7 hours ago, Hersh said:

Good gracious you don’t understand sports. Not all players chase championships over money. A lot of players will go with the most money. 
 

Again, the point of bringing in better players is to begin to get incrementally better since that’s how teams get to the playoffs. They don’t need to be players that are here when the team is actually competing for the playoffs but the Os would be better if they had a couple of better infielders at 2nd and 3rd. 
 

so to recap, I showed you the Astros built and spent more incrementally, no team wins with all homegrown players and Elias knows all these prospects won’t succeed. 
 

any other lessons you need?

Are you normally this disrespectful when you're struggling to get people to agree with you? Don't condescend me, please. It's not necessary. 

Not once have you actually mentioned any players that you think they should have signed. You're complaining from a distance because it's easy, but it requires no real thought. 

9 hours ago, Hersh said:

 

Elias knows the failure rate of picks. How do you know everyone else had better options? You don't. 

Because that list tells you which team each player signed with, and most of them are in a much better position that Baltimore. It's called reading. 

It's not like signing someone like Jed Lowrie was going to change anything anyway. And that's the point...spend the money building an international scouting department rather than a scrub who's gonna win you 5 more games and you're still in last place. 

The key is to not care what other people think of you for supporting a last place team. 

12 hours ago, Hersh said:

 

Yes, it's an obvious fact that not all top prospects for teams turn out to be any good. That's not pessimism, that's being realistic about major league baseball. 

2 out of 3 of the Astros overall number one picks never played for their major league team. It happens. 

I'm not counting on Elias thinking he's going to fail, so why shouldn't he have confidence in all of his picks?

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-2021-22-free-agents-by-position

And seriously, look at this list.  It's not hard to see why the Orioles ended up not signing anyone, it wasn't a good cycle for them.  You can't just say "they need to sign people", when literally every available player had a better option, or they couldn't fill a position of need.  Correa is young, proven, and has experienced success, so he's the guy you might think would come to a rebuilding franchise, but everyone else?  No way.  Careers are short and they're not wasting them in Baltimore.  

9 minutes ago, Hersh said:

 

 

Also, "But don't blame the Orioles for being wary of tying up money in players that have no long term future with the team so that your ego can be stroked with a few more wins." Who said tie up money in players that have no long term future with the team? Oh, that's right. No free agent would have a long term future here cause all the positions in questioned are covered in the minors. 

Now you've got it.  Pessimism in the face of obvious facts so you can play devil's advocate is really unimpressive.

5 hours ago, Hersh said:

 

Oh, so this will be a team entirely composed of homegrown players. Got it. I'm sure that will be the case even though no other team operates successfully like that.

 

Cowser is batting .250 at high A. He's two years away at best.

 

Kjerstad hasn't played in the minors yet.

 

Gunner is two year away but at least he's only 20. 

 

Mayo is in high A ball, so three years away? 

 

I'm excited for O's fans to wait 2-3 before those guys and finally it will be time to spend and compete. Ya know, if they all work out. 

The Astros literally just did that. The Astros also have an amazingly successful international scouting department, just like the O's are trying to build.   And who did Elias use to work for???

And every player I mentioned is expected to be with the team in the next two years.  You also conveniently left out Adley and Grayson, who will be difference makers if all goes as planned.  https://www.mlb.com/prospects/orioles

Nobody said it has to be a team comprised entirely of homegrown players.  Don't put words in my mouth.  There's a place for free agency, and even a big signing.  But don't blame the Orioles for being wary of tying up money in players that have no long term future with the team so that your ego can be stroked with a few more wins. 

They're not tanking anymore.  They've moved to the evaluation stage.

I'm really enjoying Winning Time on HBO.  The first episode was a little too Adam McKay-ish, with all the cutaways and breaking of the fourth wall, but it's settled into something good.

16 minutes ago, Hersh said:

 

How many positions should they feel are covered? Catcher and DH? If Mancini goes at the trade deadline or isn't re-signed, the entire infield could be replaced. There are also no sure bets in the OF, plus a couple of SP spots. 

 

Yes, you go from 60 to 70+ to contending. It's incredibly rare that teams go from 60 to 90+ wins and in the playoffs. Your line of thinking on spending is just like when someone people argue about whether a player is really ready for MLB or if they need more time. There is no certainty that a player or team is going to succeed in some orderly fashion. So you ramp up spending and get a player that will be here for 3 years. It's a process. Same as any sport. Suck, start to get better, maybe contend for playoffs or make it. Then win a round or two and finally contend. 

The positions in question are covered by players in the minors.  Rutschman, Henderson, Cowser, Kjerstad, Hall, Mayo, etc.   Those cover your infield, outfield, and pitching for the next 5 plus years, and are all a part of the long term plan.  It's what this rebuild has been all about.  Correa was that player that mayyyyybe you move things around for, but short of a generational talent like him, it wasn't worth bringing in anyone else of note.

You're not going to sign any decent free agents when they know they aren't going to be a part of the long term plan, especially when they have options elsewhere on actual contending teams.  Take a look at the lists of free agents, and look where they signed.

1 hour ago, justice98 said:

 

That always seemed weird to me.  I get why Elias would wanna do it, but why on God's green earth would Correa have even entertained that?  

Because they are going to turn the corner in a couple of years, and they were offering lots and lots of money.

9 minutes ago, Hersh said:

 

Being transparent about something doesn't make it right. There is zero reason not to have spent more money this last off-season. So they might have tried with one player at one position but didn't think they needed anything else at other positions?

You want them to overspend at positions that they already feel they have covered?  So they can finish with 70 wins instead of 60, and still miss the playoffs?  Which players did you think they should go after?  Who was going to want to come to Baltimore?

It's all easier said than done.

1 hour ago, Hersh said:

It's crazy to me the O's are still tanking this season.

They've been transparent about the process almost the entire time, and literally lost a season of minor league baseball due to covid.  That'll put your rebuild on hold!  They now have an international scouting department and an analytics department.  They tried to sign Correa because it's finally that time in the rebuild cycle to try to supplement these players with proven free agents.  TBH, I don't know what else we could ask for.

Camden Yards has stolen it's fair share of home runs too.  It's all a part of the game.

3 hours ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

Awesome, another Marvel movie.

 

Wait, I mean.  AWESOME ANOTHER MARVEL MOVIE!!!!111

It's almost as amazing as the typical virtue signaling that follows it!!!

Edit: Being respectful shouldn't be confusing.

43 minutes ago, FLSkinz83 said:

 

If the NFL can't conduct an effective investigation into an owner potentially stealing money from them; then that's their problem.   

Congress should not be investigating Dan's ticket sales.

"Because I said so" isn't very convincing.

Your virtue signaling has been noted.

2 minutes ago, FLSkinz83 said:

Why is this a congressional issue?   Shouldn't this be an NFL investigation?

Perhaps the NFL should be conducting effective investigations.

Comments like these are confusing.

32 minutes ago, mhd24 said:

PG makes sense since it is at least connected to the Beltway.  I don't understand people who harp about metro access.  It's a mile away with a dedicated walkway.  There's no land inside the immediate DC area (aside from RFK and that's a major hassle with the feds involved) that close to a metro station.   

I mean, a mile isn't that easy for everyone, and the sidewalk is awful.  Hard to understand how people can't see this as an issue.

4 hours ago, China said:

"In light of this, people should not embark on spider genocide — all this would achieve is the needless killing of a beautiful animal," he said.

Really? I can hardly tell, and by next year it'll be so normalized, nobody will care. 

A new perspective

Va. lawmakers agree to cap Commanders stadium bonds at $350 million

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/03/08/virginia-commanders-stadium-financing/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=wp_local

What a timeline we live in.

👀

What an interesting way to prove to Russians that this war is indeed real.

"We, Ukrainian people, in contrast to Putin's fascists do not make war with mothers and their captured sons," the defense ministry said. "We are waiting for you in Kyiv!"

https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-asks-russian-mothers-pick-up-captured-troops-putin-invasion-2022-3

2 hours ago, Giddy4Gibson said:

Still crossing fingers we got Watson....despite many of you here being against that for reasons I just can't understand.

You might not agree with those reasons, but to say you can't understand them...I mean, it's obvious why people feel that way.

Every new roofed stadium built during the last few years has used the same translucent ETFE material.  SoFi probably isn't a good predictor for what the new stadium will look like, but Allegiant Stadium or Mercedes Benz Stadium might be.