The Orioles Should Be Embarrassed By What They Pulled With Trey Mancini And John Means
Baseball has a lot of things currently wrong with it, we all know that, but arbitration may take the cake. Last night was the deadline for clubs and players to come to an agreement before heading to arbitration and as is tradition, the Orioles screwed it up. There were only 2 guys that couldn't come to an agreement with the club, Trey Mancini and John Means. One of the guys is a cancer survivor, someone who in the middle of multiple 100 loss seasons said he wanted to stay with the club long term, someone who came in second in the home run derby last year, someone who is the heart and soul of not just the franchise but the city. The other is arguably the best home grown pitcher they've said since a guy named Mike Mussina who was thisssss close to throwing a perfect game last year. So it only makes sense to fight and bicker with those two guys over a combined $1,025,000, right? Because that is what the Orioles are doing. Two of their most notable and best players will be going to arbitration where they get to listen to a team representative tell them why they aren't worthy of the salary they asked for. Sounds like a wonderful way to reward your homegrown talent.
The whole arbitration process is awful, it's horrible for long term deals because the player has to sit there and get shit on and listen to why they aren't worthy squat to the club. Then when it's all said and done a judge tells them who is right and how much the player will get paid, it's a wonderful system that for sure doest cause hard feelings from the players. That's like you telling your girlfriend all the stuff you hate about her but then in the end you give her a little kiss on the forehead and expect everything to be okay. And I know every team does it and it's part of baseball, but it's so damn stupid. Especially when you have two of the faces of this club, along with Cedric Mullins and Ryan Mountcastle, having to fight for a higher salary.
And look at the numbers! Trey filed for a salary of $8 million flat, the Orioles countered with $7.375 million. You're telling me you don't want to reward one of the most likable and best players this club has seen in some time? The same guy who worked his ass off to comeback from cancer and put on the uniform everyday of a club that doesn't look like they've made much improvement in 4 years? That is the message you want to send Mike Elias and company? And with Means it's worse, he filed at $3.1 million, the Orioles filed at $2.7 million. You aren't willing to give your best pitcher an extra $400 K? He's the only pitcher that's worth a shit in the rotation right now, what the hell kind of world are we living in? The Orioles are dead last in payroll, no shocker there, and they won't shell out a combined $1,025,000? It's a joke, it's pathetic, it's embarrassing. And if I'm the players I'm rightfully pissed.
Sure the Orioles are finding other ways to nickel and dime it, like not being interested in attempting to sign any additional pitchers or any shortstop that belongs on an MLB roster, like being one of 2 teams not sending their radio or tv booths on the road for the season (Nats are the other and they're both owned by MASN). It's an awful look for this club, optically it's awful. You really can't reward these two players, two of maybe 4-5 players that people actually come to Camden Yards to see? We saw the numbers, we know how much the teams will get with the revenue sharing, and you can't pay an extra Million to them?
That is bad. I've been one of the more vocal leaders defending Mike Elias and the front office, but this doesn't sit right with me. Again, I know arbitration happens all over the league, Aaron Judge is going through it, Lucas Giolito and the White Sox had a difference of $200K and are going to arbitration, I know it's a process that happens every year in baseball. But for the Orioles to penny pinch on these two guys, there's just no excuse. None. Seems like this club is trying to do anything and everything it can to piss off the fanbase. We're busting balls over just over a Million bucks? Awful, embarrassing, pathetic.
Also them penny pinching like this mayyyyyyy just prove that there was no way Correa was going to come here. They were okay with offering a $300,000,000 million deal but won't give these 2 a raise? Doesn't seem likely. Wonder what this team will do today, burn down the warehouse, announce they aren't selling hotdogs at games, change the team name or something, who knows with them. Just pay Trey and John their money, if theres any two on this team that deserve a little bump it's them.