OT: The O's

[orionsierra]

While Im happy they signed Wieters, I couldn't help notice this quote from the article in the sun.

"They got the deal done," said an elated Orioles scouting director Joe Jordan. "You can tell the city of Baltimore that the old evil owner stepped up and took care of things tonight. We had to fight to the end."

Typical of this organization.

Even when they do something tood, they manage to find a way to undermine it.

And here's a newsflash for Mr. Jordan and his scouting department. IT'S THE WORST IN BASEBALL AND HAS BEEN FOR YEARS.

PP

Maybe it's me but I thought the comment was kinda funny. I think is was just a throwaway jab at the media in general and NST in particular. I just like the fact that they got the job done on thier terms. Drew Forrester bitched about it all morning but again, I thought it was kinda funny. Maybe it's just my warped sense of humor. :insane:

[Ravenswarrior19]

Isn't it their job to sign their top draft pick? Isn't that the bare minimum? Like what is going on with Jamarcus Russel, isn't that below the minimum? Since when should that be congradulated

[Sephy]

Baseball is a lot different, draft picks go unsigned all the time. They return to college, go to college, etc...

[sailorsam]

usually firing the manager (esp mid-season) is a stupid move that the front office makes to imply that their players are fine, it's the manager's fault we're in 4th place. but no doubt Trembley has been an undoubted upgrade. beating the yanquis 12-0 in their house is great, but the extra-inning win might be even more significant, given how they allowed the tie in the bott9th.
I'm about ready to give up on Jay Gibbons. every year I wait for him to hit 35-40 taters and he never does.

[teagues]

Maybe it's me but I thought the comment was kinda funny. I think is was just a throwaway jab at the media in general and NST in particular. I just like the fact that they got the job done on thier terms. Drew Forrester bitched about it all morning but again, I thought it was kinda funny. Maybe it's just my warped sense of humor. :insane:

I felt the same way. From a P.R perspective, he shouldn't have lumped the NST's of the world with "city of baltimore," but I think most true fans knew who he was referring to. I thought it was funny too, and NST proved him right by crying about it all day.

[BMoreInJungle]

I agree with NST, 9 plus years of loosing is enough it is about time Angelos did the right thing.

Even with that being said, my guess the real and I mean real reason the deal got done was because Wieters didn't want to go back to College. How much improovement could Wieters do? If it wasn't for Boras, Wieters may not have been there when we drafted him anyway. Wieters wants to play ball now, I'm glad he signed and hopefully its a step in the right direction for the Orioles it would be nice to have 2 teams fighting for the Playoffs like the O's and the Colts did in the 70's.

[Losac]

Angelos didn't change here. He did it his way, with no compromise, and luckily Wieters and Boras blinked first. If you think about it, it's stupid for Wieters to go back to school when his stock is so high now. He is risking injury, or a down year, all of which could drop him out of the Top 10 and cost him millions.

It's pretty clear from all of the talk around this event that Angelos is still very much calling the shots, not MacPhail.

[crazyraven]

I think its a good pick up, that is if he gets up to the bigs in the near future. It would be fun to see the O's chipping away and making a run at a wildcard or divison playoff spot. Lets see if they can do it against the two top teams in that division.

[highwater]

It's pretty clear from all of the talk around this event that Angelos is still very much calling the shots, not MacPhail.

I sure hope you're wrong about that, Losac, because if you're right, we're still doomed.

[OregonRaven]

I'm about ready to give up on Jay Gibbons. every year I wait for him to hit 35-40 taters and he never does.

Wow, you sure do have patience........I gave up on Gibbons years ago.

That said, if the Orioles do some of the right things this offseason, I might actually enjoy watching them next year for an entire season for the first time in 10 years. Here's what has to happen, IMO:

1. Keep Trembley as manager.......this team needs a skipper that won't take crap from ego-inflated players or play politics.

2. Sign Bedard long-term. If they can't do it, trade him before you lose him for nothing in free agency.

3. Dump the garbage off the roster, starting with the aforementioned Jay Gibbons. Let the younger players take their place........they can't do any worse than some of these chumps and they'll do it for a fraction of the cost. Who knows, maybe there's a hidden gem among them?

4. Owner sells the team. :ww:

(Well, that probably won't happen........but I can still hope).

[purplepoe]

Wow, you sure do have patience........I gave up on Gibbons years ago.

That said, if the Orioles do some of the right things this offseason, I might actually enjoy watching them next year for an entire season for the first time in 10 years. Here's what has to happen, IMO:

1. Keep Trembley as manager.......this team needs a skipper that won't take crap from ego-inflated players or play politics.

2. Sign Bedard long-term. If they can't do it, trade him before you lose him for nothing in free agency.

3. Dump the garbage off the roster, starting with the aforementioned Jay Gibbons. Let the younger players take their place........they can't do any worse than some of these chumps and they'll do it for a fraction of the cost. Who knows, maybe there's a hidden gem among them?

4. Owner sells the team. :ww:

(Well, that probably won't happen........but I can still hope).

I gave up on Gibbons before they gave him that ridiculous contract.

1. I too like Trembely. However, remember when Perlozzo took over for Mazzilli? Everyone was saying how great it was because the team played hard for Sam etc...? Fast forward to 2 months ago. This team imploded and turned on him. Now I agree he was a pretty bad manager. But the way Trembley is getting all this love certainly reminds me of when Perlozzo took over.

2. They MUST sign Bedard. Homegrown pitching, especially a guy like Bedard, is almost priceless nowadays. Look at what Buehrle just got. Bedard is worth mroe than him. Now Zambrano gets his payday. 91 million over 5 years. When a good starter, especially a lefty, hits the F/A market, teams go crazy. Look at what Zito just got (126 million). Lilly and others. It's only gonna get more expensive to sign Bedard. The problem is, this team, as long as its owned by Angelos, will wait till the last minute. They did it with Wieters. They did it with Mussina. Palmeiro as well. Until I see it changed, I have to believe it will happen with Bedard as well. And if it does, he'll be gone. Because the O's won't offer up what Bedard will be able to fetch in the F/A market after the 2009 season.

3. It's easier said than done to get rid of the garbage. Gibbons ($5.7MM in '08, and $6.2MM in '09.), Huff )$8MM in 08 and $8MM in 09), and Baez ($4.5MM in 08 and $5.5 in 09 along with a $5 million bonus) alone are signed through the 09 season. And combined they eat up about 18 million bucks next year and almost 20 million in 09. That's flat out atrocious. And they are pretty much untradable as well. Sure, we could move them but in all liklihood we'd have to eat a huge portion of their contracts. If that happened, Angelos sure as hell wouldn't spend freely because he'd be on the hook for alot of those assclown's salaries. By the way, Bradford makes $3.5 million in 08 and 09. Payton makes $5 million next year. And you think like I do that Ramon Hernandez is overrated and overpaid, you'll be happy to know he makes 7.5 next year and 8 in 09. For all this talk about the money we gave Wieters, I think we've got bigger fish to fry (and trade). The saddest part is most of the quality players on this team are VASTLY underpaid. We have the 10th or 11th highest payroll in baseball. Yet we have to suffer through watching the above listed stiffs year in and year out.

4. You think it's bad now? Wait until Peter is gone. His sons will easily outdo their father.

PP

[OregonRaven]

1. I see a few differences between Trembley now and Perlozzo when he took over for Mazzilli. While the players rallied around Perlozzo because he was a breath of fresh air, he still made some very dubious in-game decisions and questionable handling of the bullpen........and once the honeymoon wore off the players were just as tired of him as they were Mazzilli. Trembley seems to be a much better strategist and there have been several comments from players that he's much better at managing the pitching staff. Also, Perlozzo seemed to be afraid to confront players, particularly veterans, when they gave less than 100% to the team and the game........whereas it's quite apparent that Trembley won't put up with that sort of thing from anyone.

2. Agreed. Barring a major change in their ways, the Orioles will do absolutely nothing about Bedard until he becomes a free agent, at which time they will make him a lowball offer which he will laugh at while he is signing with someone else. What did Ben Franklin always say? Something about the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?

3. Getting rid of the garbage is actually quite easy.......as long as you're willing to acknowledge that you made a huge mistake by giving these stiffs huge contracts. Then accept the fact that you'll have to pay them no matter what, so may as well do some "addition by subtraction", bite the bullet and and send them packing.........hence paying them to not lose games for you. But yes, if they think they can trade some of this trash and get something back for it then I'd like to know what they're smoking back in the Warehouse.

4. I have no true credible source on this, but everything I've heard is that neither son has any interest in owning the club.........thank God. Angelos has said several times that when he's ready he'd be willing to sell to a group led by Cal........so I'll hold out hope for that.