Gentlemen,

Good, thoughtful, presentation.

Are the Orioles going to be a contender this year? Probably not. Is that a bad thing? Absolutely not.

We all know about the Dark Ages, 12 years of nothing. All the mistakes of that time cannot be rectified in two or three years, they just can't. McPhail has been here now two and a half years, that is not enough time for a new organizational philosophy to take shape.
He has remade the farm system and supplied it with bonafide prospects. But most importantly, he has given this franchise a future.
To often during the past, the Orioles front office made moves to win now. The sign Kevin MIllar and Jeff Conine when they already had Javy Lopez, who couldn't be the catcher because they signed Ramon Hernandez. In the past, moves were made haphazardly and without any apparent fore thought.

Now, Mac, and I am not trying to say he is the end all, be all of baseball execs, appears to be making decisions based on a plan. Yes, the "Plan." The plan has given him the ability to make a move that leads to another move that leads to another move. I'm sure he suspected that when he traded for Sherril, somewhere down the line, good Ole' George might bring some return. And he has. I don't care that Ryan Freel did nothing here, he wasn't the key to that trade, Turner and Waring were.

Everything MacPhail has done has laid the foundation for sustained success. Not just a year or two, but five, six, seven years. The drafting of Matt Hobgood is an example. Hobgood has immense talent but needs tons of seasoning, he is still 18 years old. He spends five years in the minors, he comes up at 23, leading the second wave of prime Orioles prospects. Mac is trying to ensure future and continued winning. And you don't do that by acceding to the wishes of fans and media types who see him as a failure because he hasn't made "exciting" moves. They could have offered Holliday 130m, like Boras says they did, and if he signed here, we'd have an albatross of a contract that would constrict future moves. The Cubs
are dealing with that right now with Alfonzo Soriano.

The questions we have to ask ourselves are:
1) Do we want the FO to build for the future or try for short term and limited success?
2)Are we prepared to watch and support a group of hungry young players making their way in the majors? No one doubts the talent of these guys, but they need to take their lumps and get their feet wet. Will we be there to support them?
3)And finally, are we ready to turn the page on the last 12 years and realize this is not the same team, FO, and organization as we had three years ago? Building a winning team takes time and patience, is this city ready and able be patient for another year or two?

I hope so.

Once again Peter your radio talk show host side appears. I'm fine with you not being excited about the Orioles.That makes them a lead pipe lock to be contenders this year. I'm listneing to Xm right now and caller after caller across the country are expressing their admiration for the Orioles and naming them as the surprise team of baseball this year. New York fans, Boston fans and others are saying watch out for the O's. If that's not enough for O's fans to be excited. The Orioles are being named by sports writers, I should say knowledgeable sports writers, everywhere as a team to watch this year. The Boston Herald, SI, NESN, Yahoo and others all say watch out for the birds.So Peter, please continue to bad mouth the birds and pander to those of the negative bent, it'll only mean success for the O'sin 2010.