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Here, here. Well put, Roch. Thank you. I totally agree.

That was a good post. Thanks Roch.

Good level take Roch (as usual)...I know some will say this now - but I do not intend to follow baseball like I once did. The contracts are bad enough to take - but with so many worried about their financial futures, the Tex/Boras thing makes me a little sick to my stomach. I will not be there - in fact I doubt many Oriole fans will be there...on opening day the cheers will be louder than the boos because yankee fans can see their team at 25% of the cost of a home game. those dreaming of Tex getting hammered with boos will be disappointed - he will be greeted by cheers - and that is just another sad example of the state of this once great Oriole franchise (thanks Peter).

Roch--Splendid piece of writing, from the brain and the heart.

"I grew up in this area, and I learned a long time ago that you don't choose the Yankees over the Orioles. Anybody but the Yankees. Maybe he didn't get the memo, but he'll understand once he's introduced on Opening Day."

Wow, that speaks for all of us who grew up with our Birds and hot, steamed crabs.

Thanks.

Merry Christmas, Roch.

Roch,

I think Tony Pente said it best in his open letter to Teixeira:

"Your economic future is now secure, so the only thing left is what will be the legacy you leave behind?"

Looks like Teixeira is more than satisfied to have his legacy be that of a mercenary. *sigh*

Roch, Most excellent post. Obviously Tex didn't get the memo. To bad Baseball has become just another business. What the UAW has done to the BIG 3 the MLBPA will do to MLB.

Oh well just another yankee. No longer any importance to Baltimore. Do you think Baseball is a dieing sport Roch? With the parity of the NFL every team participating has the opportunity to win. Miami being a 1 win team last year and a chance at the playoffs this year. Sooner or later a lot of people will stop caring because there is no point. When it gets to that point the league will fail finacially with just a hand full of fan bases that actually care anymore.

I disagree with you on the PR stance. If MacPhail knew from the beginning that there was no chance, then he shouldn't have put much into it. The only reason we were excited about Tex is because we thought he wanted to be here, and clearly he didn't. Now we can turn back our attention to the players that actually play here, and to getting some good starting pitching.

Well said Roch.

So much more was tied into this than Tex. I'm scared Markakis doesn't extend now, and etc. I just want a relevant, hard working baseball team. I know Tex isn't a necessity, but damn if it wouldn't of felt good.

great post Roch

happy holidays.

Very well said Roch. Being spurned by a local is what hurts the most. Time to break out those Jennifer Love Hewitt pics.

Merry Christmas

You walk into a bar and you think you've got a shot at the hottest woman in the place. Turns out, she's not into you. You move on.

No matter how much money you flashed, you'd ultimately look like a desperate loser. MacPhail played it right and walks away with dignity intact.

None of the dream girls would ever sign with Tampa Bay- yet the Rays got more than the Yankees and Red Sox last season. Keep working your game Andy.

Roch,

Great piece. I guess this goes to show you how much of a rat Scott Boras is. It makes me glad to know that Guthrie got rid of him when he had the chance. I'm just sad that the hometown kid won't be playing for his hometown team.

Do you think fans will make T-Shirts like they made for Cito Gaston?

Anyone who's sick of discussing the Teixeira business can be amused by the Nats' incentive-laden deal with Corey Patterson earlier today, assuming the spring of eternal hope flushes him onto their 40-man roster. Best possible scenario (450+ AB) is that he could earn about 1/30 of what Tex--sorry to invoke his name again--will get next year. Poor guy or his agent couldn't deal from a position of sufficient strength to negotiate based on pinch-running substitutions, sac bunt PAs, or defensive replacement appearances?

Nicely written, Roch.

You've had a hard time through this mess, getting attacked for no good reason time and again. Thankfully you remained a professional throughout.

I'm in quandry on whether to keep worrying about this team, about MLB, and find another hobby to interest me. I doubt I'll find it, because the little things like your blog (one example) are the things I like the most about baseball.

But there's a lot to not like.

Hey Roch

I've heard in some interviews MacPhail say besides a SS and pitching they'd like to add a big bat this off-season. Is this still a goal and who's left out there to be had whether it's a FA or could possibly be on the trade market ?

If they can find a couple of decent starting pitchers who can go longer than four or five innings and give up less than 5-6 runs each time out than they should be OK. If they can do that, than the BP won't get overworked and worn/blown out halfway through the season. Will they contend ? No, but the offense should be pretty good again and they should be able to be more competitive this season. But if BRob is traded this lineup is gonna have a huge hole at the top of it for God knows how long and I don't have the patience to wait for them to find a lead-off hitter over the next 4-5 or whatever years it's gonna take.

The city of Baltimore officially has only one major league team. The Os have stated in as clear a way as possible that even a blind and deaf mute could understand, we are not and never will be again a major league baseball team. We are the official farm system for the rest of the league that still wishes to compete. We will not resign Roberts, Markakis, Jones, Weiters, Matusz, etc. We are grooming them to play in real cities with real teams. The Baltimore Orioles 1954-2008 RIP. Where does the city go to cancel the sweetheart deals it gave the Os and Angelos who if not in letter is at least in intent in violation of his agreement with the city. They didn't give him the key to the city to put that grotesque display out there every year. The Os are like the portrait of Dorian Gray in reverse, all of our pictures of the Os heyday are pristine and wonderful, while the face of the team today is deformed, corrupt and destroyed.

Roch- Well Done buddy. You will hear my concurrence on April 6th.

Haha,

"Did the Orioles low-ball Teixeira? The answer is "no" if you consider that $140 million is almost double what they gave Miguel Tejada, who actually won an MVP award, and it wasn't their final offer."

Puts it all in perspective, doesn't it? I'm starting to agree that baseball needs a salary cap.

This one hurts. I've been checking in on this whole situation pretty much since the season ended, and it was pumping me up for the new season (my father and I already had the "not long before spring training" conversation a couple days ago). Now I feel like it can wait; seems like there's not much to look forward to. Well, like I've been telling my friends for a while; I've got all my eggs in the Washington Capitals basket. Looks like its gonna stay that way.

Roch, thanks for your efforts in keeping us up to date.

When I read that Tex was a fan of Don Mattingly, wearing his #23 after all, my expectation was when the Yankees jumped in, it would be over. I wonder if Tex could have gotten more money from Nationals, but took less to join the Yankees.

Tex wanted to play for the Yankees more than he wanted to play for the Orioles. Fine. I'm glad the Orioles didn't bid the moon and have Tex sign with Baltimore, and then on a hot, humid night late next August, Tex watches another tired reliever run from the bullpen because for the third game in a row, the Orioles starting pitcher has been relieved before the 5th inning. Then he takes a look at the scoreboard to see the Yankees' score and asks himself, "What am I doing here?". We went through that with Miggy. Let's not do it again.

Hopefully, Arieta, Matusz, and Tillman will be our Shields, Kazmir, and Garza. Then, in a couple of years, maybe Tex will be looking at the scoreboard wishing he was playing for the Orioles.

Well put Roch. The PR hit that the Orioles are going to take from this Teixeira mess is going to be huge.

I doubt attendance breaks the 1.5 million mark this season.

Hopefully Angelos is hit very hard in his very large wallet.

So congratulations, Andy and Peter. You want to become the Rays, well we are in year #2 of 10 losing seasons the way you are rebuilding this team. I just hope there is a fanbase left by year #10 and that Markakis, Wieters and Jones don't bolt while you continue to endlessly rebuild...

There's a reason the Cubs fans wanted MacPhail gone, and now we are seeing it...

From the winter meetings on I felt the same way. Too many people get their hopes up only to be let down. Keep buying those lottery tickets and scratch offs peeps.

Roch,

Excellent post!

Merry Christmas to you and those you hold close.

Thanks for all your hard work.

Joe in the Dena

Whatever. Move on without him. My concern is what makes AM so convinced the O's will be ready to compete in 2010? Roberts will be gone, Huff will be gone, Markakis will be getting closer to free agency and there are no position players in the minors. AM keeps referring to Tampa as a model for success... They were a cinderella story, who caught the Yankees and Sox on a bad year with a lot of turmoil and injuries. Those things don't happen every year. I'm concerned that our rebuilding process is modeled around a cinderella story. Not good.

Ok its over! Mark Teixeira is an @sshole, and I hope the Oriole fan sell Camden Yards on opening day just to boo him and show him he is no longer welcome in Baltimore.
That being said, let's move on! The earth is still spinning, the sun will come up tomorrow. We still have a lot of FA left.
Roch, could you please tell me why the Orioles are not looking at Jon Garland? Being an Angels season ticket holder, I got to see a lot of him last year and he can pitch, he is young and has American League expereince. I keep hearing about all these National league guys the O's are looking at, but I think that is part of the problem. They look at these NL guys and don't realize you can pretty much add half a point to there ERA when they come over to the AL. Why not go out and get a guy like Garland, he has proven he can pitch in this league, and I don't think it would take a boat load of money. I would rarher have Garland then Redding, or sheets.
Keep your chins up O's fans, the Spankees have spend a lot of money before, and look what it gets them. They haven't won since 2000.I still think the O's are on the right track, I think we will see some progress this year, but Andy bring home Jon Garland, you won't be sorry!

Oh, I forgot to ask a favor... Please ask AM "why should Orioles fans come out and pack the seats of Camden Yards in 2009?" I'm interested to hear the answer to that question. Merry Christmas.

Right on, Roch. It shouldn't surprise us: professional athletes are not fans. They are the players who play, not the fans who root root root for the home team. At most, they are fans of the college team they played for, but they don't have any special affection or loyalty for a pro team. In many ways, they are the antithesis of the fans; they shift loyalties as soon as they're on the free agent market, while most fans stick with their team their whole lives even to the point of absurdity.

Not to try to defend Mark Teixeira, but if you where in his shoes, and your watching the Spankees sign Sabathia, and Burnett, and then you see the O's, with the worst pitching in the league, do nothing but sign a mid-level SS, and offer excuses why they didn't sign this guy or that guy, Who would you want to sign with??

Roch--loved every word u wrote
i have been a orioles fan my entire life i bleed orange this is very hard to take.i have a 15 year old son who was devaststed today as was i.the money is a non issue the fans would have come back,the jerseys he would have sold they would have got there money back.ill be at opening day with my son i live at deep creek lake and will make the drive down.but it may be the last.happy holidays and peace to u all

Roch- The weakest people are those who are fair-weather fans. That shows there is no backbone. Tex is a fairweather fan.
I am not gonna bash Tex because I have nothing against HOMO's. I hope Andy sees how it is in Baltimore nowadays. You have to treat those who want to play here good. Nick should be locked up in a week.
Let me ask your opinion, there is word out of the Boras camp that he called Andy Macphail this morning and gave him one last shot to match or beat the offer and Macphail told him no.
If that is the case, then he sucks too.
I'm torn on this one. I want to blame the O's but, thats the only team I have. Ya know?
I'll blame Tex. 9 games a year, 4 abs a game, is 36 times 8 years thats 288 times we get to boo that nerdy fruit out of his home town.

The Yankees buying a pennant is nothing new. They are playing within the MLB rules. This just puts a spotlight on the need for a mlb team salary cap like football, not a self imposed one by a cheap profit driven owner like Angelos. Look at the NFL and see how many had a chance for the playoffs up until the end. A loser one year and go to the playoffs the next.

Until that happens we are stuck with what we got. Some think all we have to do is have a good farm system and develop our own stars. Tampa made it work. But after a dozen years of number 1 draft picks. The Orioles are almost hapless when it comes to developing players. How they stumbled upon Nick Markakis must have been someones mistake. The many #1's that have never made it higher than AA shows how a friend of Angelos can be put in charge of something he knows nothing about.

Look at the bozo's in the front office until Andy came along. With the very few millions that could be pried out of Angelos stingy pockets they squandered on the likes of Biez, Walker, and Bradford. And we still can't get rid of Flannagan because he is a friend of Angelos.

We will see The O's not sign Markakis. Bye Bye Brian Roberts.

Lets wait for only a year or two and we will have the great young arms and Matt Wieters and we will have a champion. I don't buy it. There will be no reason for any great player to stay here too long. If this was to happen, how soon will Matt Wieters goes to the Red Sox or Yankees for 1 billion over 10 years?

I am so disgusted at the Orioles. I have gone to so many games and stayed loyal for so many ( 50+ )years that it is hard to say I'm done but I'm done. I'll root the O's on while watching on T.V. I will only go to see a game again if the Orioles build a "new" ballpark. I will only pay to see a game when their is a MLB salary cap.

Maybe MASN could extend the $1 ticket offer for the entire season except for the Prime games.

I don't think "losing" Tex is that big of a deal. Yes it would have been great to have him but I doubted a Boras client was going to give a home town discount. Those players choose different agents.

I don't see 1st base as the glaring hole in the O's in the upcoming years. Compare the stats of Huff and Texeira. Not much difference. Sure Tex is a better fielder and younger but is that worth $20 million + per year? For 8 years?

I could see giving Tex these number for 5 or 6 years but 8? He'll be 36 at the end of this contract.

I would rather overpay on the front end of these players than overpay at the tail end of their careers. I hope the O's use this money to extend contracts for Markakis and to a lesser extent Roberts while taking reasonable risks on starting pitching.

I had to comment on this one and I agree that Roch nailed it on the head. My 18 month old daughter has learned that the bird on daddy's cap is a "Bird"...she'll learn later on in life that AJ, Mussina and now Tex have another bird for the Orioles and all of us fans.

Well said, Roch. I have to wonder at what point in a player's professional development all of the childhood pride and dreams go out the window. Maybe it's the second that a $100K check arrives and it has a Texas Rangers logo on it. I don't understand how you could grow up cheering for a team and then play for the Yankees. I mean, the Yankees? The Sox, I could understand. But not the Yankees. To hell with Mark Teixeira, and shame on all of us for putting any faith in baseball or the Orioles franchise. I've been drifting away from baseball for too long now, and this was just the latest push from the Orioles. I feel like I woke up on Christmas morning with dog crap in my stocking instead of presents.

On the plus side, at least this whole ridiculous charade is over. You were getting tired of it, and so were we.

A very fair, analytic, well-written piece, Roch -- at a time when I certainly needed one. Thanks. (One additional comment: while this might not be "a dead issue for quite a while," I think it's dead for me. I'm certainly ready to move on. After all, what else is left to do, really?)

Well spoken Roch...well spoken, now Teixeira can go fornicate himself.

Roch- I look at it like this..... This is our team. The city we live in. Live or Die, I'm with them.

Awesome post, Roch. You summed up my feelings on the matter perfectly. I am sure many Orioles fans share the same sentiment.

PR aside, I am glad that the front office did not take a bigger part in this charade. The entire ordeal perfectly illustrates what is wrong with the current MLB model. I know that the games have to be played before a champion is crowned, but how can the league expect to survive long term if only a small, select group of teams are in the running for the difference making free agents? How can teams expect to keep the youngsters that they groom into stars when agents like Boras are out there insisting that they test and control the free agent market? Even signing draft picks is now a chore because of these guys. If they aren't interested in a salary cap, then they might as well contract half the league. I love this game, but I cannot stand how it is operated at the professional level. Good, honest people everywhere are loosing their livelihoods in today's economy, yet a bloated, egomaniacal franchise spends like it prints the money itself. While at the same time begging for additional municipal funds to build a stadium that many average fans will not be able to afford going to. This entire episode is just obscene.

You broke my heart, Fredo. They would have idolized you in Baltimore. But instead, you are now a pariah. Shameful. At least you have enough money to help you forget.

Roch,

Thanks for putting the Tex saga in perspective. You know what though, it is nice to have the Yankees back! Bring them on, I say. They just spent 20+ million a year to improve their defense at first base and slightly improve their offense. Don't get me wrong this season is going to hurt but unlike seasons past this feels different, it feels like the beginning with Wieters in the fold, Kakes (extend him) getting better and A. Jones just realizing his potential. Pitching is on its way and is too good for them not to be atleast useful.
In the end sometimes it is easiest to define things but what they are not, Tex was not Pujols, Arod, Vlad (back in the day), Manny or even Utley and David Wright. He is more Carlos Lee, Paul Konerko or JD Drew, certainly very good, but not great, not worth sacrificing the future for... he has not nor will he ever put a franchise on its back (and for that money any player should atleast have that capability)... the O's will be better for this in the long run. The problem is that they have spent a previous decade running in circles down a steep hillside.
You know what thought its been 20 years since my favorite team took the field, so I say to the basebal gods this: Why Not?

Great post Roch. I agreed that Tex was a guy we could sign and the contract would help, not hurt, the rebuilding. Now we probably have to tear down a little more by trading Roberts and maybe Huff/Sherrill. It makes 2010 the first possible year of respectability though.

I still think O's fans need to rally and make sure we attend that first series with the Yankees. Usually, the Yank/Red Sox fan invasions start later in the year. I think O's fans can make a good showing that first series and give Tex a loud chorus of boos (but keep it classy Baltimore)

Very well said! Thank you.

Enjoy the holidays and thank you for being a pin cushion, the wife says I spend more time talking to you then her. I told her that without a damn clause in your contract I would have had a hug, plus you talk sports. A match made in heaven

Rest up my friend, it won't be long before the Brian Roberts rumors start, accurate or not.

And Simmons of ESPN said it best, "rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for the house in blackjack."

As a season ticket holder, I now wish I hadn't renewed. As a fan, I feel used. And as an attendee of opening day this year, I will be booing Tex with every fiber of my being. Not because he didn't sign here... but because he sold his soul to the Yanks. Anyone but them Mark... anyone but them.

Tex,

No one begrudges you the spoils of your labor. Hell, we're all trying to catch a break and earn more. But its the way you just did it. Letting your slimeball agent use the press to use us to use the Orioles to help you to that huge pay raise. Allowing him to feed that 'strong attraction to the Orioles' lie to the ESPN guy. Playing on the hopes and dreams of real Oriole fans that you wanted to play here. Shameful. Your parents should be very proud. How does it feel not to have a 'hometown' any more. New York will never be Baltimore. Wait till you strike out with the bases loaded one time. You could have easily avoided a lifetime of Baltimore animosity if you would have negotiated your windfall honestly. And believe me, you will care about that one day.

Roch- Have you heard the comment by the Boras aid saying that Tex wanted to give the O's the chance to match the offer? Maybe you can find out if Boras talked to Macphail in the morning of the 23rd? They were told the same thing the Sox were told. That it was too steep for them. Let me say something about this.
What were we saving our money for? What are we saving it for?
Let me ask another thing. When it comes to contracts and the O's, they are the pits. We almost lost Weiters. Can you imagine if we would have left him go? We couldn't resign Bedard. BJ Ryan, Moose. The Markakis extension talks have been stopped 2 times. BROB.
I still say Tex going to the Yankees does not matter as much as everyone thinks. They lost Abreu, Giambi, Mussina, Pettite. Not to mention how old Posada, Jeter, Damon is. Cano was a 1 year wonder. Arod is a beast. But, after that, now Tex who could go either way. But, pitching wise, CC could be 900lbs. Burnetts arm could fall off. Wang had injury problems. Hughes is a bust. Joba is ok, but there is a scouting report now..(See Rodrigo Lopez).
They have traded away all of their draft picks to bring in Nady, etc. Plus, now that they have signed 3 type A free agents, they will lose their first 3 picks in this draft.
So, it aint all bad when they put lets see..
AROD- 275
Tex- 180
Sabathia- 160
Burnett- 80
700 MIllion in 50players.
Those 4 make 94 million a year. That would be the 12th highest payroll in baseball. Everyone of them except Burnett will be making more than the entire O's team after the 09 season. Wow. They are done for a long while though. Their payroll is now estimated at 230 million. Thats 90 million more than the next team.
I'll tell you another thing. Once you get to the playoffs, its anybodies game anyway,
They missed last year and I was happy because I want to see Girardi fail for whoring us, now I want to see Tex fail too. If they dont WIN the World Series, Girardi will be fired and his entire career will be over. If you can not win with that team, then you are just plain BAD.
I hope tex sucks too. I mean I know he sucks but I am talking about baseball now. Not his side activities.

You said it perfectly. It comes down to PR and that is where AM failed. Giving one player that much money is ludicrous but you need to be competitive and show the fans that you are trying to get him, esp. when you know it is a lost cause. NO down side.

Now he has gone to the dark side and the O's have the continued perception of lowballing negotiations. If they wouldn't ante up for Tex, then who would they really try for? It makes for a tough sell to the fans and potential free agents, as well as Roberts and Markakis. WE ARE NOT A SMALL MARKET TEAM, though we unfortunately act like one.

Great post Roch. We put this guy above other players because we thought he was different than the A-rods and Mannys of the league who are just out to get that big contract. Well we were blinded by our own wishful thinking. In the end, he's nothing better. Just another name that will play his career in NY. He'll be booed when he's slumping and harassed by reporters on the streets.

I actually think Macphail saved some face for the O's. He could have brought the O's offer to the national media, told everybody the O's were offering 180 million. And at the end, the Yanks would have went to 190 million, and we would have looked silly. Let him go there...........Lets just hope after his 8 years, lets just hope he leaves with as many world series as mussina has!!

Roch, Thanks again for all the information and commentary. If AM knew that Tex didn't want to play here, or, at the least, got the indication that he wasn't all that interested, why didn't he withdraw his offer and call game over? Be real with the fan base? I also question the validity of having a plan and then deviating it. When did he decide it was worth chasing Teixeira? Was it last winter, say, right before trading Roberts? This whole situation reeks. Not getting Teixeira is not a problem in and of itself. In the context of relative inactivity by the FO, failure to trade Roberts and Guthrie, it is a problem. Either trade the talent for younger talent, or trade it to free up money to buy better talent. This club is in big trouble.

Roch- I probably know the answer to this one but... Are we anywhere with signing any decent pitchers? Kawakami? Sheets? Lowe? Or just more fodder to help the AL east teams offensive stats.
You have to admit, it is exhausting being an O's fan. I couldn't do your job.

----PS---- One could argue that the reason players are so expensive these days, is because, they play the O's, who put High School pitchers on the mound, and HR totals and RBI totals are inflated making them look like Lou Gehrig. Look at Carlos Pena. I think he hit 10 of his HRs against us last year.

Great post Roch. Probably the best take on the situation I've seen.

Nice post, Roch! I have been a long time Orioles fan up in Rhode Island. I kind of new that Tex wasn't coming to Baltimore, from looking at it from outside the box, so to speak. Not with the Red Sox and Yankees dangling all those dreams and CASH in front of his eyes. Who would not want to take the money and run? I have been saying this for the longest time baseball desperately needs a salary cap, the luxury tax is a total joke, to some of these teams it's like pocket change. I know this isn't going to happen because of the players union and the owners with all the money have to much say as to what goes on. So a unified lockout is totally out of the question! So, we lick our wounds and don't dwell on this, time to move on. Let's get Markaikis and Roberts signed to extensions and sign some inning eaters for this year and wait for those "young horses" to get ready.
Andy Mcphail's plan is working, just look at his past record in Minnesota and Chicago. You don't have to spend hundreds of millions, especially on one player, you have to draft the right players and make smart trades, and who can argue that since Andy's gotten here that that's not what's been happening (Bedard for 5, Tejada for 5), and how many of these guys made an impact last season ( Sherrill, Jones, Scott, Albers, etc.). So all I say is, let's move on and be patient, we wouldn't have been that much better with Tex next season because as far as I know Tex can't PITCH!

At least Teixeira and A.J. Burnett can car pool to NY from Baltimore.

I know not signing Teixeira is good for the O's plan, but the pain still hurts.

Roch...I don't think the Orioles had a real chance at signing this guy. Having said that, I will not renew my season tickets I've had since Memorial Stadium or go to Spring Training this year. I do think the Orioles could have pursued him more just to send a positive message to the fans.

I love the sport of baseball and the Orioles. I will continue to watch all the games on tv, or at least 2/3rds of them. I will not pay money to go in person.

Now we need focus on signing Markakis (Roberts is as good as gone and that's okay provided we get something decent in return). I think the team owes it to us to sign Markakis and not expect him to take a discount. It's not like he's going to take a discount AND play for a losing team too. He's one of the best, if not the best right fielder in the game, and if we are not going to be as aggressive as other clubs when it comes to signing free agents (because we're a "low budget" team now like the Twins...although hardly like the Twins talent-wise), we need to at the very least take care of our own. I would like to think it couldn't get worse, but if we don't sign Markakis, it is going to get worse!

Roch:

Your comments are right on. HE DIDN'T WANT TO COME HERE. If he was smart, he'd send the Mayflower trucks to pick up his relatives belongs because they too, are no longer welcomed here. They did a great job teaching their son about what's right and what's wrong. What a Wonderful World? Merry Christmas Roch and thanks for all your hard work.

I think Oscar Salazar deserves a shot a 1B. He has good numbers and has done nothing to not earn a spot on next years roster. If we have an opening at 1B then fix it from within the organization. If they bring back Millar after all this Texiera mess - and with a possibility of filling the role with Salazar, I'm going to scream. Spend the money on starting pitching. Wee next 2-3 starting solid starting pitchers.

Great post Roch, you hit many good points here. I didn't want him at the price it would have cost, so i'm not really upset about it, I just absolutely hate the yankees, so that's my problem with Texeira. Him and everyone else that sold baseball out to play in pinstripes for huge amounts of money that have completely screwed up baseball. Thanks for the tireless efforts to cover this story. Get some rest, be fat and sassy for the holidays. Hopefully this will be the last we have to hear about Mark "show me the money or bite me" texeira.

Roch, great post, well said.

It became apparent to me that he wasn't coming here when an article came out (might have been last week) saying that Boras hadn't called McPhail with a counter offer. As soon as I heard that I figured he didn't really have any desire to come here.

Does anyone else find it wierd that Boras called McPhail and said that HE was going a different way with Tex, not that Tex wanted to go a different way?

Roch, do the Orioles have any interest in Adam Dunn? I feel like a good consolation prize would be getting Dunn, putting him in left field, Scott/Montanez at DH, and Huff at 1B. What do you think?

Merry Christmas Roch....one of the best reads I have ever seen you write...as true and as accurate as can be put in words....sucks but not a damn thing we can do...reality is reality..baseball needs a salary cap....like the other sports...only way to solve it...that makes each team have to become experts at drafting and developing and even finding the gems..from all over the globe....which ever teams do that the best will be the best..but all playing with the same equal opportunity...that being said...it still sucks cause we all wanted this to be the big move that put the O's over the top....I do not like Mr Texeria any more....I hope they boo him right out of the stadium and he can strikes out every at bat against the O's forever....and if I knew it would not make sound like a jerk I would wish him..say something worse...but that would not be the right way to think...guess i need to say if it was meant to happen it would have...the O's have to go another way I guess....

Your Point here besides Texeria not coming here is the LACK OF INTENSITY by the O's management and ownership to press the issue. It has the appearance neither really wanted this.

I think this has a black eye on Tex and the O's organization. No I would not want to give the farm away for one player. BUT the O's management and owneship still does not accept the need to be more creative and intense in attempts as a pay back for 11years of Ho Hum treatment of the fans.

Issue: Is the 1.9 mil attendance the low or is it now going lower since their seems no loyalty "TO" the fans by the organization.At some point the fans have to count. ACTIONS not WORDS !

Well put Roch. As much as this has driven me crazy, who am I kidding, I am an orioles fan for life. I will be there on opening day to chuck verbal batteries a tex and all the Yankee fans at the yard.

For chrismas this year I asked for a salary cap in baseball

This is a GREAT post...How long ago did you prepare this?

I'll believe you if you say that it was last night. But I'd also believe you if you said it was 2 weeks ago.

Have a happy holiday Roch!

At least you don't need to bombarded with Tex news all weekend!

Well put Mr.K. We will kall this post special K. Too bad the pig, I am sorry its Christmas, Mark teixeira does not see it. I had an insider tell me this as well, you do not hire Scott Boras to be an Oriole. You Hure Boras to be a Yankee, anything else is second best to him. I was also told that if you want to be an Oriole you hire Ron Shapiro. That being said, the player that I understand that truely truely wants to play here is Gavin Floyd. I heard this from a priest over at Mt. St.Joe.
When is he a free agent?

ChaosLex,

After Roch's eloquent piece, all you can say is "I guess Tony Pente said it best." Yeesh! Tony can't carry Roch's notebook. Have a little pride and think for yourself, sychophant.

here's wishing the ghost of albert belle visits tex and ends his career. After all its all about the $'s to the guy!

Right on again Roch. Im disappointed but my love for the O's hasnt diminished one bit. My blood is still black and orange all year round. Tex's true colors came out today. We dont need or want him if he isnt truly interested in being an Oriole and embodying the Oriole way. The club is still going in the right direction it will just take a little longer.

If i was working on the buy-side of an important M&A transaction and i used the excuse that the seller never came back with a counter proposal, I would be fired. First i would be called an idiot and then I would be fired. You get paid to get the deal done period. This did not seem well executed from the beginning. I'm not saying this would be easy, but given how important this was their approach here was pitiful.

Mussina did not stay here because he thought we were a dysfunctional organisation that would never win (He was of course right). Getting Tex to sign here would be a challenge for the same reason. We failed as usual. This was a fork in the road for this team wether they realised it or not (and I would be surprised if the did). It is time to see what we can get for Roberts and Markakis as neither will ever sign here. For the first time since the early 1970s, I am going to look for another team to follow. I finally can't take it anymore.

Excellent read... Here's wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a safe, healthy and Happy New Year.

I grew up on "yes Miss Norma and no Mr.Bill", hot steamed crabs and beer on the patio out back, Chuck Thompson yell'in "ain't the beer cold..."over the radio, Brooks, Frank, Boog, Earl, four twenty game winning pitchers, World Series games for a very reasonable price, and an afternoon with my dad at the ball park. Priceless one might say.
Unfortunately Mark T won't get to experience the these gifts cause you can't buy them with $180 million dollars and Yankee pinstripes.

Roch, all I have to say is this:

EXCELLENT POST!

Sure, the Orioles could have been more agressive, but Andy McPhail wasn't going to get played like the Nationals were. If he doesn;t want to be here, I don't want him.

As an expatriated "Baltimoron"and residing in the belly of the beast (The Poconoooos )this is a hard pill to swallow. However. Andy MacPhail was brought here to rebuild the pipeline. Recreate the Oriole way. Build a system on the lines of Oakland, Minnesota, Florida, that always has someone comming up to replace the Jacksons,Texerias, Elways. From my vantage point $180 million will go along way keeping Right field ,Center field, Catcher, and future pitchers as Oreos. Remember one thing. The last number of years has seen the Ya....Ya ... Yan...Yan..(tough to say that word) Yankees finish in the same place as the O's, NOT IN THE WORLD SERIES!

Great post Roch. What a bitter pill to swallow now for O's fans. Something tells me Teixera isn't much of a team guy an in the end wouldn't have been very happy here short term. I think he'll have a bumpy road in NY and those bumps are something he'll struggle with..... mightily.

Have You herd of a back of plan now?

You can't put a price on leadership. I don't blame people who refuse to pay inflated prices. I am from a small pa. town amd played ball with a certain manager from Tampa Bay. Leadership comes first. We have no choice but to see how it plays out. We are a young team,and there are alot of free agents out there. Choose wisely and make sure that you take care of what you have. B-Rob and Markakis would be a start. We are young and that's where impressionable leadership can influence. I believe the front office is doing a fine job. Tex is a bump in the road. Let NY have him and all the rest. For that price we could have 5 decent players who want to play for the game,not the money.

Merry Christmas Roch,that was a a very sincere post. I am the one that should be buying you a steak down at ruth chris for all your work the last 4 weeks on this subject.But in reality i truly believe this will have a very negative impact on this organization for many many more years to come. I am telling you right now that Roberts will never resign, and you can put Nick right there with him.I told you way back when that when Andy took this job he really didn't realize how bad this organization was, now you can double that.Yesterday they lost many fans from a already dwindling base, including myself who will never attend another ball game in this town. People can laugh and say this will all blow away but i am telling you right now the repercussions will greater then anybody can ever imagine. If i knew how to organize a rally to show this organization that eneough is enough i would. Take care roch and good luck with your picks the rest of the football season. If you ever want that steak just let me know.

It's time to go back to what we were doing before this mess started...concentrate on PITCHING!!!!!!!!!!! If Aubrey Huff is our fall back at first, I'm pretty darn happy about that. He can hit! And
like a friend of mine said, "we can take some the money we didn't spend on Tex and find 2 guys that will get us 50 homers and 200 RBI.

Roch,

I agree wholeheartedly.

Of all teams, you choose the YANKEES? As a person born in Baltimore and raised in Severna Park it's hard to even fathom.

- I half expect to watch the Zapruder film and see Texeira on the grassy knoll.

- Was Mark one of the Iranian students responsible for over-running our embassy in 1979?

- I think Teixeira was credited with an assist on the first goal the Soviets scored in Lake Placid, 1980.

- Someone should check to see if OJ Simpson's glove fits on Mark's hand.

Last year, the Yankees were kind of cute as they missed the playoffs. Still, I did find an emptiness in my heart as I was denied the joy of watching them lose in the postseason for the first time this decade. Maybe good ol' Tex will get them back in the playoffs and I can sit back, relax and watch them implode again. Thanks, Mark. I look forward to it.

I wake this morning more convinced than ever of two sober thoughts:

Personality alone will not get you a date with a hot chick.

Baseball DESPERATELY needs a salary cap even if it means a prolonged strike.

Well put Roch. If the Orioles haven't made an offer to Adam Dunn I want MacPhail to get to it! Don't take a month trying to sign him as cheap as he can,overpay him and make an offer he can't turn down! I'm sick of the poor mouth crap,players won't sign here unless we overpay!
Merry Christmas Roch

Any truth to the rumor that Teixeira will be attending the Ravens-Jags game on Sunday?

I couldn't resist that one.

You're exactly right, Roch, a little more life got sucked out of this franchise.

Couldn't say it any better.

Today we know Tex grew up with Don Mattingly as his favorite player. Where's that info been? As for Tex, we shoulda known someone who grew up in Severna Park but went to Mt. St. Joe didn't put much stock in his "hometown." Don't look now, but right after Christmas look and see where Nick Markakis grew up. Then you'll know where that contract is headed, too.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Mattingly stuff has been written many times, but he's not in the Yankees organization anymore, so not sure if it really mattered. But that's why he wore #23. - Roch

i guess people from ct.don't rate roch?i'm a long time o's fan and have not yet seen my post even though i've written numerous times.once again here we go.i think the o's should sign adam dunn for first with all his power.take the extra and get the pitching we need.along with bench players instead of paying it all to one player.tex is only out for the cash just like his agent boras.he's killing the game and so our the yankees.mr. angelos needs to open his pockets and spend just a little and stop being a scrooge.he'd make it back with masn and the fan base coming back.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sorry, Bill, this is the first time I've seen your name here. Not sure what happened to the other entries. How's life in CT? Had a Mystic Pizza there once and loved it. - Roch

Sad but so true Roch.

If he had only done what was right - taken the home team - he could have been an icon. Instead, just another rich bum.

I'm still an Orioles fan. Always will be. Andy - keep up the work to make us a winner again. Sign Nick and some pitchers and Brian if he will sign. If not, trade him for some more pieces. We shall win again - I BELIEVE!

If you are correct and they never altered their offfer and if you are correct and they never used Cal Ripken then the McPhail era is more like other failed previous regimes than I thought. And that aint good.

Roch,

The real problem is a near-total lack of self-awareness on the part of the baseball franchise.

THE TEAM IS TERRIBLE.

Not bad. Not "rebuilding." It is flat-out terrible.

They continually sign and attack their own best players, and then wonder why no one wants to join the abuse. When is the last time a good player made it through his entire contract with the Baltimore Orioles without being attacked?

Lopez?
Hernandez?
Bedard?
Tejeda?
Gibbons?
Ponson?
Sosa?
Cust?
Byrnes?
Payton?
Palmeiro?

Gee, everyone is a villain and a liability if they're an Oriole late in their contract. How can that be? Doesn't anyone notice that trend?

"He was the one player who might convince Brian Roberts to stay" why would we pay Roberts to decline why we rebuild? He will be 34-35 years old by time we are ready. Taking the comp picks or a July trade is the way to go with him.If Nick isn't willing to sign long term a year from now we need to be prepared to shop him. We all got a cold reminder this is a business. Back to Tex he is not worth even the 140 we offered. Remember were sentimentality got us with Mora.....

In the midst of my rage and venting yesterday, I was irrational. So I apologize if I brought the rating of this blog up to a R rating.

This is truly a great post. I agree with you. And I think the Teixiera signing really brought the heat upon the Yankees with their stupid almost 500 million spending. Now, I believe the Brewers GM said he is considering asking for a salary cap.

It's just sad that they are going to do something AFTER the fact happened. And I do really HOPE that Brian Roberts is committed to the re-building plan and doesn't bolt. Same for Nick Markakis.

I just want to know who our first baseman will be. And the 4 starters in the rotation. As well as the starting catcher. Bench too.

Smart move by AM and Angelos not to chase Tex. They made a very respectable offer and as you said, most home town guys would have jumped at it. I never thought he was worth that much and it would hurt the oriole in the long run. I hope AM just keep his Twin's philosophy. Sign Nick and bring our minor league studs up. We're be more than competitive with the Yanks. I think about the Yanks and Paulson in the same breath, stupid. Go AM!!

Roch , you have been a rock for us through this thing..........you have been our salvation man. I didn't really believe the O's would sign Tex , but the thing that bothers me the most is Andy's statements about not putting too many resources into one player. We know how Peter the Great feels about paying pitchers , we now know how he feels about paying position players. It doesn't bode well for this franchise and the great fans of Baltimore , I believe we are doomed as long as Peter the Great lives on.................

After having the night to sleep on it I completely agree with the whole entry. I'm still disappointed that the FO didn't feel a little more urgency in how much this signing would have meant to the fans... but after reading everything that I have about how the Yankees were pulled into this negotiation I realize it never would have mattered anyway. So I'm redirecting my anger for the moment and waiting to see what the O's do with the rest of the winter before I grade them on the offseason.

As far as Tex - I couldn't have been mad at him for choosing the Nats, Sox or Angels if they had more money on the table, but the fact that he and Boras went TO the Yankees like a couple of puppies wagging their tails and rolling over to show their tummies really has me steamed!! Screw Teixeira, he wasn't worth the adoration that Baltimore fans were willing to heap on him...let's just make Gavin Floyd the next "hometown" kid in a few years. ;o)

I've always felt a little bad for Alex Rodriguez the way the Yankee fans get on his arse and boo him for EVERYTHING... I will feel no such pity for Mark Teixeira. I hope he walks away from his deal with as many World Series rings as Mike Mussina did.

Roch - Nice take, and Merry Christmas. At the end of the day - this one is on Texiera. I hope he is comfortable not being able to "come home" again. The worst part is - you are spot on in that he never intended to come here. So, he WILLFULLY used the Orioles to get what he wanted. I could give a little credit if he had been stand up and respectful enough of the home town team to at least be up front. I have a new "LEAST FAVORITE PLAYER," and his name is Mark Texiera. PA and Andy get a pass on this one, but it speaks volumes about where the franchise is, and how hard it will be to recover.

By the way, THANK YOU for putting up with all the ridiculous emotional swings and rampant rumors (and even taking a couple beatings of your own) the past two weeks or so, Roch!!

Merry Christmas!

Roch, I appreciate all your work through this storyline. As much as I wanted Teix here, I didn't think turning the Orioles into the 2001 Texas Rangers (one obscenely-paid superstar and no starting pitching) was the answer to our problems. The plan would have been to have this one superduperstar on our team play through 2 or 3 brutal years until our young talent and starting pitching finally matured to take us to the next level.

That's EXACTLY what they tried with Tejada. It didn't pan out.

I've been an O's fan since I moved to MD in 1976, and even though I haven't lived in the state in over 20 years, the O's remain my passion -- and my cross to bear. I'm not going to throw away my team loyalties based on failed free agent signings. I'm convinced Andy MacPhail is building the club the way is has to be built: from the ground up, slow and steady, with equal parts conviction and dispassion.

It would have been easier to bust out the flamethrower and submit a fiery screed with tons of misspellings and drop several ad hominem attacks on MacPhail, Angelos, Boras, and Teixiera. It wouldn't make me feel any better, though.

Hold your daughter tight, Roch. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Very well put, Roch. Did anyone else out there watch game #5 of the 1970 World Series on MASN last night? Not only a different game, but a different world. It's this difference that draws me less and less to the major league game and more and more to the college summer leagues. I follow the Valley Baseball League in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. (Chris Ray and Luke Scott, among many others, played out here.) In the metro area there's the Cal Ripken Senior College Baseball League. Most of these kids know that they'll never make the majors, but they spend their summers doing something that they love--play the game of baseball. Everyone out there who is discouraged or disenchanted should give himself or herself a Christmas present this year. Promise yourself that you will take in a college summer league game. It will take you back and at the end of the game, you'll have a feeling about baseball that you haven't had in a long time.

great post roch. especially loved your point about Tejada. Tex was NEVER gonna be worth 22.5 mil. I can't wait to see him outslugged by matt weiters this summer!

I am NOT saying that I ever thought the O's had a shot at Tex & more importantly, I don't think he ever really wanted to come here under the current regime & atmosphere.
I think what Hank paid him is absurd too. The kid learned nothing form Dad's mistakes apparently. That or many $$ really does grow on trees in Tampa & he has no concept of it.
The problem most O's fan have, me included, IMHO, is that potter never just puts his best foot forward, the best offer he can then & now. He always has to nibble & crawl there, trying to save a few coins. He then gets trumped by the big boys. Maybe he should try bowling the guy over with his best shot, that may be the only way he will get the top FAs to $ign here before Mr Moneybags gets involved.
One last thing, screw Tex. O's fan deep inside huh? Wants to come home huh? BS. Screw Bor@ss too, he used potter once again. $igning with the Spanks of all teams only digs to knife in further too.

Now, focus on Dunn & make the best offer, fast. If it has to be take it or leave offer so be it, but better to try & know, then move on to the next shining stone that's available instead of getting hosed for weeks on a pipe dream.

One last thing...potter has more $$ than they let on. He doesn't have to shop for bargain basement FAs. He has the sweet deal at the Yawn with the State, COULD have 2.5M attendance again if he tried a little, MASN $$ starting to roll in, $$ from the Nats for crying out loud too! Stop crying poor mouth potter, the song insults our intelligence. Don't pat us on the head & tell us how much you care while you have the other hand in our pocket & laugh all the way to the bank.

Roch, very nice!

With all the negative stuff going around, I am still looking forward to my trip to Spring Training again this coming March.

Hope you and ALL the O's fans have a Happy Holiday and Be Safe out there.

Well done Roch.

"I guess playing for his hometown team while making $20 million a year and being set for life wasn't good enough."

That says it all.

not to speak for everyone else, but really great post Roch. I was at an Oriole game with my wife right under the press box. we saw you but didnt want to bother you, but saw that you were really nice to the other fans that came up to talk to you.

teixeira is no ripken. he is a player of a different sort. Ripken is a buisnessman too but did many things to help the team and continues to when called upon. Ripken is our superman, our hometown hero. They dont make them like they used to. happy holidays Roch, thx for being just what we fans need around here!

Roch,

Well said, indeed. Thank you for everything. Your work unites the fans, even when the game can't. I do believe you should have a section or two at the Yard for your readers.

Merry Christmas

Go O's!

Agree completely with Concerned Citizen, who saved me a comment. I think it says a lot about MacPhail that he stuck to the plan through of all this mess.

I agree with your post, and am trying to be forgiving since it is Christmas Eve, but honestly...I really hope the Mussina curse lives on through Teixeira and he gets exactly the same number of World Series rings.

I was so infuriated yesterday. But today I woke up feeling, relieved. So much can happen over the course of a seven to 8 year contract. That is a lot of money to tie up in one player. Albert Belle, point of reference. You'll all be cheering once Burnett blows out his elbow, Sabathia can't pitch because he can't make weight, and the Yankees will implode because they can't play as a team. I'd rather root for a scrappy home grown bunch of players that play "Orioles" baseball. Sac the guy in from third, hit in run, steal bases. Fundamentals people!!! Cheer up people, Andy McPhail is a shrewd and intelligent BASEBALL man, and we are lucky to have him. We're headed in the right direction. Just look at what's he has already accomplished in his short tenure. I'll attend my usual 2 to 5 games next year, eat my share of Boogs, drink my share of beers, and watch as this team grows into a contender the right way.

J Velasquez

OH AND PLEASE GET SOME PITCHING!!!

Well said/written Roch. Thank you for all the work on this the past few weeks. We wish you and your family a Merry Christmas.

Great Post! Thanks Roch for all your thoughts, information, and opinions.

I am thankful that the saga has ended.

I think that at the end of the day the continued losing speak volumes. Would you want to play for the Orioles right now?

Players and loyalty to their hometown or to a certain team are out the window. Players, especially free agents, follow the $. With that, Roberts will be gone; it just a matter of time.

So how much money is too much for one player? Have we reached the breaking point?

I absolutely hate that Tex signed with the Yankees; I have lost respect for him as a player and a person. However, I am quite certain the MLB loves that TEX signed with the Yankees. It is the biggest market and when the Yankees do well, MLB does well.

Regardless of all of are rantings and ravings, at the end of the day we are either fairweather fans or we stick with the team through thick and thin. Have the Orioles squandered chance after chance, you bet they have. I guess each of us needs to decide what action we will take.

Quoting Roch,

"Did the Orioles low-ball Teixeira? The answer is "no" if you consider that $140 million is almost double what they gave Miguel Tejada, who actually won an MVP award, and it wasn't their final offer. It's "yes" if you compare that $140 million to what the other teams, including the Nationals, were willing to pay"

Absoluteley, they low-balled Teixeria, this is the same thing the Rangers offered 3 freaking years ago, we don't wanna hear excuses.

Just say we sort of tried by offer the same contract he rejected three years ago, we failed because we didn't pursue him with an offer that he would even consider, and now we are gonna get Mark Hendrickson instead of Mark Teixeria... Happy Holidays and another year of no Orioles Magic...... :(

Everyone,
My problem with the Orioles is the fact they said this was there initial offer and they had wiggle room. If you really want someone, why do you wait for them to get back to you? Did the Red Soxs? Did the Yankees? No they didn't. The Orioles were again NOT PROACTIVE in their pursuit which makes me think....they really had no intentions of signing Tex. It was all a PR stunt to try and hold fans ......one more year?

I Hope everyone sees this and reacts accordingly. The time has come to send Mr. Angelos a message. He either needs to make an attempt to field a winning team, or he will lose the entire fan base. Does he care...probably not, but it would be an embarrassment to him and every stakeholder in the ownership. In his law practice is he reactive or proactive in how he pursues cases.....if you ask the tobacco and abspetos industry...I would bet they say proactive.
SO WHY NOT BE PROACTIVE WITH SIGNING PLAYERS...

UNLESS IT WAS NEVER YOUR INTENT

Sad day in Oriole history. I think the owner has shown his true colors. This fan will NOT renew his 4 season tickets ever again.

The O's may not have gotten Tex, but offering the extra year would have been a great PR move for the fans. Perception is close to reality many times and it looks like AM was not trying very hard to make it work, even if there was little chance of it working.

Any thoughts on Boswell's assessment of the O's as being "irrelevant"?

I don't know why everyone is losing thier heads on this one. Yeah, it hurt, but the Yanks are still 1-2 injuries away from having an average year. Just some thoughts:

2008:
Huff - .304 Avg, 32HR, 108RBI, .552SLG%
Tex - .308 Avg, 33HR, 121RBI, .552SLG%

Burnet - 4.07 ERA...4.07!!! A guy with known arm problems! You don't think Matusz, Arrieta, D. Hernandez, or Tillman could hold a 4.07 ERA in the majors? I mean, Lance Cormier had a 4.02 ERA and no one is throwing heaping wads of cash at him. Sabathia was a good pickup, but I'll be surprised if that fat bas*ard lasts the entire year. Can anyone honestly tell me the O's would have been smart to pay Tex or Burnett any more than what they were offering???

The O's have a ton of exciting prospects and it should be a lot of fun watching them develop.

Besides, the upcoming train wreck of the Yankees will prove to be joyous for us all. Mark my words. The Yankees, despite all of this spending, will NOT win the World Series this year and will be surrounded by drama...TONS of it.

I think Tex wanted to play for the Yankees all along. The reason it dragged out so long was that he was waiting for an offer from the Yankees. Once Tex got it, he signed within a day. Unfortunately for us O's fans, he had no intention of playing here.

Ultimately with a pitching staff that was last in the AL in walks, HR allowed, hit batters and strikeouts, those resources are probably better spent on some arms.

Good stuff, Roch. I appreciate your understanding that it isn't just whether Tex was "worth it" or not financially. It should be noted that we never actually paid Miggy $72 million. We usually dump the remainder of big contracts or get help from insurance.

What management needs to understand is that there is a "cumulative effect" of failure that needs to be overcome at some point. There have been past opportunities, but this was probably one of the only chances to throw money at the problem to make some quick inroads. Some sort of reasonable guess should have let them know that $140 million was not a legitimate offer in the current market.

I agree with Rob that taking the Twins' approach only gets us so far. From what I gather, the ultimate goal of this team is to be moderately competitive on a consistent basis. I think it will not yield similar results in the AL East. MacPhail bought Angelos a bit of a reprieve from fan hostility. I think that credit has now evaporated.

Time for Roberts to go. Hope Markakis is not next but if I were his agent I would be skeptical of staying here.

Roch

I agree with you completely with "any team but the Yankees." you are doing a great job. How many consective days are you at, what is your goal.

I've been reading the NY Sports pages and one thing is totally clear about the difference between Baltimore and NY: for the Yankees, Tex will be just a part of the equation and in Baltimore, he would have been THE franchise star. Looks to me like he just wanted to be a cog in the NY wheel. Hope he's happy.

It could have been a beautiful love affair with hungry fans. Now he'll have to perform or they'll boo him like they did Randy Johnson and so many others. Here, perform or not, they would have loved him.

Tex signing with the Yankees just confirmed that the NFL is the best professional sports league. The NFL wants the fans to be entertained. It's a good thing that small and large market teams can complete with each other fairly to win a championship. I know that the MLB will never have a salary cap and that's a big reason why baseball fails in so many markets. Free agency has ruined baseball, running your franchise correctly doesn't really matter anymore because if you have the money you fix anything...

...this just in the Yankees just signed Santa and have canceled Chrismas.

Sleep now Roch, help you little girl feel better from last week and enjoy the downtime for the next few days. This saga is finally over.

He needed to go someplace where he is not the voice, but just another piece of the puzzle. He is not a leader and his actions over the years do not show anything to say he wanted to be the face of a franchise. Boras never played ball with the Orioles, he never wanted to be here. He wanted to be a Yankee all along, he was Skywalker needing to morph into Dark Vader...

He was a hired gun for the Braves. Brain McCann said the following day, "We are going to win the world series....". Well, they lost more games after he arrived in Atlanta.

The day he was traded to the Angels, every media outlet said it is over and they should hand the Angels the trophy. Well, Boston knocked them out in the first round.

Yesterday, he signed with the Yankees. Buster Onley proclaims they are the team to beat. I saw a pattern before and nothing changes my mind.

The one thing I truly question is him being able to handle the media on a 0-4 night with two strikeouts. It takes a special player to handle it and I simply do not see it in him.

One thing to point out as well to alot of posters. If the Hardware was won in December, the Yankees should have another 5-6 trophies. Simple reason, it is not a team. It is a collective organization of players in the 38% tax bracket. They were watching the World Series the past few season right along side the fans.

Roch,

As always, great job!

Have a safe and joyful holiday and thanks for your time, insight and humor.

Merry Christmas.

If the O's knew they weren't in the running for Tex, why haven't they been working on a deal with Dunn? And for all the fans who thought that we had a shot at signing Tex, you are fools. These agents use the O's to drive up offers from the Yanks, Angels and Red Sox. Recall the Vlad debacle. Nobody wants to live in or near Baltimore, even a guy from the area. Players want to play for a winning team. You can't blame the guy for actually wanting to win a world series. That's what they play for isn't it? The franchise has been a laughing stock for years, so it will take several years of winning and a good farm system for any free agents to take us seriously again. In the meantime, the O's need to be shrewd in the draft, Rule 5 draft, trades and lower tier young free agents with potential.

In an unusual move The New York Yankees announced today that they have signed pending free agent LeBron James to a 10 year, 300 million dollar contract. When informed that James, a small forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers, was actually a basketball player Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman replied "I do know that but I really had no choice - The Boss wanted him and what The Boss wants The Boss gets. Besides, we had information the Boston was sniffing around to perhaps grab him as well." In a related note, Cashman was recently seen in Mid-Town sipping cocktails with Alan Zucker. Zucker is best known as an agent representing NFL superstars Peyton Manning and LaDainian Tomlinson.

If one more person compares Huff to Teixeira I'm going on a killing spree. Quit making that tired arguement its a joke and it makes you look dumb. There is a reason no one wanted to trade for him last year.

Now to my thoughts:

- MacPhail said its impossible to compete with so much payroll going to one player. Some call it the 'A-Rod effect'. If the O's had the same payroll they had in '07 then Teixeira would have cost about 25% of the total.

Colorado Rockies made it to the World Series with Todd Helton taking up more then 25% of their payroll.

- MacPhail said he wants to be more like the Twins.

If the Twins had the same record in the East that they had in the Central over the past 6 years they would have never won the East. The AL East winners always had a better record.

I don't mind so much that he didn't sign with the Orioles. What really bothers me is that the Yankees have spent about $500M acquiring every top free agent, and they're probably not done. Baseball is seriously broken. Given that the owner's haven't taken the initiative to fix baseball with a salary cap, it will take the total collapse of MLB to bring about change. What's not clear to me is how do the fans facilitate the collapse!!!

Great post Roch! Merry Christmas!

Roch,

Thanks for putting your heart into the Tex equation. I grew up in Towson, and was there for Game 4 of the '66 Series --- still have my ticket stub. Followed Palmer to Bradenton for his comeback. Os fans are life-long-loyal to players who love the team and the town, whether or not they perform as advertised/promoted. Cal's last few years attest to that.

You hit it on the head about Tex not fully comprehending what life on the dark side may turn out to be, not only when he hears the boo-birds at OPCY, but when he slumps in the Big Apple. Maybe he forgot what it is/was like for A-Rod when his bat took a nap. Those fans want perfection; Os fans just want love.

Roch,
Thanks for your constant updates on these stories as soon as you get any info! You really do an excellent job keeping the fans up to date! I know this Tex business has taken a toll on you over the past few weeks so I hope you take a couple days to relax with your family over the holidays! Maybe the Orioles can spend that 140 million on Markakis and those young bucks that are coming up!

Okay so he never wanted to come here. It was the Yanks all along. Boras wanted to get everyone involved and set the price and when no one bit at getting into a bidding war in this poor economy, Boras called up Mark's team and said this will get a deal done.

So I'm happy for him that he's playing with his beloved Yankees. Appearently he was a Yanks fan as a kid not an O's fan. He was one of the kids I had no respect for growing up.

All he wanted was money and the chance to play in complete ANONYMITY. He's just another face making too much money for the numbers he can put up. He'll have trouble being remembered for anything he does this year, much less for his career as a Yankee considering all the Legends he would have to wade through to get to the top.

The Yanks are building something that is much too top heavy for its foundation considering they have none. Their farm system is barren. They have no depth. Like most have said they are a really expensive injury or two from being sunk. Get ready for some drama everyone. Go O's.

yea i got my comment banned on espn when i went on a "i hate the yankees" rampage.

it was childish, but called for i think. and the fact that enough yankee fans read it and thought it inappropriate kind of was satisfying ;) part of my rant WAS tex's first 3 days in a yankee uniform. won't be very fun that's for sure. hopefully we get the sweep. somehow, someway.

call me naive / kool aid drinking, but i won't give up on this team.

This team was drug through the mud when the steroid revelations came about. The Orioles were in first place celebrating Palmeiro's 3000 hit and then it all went downhill. They had just come off an offseason where they signed top free agents at the time, Tejada, Palmeiro and Lopez. If the team doesn't go through what it did, Mazilli is still here and more free agents would be signed in the next offseason.

As it was, the Orioles became the "warehouse" for steroids and everyone wanted to stay away as far as possible. Mazilli gets an unceremonious departure without ever having a chance. Then very much liked Perlozzo suffers the same fate. Tejada is gone and is now viewed as a sour apple with steroid and character issues. Javy Lopez' career is over and Palmeiro, well he got the Bill Clinton treatment without the celebrity and the "who cares" part of it.

Who wants to be part of this mess?

Perhaps Teixeira could have turned it around, and perhaps not. Did he want to have the weight on his shoulders? He may have wanted to open a new stadium and be man that revived the Yankees and become the next Don Mattingly. If I am Boras, thats the way I pitch it to him. MLB has allowed the Yankees to spend and spend and when the opportunity was there, thats exactly what they did. Just listen to Wilbon, they get so they spend, no problems right? I'm sure the $500 tickets are affordable to families looking to just have their kids see their favorite team play. I guess at least they get to see it playoff games at home on TV and feel like they are part of something special.

This could be the case where the past just catches up to the O's and it may take a miracle (all the young pitchers actually performing how we project they will) to turn it around. Lets hope so.

Justin Morneau...6 years...80 million...signed January 2008.

Nuff said.

Save your money.

Make a trade for a bat.

Well, if anyone ever questions you on weather the Warehouse approves your blogs, just guide them to the last paragraph of this post! You pretty much put the truth on paper with that last line.

As I have said through this whole process:
i don't give A DAMn anymore, i'm DUNN talking about it.

Very well put, Roch. And none of us can honestly say that you didn't warn us that this result was coming down the pike.

In light of the following remarks you made, what's your view of Jeremy Guthrie's decision to fire Boras:

"Mark Teixeira wasn't all that excited to play for the Orioles, not when East Coast contenders with bloated budgets could make him fat and happy beyond his wildest dreams. You don't hire Boras to set up a homecoming. . . . I guess playing for his hometown team while making $20 million a year and being set for life wasn't good enough. It's just another harsh reminder that baseball is strictly a business."

Thanks.

1) Anybody with any shred of common sense should have realized this was all about New York and Boston all along. Yes, I would have liked to have seen the Orioles trot out Cal and maybe set up a fact-to-face, but it wouldn't really have mattered.

2) Roch, you know this was all your fault. (Before everybody starts jumping on me, I'm being sarcastic, of course.) I remember when I worked in the newspaper business and the local high school basketball or football team wasn't doing well, people would invariably say, "It's all your fault because of the negative coverage. You don't want to see us win." My only problem was that we were not allowed to respond, that our policy was to "give the reader the last word." What a crock of BS. I'm glad you have a chance to fire back and put some of those morons in their place.

3) Was Teixeira really an Orioles fan when he was growing up? Sometimes you get so turned off by the people who follow the teams in your area that you root against them. I live in Pennsylvania, and guess which college football team I absolutely hate. Penn State. I just got tired of listening to their fans.

I may be an idiot and I may never see a winning team again, but I just recently purchased my season plan again (after a few years away) to the orioles. You can hate the economics of baseball and I do, but if you look at this team we have great group of young guys coming up, and if I remember correctly thats how the hated yankees won all those championships in the 90's core group of guys who learned how to win together and FA's to finish the product. Two years ago frederick won it all, last year bowie won. We are learning to win all over again as a organization. It took us 11 years to get here it may take us longer to get out. Hopefully all you "I'll never come backers" won't we don't want you anyway....

"Teixeira was the one player I believe warranted a shift in organizational philosophy. He was the one player who might convince Brian Roberts to stay. He was the one player who, monster contract and all, might accelerate the rebuilding plan, not wreck it. But he has to be held accountable, too."

- I couldn't agree more. In the free agent market you need to pick your fights; this was our title shot. a signing that could have sent shockwaves through the organization and jumpstarted a recovering franchise. i know i know if tex didnt want to play here, we werent going to sign him, no matter what. but i really would have liked the orioles to be a little more proactive instead of reactive. i know thats not how negotiations usually work, but again, special situation.

is it too early to start calling andy "macfail"? of course it is. im a huge fan and hes done great things since he's been here. though i cant help but lament over a missed opportunity of this magnitude

love what youre doin roch...keep it up!!

Roch,

Happy Holidays to you. You are absolutely right about everything you said, especially the statement "He was the one player who might convince Brian Roberts to stay." So my question to you is this: Why would B-Rob or Markakis want to sign an extention and play for a perrenial loser?

why do the bloggers want Dunn?,because he might hit 50 bombs? wait till they count up his strikeouts,he'll lead the league. He cant play the outfield either, oh he can be in the outfield but it will be an adventure every time there's a fly ball. Get a decent fielding 1st baseman, sign a catcher(looks like Zaun's the only one left that has any pop), then pitching, pitching,and more pitching. It sounds like not too many of our young guys are ready. enjoy your blog ROCH, HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Forget Mark it's just going to make it that much better when we beat the Yankees. I'm a bigger Os fan then I ever was.

I want Dunn because he CAN hit 50 or maybe more homers,I don't care if he strikes out 200 times. Just had to reply,sorry Roch

Roch,

You ARE a professional. Keeping cool in the face of despair..

What I have a rediculous time understanding here - Half a BILLION Dollars when the economy is in the crapper. I won't be surprised in February to see President Obama showing up asking for a bailout...

I renewed my season ticket plan 24 hours before THE ANNOUNCEMENT. But am glad I did; a true fan to the end. I'll watch the kids play and get better over time. This is not AM's fault. It was never meant to be. The O's could've offered the moon and he wasn't going to sign anyway.

Jim

Andy McFail thank you for your Christmas presents. The bag labeled " I want to lock up our young talent like Tampa " was Sooo large! And the one that said " We will get good pitchers that will improve on last years staff " was even bigger!! About the size as the one stating " we will compete in 2010 " I may continue to root for the perenial cellar dwelling Orioles but at least my roses will be terrific thanks to your presents.

sounds like Os new all along he wasnt signing here, this organization owed it to the fans , when seeing the fervor developing, to have been honest and tell us it didnt look good.