You're forgiven if you're not ready to swallow that as truth. After all, the Orioles have tried many times over the years to sell you a magic quick-fix, cure-all elixir.
The true test comes these next couple of months, as the Orioles enter Stage 2 of their reconstruction - or more accurately, Offseason 2.
It appears this one could challenge Angelos much more than last year's.
If the team isn't convinced it can re-sign Brian Roberts - and it increasingly feels this way - then the Orioles shouldn't waste any time parting with an Angelos favorite. The last trade believed to be nixed by Angelos involved Roberts going to the Atlanta Braves (which proved to be a good use of the veto pen, by the way). The Orioles can't keep him around because anyone's enamored of his smile and his hustle. Instead, you wish Roberts well and send him packing early, which maximizes the package you get in return and also helps you plan the rest of the offseason accordingly.
There are plenty of big-fish free agents available this offseason, too, and there has been nothing to hint that MacPhail has been handcuffed. Certainly the Orioles have money to spend (their payroll last year was No. 21 in baseball), and all indicators suggest they'll make serious runs at Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett.
Allow your friends to cling to their reservations and disbeliefs. There's no reason to think Angelos is going to force MacPhail to hasten his plan. Maybe the Orioles don't land Teixeira (whose agent, Scott Boras, is surely seeking a personal pocketbook stimulus package) or Burnett (who'll be 32 by Opening Day and already has a frequent-visitor punch-card to the disabled list), but it won't be for lack of trying.
And that's all any executive who has come through town has ever wanted - a chance to build as he saw fit, not trying to marry his vision with his boss' fancy.
Around this team, we measure progress in inches, not wins. So, yes, "Baltimore" probably should've returned to the jerseys years ago. (And on that note, a statue honoring Brooks Robinson is still long overdue.) But focus today on the fact that it has happened and what that change represents.
Seeing the city's name across the chest isn't a lesson in geography. It's bigger than that.
It's a matter of ownership.
