It sounds as if many of the local fans will boycott the Orioles. Justifiably, it is an action that is probably well deserved.

But...as they do this, they should keep one thing in mind.

Will this alienation leave a lasting impression on the bumper crop of players coming up through the farm system? There is a very good group of future players rising through the minor leagues. Will these players see the fans' malaise as a reason to exit Baltimore as soon humanly possible? Of course, the inability of the front office to show any desire to keep the Oriole's marquis players might have some bearing on the players' desire to stay, but I have to believe that the stud players want to play in front of stud-like crowds.

As much as I loathe Angelos as an owner and question McPhail's ability to build a winner, I do not think I would quit watching a chance to watch the future stars of this team.

Schmuck, I have solved the financial problem for MLB. Here it goes. Instead of having a salary cap comparable to that of the NFL, considering the MLBPA would never approve of it, there should be an "Off-Season Cap". By that I mean that each team has a ceiling or limit as to what can be spent in one off-season. Now, once the Yankees spend their $2.5-hundred-million, players like Teixeira will have to look elsewhere to to get their money, unless they are very willing to take a pay-cut to play for their preferred team. The players will still get their millions of dollars, but this will allow some balance for other teams.

Pete , stop trying to make sense of it all ( even though your'e right ) . We just like to vent ! :(

Following up on my proposal in your previous post about realigning the divisions to put the Yankees and RedSox in a two-team division, getting to the playoffs over a 162-game schedule is the real challenge when you're competing against the Yankees and RedSox with their seemingly unlimited financial resources. Once you make the playoffs, anything can happen in a best-of-five or best-of-seven series. The success of the Rays this year was, in my opinion, a short-term anomaly which Tampa will not be able to sustain as their young players become arbitration-eligible and approach free agency, forcing the Rays to make salary dumps. So, yes, the system is broken, and I, like many fans, do not believe the Orioles can ever seriously compete for a playoff spot as long as they are stuck in a division with the Yankees and RedSox.

Merry Christmas, Pete.

In the long run, I think we'll be better off to have not signed Teixeira. Having him bat fourth was not going to bring us a championship anytime soon and probably would have made it more difficult given the amount of resources tied up in one player.

I enjoy reading your blog. Keep up the good work.

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Pete's reply: And a very Merry Christmas to you. Hit the beach.

There needs to be a salary cap, plain, and simple.

I simply am done with the game of baseball. It is not exciting when you have no hope of an exciting player coming to your town. or when you have an owner RAPING the community of money and not spending it.

With not signing Teixeira, there is no way the O's will be competitive in the next two years. That means we need to trade Roberts to get some young middle infielders and pitching. The line-up is still pretty decent, and when the good arms come up in the next couple of years, the O's could be competitive. I still think McPhail has the O's on the right path without signing Teixeira or any big name pitchers this season. But he does have to start thinking about getting some big contract players in the next few years. I just don't know if another Teixeira-type or Sabathia-type player will be available when we're ready for the big push.

The system isn't to blame. PA and the front office weren't to blame. Tex had no interest in playing here. Andy put a respectable first offer on the table and they never countered. I hope he suffers the same fate as Mussina and never wins a World Series. Considering the Yankees spent almost a half billion dollars already this offseason I don't think they are any closer to winning another title.

A starting pitcher with an ever expanding waistline, another whose only healthy seasons have been contract years, and the boy wonder who now replaces the HRs and RBIs they previously got from Giambi. They are still painfull slow on the basepaths, have no middle relief or back end of the rotation.

The system is broken and Bud Selig is not the guy who is going to fix it. He is a weak, mealy mouthed, do nothing commissioner. Let's just hope that the Orioles and Angelos don't put the money they were going to spend on Teixiera (if they were really going to spend it?), back in his big bank acoount. Hopefully, they will take those dollars and invest them in the farm system, scouting in the far east, and the Dominican Republic, and someday we will have a competitive team. Our farm system has been woefully unproductive, producing only two quality front line players in the last 15 years (Roberts and Markakis). If we can't improve on that performance, and we can't acquire big name free agents when we need them, we will never be competitive.
As for Teixiera, he chased the big money while wanting to play for a competitive team. Baltimore offered neither. You can't blame him for that. If you want to boo him when he comes to town, that's your option. He's apparently a good kid, who just took advantage of the system, much to the dismay of his hometown fans.

Pete,

You are absolutely right. Have you read "Fair Ball" by Bob Costas? The book was written in 2000 (before the steroids issue blew up) and Mr. Costas does a good job of explaining what is wrong, how they could have fixed it in 1994, how they didn't, and how they could fix it.

Anyway, I would recommend it to anyone interested gaining a perspective of the system.

The most annoying thing is that people are always quick to point out that Tampa was in the Series last year and Colorado the year before that. Etc.Etc. Thats all good but those kinds of teams are not there in the playoffs EVERY, SINGLE, YEAR! That is why that argument in defense of revenue sharing will never work for me. Sure its great to see those kinds of teams in there but you cannot convince me that they have the ability to do it year in and year out like NY and Boston can. Even Oakland, the supposed model for small market baseball success with Billy Beane cant do it that often and that division is a complete joke. I am as big a baseball fan as they come and I don't know how much more of this I can take.

I'm fine with the Yankees giving tangible definition of Evil Empire. Baseball needs an arrogant, bombastic Goliath trying to buy a pennant. (The Red Sox rely too heavily on legitimately developing talent through their farm clubs for me to hate them.)

I will spend next season hoping to watch the Rays beat this Darth Vader Death Star from New York.

Regrettably, however, the Orioles will simply remain irrelevant.

I think the problem lies in the fact that one team can spend $423 million dollars in one month when it takes some teams 7 to 8 years to spend that much. The system is extremely flawed. One team can afford CC, AJ and Tex in one offseason and another (Royals) admit they can't afford Jerry Hairston Jr. It has to be apparent how ridiculous this is getting. The question is, does anyone care to fix it before baseball starts losing franchises?

I never expected the O's to land Tex. The Yankee money speaks very loudly. Quite frankly I'm not all that disappointed about it. If the O's had signed him we would still have a losing team because no amount of hitting ever makes up for lousy pitching. It would have been nice to have the big bat, but what the O's need more than anything else is big arms, and lots of them.
As for the main point of your article, I have been dismayed at the absurd financial structure of MLB for many many years, not just because of the latest Yankee spending spree.

Schmuckster,
Yeah ok, you weren't getting slammed with e-mails about the salary cap until it bit us locals in the toochas but it's like the 2 party political system. Everyone knows it sucks but they also don't think the complaints of John Q Public will change it. (So we're stuck with Old Man McCain vs. Obama the Darling of Hollywood, we'll just make the best of it. Ugh!)
The difference here is that 11 years of being fed a line of B.S. has left us with a lousy taste in our mouths. I really do believe that attendance is going into the tank this year and every year thereafter until the product on the field improves. I will give PA credit for being the lone voice of reason calling for restraint from the owners but he isn't getting it done on that front or by tying the hands of his baseball people. We're seen some positive signs in recent years with the Bedard and Tejada trades but you can't blame the fans for being tired of being told to be patient.
I'm sure you're right, Tex never truly did want to play here, but at the end of the day this was the one time we felt we should have had a chance. The bottom line is, it's time to put up or shut up for the AngelO'es.

Pete:
You are correct about the system being broken and that winning cities seem to ignore the matter. But when rich owners (like Mr. Angelos) fail to put a winning product on the field for well over a decade, there will be a lot of complaints. And unless he can figure it out on the cheap, I predict that he'll have a tough time getting a million Oriole fans at the games this year. Sure, the numbers might be higher with the visiting Yankee and Red Sox fans, but we won't be attending. He bet that he could keep fans by keeping the team fiscally responsible and he lost the bet. He's cried that we are a small market team and, by driving fans away, it's become a self-fulfilling prophecy. As much as I love baseball, why would I want to go to a game where you knew there is a 60% chance we're going to lose? Trouble is, I don't know how we fix it.

I love the O's and I do not blame them or their owner for this. I blame MLB and the players union. Unions suck in my eyes. Scott Boras is a tool of the union and they together do not care about the game one bit. I have 4 kids and can't afford anything but nose bleed seats when I get a chance to go to the Yard with them. I believe in the free market economy we have but when it comes to sports, where teams should not have a competetive advantage because of the money they have, something needs to change. It is a depressing thing for us as O's fans but really it should be for 29 other teams out there. The fact of the matter is, if fans see what just happened with the Yankees getting the 3 most coveted not so free agents, 3 teams(Milwaukee,L.A.A. and Toronto) just lost their best players and they all went to the team that already had the highest payroll by far. If we all know our teams can't compete and we simply hate the Yankees for it, why are we going to continue to be fans of our team or the sport. I would rather go to a Little League game where the kids run out ground balls for no pay at all than to give my money to a system that continues to use me.

Listen up baseball, there is a reason you are no longer the greatest sport in America, we don't like the product you are offering and unless you change it, people will continue to walk away, and I never thought I would say I am one of them.

Of course we would've complained about it. We all have known for at least 15 years that the lack of Salary cap or parity is a huge problem. I'm sure Tampa fans complained about it before. But it hits harder when we're the victim. If you said we got Texeira but now MLB has a fan vote on giving back all the players recently signed and issuing a salary cap, and then we had to vote. There is not a sensible fan out there, that wouldn't want a salary cap. The problem was just exacerbated because it hit harder this time. But that doesn't mean the sentiment wasn't there. Yes, the Orioles inability to even function at a decent level made us go as far as to take our frustration out by posting comments on your board, as opposed to let them fester inside. BUT, that doesn't mean people haven't been saying this for years.

Peter, your references to Tampa, Denver and Detroit are absurd. To use exceptions to disprove a rule is illogical and only contributes to the continuation of baseball's ridiculous, self-destructive, current circumstances. It's time for sportswriters to quit lecturing fans on how they don't understand the realities of the sports that they follow every day. All of us understand that greed rules the sports world. What is needed is for the hundreds of sports hacks like yourself who have a bully pulpit to start applying real editorial pressure on baseball's owners and players. It may not make a difference, but it's the only chance we've got of returning baseball to a state of fair play and equilibrium. The Teixeira story isn't just about Angelos' failure to step up big, or the Yankees endless stream of cash. It's also about Teixeira's greed and lack of traditional core values. Whatever happened to the little kid in him who grew up playing sandlot ball dreaming of one day playing for his hometown team? At $140 million, no Teixeira in 100 generations would have ever needed to hold a job. All of which is to say, Cal Ripken, Sr. did an amazing job raising a son with Cal Jr.'s values and sense of proportionality. Good riddance "Tex." I look forward to booing you for many years to come.

I was probably one of the biggest fan advocates for signing Mark Teixeira for a variety of different reasons, all of which have been talked about at length. With that being said, I am certainly ready for the Orioles to take bold steps RIGHT NOW toward extending Markakis, Weiters (yes I said extend Weiters, just as the Rays did Longoria), either extend(or trade) Roberts depending on his willingness to sign and continue to SHOW the fanbase the re-building picture.

There has been no more significant time in Oriole history for the front office to be somewhat transparent and communicative with their plan than now, when fans are all but completely deflated. Please keep us engaged as to the progress of OUR team.

On my last and final comment regarding TEX...he obviously lied regarding his fandome for the O's growing up, and he'll forever be just another mercinary in my eyes. Good ridens sell-out...

pete, that was helpful. thanks tons

actually, thanks for the good blog . happy holidays

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Pete's reply: And to you and yours.

The Yankees will have a great starting nine, but when some of the old men start to break down they will quickly be reduced to a more normal competitor. They have no depth. I don't root for anyone to get hurt, but since they all have guaranteed contracts, may the Yankee DL be long in 2009.

Pete - I honestly wouldn't be surprised now if Manny signs with the Yankees for 2 years $50M. What's another $25M a year for them?

Peter,

At the end of the day this is not the right signing for the club. The O's need to keep their powder dry and I believe are more in touch with the economic times and the realities of where they are. Go out and sign Giambi, develop prospects and consider it money not spent, well spent.

I think one of my favorite subplots to the happenings yesterday is the fact that Andy Macphail wouldn't refer to Tex by his name and instead kept calling him 'the player.' Either he has lost all respect Mr. Teixiera, or he's trying to bite back his seething hatred for 'the agent' and 'the first baseman.'

I think it was a brilliant and obviously calculated choice to really distance the Os from the Yanks and to de-personalize the negotiations. That being said, he had better figure out a way to please 'the fan' or he's going to be looking for 'the door' as it hits him on 'the butt' on the way out.

Maybe the O's, Jays and Rays should alternate out of the AL East with 3 other teams for a few years. Maybe put the Nats, Padres and Marlins in this league for a bit. They can be the punching bag of the AL East. The O's, Jays and Rays can then have an opportunity to compete in another league or division. Everybody gets their fair turn to be hammered by the Yankees and Sox. (Yeah, I know the Rays went to the World Series…one year.)

Seriously, they say the AL East is the toughest division in baseball. It is a charade and has been for a long time. The only people that care though are the O’s, Jays and Rays fans. Why should the White Sox or Indians care? They have a chance to win their division each year and possibly knockoff the Yanks or Sox in a 5 or 7 game series. Same with any other team in the AL. If you took any other 3 teams and changed them out with the Orioles, their fans would get a real good taste for just how screwed up this is and everybody would be screaming for a cap. So I say, let everybody get a turn on the paddle wagon!

Pete, what are you talking about? People on message boards seemingly everyday complain about the lack of a salary cap in MLB. Furthermore, I'm down in Pinellas county for the holidays, and in today's St. Pete times there's an article on the Teixeira singing and on how much more difficult it will be for the Rays to compete against the financial power of the NYY. This blog entry of yours is not really founded on anything true. Way too much baseless generalization. Also, most of the people I've talked to, or whose posts I've read, aren't complaining that the O's simply didn't give him a blank check. It's much more involved than that. Most especially, what exactly is the plan of AM? There is no time schedule. There is not enough talent in the minors to make the O's competitive in 2010 or beyond. That talent has to get augmented in one way or the other. I don't think you are really listening to what the fans are complaining about. I hope the FO isn't looking at us in the same way.

Pete,

The issue isn't entirely about money and the need for caps or luxury taxes. Rather, let's talk about having 2 wild cards. By having more teams in the post season, more teams become "contenders" and thus more attractive to top talent. Spreading money around is nice, but players want rings over money (some get them both, Tex). Spread the chance for rings around and more teams can compete in free agency. This is not about the distribution of weatlh but the distribution of hope. Hope and promise get big ticket stars...not location.

happy holidays to you Pete, and all the Baltimore Sun staff that has, no doubt, been working like dogs this past week to try cover this thing.

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Pete's reply: Thanks. Back at you.

The problem, Pete... is that winning is not sustainable for smaller market teams.

Tampa goes to the World Series, and the MFY's spend half a billion in the offseason to rectify that.

The system, as it is now, is NOT sustainable. Eventually, enough of the other owners will get the *edit* of it and there will be resolution. But until that day, baseball will just continue to alienate it's fans, offseason by offseason.

It'll catch up eventually. Might take awhile, but it'll catch up.

You know peter the holiday season is upon us,so i won't say what i really want to. But the last week or so i have seen a very cocky side of you that i have never seen before. In fact i always like you better the the other sportcasters in this town. But something has changed with you , i hope your job, or the success of your blog hasn't gone to your head. Last week you told a fan if he didn't like what you had to say that stop posting emails on this site. I have noticed that you have really taken the side of the orioles lately and have really sucked up to both peter and andy. People aren't mad that the orioles didn't pony up the 180 million to tex, because in reality they know the orioles were never players in the hunt. What most people are made about is how the management of this team has brain washed everybody in this town to thinking we are a small market team. Which in theory is absolute bull crap. Andy keeps refering that we have to stay the course like the way he did back in 1987 and 1991 with the twins. peter he is so far behind the times that it's hilarious.We are going to remain in this divison for the next 50 years and nothing is ever going to change, Boston and the yankee's will continue to outbid and outsign everybody else. You can't build a team soley with home grown talent. I wasn't 100% sold on signing him for that amount of money , but is signing would have had many postive repercusions down the line, like brian and nick resigning. It would have given the fans of this town some hope and right now that is all we have , it would have shown other free agents that the orioles are now serious and are making sincere efforts to change the losing attitude of the last 11 years. You keep underestimating the fans of this town by staying away and you will be in for a rude awakening. You kepp saying that this will blow over by friday , this won't blow over friday in 2012. The fans of this town have had enough, and now you have even started sideing with management, something that i don't think fits you very well. Merry Christmas to you and your family. I hope i never have to change my mind about you as well.

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Pete's reply: I hope I haven't changed. It might have something to do with the large number of posts during this Teixeira thing. The guy you talk about questioned my integrity. He accused me of being paid by the Orioles to defend them. I got mad and and popped off. I admit I can get tempermental at times.

Peter, the disgust only reached its height when "the hometown boy" lead us to believe he "really" wanted to play for his hometown team. Trust me I was handing the WS trophy or at least the AL East to the Yanks after the Burnett signing. As far as the ox, it will continue looking like swiss cheese until Angelos is out of the picture. I hope the farm is a good as many of the media are making it up to be. Regardless, you won't find me at a MLB game w/o free tickets.

I was lost yesterday morning, but now I am found. Last night, I read Moneyball and it made everything seem better. Granted, we are not the A's and Billy Beane is not our GM, but it just showed me that I was thinking of baseball in all the wrong ways the last few weeks.

I beg your pardon,but I sent a note relating to a boycott and salary cap immediately after the signing of Burnett.

The Yankees model hasn't won them anything lately. Why is it that a Tampa Bay with their relatively puny payroll can stick it to the AL East? That's the model I like. The Yankees have a team full of divos. We'll see whether their team chemistry improves with the addition of their latest batch of mega millionaires.

OK, here's what has to happen. Not a single fan, not one, attends a game in Baltimore this year. Same goes for Pittsburgh, kansas City, Oakland, Tampa Bay, Houston, Seattle, Cincinnati, Texas, Colorado - you get the idea. Every team foreits every game to every other team, except the Yankees and Red Sox, who play each other 19 times. Whichever wins 10 is the AL East winner. Since no teams in the Central or West are playing, NY-BOS "winner" automatically goes to the WS. But, no NL teams played any games, either, so NY-BOS winner automatically wins World Series. And, think of it this way, because no World Series games will be played, those of you on the East Coast won't have to sit through 22 degrees and snow until 2 a.m. because FOX wants to televise at that time.

I can reacquaint myself with my wife, reading good books, watching sunsets, traveling to fun and relaxing places, my gardens, and all that, and so can the more than 60 some odd million people who USED TO go to games in cities other than NY and BOS.

Do what the NHL owners did a few years back. Cancel the season, 2 seasons, three seasons, whatever it takes until the players' union comes crawling back to "jobs" that virtually every fan would take for FREE.

It's hard for me to say this, but, after being the most avid baseball fan I know for the better part of 55 years, I may well have watched my last game.

The real crux of the problem with baseball's economic structure is that for every team like the Devil Rays who through shrewd drafting (though how hard can it be to draft shrewdly when you get top 10 picks every year of your existence) and sheer luck put together a run like last season there are the Kansas City Royals and Blue Jays who have no hope and never will without a grand restructuring. Baseball is not like football because player interchangeability is not as practical and the pipeline between palyer draft and development is long and often capricious. We can complain all we want, but Selig will cite the D-Rays as an example of what's right with baseball but forget that it takes luck and a heckuva lot of good drafts to do what they did and in a few years Longoria et al. will be in Red Sox and Yankee uniforms. What we need to do is reconcile ourselves that the days of Ripken are over and it will be a long, long time before we see playoff baseball in Camden Yards. And, look on the bright side, at least now there's no guilt for booing Tex when he comes to town.

I'm not upset at al lover losing Tex,there was no way Borass was going to let him sign with a losing team to begin with. What gauls me is McPhails lack of action in general.He seems to be in a constant fiddle while Rome is burning mode.His lollygagging stalling and delaying only hurts getting other players to come here because they see no direction for the team. I have to imagine Trembley and the rest of the players are frustrated by McPhail's inaction also, excluding the Tex fiasco.All he seems to care about is cutting payoll and ask questions later.

We have 28 pitchers on the 40 man and only one that a reliable starter.No 1st baseman and no catcher.

Hey, Pete!
Don't forget that the Yanks are paying more than $25 million to a player named LUXURY TAX this year, also! Put those numbers in the calculator and I believe you find that the Yankees have more in $$ in those contracts than any other team in MLB??? Comments??

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Pete's reply: I think it was $27 million. They can afford to do almost anything they want, even sign Manny. It's almost scary.

Peter,

If you don't think this was being complained about, you really haven't been paying attention.

It may take a major event like this signing to create an eruption of outrage, but the effect the Yankees (and Red Sox and Mets and Cubs and Angels, but mostly the Yankees) have on the sport is always right below the surface in any discussion of baseball.

Whether it is, "Man, he's a great young player for his team. Too bad he'll be playing in New York in a few years," or, "Our team has some money available to spend, but we can't buy a team like the Yankees," or any of a hundred other possible comments, the feeling is there.

I guarantee if you ask a fan in Tampa or Denver or Detroit about the future of their younger players, or their ability to sign free agents, or anything else you will hear that name.

They are severely affecting the sport.

I think you're wrong, Pete. Even if the O's had signed Tex, there were still those of us who see the system as completely broken and have been saying so for some time. The Yanks signing Tex was finally the tipping point for alot of fans. 4 players making over $90 mil - how do you compete with that?

Pete, as always, to get right to the issue. The issue is not the money. The regularity of certain teams always winning is about the same in the MLB and NFL. Pitt is almost always a winner, the Bungles are as futile as the O's. The Orioles had the money to make Mark an 8 yr, $200mm offer, and it would not have imperiled any so-called plan. We lose Payton, Gibbons and fat Ramon's pay, and we're about even. My beloved O's (I am a season ticket holder) are 1 of the 2 worst baseball franchises (Pitt is the other). We're worse than the expansion, early 60's Mets. Look it up. We are. No matter how much or little we spend, we lose. There has been one constant over these 12 yrs, and until it changes, nothing will. The only way a salary cap will help the O's is if it forces us to dump our owner and his progeny. And O's fans can make all of the excuses they want. Tex would not have put us over the top, but he would have made a difference, and would have signaled the start of something new. I go to games because I love how professional ball is played, and you know, with the stands empty I don't have to worry about people jumping up in front of me, or waiting in line for beer, or waiting in line for a bathroom break. So I'm getting to kind of like it. Thanks, Pete! At least we got a light hitting shortstop. They get Tex. PA gets to keep his money. I'm not sure what's in it for McPhail. Enough said.

Teixeira is no more than a Scott Boras clone. A greedy, conniving creep of a prima dona who never had any intention whatsoever to sign with the hometown team. Given that the hometown team stinks now and as long as Angelos owns them, but at least come clean. All I can say is ..... screw Tex and the limo he came in on. I hope he stinks in NY. And all this crap of leveraging one team against another to weasel another 20 mil over and above an already obscene amount is the ruin of sports. The Skankies truly are the EVIL EMPIRE and stand for everything that is wrong with baseball. Salary cap the bums!!

Maybe I'll come out as one of the lone voices(though frightened to see Mr. Teixeira sign with the Yankees), who supports the Orioles unwillingness to up their offer. I don't see it as foolishness on the part of Mr. MacPhail, or frugalness on the part of Mr. Angelos. Rather, I see two heads of an organization that is undergoing a rebuilding process showing commitment to their original blueprint, rather than deviate from the plan in a way that has failed them numerous times in the past. Mr. MacPhail has emphysized in the past his wearyness of trading pitching for hitting, and in the end, that is exactly what this deal would have done. At a time when the Orioles had suffered through 2 months of a 1 man starting rotation, and still have that same rotation in place 3 months from Spring training, would it have been wise to spend $20 million a year on a single player? For the Yankees, the Teixeira deal makes sense: Last year, the Yankees were Mark Teixeira and a pitcher away from the playoffs. The Orioles were at least 4 pitchers, a shortstop, and a first baseman away from finishing at .500. I'm sorry, but Teixeira was simply was not a priority in their rebuilding process. And I have faith that Mr. MacPhail would have gotten him had he been. He did it with Weiters, he did it with the Bedard and Tejada and Hernandez trades, which were nothing less than miraculous in our returns for the price we paid. If you are completely soured from Major League Baseball forever, get in line. But if you think this happened because the Orioles dropped the ball, think again. They know what they're doing.

Peter,

People in the small markets have been complaining for years that the system is broken and a lot of just baseball fans in Baltimore have made that case in the past as well. It is just now that the "just Baltimore baseball fans" or the more casual fan has had an event hit close to home to remind them. And now the emotions are invested and "blamo!"

Even some local talk show hosts are claiming how the Yankees are evil, how they are ruining baseball, and how the franchise is a "joke."

How are they a joke? They have their system of doing things (which hasn't bought them a World Series in how long now?) and other teams have their ways.

By now, every team in baseball knows how the Yankees operate. If you expect them to do something different when results tell you the same story every year, well...that is just a little silly.

Evolve or become extinct. The A's have found successful formula. With a bit more luck (and now Holliday) they might make it into the playoffs again and make it past the first round. The Twins have won their division with their formula. The Marlins have won a world series, blown up the team, rebuilt it and won another world series a few years later, trimmed payroll down to $14 million and almost made it to the playoffs again with that roster. The Rays got it done in the AL East. While it took 10 years or so for them to finally get the formula right, it does prove that you can compete in the AL East even if you don't have the bank of the New York Yankees, Boston RedSox, Toronto Blue Jays, or even the Orioles.

People getting so worked up are probably the same ones who thought that the Orioles would go to the World Series and win it if Tex did sign here.

Pete, if there is one thing that can make me feel better it will be for everyone in the country to see what it's like when a proud O's fan base reaches its boiling point. Opening day at the Yard, only game that has potential to be sold out by a majority of O's fans, booing incessantly throughout every Tex plate appearance. I want it to be so crazy it's on Sports Center and BBTN, with MASN cutting in for the Public Address to announce him coming to the plate and have the only sound on his walk to the plate be the fans. No color or play-by-play until the first pitch is ready to come. It should be so loud Aubrey Huff says "they must really hate you," or so ravenous that it makes the San Diego and Ed Hoculi situation look like a love scandal.

While I'm not too disappointed by the O's missing out on Tex, I want to see these truly pissed O's fans get their voice heard by the man who should hear it. You don't deserve the hate, you didn't do anything, and nobody can say you raised hope. You were one of the few sane voices not swept up in hope, and while hope is good it can be dangerous (I'm sure Cubs fans know).

Have a great Holiday week, what's left of it, and may the New Year bring as much success to your blog and career. It's blast reading it.

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Pete's reply: Thanks very much. Happy Holidays to you, too.

  I think the yankee's are greedie, but I'am more upset with Teixeira . I hate people that lie and he's a liar . He just like the rest,money hungry.I guess 160,000,000.00 was'nt enough.I really hate greedie people . I hope the O's start playing well soon and kick the Yankee's but .I also hope they don't even get to the play offs even again .They think because they have so much they can buy every body. I f you remember know one could buy Cal Teixeira your a liar you just wanted more money NO class 

Milwalkee gm has it right "A Salary Cap".

In reality this help put some perspective to the talent and the value.

The cost is all the fans of baseball to get there. To do this the fans must be willing to have the so calle major league players sit out approx 1 to 1 1/2 seasons to realize their union MUST agree. Of course the owners will need to agree to some price modification at the same time. There is no reason to think a team should spend in todays dollars reater than $110 mil (?) per year for talent. Oh the players will love this because saliries will come down. And of course prices for tickets should be adjusted accordingly.

But how to accomodate the current excesses in contract in existence. VOID with any new union agreement?????

Time for baseball to come to reality.

When I think back over the years about Yankee teams that have won Championships......very few of these teams were stockpiled with STARS stolen from other teams.
Think about it!!!
I think there is a lot to say about home grown material and chemisty.
Then there is a little thing called KARMA.
You live by the sword....
you'll die by the sword.
I mean when one gets $140 million or $180 million.....
how much money can you really spend in a lifetime???
I think maybe it comes down to a matter of greed.
I'M NOT WISHING HARM ON ANYONE....
BUT...
I see either the Yankees or Texiera learning a KARMATIC type lesson over this sham.

UG! Enough already people. Pete it's time to move on to the next topic of discussion for the Orioles. Like Starting Pitching, First Baseman, Starting/Backup Catcher (until the kid is ready), etc. Tex made the best business/baseball decision for him and his family. Boras made a lot of money for himself and his client. I personally believe the O's can win without Tex and the other big name free agents. It's going to take longer, but it's going to make it all that much sweeter when the Birds do! Dang I'm glad I am finally finished with shopping for another years.

The only thing that can cure this situation is if fans in other cities do what we in Baltimore are doing ... stop attending, stop watching. Its a great game but the Major League version of baseball is sick.

Pete, your column today was spot on. Only in baseball do the mighty Yankees pay a premium for their players while lowly Baltimore expects players to accept a discount.

Going into the offseason, I understood the priorities were 2 major league pitchers, resolve Roberts issue and sign Markakis. Instead of aggresively persuing pitching the O's are scouring the nontendered list and looking at rejects from the Nats. What does that tell us about the state of our once proud franchise. It tells us that Roberts is gone and Markakis is counting the days. I want to believe but I just can't.

Pete,
You may try to tell us fans how bad we are all you want, But I have a few things to let you and the Orioles know. In my household we have a income of under $50,000 per year, Yet my wife and I come to 4 o"s games every year at a cost of about $150 a game including gas. That according to my math comes out to about $600 a year. That amount for someone with our income is a lot of money. We have always been concerned with the cost but we hoped some day we would be watching a competitive game played by the O's. apparently that is not going to happen because people like Peter Angelos does not give a damm about the team he owns and the little people he thinks he can rape into spending money on his team. while he makes no effert at trying to give us something for our hard earned money.Tell me the truth do you really think he will extend Markakis or Roberts or any one else worth keeping on this team. So I guess what I am trying to say is that he will no longer be raping me of my money. I have startrd rooting for the O's in 1962 as an 11 year old boy. And I"ve stuck with them ever since, But yes this is the final straw for Me and my family. Untill they are sincere about competing and spending a little bit of Angelos's profits, Why should we spend our money? I really doubt this will make it on your board. As I have never posted on any subject before. But if you read this At least one person from the media finally will know how I feel as an ex O"s fan as of now. I know some day they will have a new owner maybe even somone who cares about the fan base that is left of this team.
Have a good Holiday

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Pete's reply: I get what you're saying. Happy Holidays.

I understand your viewing this as hypocrisy. However, if the O's or anyone but the Yankees had signed Tex then you can say despite the imbalance which has existed for years other teams can still spend money and compete too. But the Yankees with this signing have spent half-a-billion dollars this off-season! And they might not be done! Don't be surprised if Manny Ramirez, and Derek Lowe, and maybe others start popping up on the Yanks radar.

Yes the Yanks have had isolated cases of largess like the A-Rod contract, but in 2 months alone this year they've spent a fortune on C.C. Sabathia, way over spent for Burnett, and now signed Texeira to the 3 largest contracts of the off-season. If someone else had landed Tex there still would be some semblance of competitive balance (no matter how thin).

This is what happens when you have your own television network in the nation's largest tv market. And you have a new stadium opening up where you're charging as much as $2500 for a single game ticket! And there's no salary cap restraining them in anyway..

Baseball needs a salary cap period. Even the Brewers owner today said it's time to start thinking about a salary cap. You know something's off when one of the weasely cowards who run MLB gets some courage and speaks up against the Yankees and starts talking salary cap.

Bottom line I like a lot of O's and MLB fans was already upset with the economic imbalance, but this off-season by the Yankees was the final straw. I'm done with baseball until they get a salary cap. Until then go NFL, NBA, NHL!

I guess Boras doesn't think much of the Orioles plan for the future or its young pitchers if you believe McFail about his conversations with Boras. Boras obviously believes this is a franchise that will never win.

Of course, has anyone seen the plan discussed in detail by McFail? What is the projected roster for 2010 or 2011?

Pete - is there anyone in the Baltimore press left to do a critical review? Are you all we have since Roch is taking Angelos' money and Jon Miller taught us all what that means.

We will never be the Rays. We just don't have the front office talent plus we have Angelos. Say what you will about the Steinbrenners...at least their only priority is about winning. I guess with such a poorly run franchise, Angelos' saving grace is that he needs to make money so when he finally gives Baltimore the gift it deserves and sells the team, he will make a huge profit.

I disagree with your premise that if we had offered him 8 years 180 that there wouldn't have been a groundswell to throw out the system.

One can be dramtically in favor of a salary cap, but still msut work within the current system. If you're an owner, you know how baseball works before you buy the team. You know you're going to have bid with big market teams like the MFY's and Red Sox. If you accept that and you keep dangling the carrot of Tex to fans, and how we're going to really go after him, you don't dicker over one more year, and what amounts to about 2.5 mil more a season.

I am totally in favor of a salary cap. It's the only way to make baseball competitive again in terms of free agency. Yes, the Rays did well with draft picks, but how have the Pirate and Royals been doing for the last twenty years. Both once proud franchises ,in the same predicament we are.

This is the reality. There is no salary cap at present. If you're an owner in the AL East, you've known that for a long time. All I ask is that Angelos be up front with fans and don't EVER promise we're going after a homegrown boy again. And don't even bid if you beleive the price is too high even if it's within 2.5 mil a year of another bid. They did this same crap with Paul Byrd a few years ago. Offered something like 12.5K rather than 13K. McPhail doesn't like signing premier free agents, I get it.

But right now this team is goign to be worse than last year. We've currently no catcher (unless Wieters starts on opening day), and outside of Guthrie the starting rotation is a shambles. My guess is they sign Redding or Looper to a multi-year deal for more than they would have paid Dcab and Dcab puts up better numbers. Take it to the bank.

I'm glad the Yankees signed him. Now maybe fans will start putting pressure on MLB to get a salary cap and or revenue sharing. The Yankees have the four highest paid players in baseball, and is making a mockery of the sport.

Pete,

You didnt hear us complain because despite the money factor we had a glimmer of hope that money wasn't everything and that being born and raised in a town would be enough for someone to come and give the city a glimmer of hope. It didnt work out that way.
You don't hear those other cities complaining because they actually fielded competitive teams that played hard in recent years even without the payroll. The city of Baltimore just wants a team and an owner that play's hard and competes day after day. Orioles like Kevin Millar almost won the city back early in the first 70 games or so with their hard play and their new take on the Orioles Magic video. Too bad they couldnt play that hard for 162 games. I guess i'll just keep watching my "Why Not?" VHS from 1989. From top to bottom that team played hard and showed a blue collar work ethic and love for the city where they played. It's the 20 yr anniversary. Maybe that will bring people to the ballpark.....Why not?

I disagree Peter. The disgust with the broken system is at a low simmer constantly. Then you get a series of deals with CC, AJ and Tex and it boils over.

There are two distinct factors going on in B'more. The first is that despite our owners pledge to spend some of his MILLIONS made on MASN, we have watched McPhail cut payroll. Granted, I have applauded every move he has made. Tejada was toward the November of his career, was a steroid user, and didn't want to be here. Bedard was a pitcher of great talent and no heart. Cabrera, well he was Cabrera and I would have been happy with a fungo bat and a bucket of balls for Hernandez. The problem is that there has been nothing on the plus side of the ledger. We have one of the smallest payrolls in baseball for the size of our city and it just doesn't appear that McPhail has any intention of spending real money to fill in our gaps. They must do something to give the fan base some hope no matter how small and signing Ceasar Itzterus doesn't even come close. Without Tex coming here everyone is now sure that Roberts is going elsewhere.

The second issue is the overall system. Even though the Spankees haven't won a WS in years, they buy themselves into contention on a yearly basis. While they are certainly playing within the rules, the system is horribly skewed. Until baseball gets a real salary cap it won't change. Markakis will be patrolling right field in NY or Boston in 5 years next to Carl Crawford in left and Adam Jones in center. The problem is that the MLB players union has way too much power and the owners in baseball are gutless wonders. It is a two tiered system with NY, Boston, LA, Chicago and perhaps Philly in one league and everyone else in the other. And while you might build from within and create a winner for a year or two, it is only a matter of time before the ever overflowing coffers in one of the above cities, most likely NY, lures the players you have developed away and leaves you with the empty feeling we are all experiencing now.

I used to see between 10 - 20 games every year. I stopped going 3 years ago because I refused to support Peter the Great until he showed me that he was willing to field a team that had a chance of even being competitive. After this winter, I will no longer even watch baseball on TV. Thank G-d I love football more than baseball, or I would really be sick right now.

Pete,

They are complaining about it in Denver this year after Matt Holiday got shipped off to Oakland for Baggo Balls and Casey Brok'n Bats. Denver probably low balled Holliday but unwilling to pay the market price they shipped him off. My prediction is he winds up in Boston next year. He was the only Rockie to hit in the World Series and I'm sure Boston noticed.

For me, it is not the failure of the Os to sign Teixiera--at this point, their resources are better placed elsewhere. It is that, thus far, the Yankees are signing not just some of the premier free agents but all of them. This deal simply crystallized the structural imbalance.

It seems that the difference between Yankee spending and the federal bailout/stimulus plans is that the Treasury can print money (the closest that the Yankees get to that is the use of tax-free bonds).

(By the way, I agree wholeheartedly with your responses to comments wishing that Teixiera suffers an injury).

Come on Peter, people have been complaining for years about the imbalanced economy of baseball. The problem is people continue to support the have nots. If people would take a concerted effort not to come out and support the teams and the owners finally take it in the shorts, then something would change. The fact is with the revenue sharing the and fan support owners still make money while franchise values climbs. I have had enough, no more support for me. I am done with spending a dime on baseball.

The difference is that signing tex for the O's would have raised the payroll to 90 million. That would still have been less than the Yankees top 5 or 6 players. Baltimore would have one huge contract as opposed to the Yankees who can have an unlimited amount of huge contracts. This is an outrage. The Yankees have crushed my baseball spirit. There would have been Whining if he signed with Boston, but not as much with the Nats. If he signed with the Nats at least the talent would be spreading throughout the league. The Rays have a low payroll because they have a ton of young players who are still in their initial contracts that do not cost a lot. Wait till all those players have to be given extensions and big time contracts. Either the Rays payroll will skyrocket or the Sox or Yanks will start scooping up those players. BRING ON THE SALARY CAP!!!

I'm just hoping our ox doesn't need reconstructive elbow surgey or test positive for steriods or be charged with a DWI or punch a judge in the off season or stay too long in a tanning booth.

It's not the Texiera thing that upsets me--it is the fact of all the inactivity to sign real players.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we hear all that about McPhail. Okay. Why wasn't Kerry Wood persued? Or Sabbathia?
Or even Manny.

To me, the talks with Tex were at best token, and at the worst simply faking the Baltimore faithful with more empty B. S.

How long does this go on before Andy hits the road like Syd, Beattie, and all of the other GM types that have paraded through the Yard in the past 20 years.

Just for the record, I haven't yet gotten over Reggie Jackson going to NY. You are right, Peter. The economics of baseball is a 90 year-old story and Texeira is just another data point showing the system for what it is. I'm just irritated with myself for taking any interest in the rigged game of MLB.

Happy Holidays

Thank goodness for the Ravens. At least we have one well run organization in town. Even if Tex weren't available this year. They still have done nothing but sign a light hitting shortstop. Here it is almost January and they have one starting pitcher in their rotation. He's no better than a 4th starter on a good team. McPhail wants us to trust him. He's done no more than what Flanagan did. The jury is still out on Jones. Sherrill's ERA is sky high for a closer and he can't even sign two players who actually want to be here (Markakis and Roberts). You can't preach patients to a fan base who is used to winning. Ten years of losing is rediculous for the O's. We're not the Royals or Pirates. With that stadium and our fans we should be a close 3rd in payroll to the Yanks and Sox. Instead the O's have Saddam money. It's no good.

Sometimes the best move is the move not made. Winning and money is what drove Tex to NYY. We need to trust in Trembley and McPhail.

fyi, detroit has one of the highest payrolls in baseball

Merry Christmas Peter: What is worse if Tex decided not to sign because of the money or he did not want to sign because he believed Baltimore would never win?

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Pete's reply: The latter.

the only solution is to stop spending $$$ that lines Angelos's pockets.

The Orioles have been broken since the mid eighties. When Mr. Angelos bought the team he was hailed as a hero and for one year after spending a fortune on free agents we had a contender. However poor scouting, bad drafts and lousy trades have been the reason for the demise of this franchise. All successful sports teams have one thing in common - a smart front office and a owner who allows his people to do their jobs. The Ravens are a great example. Finally we have an Orioles front office that is doing the job but baseball unlike football is a long term deal. Keep our young stars, sign them long term and build with the draft and smart trades. I was 13 when the Browns became the Orioles and they became the best franchise in baseball because of the front office. Lets do it again.

Guess what?

The Yankees only get 25 players on their team. Are there only 25 good players in all of baseball? No.

The Orioles are just a bad team, not the end of the world. At least they are not the Lions.

Maybe we can't spend as much as the Yankees. However, we can certainly spend as much as the Red Sox and far more than we have been spending. Angelos has been crying poor for so long that he has everyone believing that we are a small market team. We aren't. Angelos has simply been spending like we are a small market team, saying for the last ten years that we are "rebuilding from within". Meanwhile the fans suffer and Angelos maximizes his profits by keeping his costs down.

This is soul crushing. Not only will the Os be unwatchable in 2009, but they will lose Roberts this year and Markakis will not extend, so they are not on a path to be a competitive team in 2010 or 2011.

I grew up with the Os. My first job was at Memorial Stadium. My wedding was at Camden Yards. I have never said "it is over" before, but just thinking about the Orioles now makes me sick.

Please folks don't be too depressed. I can't be the only person who knew he had no interest in BMore. Tex was making comments last year about how he liked LA because they "didn't collapse at the end". It's not personal, he wants a ring or 2 or 3 & NY wants to beat Boston.

Tex is a talented guy who wants to be on a team that makes the playoffs every year. The Yanks have a new stadium, $2500 seats behind home plate & a restless fan ba$e who NEEDS to win, a city that needs to keep up with the Jones' over the border.

The Red Sox missed the playoffs in 06 & pulled out all stops to win in 07. Yanks are doing the same. The Orioles will have to do what the Rays did -- grow our own.

Watch the Yanks sign Manny Ramirez next.

OK, I have an idea...

Trade:

Markakis
Weiters
B Roberts
and maybe our new CF Jones as well...

for cash.

We can then play AA and AAA players and lower our payroll even more.

Heck, why keep guys like Mora and Huff either...just cut them.

Again, more minor league players means more profits for the O's right?

Some folks will continue to attend O's games no matter what...perhaps they just like the atmosphere and losing to teams like the Sox and NYY (and finishing out of the playoffs for years on end) means little. Also, there is always the MASN deal.... Heck, we all admire a good businessman making a profit right?

There's one born every minute...right?

Pete, I loved the column today and love the blog every day, as it seems like you really enjoy the banter with the fans whether they agree or disagree with you.

Pete, I think Bud Selig is coming under fire for being weak, but the player's union is stronger than that of any union in any of the major sports. I would love a cap because teams with great traditions like KC, Pirates, etc., get to develop guys, but then they see them leave. What I don't get and have been saying in every one of my posts, is how fans are dropping the game over the Yanks spending spree. If the O's signed Tex, every post would be Oriole Magic is back.

Until mid-July, I remember reading the posts of how fans were staying up late and going to work tired so they could catch one of the many great O's comebacks. The team was very exciting until injuries showed that we simply don't have the fire power in our farm system. This team is closer than people realize to competing. I hate the Kool Aid expression, but if that is what I am accused of, so be it. The O's could lose for another 11 straight years (let's hope not) and I will still be optimistic, like I am every year because in sports, there are always teams that come out of nowhere like we had here in 1989.

Happy Holidays to you Pete and I am sure if we sign Looper, you wont have 800+ posts to read through : )

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Pete's reply: Thanks. I do enjoy the back and forth, but the past couple of days it has been very hard to keep up. Happy Holidays to you, too.

Yes, the system is broken but PLEASE dont mention the Tigers or the Rays as examples of teams fine under the current system.

I heard Wilbon try to make the same horrible example with the Marlins and the Rays.

This is the issue with that comparison. These teams HAD to build the teams one of two ways:

1) They are being woefully bad for years. They draft amazingly well with few mistakes and make very few mistakes in development (Tigers, Rays)

2) They build a team through development win a series and then almost immediately have a fire sale be bad or two three years bulding the team up again and WS and the blow it up again. (Marlins)

If this is how MLB and baseball writers thinks that the majority of baseball teams should have to go about running their franchise, then its not just the system tha broken, its those who run it and those who follow it as well.

That being said I do believe the Twins and for the most part the As can be models for small to midmarket teams IF the dont have to play an over balanced schedule against the Sox or the Yanks ad there lies the rub.

Dave in FL

Pete, thanks for the blog, thanks for doing your best during this whole Tex game of cats and mouse, and thanks for giving me a reason to read about the Orioles other than train wreck curiosity. And for everyone who's ready to concede the World Series just remember, Mike Mussina retired without a World Series ring (not that my voodoo doll had anything to do with that...)

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Pete's reply: Thanks for the kind words. Happy Holidays.

It's hard for O's fans to understand, or any baseball fans to understand right now, but... none of any of this really matters. At all. Not with all the crap going down in reality. Tex didn't sign. Big deal.

MLB and all pro sports are losing relevance at an alarming rate. It is just those of us who use it alarmingly as a diversion from reality who are having a hard time with these types of events. Tex didn't sign. So what.... Over a half million extra ppl claimed unemployment last month. So Tex didn't sign. So what...

MLB and the rest of pro sports is completely out of sync with reality, and not in a good way.

Doesn't anyone see a pattern here, the Orioles refuse to overpay for free agents and that is the only way to get them to come. Detroit had to do this a few years ago.

Why do they bother unless they know going into it that they are going to fail and perhaps are counting on it, any organization that low balls their own players like they tried with Mussina and they will try to do with BR and NM is just bad.

Fool me once ..............

hO hO hO. PA bids just enough to keep costs low and the fools blame Tex. hO hO hO. PA offers just enough to keep costs low and the fools will blame BRob and Markakis for taking flight. And I heard him exclaim as he belched impolite, Many $$$$ to me and to you, bubkis tonight.

So many comments above, Real pain for Orioles fans as we can see that Angelos has no plans to improve the team and make money and make the fans happy. The saddest thhing is that the Nats were in second place --not theO's. That does not escape the fans. If you don't play to win , why play. The O's might as well offered $50 K a year. They could tell us that they tried.What they don't understand is that if they developed a player of that calaber --that's what they would have to pay to keep him.

Seems that MASN gives Angeloe more $$$ than the Nats get but the Nats try harder.

Lets just get the Nats in the AL and get the O's out of town. Angelos does not belong here. We are too good for him. Don't go to a O's game.

Nats get but the Nats try harder.O's g

Pete, In the last 2 yrs. the Yanks have committed to spend more than 800 million on just 6 players. The system has gotten so out of balance that 90% of the teams are at a huge disadvantage. I know they will not go to a straight cap, but what do you think should be done to level the field a bit ?? Do you think baseball will decline if something is not done ?

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Pete's reply: Not as long as NYC is subsidizing the new stadium in the Bronx. The rest of baseball is doing just fine from a revenue standpoint.

The hell with Tex. It's ONE player.

We SHOULD throw that kinda cash at Roberts and Markakis NOW. Not Later.

Maybe, we'll be surprised?

The solution to the problems in baseball is not a salary cap, but some mechanism to dislodge owners who merely milk the brand and don't care to win. Here, I am thinking of Peter Angelos, who only pretends that he wants to field a winning team.

Because Angelos is perfectly happy fielding any team of warm bodies, he would not improve the team even with a salary cap. In fact, because the O's under Angelos have been so incompetent in judging talent, a salary cap alone might leave the O's even more hopeless than at present.

I think baseball needs to institute a rule that strips the franchise from any ownership group that posts seven losing seasons in a row. When that happens, the league steps in an auctions the franchise to the highest bidder.

Why should Angelos be left in place to ruin baseball in Baltimore for decades? A system to force incompetent owners to divest their franchises would increase the chance of getting an owner who wants to win and has the wherewithal to make it happen.

The idea that Baltimore is necessarily a "small market" an Angelos myth. If he put a decent product on the field, team revenues would skyrocket. The real problem in Baltimore, as in Kansas City and Pittsburgh is incompetent ownership. If Stuart Sternberg or the Steinbrenners owned the O's, we would field competitive teams and have much higher revenues than we do now.

People can blame Texiera, blame the evil empire, or blame baseball's lack of a salary cap all they want. The bottom line is that thisi organization dd not step up, and get aggressive with "the player", as Mac-Fail calls him.
It's the same M.O. from this owner every time. As an attorney, Mr. Angelos thinks that all negotiations are adverserial endeavors. Well that may be the case when negotiating with insurance companies for damages, but it is certainly not the case with MLB players.
It never fails that the O's make offers to free agents that are attempts to essentially fleece "the player" out of a better market value. Why is it that the O's always want a hometown discount? Is this city that freakin' great? And why is it that we are always surprised when free agents spurn this club for more money. make no mistake about it, excpeting Tejada, we have always fallen short in terms of offers to free agents. It is no coincidence that the one free agent that we made an huge effort for(Miggy), was the one we have actually signed in teh past 10 years.
The only way to sign players is to woo them, and make offers that outsize the rest of the market. These agents like Boras and Rosenhaus are not going to be out-witted by Mr. Angelos, or any other owner for that matter. The sooner Mr. Angelos realizes that as a MLB owner he is negotiating from a position of weakness, the sooner this club will escape from this hole.
As the character "KGB" in the movie Rounders said, "Pay dat mayen his moonay". Take that and run with it Peter A.

Tex was never going to sign here, he is getting enormous amounts of money and has a chance at a world championship, I would not have signed with O's either, its about winning, the O's are a few years off and that will make it about 14 losing seasons in a row, no pro wants to play in those conditions.

Its just going to make it all the sweeter when we sweep the Yankees. After all this, as far as I am concerned Tex is public enemy number one for the way he used us to get a deal with the Yankees. Obviously THAT is where he was always wanting to sign with.

Hey Pete,

Thanks for all the work you've done with this blog. I'm a daily reader, very occasional poster.

I grew up in Maryland a huge O's fan. I have traveled parts of the world, living here, living there, and have stuck with being a fan. Now, I live in VA. I used to go to one or two games each year.

A few years back, the players were talking about striking. It hit me then that if these guys who made millions PLAYING a game were talking about striking, why should I, a blue colllared joe struggling to live a middle class lifestyle, spend my hard earned money to go to games.

So, here I sit, 3 1/2 hours away, where I read your blog, watch 150 or so O's games each year on MASN, where I read books, lots of books, about 80 this year, where I help society the best I can, where I raise my kids the best I can, and I love life.

Yet, until things change with baseball, I have no plans to go to a MLB game again. Perhaps a minor league game, but not a major league game.

So, Pete, keep up the great work with the blog and know that there are a lot of us out here who enjoy reading it. Have a great Christmas, New Years and 2009!

I do hope to see you at the ball park one day, but not until something changes.

Thanks again and may peace be with you and everyone who reads this.

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Pete's reply: And a very happy holiday to you, too.

30 to 40 Million dollar hometown discount huh? Peter has lost his medication again.

Hi, im an Os fan in newark NJ, im 38. rooted for Os since 76. stopped going to games in 2004. fact is, you gotta pay to play and this organization no matter what kind of management illusion they put forth, do not Want to win. my guess is they will sign brob, but low ball nick,then jonesy,then weiters all of our talent will sign elsewhere, and we'll be watching frank durjievervich and some phenom (whos never even heard of baseball) from easter island. im at a loss, i want to support the players, thru this all and i still do root for them all (MELVIN!). i think no matter how hard you go or what amount of money you throw at a free agent, no one will sign here until they see a commitment/winning and stronger ownership. so this is my vow. if we dont lock up nick/weiters if hes as good as projected, and at LEAST three of our best developed future SP. i will drop this team like a bad habit and just go watch the newark bears. i cant stand the yanks..even stopped going to old yank stadium when my 29 dollar tik became 85. mets are ok but i was born in 69. salary cap needed or a 3rd team in nyc area. so ill hope things will change but im not holding my breath. thank god for fantasy baseball.

Pete,

RV made an interesting comment in his post about putting a cap in place in FA signings. Not sure that would ever fly, but I'm now of the mind set that MLB does need a cap of some sort. I'd probably try to sell them one that is similar to the NBA's, which allows teams to put in higher bids on their own FA's then other teams can.

Everyone thought that a salary cap would dampen the wildly successful NFL. But especially after this season, where teams like the Dolphins & Falcons are playoff contenders coming off last place finishes, it makes for a better overall product. And in the NFL, teams that draft wisely and are prudent in the FA market, are the one's that flourish over several seasons.

The O's, Tampa, and to some degree Toronto are in a more difficult position, because they have to contend every year with Boston & NY. Place any of the 3 in another division, and they have a shot at contending. Tampa will be a contender next season as well, but for how long? If baseball does not address the issue of huge markets spending whatever they want, then eventually cities such as Baltimore, KC, Pittsburgh, Oakland, Cincinnati, DC, Minnesota & Tampa will be hard pressed to continue fielding teams down road.

And if for no other reason, so we are not subjected to ESPN's blatant bias towards Boston & NY anymore. We do need some sort of cap in place, and not this crummy luxury tax. Enough already.

Will everyone stop with this non sense of a salary cap, you are all nothing but a bunch of cry baby's please every team in the majors had the chance to sign each of the three players the yankees signed, so be it, it just means each of you cry babies that root for another team has a cheap owner who does not want to shell out money to get a player that will help their team. Why is no one bitching about the Giants when they are the ones who opend up the market for Bary Zito the set these wheels in motion, as well as those idiots in Boston who paid a whopping 51 million just to talk to the japanese import do you not think the next guy will have to double that now. Come on the Yankees are only putting back into MLB they give all your cheap owners money and they decide to pocket it, instead of putting it back into to their teams.

Posted by: guy with an ox | December 24, 2008 1:44 PM

The Yankees will have a great starting nine, but when some of the old men start to break down they will quickly be reduced to a more normal competitor. They have no depth. I don't root for anyone to get hurt, but since they all have guaranteed contracts, may the Yankee DL be long in 2009.

Above what a classless person, you have no idea, your just a whiny little bitch

Dear Pete,
I'm not yet approved but would like to throw this into the mix. The Orioles have been my team since 1945 (I know, they were at the AAA level then). I've read most, if not all, of the posts about the financial problem arising Dec 23rd which is (and has been) eroding fan support in baseball and, I am sure, greatly disturbing ownership in the levels below the top few teams. It seems that some teams have far greater fan bases, hence revenue, than others, plus privately financed cable outlets which extend their influence (their "nation") even further. Of course having more money in the first place, their outlet presents more, better produced shows which lures an even larger audience to them and seduces a greater bond with their fans.
The leader of the leagues is terribly weak and the Union has a tremendously out of proportion stranglehold on the game. (Like Andy MacPhail,there will be no proper names ie the player or the agent.)
I have not read or heard this solution proposed: There are 30 teams in the Major Leagues, the younger league having two fewer than the senior. To balance the two leagues, a team should be placed in Brooklyn and one in New Jersey. Each could be well funded by the lower level teams and host cities and each team provided with its own cable TV station. I doubt it would take long for the New York situation to resolve. Someone else will have to think about Boston. (Perhaps a team in Providence but then we're out of balance again. Where does that answer lie? Where is the tower that carries their signal? Broadcasting to the "Nation" with smoke signals might do it.)

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Pete's reply: The idea of an expansion team in New Jersey has been proposed in the past. Might help, but probably won't happen in my lifetime.