The Tortoise and the Hare

This offseason is a tale of two GM's - Andy MacPhail of the Baltimore Orioles and Billy Beane of the Oakland A's.

And for Oriole fans, we will have to hope this is a case of the classic tale, "The Tortoise and the Hare."

Billy Beane is obviously the Hare, as he's already traded away Dan Haren and Nick Swisher and has received 3-4 blue chip prospects in return.

Andy MacPhail was able to deal Tejada for 5 players, but no real blue chip prospects, but it was a solid trade nevertheless. However since that trade on Dec 12, MacPhail has made no other signficant trades. Now you can see that MacPhail is clearly the Tortoise in this rebuilding race...

Take into account the two quotes from both GM's. This was Beane in a AP release after he made the Haren trade:

"Our status quo as we stood going into the season was mediocrity at best," Beane
said. "That's my opinion. If anything we're taking a step back with the idea
we have a chance to build something very good for a long time. ... The cost of
indecision for us probably would be a bigger mistake."

Now this is MacPhail in today's Baltimore Sun article:

"I'm not really being pressured by anybody," said MacPhail. "It may not be
convenient for everybody's timetable, but as a franchise, we have to live with
the consequences. You have a responsibility to the franchise and the
fans to make sure that you do everything that you can do to try to put the odds in your favor. ... When you make the deal, it has to stand the scrutiny that I've always talked about -- you're convinced you're better off afterward than you were before you made [it]. I'm keeping all my options open."

Two different, viewpoints, as Beane would rather make a deal when it was available than sit back and decide and deliberate on it while MacPhail needs to have the deal be a guaranteed success, for him to pull the trigger. The question is how much of a success does it have to be? At what point do you assume a little risk to make a deal that will better your franchise overall?

We shall see who will win this race, but if MacPhail goes into 2008 without making any more significant trades, the only losers will be the Oriole fans, as MacPhail plods along...