Baltimore Orioles: Hurting themselves?

Are the Baltimore Orioles “principles” hurting them in the long run?

Dan Duquette and the Baltimore Orioles have had a heck of a week. Between Yovani Gallardo‘s physical and Dexter Fowler deciding to so abruptly change his mind, the Orioles and their tactics were seemingly under scrutiny all week. In one situation they were criticized for having too stringent of a physical, and in the other one their refusal to grant opt-out clauses came under the microscope.

So here’s my question today; are the O’s in effect hurting themselves based on their tactics? Do players think twice about coming to the Orioles because if there’s one blip on the physical there will be questions? As opt-outs seemingly become more prevelant, are the O’s naively “staying in the dark ages?”

First off regarding the physicals, I don’t think that’s hurting anything. I suspect that almost every team out there would question things on someone’s physical if something came up. And if they wouldn’t, they’re just plain stupid. If that in and of itself is such an issue, why don’t they just cut through the red tape and force teams not to require a physical? You can’t really hold the Orioles accountable for going by the standard operating proceedure.

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But what about the opt-outs? That’s something that a lot of teams are starting to give, and it’s something that the Orioles refuse to do – justifiably so, in my view. But again, are they hurting themselves? Duquette admitted that the reason the Fowler deal fell through was because he wanted an opt-out. The Orioles weren’t willing to give it, and he went elsewhere.

Speaking for myself I admire people that stick to their principles. The Orioles don’t feel that opt-outs are beneficial to the team, and they stuck to their guns. Furthermore their attitude is that if anyone wants an opt-out so badly to the point that they want to go to another team, the Birds don’t want him to begin with. But where’s the line between being dedicated to prinicples, and being stubborn?

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Therein lies the question. There will be some of you that will read this and say that the Orioles need to change with the times, and that if opt-outs are becoming an industry standard the O’s need to understand this. And those are perfectly fine opinions to have. As I said, therein lies the question.

I’ll be interested to see next season if anyone specifically says that they passed on the Orioles’ offer because they didn’t want to have to risk failing a physical. And the same is true with the opt-out clause. Would someone actually admit that the O’s made a good offer but their unwillingness to offer an opt-out made them pass?

Next: Baltimore Orioles: Back to the Jay Bruce idea

So where do you stand? Are the O’s being stubborn and stupid, or are they standing up for their principles? You make the call!