Machado and Schoop won’t attend Fanfest; vouchers for those sessions refunded

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• This is bad. Very bad. For so many reasons. Here our superstar player, Machado, in his last season with the Orioles, skips out on Fan Fest at the last minute. No doubt he wants to avoid the 5 thousand questions of what does he feel about the trade rumors, or is he going to sign an extension? I get it...but he confirmed and committed to it, and now cancels at the last minute. Along with his best bud on the team Schoop....

  This tells me that we have to trade Machado now. BEFORE this season starts. If not, he is going to walk into spring training and it will turn this team into something that is doomed from the start. How does he align his ego with "sucking it up" to don the Orioles uniform for one more season? Not only has he had to listen to trade rumors all off-season, but Duquette also let it slip in an interview after the winter meetings that they haven't approached Manny's agent in several years about an extension. Obviously they had no intention of doing so. If that's the case, is Duquette's baseball acumen actually bad enough to expect to contend with a pitching staff in shambles? Even worse this season than last? I don't buy it. If they had no intention of trying to extend Machado then why hold on to him this long? You could have received a "King's Ransom" for him before last season...or even before the trade deadline last season. HORRIBLE decision to wait until this winter before his last season.

  They should be on the phone with every GM of every other team today and asking for the final offers for Machado, because by midnight tonight, he's no longer going to be an Oriole. Machado has basically forced ownership's hand to trade him. Buck has worked miracles in getting the best out of his teams before, but this one? Nah...there is no way Buck could possibly tackle all of this with the extra drama on top of terrible GM signings (or lack thereof!).

  It makes me so frustrated as a lifetime Oriole fan. Look at Adam Jones' Twitter ramblings over the past few seasons. Here's a guy that should be signing a lifetime Oriole extension to his contract right now...also upset that the team has done nothing. Jones and Showalter should have the next two statues at Camden Yards....is ownership and DD going to run them out of town before that can happen?

• Don't know how to read into this one. More disappointed in Schoop than Manny. Does anyone have a read on where he and the organization stand? Is he being aloof? Is this mancrush with Manny a little overated and he's an Oriole on his own? Just curious how many other teams have a Fanfest and what Is their outpouring/player participation.

• This sure does not look good for the loyal fans, especially those attending the Fanfest. I guess information will be forthcoming as to why the two players are not attending, but this is just another component of a downward spiraling team. Shame on management. Either play with the big boys or get out.

• I don't even play a doctor on TV, but could I get a clarification? How long after achilles surgery does one have to wait to get cleared for flying? I assume Britton would be going first class and not with us crowded peons in coach.You see people in wheelchairs all the time. No strong feelings here about his absence, just seems like an odd excuse.

  • It's not the crowds. It's risk of blood clots post surgery. A month is a reasonable time to say "no flying". It's been about a month for him I think.

  • It’s a long flight from California. Plus he needs to officially be cleared for ST by his Cali doctor. So he’d have to go back again. So that’s 2.5 cross country flights in 2+ weeks. Why take the risk?

• It amazes me that people who make so much money have no intention of earning it. If, in my tiny life, I needed to go do a presentation, I'd do it because I am obligated and it is what I chose. I'm disgusted with these pirahs.

• Of the four stars not attending, I'm very sympathetic to Britton and Davis. Britton needs to be focused on his recovery, and there's no sense risking anything by flying repeatedly after surgery. Davis needs to be with his family as well. When both of my children were born, I took time away from my work to be with my family and nobody in my organization had any questions or qualms about it. Family is more important than the fans in times like these.

  Manny? The word is that he's missing for "personal reasons" unrelated to his contract status. If there's a family situation, again, I get it. Schoop bugs me though. Here's a guy bucking for more money in arbitration, but he can't show up for the fans? I may be reading too much into this, but the timing is suspect to me with Manny's withdrawal from attendance so shortly before Schoop's.

  I know they're offering refunds on vouchers, but if I'm a fan and I'd built weekend plans around FanFest, especially if I'm taking kids who are super excited to meet their heroes, I'd be sorely disappointed and the refund is not really just compensation. I'm sure there will be some forthcoming statements about Manny and Schoop, and for legitimate reasons (family being at the top of the list, and not just a "we needed a weekend alone" type thing) I'm pretty forgiving. Again, the timing is suspect, and it comes across as disrespecting the fan base in the way it's been done. I'm trying to refrain from jumping to conclusions, although I suppose in some ways I already have. But the ongoing drama with Manny's trade/no-trade status, the lack of substantive moves by the front office, and what I detect as a growing sense of frustration in the fan base with the product that will be put on the field this year, it's getting hard to think the best in these situations. Makes one think about why we'd want to be there if the players don't. I hope I'm wrong.

• C'mon guys. It's Fanfest .... not the 7th game of the world series. Why all the hurt feelings? Do you really care if these guys don't love us back?

  • I think it's more about the PR. I'm looking at it from the perspective of my kids who at some point are going to grow to love a certain player. They'll want to meet the player and the last thing I want to have to do is to explain that the player doesn't give a rip about the fans as long as he's getting a huge contract. So, in that regard, it does matter. FanFest is about the fans and the organization, including the players, recognizing the role the fans play in what they do.

• Seems to me that if Manny or Schoop had legitimate family issues for not attending they would be on twitter apologizing to the fans and expressing their sorrow for having to miss the event... no need to give details unless they cared to... I am not a twitter person so don't know if this has occurred or not, curious if it has?

  • I don't find either one of them with an active Twitter feed. I don't know how much either uses social media. Frankly, it's kind of refreshing for celebrities to not broadcast every single detail of their lives for us, but I would certainly like to know if they're missing FanFest for legitimate reasons or if they're just blowing it off because they don't want to hang out with the fans.

• I will be an Oriole fan until the day I day, but this story is one of many reasons why I gave up my 13 game Sunday afternoon season package and instead bought a similar Bowie Baysox plan. It's a longer trip to Bowie from Hunt Valley, but I don't have to root for a guy who is playing for a future contract for the New York Yankees.