Author Archives: Domenic Vadala

Today is obviously a federal holiday (for New Year’s Day since it fell on a Sunday), which means that the Baltimore Orioles probably aren’t going to do much today. In fact, I’m not going to do much either – aside from watch bowl games. Which is a nice tie-in with what I’m about to say.

It’s always dangerous when I bring money and so forth into this column. But I’m going to do it. I’m the first one to tell you that sports is a business. That usually comes up when fans cry foul over contract negotiations, and even when I go into rants about unwritten codes of baseball. I’ll always throw that in when that topic comes up because I do believe that people should conduct themselves with a certain amount of decorum in the workplace (and the ballpark is their workplace). But can the who it’s a business angle be taken too far?

There are several collegiate athletes in this year’s slate of college football bowl games who are opting to sit their school’s game out. Now in some cases, the players had nagging injuries. If someone’s hurt, I totally understand not playing. However if it’s the player’s decision, that gives it a different angle.

The point here is that some of these players decided to do this so as to avoid an injury in a non-national championship bowl game that would potentially hurt their draft status. And yes, that’s a business decision. One I’m sure that’s applauded by financial advisors and agents. However does it not work contrary to the very business that the athletes are trying to join?

The idea of course is that if the player gets hurt (and I always think back to Miami’s Willis McGahee) he could cost himself a lot of money and potentially a career in the NFL. And yes, that may well be a legitimate concern, especially if you’re playing in a game such as the Idaho Potato Bowl or something like that. (I’m not knocking that game, just using it as an example of  non-national title game bowl that isn’t going to garner much interest.) But is that fair to teammates, coaches, and fans?

And the answer to that is obviously no. Furthermore look at it this way; while you as a collegiate athlete don’t draw a salary (and it should remain that way), in a sense you do get paid because you’re getting a free education along with room and board. And yes, the university is probably making money off of you as an athlete – that’s part of the deal. So are you not in a way going against the grain of the business you’re in at the moment by not playing?

That’s a tough one to prove because we now have this conversation about whether college athletes should be paid. I obviously don’t think they should, but that’s another story. With that said, I’d be wary of drafting even a superstar who pulled a stunt like that. It tells me something about their character when they claim they’re sitting out for a reason like that. Now granted I’m pretty old school; I’m sure there are a million “new-age GM’s” out there who would gladly draft a college superstar if he fell to them because of what I would deem a conflict of character, and then if the guy ended up being a superstar in the NFL I’d be charged with not being willing to take a chance on a guy. But that’s just how I roll.

To equate this to baseball, let’s say that several members of the Orioles didn’t want to play in the wild card game in Toronto last October because they felt the game wasn’t important enough. Now granted that’s not an apples-to-apples comparison because that’s a winner-take-all game as opposed to one out of however many college bowl games which admittedly are somewhat meaningless. But you get my point; what would fans say if someone like a Trumbo didn’t want to risk injury because it’s such a long shot to make it to the fall classic and I have to ensure my future?

Again, that’s why I say this is a character issue. It’s easy enough to in a way applaud a player for looking to the future when he’s in college, but there’s not a fan out there who wouldn’t be all over a professional athlete for doing the same thing. And justifialy so.

This is what happens when we totally let the business side of it take over. You now have 21 and 22-year old kids making business decisions before they’re even in the business – an agent’s dream, I might add once again. There has to be a balance between both sides. All I know is that it’s incredibly poor form to sit out of any game simply because you don’t want to get hurt and risk an injury. While you may be doing yourself a favor in a business sense, it’s not about that. It’s about the team. And if you aren’t a team player, you shouldn’t be playing the game and thus be “in the business” to begin with.

Seven short hours ago at the stroke of midnight, 2017 because this year for the Baltimore Orioles. 2016 is now officially last year…all it took was the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve! If you’re reading this before noon, congratulations. That means you’re like me, and you like getting a jump start on your day – and year.

The alternative is that you’re like me in another way…you’re so unpopular that nobody wants to do New Year’s Eve with you. But I digress…welcome to this year, O’s fans! Does it feel any different?

It shouldn’t. The Orioles still have the same virtues and shortcomings as they did yesterday. However New Year’s Day is a strategic moment in the off season. When the calendar turns can also be when the hot stove season really gets heated up. But we’ll get to that.

For now, I hope that all of you had a safe and Happy New Year last night and today. We find ourselves in a weird bizzaro world whereby the NFL season is closing on New Year’s Day, whereby normally it’s a day stacked with college football. But baseball’s coming folks, and soon at that!

The Baltimore Orioles are expecting to continue their time-honored tradition of hosting an annual minicamp next month. The Birds gather every year at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota to work out young players and to gauge where they are in their progression. It’s normally something that leads into Orioles FanFest week.

However right now there’s a hangup in this process: the union. The MLBPA has to sign off on any baseball-related activity that occurs during the off season. This has never been a problem before, and I don’t expect it to be this year.

But the Birds are still in a holding pattern in a sense. I wouldn’t expect anything to happen before the New Year’s holiday. You can kind of understand how this might be frustrating for a team given the fact that they’re trying to get their ducks in a row in terms of sending out invitations and getting lodging for players. But still…we wait.

Personally I think it’s a good thing that the O’s hold these minicamps, as it gives guys a chance to hone their skills in the middle of the winter doldrums. And Sarasota in January is similar to Baltimore in May, so that’s not a bad thing in the least for most players. At the end of the day, this has me thinking far too much about spring time!

Looking back on the autumn, I wrote here and there about lessons that the Baltimore Orioles and MLB could learn from the NFL in terms of over-saturation and TV ratings. I would argue that the NFL is over-saturating it’s product which in turn is diluting it – if that’s possible. In their quest to own almost every night of the week, they’re providing an almost unwatchable product in Thursday Night Football. But I digress.

NFL ratings were down this autumn, due in large part in my view to the election. However again, there were other reasons for this, not limited to the whole National Anthem debate. However the ratings have started to pick up as the season’s gone into it’s stretch run, which in my view is no coincidence given that the election is over. However the NFL feels differently as to why this has happened – and the Orioles should take note.

I’ve read a few articles to the effect that part of why ratings have spiked again is due to the success of the Dallas Cowboys this year. Their success isn’t debatable, however to pin the ratings of the entire league being up again on that is a bit much. I’m not debating that they have a national following, because that goes without saying. However I highly doubt that someone was more motivated to watch last week’s Chargers/Browns game because the Cowboys are good.

However if in fact this is a prevailing sentiment, it’s entirely possible that MLB might start thinking to themselves, gee, maybe our ratings would spike if certain teams are running the table also. Obviously by that, I mean teams such as the Yankees and Red Sox, both of whom have national followings. Could and would MLB make things easier for those teams in a sense?

Well first off, could they? And the answer is no – at least not any more so than they already have. The luxury tax in baseball was designed to squeeze teams who go over a certain level when it comes to salaries. However teams like that simply work that into their budget. MLB couldn’t really do anything to tangibly ensure that those two teams are perpetually good; again, more so than they already have.

The other part is would  they? And the answer there is probably. Baseball’s heyday in the lasrt 15-20 years was probably when New York and Boston were battling year after year in the post season. People paid attention – BIG TIME. Heck, most of America seemingly adopted either New York or Boston during these series’ just to have a rooting interest. So again, if in fact the Dallas Cowboys are single-handedly driving NFL ratings, MLB could look to that and think of how good their ratings might be in some of their more polarizing teams were in it big.

And incidentally, you notice I used the word polarizing. I didn’t say popular. The Los Angeles Dodogers and Chicago Cubs are popular teams. The Green Bay Packers are a popular team. But those franchises aren’t polarizing, like the Cowboys, Yankees, and Red Sox. People who despise them are just as likely to tune in and watch as people who love them. And when you combine the lovers and the haters, yes you have a vast audience.

One thing that MLB could and probably will do is ensure that Boston and New York are on national television as often as they can be. Granted that’s been happening for years, but of course teams get more revenue for national telecasts. When the two sides play over a weekend, you can expect them to be shown nationally on FOX on Saturday afternoon, and of course on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.

So where does that leave the Orioles? In an uphill fight for sure. But that’s been the case for a long time, and since 2012 at least they’ve always found a way.

The Baltimore Orioles are either really dumb or really smart. Take your pick. I say that in the tradition of how in international politics they say that one man’s criminal is another man’s freedom fighter. Now I don’t personally believe that because regardless of anything else terrorism is terrorism. But work with me.

The Orioles hold out seemingly every year for value. While other teams make big splashes that are very costly in November and December, the Orioles wait until the waning days of the hot stove season to make their moves. And they aren’t necessarily taking pieces off the scrap heap.

Many would argue that with the likes of Gallardo and Jimenez that’s exactly what they did. But that’s called revisionist history; at the time those deals were signed, they were widely praised. The Orioles got a bargain on both players, according to most experts. And that’s how you have to judge a move like that – in the moment. If you let production in real time taint the deal, it either becomes the greatest deal or the worst deal of all time.

However the same was true of guys like Cruz, Alvarez, and even Davis. The Orioles waited until the market forced the price to come down. And they got themselves a great deal on a great player. Those moves of course are considered great moves given the way the player’s production turned out. But again, that’s the wrong way to judge a move.

Nevertheless, it’s also playing a game of chicken in a sense. You never know when someone else is going to swoop in and grab the player on whom you have your eye. That might have just happened with Cleveland signing Encarnacion. I would agree that $20 million a year for three years is too much for him. Cleveland basically threw caution to the wind and overpaid him.

The question is how much interest did the Orioles actually have in him? I think there was some muted interest, but they weren’t hot on the trail. However what Cleveland did is a player’s dream; just swoop in and make an offer like that which can’t be refused. And again, that’s why you run a risk when you wait for the price to come down on players. If someone says screw it we want this guy at all costs, you’re done before you started.

So the strategy is either brilliant or ridiculously dumb – take your pick. If the Orioles end up with a guy like Trubo returning because the market went down late in the game, they’ll be incredibly lucky and look incredibly smart. But it’s also a game of roulette – and time will tell whether or not their number comes up.