Running thread for when the Orioles collapse...

Will it be a June swoon, or will the wall known as the "dog days of August" catch up to our feathered friends?

 

None of the above. Take a look at their roster, genius. If they don't make the playoffs it will be because Boston and New York have bought half the players in the major leagues, not because Baltimore faltered. They're already weathering key injuries to Erik Bedard and Javy Lopez, they have an outstanding lineup that rarely strikes out, and they have one of the best bullpens in the American League. The Orioles are for real.

 

I'm sorry - were the O's the only team that MLB decided to give a salary cap? And everyone has had injuries, so get the fuck over yourself.

 

I realize you have fantasies about being dominated again, but I don't swing that way pal. We're talking about the Orioles, not me, so try and pretend like you have some baseball knowledge or just keep your mouth shut.

And as for a "salary cap," the Orioles have spent a healthy amount of money but it's just a fact of life that the odds are against you if you're in a division with both Boston and New York. I don't care what team you are, Atlanta or anyone else, it's going to be hard to succeed in that scenario. So obviously my point was that if Baltimore doesn't make the playoffs, it will be because they were beaten by a better team, not because they aren't good themselves.

Regarding the injuries comment, do you comprehend English? I was saying that the Orioles are already going through key injuries and yet have remained in first place, so it's not as if they're leading the division just by luck.

 

I remember Angelos spending right with Steinbrenner in the mid-nineties. How did that work out?

 

First off, for it to be "again," you would have had to have done it once - which you haven't. Except maybe in your dreams. Pretend like I have some - lmfao - you should ask everyone around here how that's working for you.....

Go into your best pretending mode and let me know at what point in baseball history were the O's NOT fighting the Red Sox & Yankees for a playoff spot? They seemed to be doing pretty well for a long, long time. And as for the whole they could be good and not make the playoffs A) they haven't been good lately & B) even IF they had been that was not your point. Your point was that the Sox & Yanks bought "half the players in the league." Which is what I responded to. Moron.

Did I quote the part about injuries fuckstick? No, so that is not what I was talking about. I was talking about your idiotic assertion that the Sox & Yanks only made the playoffs because they spend a lot of money. That is a patently false assertion. And you are a dipshit.

 

Oh, I'm right there with you on that one. Angelos is the worst thing that has ever happened to the Orioles because he, like Steinbrenner, knows nothing about baseball. And whenever those owners are actually making decisions about which players to draft or sign, that's very bad news. But you have to stick with your team no matter who is signing the checks. And as for Angelos' willingness to spend money, he only does so when it serves his interests. He's not driven to win like Steinbrenner (have to credit his passion in that respect), so he's cheaped out in recent years until the spending spree that brought in Tejada and Lopez.


But the larger point was that your comment in opening this thread was ignorant. I assume you recognize that by now since you didn't bother defending it.

 

I can't really criticize you for this too much because I don't know what team you're a fan of. If you're over the age of 20 and it's anyone in the A.L. East, though, you should have known better. Since the creation of divisions in 1969, there have been relatively few times that the Red Sox and Yankees have been simultaneous powerhouses. The last decade is pretty much the only example of extended dominance, and can largely be attributed to wild spending in free agency. Prior to 1995, however, there have been only two years in which the Yankees and Red Sox were good in the same season. Those years were 1986 and 1978.

And they did. Not even the Braves would have much of a chance in the A.L. East over the last decade. The Yankees are only slipping because they've been spending money stupidly over the past couple of years, but having those two teams leading all payrolls makes your chances of competing between slim and none. It's not like the Orioles have been cheap either, but the Yankees and Red Sox outspend other teams by so much that it's an enormous advantage.

Wait a minute. You mean to tell me that it's pure coincidence that you talked about injuries in your response to my post where I mentioned injuries? So your comment was just out of thin air? Seriously, do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds? Of course you were responding to me, you just didn't pay enough attention before responding to realize what I was saying. Curse all you want, but that's not my fault, it's yours.

The point was that the Orioles haven't been skating by on luck, that they're in first place even though they have already been dealing with injuries to key players. Your babbling about how everyone has injuries just showed that you didn't understand the point.

Well they spend it fairly well, but the assertion that the Yankees and Red Sox win because they outspend everyone else isn't just not idiotic, it's established fact. Everyone except delusional Yankees and Red Sox fans agrees on that. It's just the truth, and denying it would be idiotic. The Yankees developed a handful of stars like Jeter through their farm system in the early and mid '90s, but aside from that both teams have gone out and bought their players.

It's not like I'm saying they're the only ones who have done so, as the Orioles have too, but the Yankees and Red Sox spending so much more than everyone else means that they buy a hell of a lot more talent than other teams.

 

Collin, why don't you crawl back under your fucking rock, fucktard. If the Sox were truly inclined to spend like drunken sailors in an attempt to "buy" another championship, would they not have forked over the piles of cash needed to retain Martinez and Lowe? Instead they went into 2005 with Schilling, a couple over the hillers in Wells and Wakefield, an underachieving Matt Clement, a huge risk in Wade Miller and an unproven Bronson Arroyo. Sure, they "bought" Renteria, but they let Cabrera go. They could have "bought" Adrian Beltre, but went with Bill Mueller. Fact is, for every big-time free agent they've lured with cash, they've let a very good player walk. You are an ignorant tool.

 

Damn, y'all don't get this worked up talking about the Yankees.