DUSCHERER: Scratched from Extended Spring Training Start

[wildcard]

I don't know how anyone can make a decision on Duch if they don't know what is happening with him. I read every report I could find about him not pitching yesterday, and no report gives any information on what is happening with him.

Not exactly a strong position to make a decision from.

I'll wait.

[JERSEYORIOLE]

Revenue and income are very different concepts. Also, you can have it if you promise to quit.

Thanks for the accounting lesson. You are correct, however, I was responding to the analogy made by the poster that compared it to someone having a 50k a year "income". Try reading the posts before you attempt to make comments you perceive as witty.

[DrungoHazewood]

If it's meaningless, im taking donations of 1/2 of 1% of your income, it is after all no big deal.

If Duchscerer pitched 75 innings of a 3.00 ERA he'd be worth probably $7M or $10M. There was (and maybe still is) a good chance he was going to be able to do that.

If you could find me an investment where I could take one-half of one percent of my income and have a good shot on turning it into a 1000% profit I'll listen.

[DrungoHazewood]

100% wrong is pretty strong. It kind of implies that you have some kind of fact that it was a good signing. You have none. The fact is that we probably paid 700k for nothing. If that is a good signing, then we are on different planets. If you want to say you disagree, thats fine.

It was an excellent signing. Every free agent signing has risk attached, this one is no different. $700k is a tiny sum of money for a free agent acquisition. It's less than they paid for Jeremy Accardo. It's about 1/10th of what they paid for Danys Baez, or Jamie Walker, or Jay Payton. It's 1/15th of one year's salary for Nick Markakis. It's almost nothing.

Literally, if Duscherer pitches 20 or 30 innings to a 3.50 ERA he'll have more than made the O's money back. In free agency $700k typically buys you 1/6th of one win over replacement. For that amount of money almost any non-zero chance of return on investment was worthwhile.

[eb45]

Fire away with negative rep. Based on what I don't know. Where was there insensitivity at all? I am quite familiar with depression. My opinion of the situation has nothing to do with depression. He could not stay healthy and that was mostly physical as far as I know. I never liked the signing and didn't even know about the bout with depression until after the signing.

Its a business, he battled depression before we signed him, this just didnt come up on the Orioles watch. He should be happy to be repleased. He can work on his problems. He got alot of money for doing nothing. Don't try attempt to make me the bad guy because im stating the obvious. I was calling for his release before this last set back.

If you were really "quite familiar with depression" then you would understand how idiotically misanthropic the bolded statements are.

Additionally your view of the situation (e.g. "release him because he's a distraction") is myopic at best. Having been "calling for his release before this last setback" isn't something to be proud of either, since then there was a greater chance he would someday contribute. This isn't a cut-your-losses scenario, because there is still a potential return and the losses are largely minimal. As long as there is a semi-realistic chance Duchscherer will contribute the the Orioles, there is no reason to release him.

Finally, as Drungo has pointed out, the signing was an excellent one at the time and the way it has turned out does not impact that at all.

[Frobby]

You keep trying to get him going because you may have injuries...or you may make a trade.

If they decide to let him go, so be it...but right now, there isn't much reason to do so from a baseball point of view.

I think he may make the decision for them though and just retire.

This. Right now we'd have no place for him, but by the time (if ever) he has had a full 30-day rehab assignment, the situation could have changed. Stuff happens.

[Moose Milligan]

I've given up on the idea that he'll ever see any time for the Orioles.

Not upset, not mad, it's just how the cookie crumbled. I feel bad for the guy...pretty promising career.

[OsLuvrInKy]

Maybe it is just frustration. I felt it was a bad signing when it happened. I understand the 700k is spent. I just don't want to hear about him anymore.

Just an observation. For someone who does not want to hear about it anymore you sure are responding a lot. Now I have a simple question. If you have a large amount of money invested into something, are you going to throw it away because you are not satisfied thereby totally writing it of as a loss or are you going to hold onto it and possibly see some kind of return on your investment? Me, at this point, would be holding onto Duke as the possibility is still there, even though small, that we get some games out of him.

[jamalshw]

If Duchscerer pitched 75 innings of a 3.00 ERA he'd be worth probably $7M or $10M. There was (and maybe still is) a good chance he was going to be able to do that.

If you could find me an investment where I could take one-half of one percent of my income and have a good shot on turning it into a 1000% profit I'll listen.

Heck, I wouldn't consider myself a gambling man, but I'd take that bet every day of the week and twice on Sunday. (Assuming that I'm not betting on the Orioles on Sunday because we know how that usually goes).

[JERSEYORIOLE]

It was an excellent signing. Every free agent signing has risk attached, this one is no different. $700k is a tiny sum of money for a free agent acquisition. It's less than they paid for Jeremy Accardo. It's about 1/10th of what they paid for Danys Baez, or Jamie Walker, or Jay Payton. It's 1/15th of one year's salary for Nick Markakis. It's almost nothing.

Literally, if Duscherer pitches 20 or 30 innings to a 3.50 ERA he'll have more than made the O's money back. In free agency $700k typically buys you 1/6th of one win over replacement. For that amount of money almost any non-zero chance of return on investment was worthwhile.

Redo the math, because if they activate him and he pitches just one inning, it's an additional 400k. If it was an excellent signing, im just wondering, are the Orioles the smartest team in baseball? We can agree that that is not true. Where were all these other teams knocking down his door? Im sure he had better offers and decided to come to one of the worst teams in baseball

[Crazysilver03]

Redo the math, because if they activate him and he pitches just one inning, it's an additional 400k. If it was an excellent signing, im just wondering, are the Orioles the smartest team in baseball? We can agree that that is not true. Where were all these other teams knocking down his door? Im sure he had better offers and decided to come to one of the worst teams in baseball

Other teams were in on him but he pretty much said he wanted to pitch near his home in NJ to be close to son. The Yankees were in on him until he decided he'd rather be in Baltimore because they gave him a chance to start.

[JERSEYORIOLE]

Just an observation. For someone who does not want to hear about it anymore you sure are responding a lot. Now I have a simple question. If you have a large amount of money invested into something, are you going to throw it away because you are not satisfied thereby totally writing it of as a loss or are you going to hold onto it and possibly see some kind of return on your investment? Me, at this point, would be holding onto Duke as the possibility is still there, even though small, that we get some games out of him.

Yes, IF, to possibly get something out of it, I had to dump another large sum of money into a extremley risky deal. If the guy gets activated we owe him another 400k. Seems like people are leaving that part out.

[Nigel Tufnel]

Yes, IF, to possibly get something out of it, I had to dump another large sum of money into a extremley risky deal. If the guy gets activated we owe him another 400k. Seems like people are leaving that part out.

Well, right, if you had to decide right now, and your only two options were to activate him for tonight's game or release him immediately, then you probably release him. Luckily there's a third choice - let him pitch in extended ST and see how it goes. You're probably correct to write him off in your mind, but if you ask me, to release him right now would be pointless and idiotic.

[OFFNY]

This guy could testify against organized crime, and he wouldn't even need to enter the witness-protection program. Since he has signed with us, he has been invisible to any and all. If he can eventually make the team and contribute before the season is over, that would be great. Good luck, Justin.

[DrungoHazewood]

Redo the math, because if they activate him and he pitches just one inning, it's an additional 400k. If it was an excellent signing, im just wondering, are the Orioles the smartest team in baseball? We can agree that that is not true. Where were all these other teams knocking down his door? Im sure he had better offers and decided to come to one of the worst teams in baseball

That barely changes anything. The difference between $700k and $1.1M is still a fraction of a win, it's still a fraction of what they pay or have paid countless other bit players. It's about the same amount as they're paying Accardo and Izturis, two guys who they went into the season expecting to be healthy and provide little real value.

You can roll your eyes all you want, a "risk" of $1.1M is barely a risk at all in Major League Baseball terms.