of hindsight and not being honest.

There is no amount of smart international signings, good drafting, and big free agency spending that would be able to overcome the complete implosion of this young core of 8-12 players. We just don't have that type of margin for error. There is some margin, but its not that much. We really have to hope that these guys can provide us with what we need. The other things that need to improve won't matter unless we get these guys straightened out (not that we shouldn't try to improve those things anyways).

No, better international and amateur signings/scouting would make the organization deeper so the failings of our core wouldn't be as tragic. We pinned our hopes on the core because they were the only players in the system that were MLB quality. Aside from Britton, who else in the minors is close or good enough to win a position on this team in the next year or two?

The core struggling is definitely the worst thing about 2010, and if they did well we probably wouldn't have read this article because it wouldn't have been written. But as far as I am concerned, we are where we are for a reason -- largely because of what Tony wrote .

[TiredofLosing20]

My intent was not to paint anyone in a bad light but to get as much of the story out there as possible. Some things I heard that made me very upset could not be corroborated, so they were not included. That doesn't mean the source lied, it meant I could not get it corroborated and I wasn't going to run something I couldn't get corroborated.

I know some people will be upset that I didn't make MacPahil out to be the anti-christ, but I thought I did a fair job.

There are some that will think "this is nothing new" and that's fine, but there are multiple things in this that have never been reported.

As for the hype, that got out of control. Nothing I was going to deliver was going to be enough for some.

I'm ok with the criticism. I wasn't able to put some stuff in due to concerns over outing my sources and that hurt the "oomph" a bit. But I'm ok with that as well.

I thought you did a fair job as well. It has been pretty clear over the past weeks that you have lost faith in AM. I really was expecting an article that simply lambasted him. Not that you decided it was roast AM time but because of the stuff you were hearing.

By not earth shattering I meant the overall message. Angelos was a meddler on the baseball front up until AM and evidently is still protecting his cronies and the AM portion wasn't earth shattering because he did a pretty good job of getting out in front of this thing publically. Which frankly is a credit to you and the perceived importance of this website. Some of the examples of Angelos meddling are absolutely astounding. Moss instead of Nathan, the nixed Becket, Lowell trade which was always speculated but nice to see it confirmed. Just astounding.

Yeah don't pay attention to the hype ratings, this thing was more overhyped than Wieters.

Don't take my post as criticism... It wasn't meant to be. I think you did a fantastic job and asked some tough questions that seemed to not get asked by the "real" media until news of this article started to circulate. Interesting how some of what you quoted AM saying was very very similar to his comments on 105.7 yesterday.

Anyway, like I said great job and we all appreciated your time and effort not only on this article but also this site.

[TinCup]

Why is Angelos the way he is? Why is he "owning" this team the way he is? Why does he have his hand in it the way he does? What is the explanation?

I mean, what gives Peter?

[blid]

My intent was not to paint anyone in a bad light but to get as much of the story out there as possible. Some things I heard that made me very upset could not be corroborated, so they were not included. That doesn't mean the source lied, it meant I could not get it corroborated and I wasn't going to run something I couldn't get corroborated.

I know some people will be upset that I didn't make MacPahil out to be the anti-christ, but I thought I did a fair job.

There are some that will think "this is nothing new" and that's fine, but there are multiple things in this that have never been reported.

As for the hype, that got out of control. Nothing I was going to deliver was going to be enough for some.

I'm ok with the criticism. I wasn't able to put some stuff in due to concerns over outing my sources and that hurt the "oomph" a bit. But I'm ok with that as well.

I think you did the right thing holding that stuff out. But can I just ask if they were minor additions or were some of them rather important details?

[Ohfan67]

Nice work Tony. I think you did a great job of separating reporting from opinion in the article and major kudos to you for getting the interview with AM. I think AM gave you more detailed answers than I've seen in interviews with the Sun and MASN and I'm sure you pushed him to get those answers. Good work.

I think Frobby sums up the situation well. We can dump on AM all we want, but the real problem is Angelos and the organization that he has "built". He may be more hands off now, but his cronies are still safe from being fired or even critically evaluated and Angelos still seems to be delaying major decisions. Hopefully his children will sell the O's. I have no hope that Peter will sell.