OT: Nats, Wiz, O's, Ravens, Terps, DC United, Navy, Gtown, etc., 2018-2019

[Calicaps]

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[Corby78]

ESPN had an article on the orioles mess. Very depressing. Not only are they bad but they have no vector to getting better.

 

[VaCaps Fan]

Dammit,(I am named after Brooks Robinson)...

 

[strungout]

This is the first time in a long time I haven't watched a single inning of baseball yet. Its kinda liberating...but yet sad at the same time since Ive always been a baseball fan.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

The O's are the Ottawa Senators of the MLB. There's just no real hope.

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

 

[Hivemind]

The O's are the Ottawa Senators of the MLB. There's just no real hope.

The Orioles are bad and it's likely they're going to be bad for a while. But I don't really think they're the Sens. There's definitely some degree of dysfunction and power struggle in the front office, but it's nowhere near the level of what's going on in Ottawa. And moreover, it's likely to transition after this season. I can't envision Duquette being around next year. And for as justly maligned Angelos has been, he's still leaps and bounds better than Melnyk, and is transitioning control to his sons.

Both teams have a superstar they're about to deal away. I think the Orioles have a much better chance of getting a franchise-altering return than the Senators do. Outside of the Eric Lindros trade, you rarely get franchise building returns in hockey. The Orioles got one in exchange for Erik Bedard. Heck, even the return for Koji Uehara was huge. While I'm not holding my breath that Machado's return will end up saving the franchise on it's own, I think there's a reasonable chance that it could be a cornerstone from which to build the next chapter of Orioles baseball.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

The O's have the worst player in the league, quite literally, being paid $21M/year for the next 4 years after this one. With a stingy owner, there's no chance they spend anything in the free agent market. There's one major route for acquiring talent.

They've basically ignored the foreign market for as long as I can remember. There's another route for acquiring talent.

Of their 7 top 5 picks in the last 20 years, they've hit on 2 that have become anything more than above-average players. One's gone ad one's out the door. They've been notoriously bad at developing any minor league talent. There's another route for acquiring talent.

So now we're left hoping that the Machado trade (and likely subsequent Britton and Schoop trades) alter their course. Not optimistic. Even if they hit on it like they did the Bedard trade, that's one long-term above average player in Jones. Tillman has basically been a roster filler or worse for all but two of his seasons in Baltimore.

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

 

[Hivemind]

The O's have the worst player in the league, quite literally, being paid $21M/year for the next 4 years after this one. With a stingy owner, there's no chance they spend anything in the free agent market. There's one major route for acquiring talent.

They've basically ignored the foreign market for as long as I can remember. There's another route for acquiring talent.

Of their 7 top 5 picks in the last 20 years, they've hit on 2 that have become anything more than above-average players. One's gone ad one's out the door. They've been notoriously bad at developing any minor league talent. There's another route for acquiring talent.

So now we're left hoping that the Machado trade (and likely subsequent Britton and Schoop trades) alter their course. Not optimistic. Even if they hit on it like they did the Bedard trade, that's one long-term above average player in Jones. Tillman has basically been a roster filler or worse for all but two of his seasons in Baltimore.

I don't disagree with most of what you said (although I think you're underselling Tillman's importance to the team from the later half of 2012 through 2016).

But the team has a chance at a new chapter coming up. For as awful as the Davis contract is (and it still puzzles me who they were bidding against there), Angelos has been much more willing to open up his checkbook in the past several years. They've been an above-average payroll team for a few years now. The payroll nearly doubled between 2011 ($97M) and 2017 ($182M). Moreover, Angelos is ceding more and more control of the franchise over to his children, which is (hopefully) leading to a new era in Orioles history. Hopefully the ownership edict to not spend money on international players will vanish with Peter Angelos. Similarly, the front office should be seeing changes soon. Duquette should be gone this off-season. Brady Anderson is taking increased control of baseball ops even with Duquette still here. The O's front office is a dysfunctional mess right now, no doubt. But there's at least the hope that the younger Angelos' could learn lessons that their father couldn't, and that an empowered Anderson could mold the franchise in ways that a neutered Duquette was never able to.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still pessimistic about their future outlook. But I don't think they're Ottawa Senators level of bad. The Senators have hundreds of millions in debt, traded away a likely lottery pick in 2019, locker room drama, and a front office member on trial for assault. There's even less hope for redemption in Ottawa.

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

Who remembers the C&P call to the bullpen? I miss that.

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

Manny Machado close to moving on to a team of his same division

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Let the streets burn....

 

[g00n]

It's the Yankees per other sources. He may just get on the plane with them tonight. I wouldn't blame him.

O's winning % is at .283 which is their worst ever in Baltimore. Gotta go back to 1939 as the St Louis Browns for a worse year.

 

[Silky mitts]

3 months ago I was like I would be joyous if the Caps win the Cup but satisfied if the Ravens draft Lamar Jackson or Rosen

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

It's the Yankees per other sources. He may just get on the plane with them tonight. I wouldn't blame him.

O's winning % is at .283 which is their worst ever in Baltimore. Gotta go back to 1939 as the St Louis Browns for a worse year.

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

That would be the final straw for me and the Orioles. I would never pay for another Orioles-related product or service until the Angelos clan sold.

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

 

[HunterSThompson]

The American Century Championship, a celebrity golf tournament is being played this weekend. There is televised coverage all 3 days. TJ Oshie is there if anyone wants to check out his golf game. They also have a Mark Rypien, Joe Theisman, and Alex Smith trio for the Redskins fans.

American Century Celebrity Golf Championship Tournament – American Century Celebrity Golf Championship Tournament at Edgewood, South Lake Tahoe, Nevada

 

[hockeykicker]

Seriously??

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

Cool that Harper won the HR Derby. He got on a nice roll to close it out. Nice memory to have for the end of the Bryce Harper era in DC.

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]