Wherever you get your Oriole news – be it MASN, Orioles Hangout, The Sun, Camden Chat, Talk Radio, etc etc – you see and hear the same argument from a very vocal percentage of the Baltimore fan-base.
The argument is, that no matter what the Orioles do, they will never be able to contend in the American League East, particularly against an unbalanced schedule.
I do not agree with this line of thought, but that does mean I do not understand and agree with some of the rationale. The Yankees had a team salary of over $200M in 2009, and Boston had the 4th highest team salary at about $123M. The O’s were 23rd in spending at about $67M, and that was inclusive of some ‘dead’ money being spent on players no longer on the roster.
As MASN continues to grow as a Regional Sports Network, I believe the revenue of the Oriole franchise will grow. I believe the O’s have purposely been judicial with their money, and held back in salary in recent years when they knew they were not prepared to contend. Between the extensions to Roberts, and Markakis; along with the contract-offer to Teixeira last-year, I believe the O’s have shown signs they will spend going forward where they deem appropriate. As this young core builds, they will do what they can to lock-up these players to contracts friendly to team and player alike, and raise the overall payroll to roughly the $100M dollar-range. At that level of pay, they will be right on the periphery of Top 10 overall spending, but still in another ball-park vs. Boston, and New York.
The revenue streams of the Red Sox, and Yankees; combined with their willingness to spend, and capable management, is what has allowed those organizations to have the success they have had the last 10-15 years. That is not going to change. These teams are going to continue to have more overall resources than the O’s. (and everyone else for that matter). The salary they spend, will not guarantee post-season success, but will guarantee they have the roster depth necessary to continue to win a minimum of 90 games annually.
However, at this point, the Yankees and Red Sox are more about sustainability vs. improving. By that I mean New York won 103 games, and the World Series in 2009. They have added Granderson, Vasquez, and Nick Johnson. (While losing Damon, and Matsui.) Even if you believe that the Yankees are ‘better’, they are not going to improve on their 2009 results.
It is certainly not an equitable system though, and the O’s path to perennial contender is that much more difficult. My favorite example of this is inequity is always Carl Pavano. In the winter of 2004, both the O’s and Yankees were bidding for the services of the Free Agent Pavano. Pavano eventually signed with NY for 4 years, $40M. During that contract, he made 17 starts in 2005, missed all of 2006, made 2 starts in 2007, and 7 starts in 2008. Count it up, that is a total of 26 starts in 4 years, for $40M. Even if the Orioles salary was at $100M per year, they could simply not afford to have 10% of their salary tied-up to complete non-production. For the Yankees, it was a blip on their radar, and they had the surrounding depth necessary to make the playoffs 3 of those 4 seasons.
My overall point is that, a more difficult path does not equate to impossible. The biggest thing to remember is that since the Orioles come to the battle with less bullets in their gun, they are going to have to be more diligent with their shots. When the O’s give out multi-year contracts for significant money, they will have to hit a larger percentage of time, vs. NY and Boston.
Where the Orioles have to be willing to regularly spend money, is in the Draft with talents that fall due to sign-ability issues, and with their Player Development staff. The Draft gives you a chance to add top-shelf talent to the system, under long-term team control at somewhat reasonable prices. Once you get them in the system, it is imperative that you have a Player Development / Coaching staff in place to aid their progression. Similarly to how I feel the O’s have to hit a larger percentage of time with their Free Agent additions; I also believe the Orioles have to regularly get some production from their high-level draft picks. If that means you take the more project-able College player over the High-school prospect with a higher-ceiling, so be it.
Perhaps what I have most enjoyed about Andy MacPhail’s tenure with the O’s is that money has been provided to Joe Jordan and the Scouting Department to identify and select the players they wanted. Combine that with the gains in the Dominican with the new facility, and the creation of a legitimate International Scouting Department with John Stockstill, and the Orioles are doing the things under their control to close the gap with their divisional rivals to the North.
While the O’s will have to be more diligent with their resources, and will always start at a competitive disadvantage; the reason Oriole fans can stop living in fear of Boston, and NY is due to the young talent that is being assembled.
Good-luck finding a team that has a more talented 6 players to move forward with than Markakis, Jones, Wieters, Matusz, Tillman, and Arrieta.
The fact that you can augment that core with players like Roberts, Reimold, Pie, Bell, Snyder, Bergesen, Mickolio, Johnson, Hernandez, Erbe, Britton, and Patton – gives the Orioles a legitimate chance at contending on a regular basis starting in 2011.
The O’s path to perennial contender is more difficult due to their division, but not impossible. I think more Oriole fans should stop-living in fear of the Red Sox, and Yankees; and open their eyes to the core talent that is being assembled here in Baltimore.
Owner
Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.