58 replies to this topic

[weird-O]

-Even with an under .500  Sept they were one of the best teams in the baseball from mid to late May on. 

 

- THere are 3 WCs  and a more balanced schedule. Im not overly concerned about the rest of the division.  Winning the division is ideal but its far from necessary.

 

- Rookies could struggle or step back but young guys are also the ones most likely to make big jumps and overachieve compared to expectations. Its a two way street. 

Your first point is a little off. Their first winning month was June, 14-12. They weren't a hot team until July. That lasted thru Aug, before they cooled off. That's not to be argumentative, just clarifying. But it's still a plus, since they'll be starting with that team that got lit for 2 months. 

 

Point two is a good one, the extra WC slot helps. And even though the schedule is more balanced, they're still chasing better teams, who just happen to be in their division. So I don't agree that that the more balanced schedule helps.

 

Agreed, rookies can go either way. But, anecdotally speaking (because I haven't actually researched it) they tend to struggle more than excel. But that's the fun of young players, the unknown allows for optimism.

[TwentyThirtyFive]

It would have been a prudent investment.

Alright regarding your definition of all in, but that is the mindset that they should have had. This was clearly an amazing opportunity to add to a young, talented, and super cheap core in order to significantly increase the chance of success and do so without even damaging the future in any particularly meaningful way.

Instead of taking advantage of that opportunity by making meaningful upgrades, they have chosen a path to this point of replacing Lyles with a similar pitcher (that I prefer to be clear), replacing Lopez with a meh reliever, not replacing Mancini other than with Stowers, adding a meh or worse infielder for some reason, and adding a decent backup catcher. The catcher part makes sense but this is incredibly disappointing otherwise and there's no good defense for it, we just don't know for sure how to parse out the blame between ownership and Elias.

Again, I dont have a counter if you had preferred to up the ante in a substantial way. I wouldve argued against it last offseason. Not this offseason. That said, Ill remain patient for now

[Pedro Cerrano]

5 things to actually look forward to

-Opening Day
-Balanced schedule (seeing all the NL teams)
-Trip to Wrigley (we play at Wrigley every other year now!)
-Grayson Rodriguez
-uhhhh

[Mike B]

5 things to actually look forward to

-Opening Day
-Balanced schedule (seeing all the NL teams)
-Trip to Wrigley (we play at Wrigley every other year now!)
-Grayson Rodriguez
-uhhhh

I will go out on a limb...

 

#5...the debut of Pablo Lopez in the Oriole rotation.  

 

Now that I am dumb being stupid....

the real #5

 

The debut's of Ortiz, Cowser and Westburg.  Also the return of John Means.

[Mike B]

It's actually $600M (plus another $600M for M&T when the Ravens re-up their lease). I'm wondering if the hold-up on this has to do with the lawsuit. At the heart of the suit is control of the club. Seems that locking them in to a 25-30 year lease is a big enough thing that has to wait until that issue is settled. I'm almost expecting to hear that they will be exercising one of their 1-year options before we hear about a long-term lease.

That may be true.

 

The questions I have is how long are the bonds available to both teams??

 

Elias mentioned in one of his sessions, that Camden Yards was going to be remodeled, but he has said stuff that has not happened before.

[BSLSteveBirrer]

None of that will matter if they are positioned well and add during the deadline.

Disagree with this big time.

 

They are positioned well right now so why didn't they do something this winter?  Lets say they are well positioned come July and they do add something meaningful. IMO that does not absolve them from not having done something this winter. Jump to next July. If they are well positioned had they done something in December they might even be better positioned. 

[BSLMikeLowe]

That may be true.

 

The questions I have is how long are the bonds available to both teams??

 

Elias mentioned in one of his sessions, that Camden Yards was going to be remodeled, but he has said stuff that has not happened before.

 

I would think until the end of their current leases, which for the Orioles is different because their original lease on OPACY expired after 2021, but they negotiated an extension because both the Orioles and MSA knew they'd be asking the state legislature for money for future renovations, and they didn't want to do that while COVID was still at its peak.

 

I actually misrepresented the terms of the extension earlier. I thought after this season they had a few year-to-year options, but it's actually a straight up 5-year extension that would take it through 2028. I still think that's the more likely scenario because of the lawsuit (unless there's a quick settlement or it's dropped). And the MSA probably doesn't mind having the Orioles and Ravens on the same timeline, since that's where I think the extension would put them.

 

Either way, we will have our answer soon, as the Oriole have until Feb 1 to exercise the extension. (maybe that's part of dude's cryptic post from a few days ago)

[CantonJester]

The O's should be working on building out a team that can maximize their winning potential given OPCY's new dimensions. Think a .630 or so winning percentage, and if you do that, you can go .500 on the road and you're 99x out of 100 going to the playoffs. 

[Mike B]

The O's should be working on building out a team that can maximize their winning potential given OPCY's new dimensions. Think a .630 or so winning percentage, and if you do that, you can go .500 on the road and you're 99x out of 100 going to the playoffs. 

I think they are trying to do exactly that.  Note the drafting of fast outfielders and strong up the middle guys.  They are also trying to prioritize left handed hitters.  I think we will see them prioritize left handed pitching soon.

[dude]

Either way, we will have our answer soon, as the Oriole have until Feb 1 to exercise the extension. (maybe that's part of dude's cryptic post from a few days ago)

 

It's not....but good call. I think they exercise the extension but that's just to buy time to improve the negotiating leverage of the next lease agreement. 

 

We've seen the numbers and the most recent lease figure was something like 1.6M.  For OPaCY.  Tell me who has that sweet of an agreement.  Early in 2022, when John Angelos emerged to hold session after the concert announcement, he talked about the "shared partnership".  It sounds interesting the way he says it, but what he really wants is the State of Maryland and MSA to bear the burden of creating a floor for their incompetence.  See 1.6M.

 

Also on the 600M bond thing.  WTH could you do to OPaCY for 600M?  Are you putting a dome over it?  Unless you're tearing out half the Stadium and doing something crazy....600M is like rebuilding the Stadium.  About the only thing you could probably do with it is redevelopment around the area.  I wonder who would benefit from something like that.

[Ravens2006]

First spring training game, opening day, NFL draft weekend, MLB All Star game, and what should be called Fan Overappreciation Because Anyone Who Still Buys Tickets Deserves Excessive Appreciation Weekend. There are five things to look forward to.

[BSLMikeLowe]

Also on the 600M bond thing.  WTH could you do to OPaCY for 600M?  Are you putting a dome over it?  Unless you're tearing out half the Stadium and doing something crazy....600M is like rebuilding the Stadium.  About the only thing you could probably do with it is redevelopment around the area.  I wonder who would benefit from something like that.

 

I believe it's already been said that a big chunk of the money for both teams will go towards doing something in the parking area right between the two stadiums.

 

Aside from that, I guess they could take out the upper level seats in LF, then re-purpose the club level area out there into something more open and publicly accessible. Aesthetically it might also make the poor attendance look better by not having that vast green ocean of empty seats, plus for the rare games that do sell well you create demand via increased scarcity.

 

I also imagine they might want to fix those 90-degree angles where the seats were removed last year. That likely means relocating the bullpens some, which will make the cost add up quickly.

[BSLChrisStoner]

I have it on good authority there will be a significant reduction in seats.

More space like the CF bar.

[BSLMikeLowe]

I have it on good authority there will be a significant reduction in seats.

More space like the CF bar.

 

Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking above. Do the same thing in the LF club area after you remove the upper level out there.

[TwentyThirtyFive]

I have it on good authority there will be a significant reduction in seats.

More space like the CF bar.

Any idea what the capacity was last year with the changes they made?

[mweb08]

They could really use an upgraded video board.

[dude]

Any idea what the capacity was last year with the changes they made?

 

They took out about 1000 seats.

[dude]

Unless they're hiring California's government to manage the projects, what are we doing with the other 550M.

[BSLMikeLowe]

I would think until the end of their current leases, which for the Orioles is different because their original lease on OPACY expired after 2021, but they negotiated an extension because both the Orioles and MSA knew they'd be asking the state legislature for money for future renovations, and they didn't want to do that while COVID was still at its peak.

 

I actually misrepresented the terms of the extension earlier. I thought after this season they had a few year-to-year options, but it's actually a straight up 5-year extension that would take it through 2028. I still think that's the more likely scenario because of the lawsuit (unless there's a quick settlement or it's dropped). And the MSA probably doesn't mind having the Orioles and Ravens on the same timeline, since that's where I think the extension would put them.

 

Either way, we will have our answer soon, as the Oriole have until Feb 1 to exercise the extension. (maybe that's part of dude's cryptic post from a few days ago)

 

So, somewhat big news on this front today, though not from the Orioles.

 

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