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AM – you have a credibility problem


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What has AM done in the last year to make anyone think he is the guy to take us to the next level?

I know what you're saying and I agree, but just like your signature says we should go for it when competing is within reach. Wasting money before that point is just that, wasting money. If it was up to me I would wait to break the bank until next year on one of the premier 1B candidates... and see what else is there.

In the respect of creative trades, then your point is obviously spot on. I'm down on AM now but I'll wait to see how this offseason plays out before I'm totally down on him.

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The use of the word redeem is comical. What has MacPhail done so horribly wrong that he needs to redeem himself. I think the right word is "PROVE" himself. Yes, he needs to prove that he can take the next step in building a winner.

I think we can all agree that he came in here and started off pretty well...Traded Bedard and Miggy...Then, he went a full year without doing anything until the Hill and Pie deals and the Nick extension.

Since then, he has done very little outside of the Sherrill deal.

I know, for me, that I had a lot of of confidence and hope in AM early on...And then, that fizzled out. So, he needs to redeem himself in my eyes...and I know many share the same sentiment.

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Any evidence is subjective.

His mantra was "grow the arms," which has been accomplished. Now it is time for him to put up with "buy the bats." He also didn't make any deals that would hurt the team long-term.

I still think it's too early to say growing the arms has been successful. For one thing, out of all the young guys we've brought up, Matusz is the only one who's stood out, IMO (an argument can be made for Bergesen, but his road's been...rockier, to say the least). Tillman and Arrieta still have a ton to prove, and Britton's yet to accomplish anything at the major league level. Moreover, once you get past those guys, well...DH and Berken were both sent to the pen for good reasons, and Patton's far from a sure thing. I dunno...I think the jury's still out on the Orioles' arms.

As for the second part of what you said...I suppose some measure of credit is due AM for not locking the O's into a bunch of bad deals, but then again...how many deals has he locked the Orioles into...period? I appreciate erring on the side of caution, but I'm not going to wholeheartedly applaud his accomplishments until his team...accomplishes something.

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The use of the word redeem is comical. What has MacPhail done so horribly wrong that he needs to redeem himself. I think the right word is "PROVE" himself. Yes, he needs to prove that he can take the next step in building a winner.

The Orioles won 70 games in 2006. That's the last time they reached that pathetic benchmark. Four years later (three-and-a-half years into AM's stewardship) the Orioles won 66, a feat made possible only by an astonishing Buck Showalter led turn-around so remarkable as to be highly suspect.

The events of last August and September often have me wondering about divine intervention, so perhaps talking about redemption isn't that far off the mark. What AM has done so horribly wrong is to completely miscalculate his sell-by date - April 1, 2010 in my mind. Do you honestly think AM would still have a job if the team had continued playing as it did before Showalter's hiring?

AM has already had plenty of time to "prove" himself, and IMO the results aren't pretty. I'm still optimistic that his strengths will compliment Showalter's and together they will make a good management team, but the day is long past when I'll believe that AM alone could take this team out of last place in the AL East.

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MacPhail has definitely stayed the course of "growing the arms", but has not done so with his "buying the bats" proclamation. This season is it. We had the second-best record in baseball in the last two months of the season. Andy knows that he can no longer use the excuse of "this team is not quite yet being ready to contend, so we'll wait until they are ready to go after the big bats." He has to act now, or he'll be remembered (at best) for only doing half of his job, and executing half of his plan.

.

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I still think it's too early to say growing the arms has been successful. For one thing, out of all the young guys we've brought up, Matusz is the only one who's stood out, IMO (an argument can be made for Bergesen, but his road's been...rockier, to say the least). Tillman and Arrieta still have a ton to prove, and Britton's yet to accomplish anything at the major league level. Moreover, once you get past those guys, well...DH and Berken were both sent to the pen for good reasons, and Patton's far from a sure thing. I dunno...I think the jury's still out on the Orioles' arms.

As for the second part of what you said...I suppose some measure of credit is due AM for not locking the O's into a bunch of bad deals, but then again...how many deals has he locked the Orioles into...period? I appreciate erring on the side of caution, but I'm not going to wholeheartedly applaud his accomplishments until his team...accomplishes something.

Agreed - that's part of the problem. We haven't DONE ANYTHING yet. AM has constructed an incredibly smart strategy whereby he cannot fail. His plan to grow the arms, by any sane measure, would start with day one of his tenure. But if you're drafting arms, including high school kids, most reasonable people would agree that you don't really know what you have for at least 3-5 years. That means he's giving himself a half-decade window, during which any criticism can be deemed "premature"!

Brilliant! And then when you can't buy the bats, you can simply keep saying: "Well, this is a mediocre free agent year, so you don't want me to be an idiot and go all-in on mediocre hitters, right? Plus every *reasonable* fan understands that the best bats will always go to the Yankees or Red Sox. So patience, young Skywalker." [RING. RING. "Hello? Commisioner's office? I'll be right down."]

Meanwhile, we clean the basement of the AL East for three years in a row and people are like: "Well, he's done everything he said he's going to do." The guy cannot lose, thanks to his brilliant strategy.

So... that's why I get skeptical sometimes. On the other hand, I admire a lot of what he's done. I just want him to do it faster, and hold himself accountable for the team's onfield performance... starting now.

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At least we have picked up the phone.:laughlol:

A major league source has indicated that six teams (and that includes the Red Sox) have inquired about Victor Martinez. No firm list yet of who those teams are, but early interest had come from teams like the Tigers, Rockies, Blue Jays, Mariners, Rangers and Orioles.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2010/11/vmart_drawing_i.html

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Agreed - that's part of the problem. We haven't DONE ANYTHING yet. AM has constructed an incredibly smart strategy whereby he cannot fail. His plan to grow the arms, by any sane measure, would start with day one of his tenure. But if you're drafting arms, including high school kids, most reasonable people would agree that you don't really know what you have for at least 3-5 years. That means he's giving himself a half-decade window, during which any criticism can be deemed "premature"!

Brilliant! And then when you can't buy the bats, you can simply keep saying: "Well, this is a mediocre free agent year, so you don't want me to be an idiot and go all-in on mediocre hitters, right? Plus every *reasonable* fan understands that the best bats will always go to the Yankees or Red Sox. So patience, young Skywalker." [RING. RING. "Hello? Commisioner's office? I'll be right down."]

Meanwhile, we clean the basement of the AL East for three years in a row and people are like: "Well, he's done everything he said he's going to do." The guy cannot lose, thanks to his brilliant strategy.

So... that's why I get skeptical sometimes. On the other hand, I admire a lot of what he's done. I just want him to do it faster, and hold himself accountable for the team's onfield performance... starting now.

Trea, is that you in sheep's clothing? :clap3:

LMAO! Well done, sir!

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