Connelly: This time it really feels like the end for Chris Davis as an Oriole

[SteveA]

https://theathletic.com/2067046/2020/09/15/connolly-for-the-first-time-it-feels-like-the-last-time-for-chris-davis-and-os?source=user-shared-article

Pay wall of course.  Opinion piece.

Connelly says whenever folks thought Davis might be done in the past, he never believed it.  Ownership just couldn't let go, they loved Davis for his work in the county, didn't want to embarrass him, hoped to get some last bit of value out of the contract, etc.

But this time feels different, he says.  The emergence of guys who will merit ABs next year in Mancini, Hays, Mullins, Mountcastle, Stewart, Santander.  The fact that Davis will be 35 next spring.  The fact that Hyde says Mountcastle may see time at 1B these last two weeks (I hadn't heard that, I've been out of town). 

 

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, SteveA said:

https://theathletic.com/2067046/2020/09/15/connolly-for-the-first-time-it-feels-like-the-last-time-for-chris-davis-and-os?source=user-shared-article

Pay wall of course.  Opinion piece.

Connelly says whenever folks thought Davis might be done in the past, he never believed it.  Ownership just couldn't let go, they loved Davis for his work in the county, didn't want to embarrass him, hoped to get some last bit of value out of the contract, etc.

But this time feels different, he says.  The emergence of guys who will merit ABs next year in Mancini, Hays, Mullins, Mountcastle, Stewart, Santander.  The fact that Davis will be 35 next spring.  The fact that Hyde says Mountcastle may see time at 1B these last two weeks (I hadn't heard that, I've been out of town). 

 

 

[SteveA]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

 

Ahhhh...takes me back to middle school!

[Frobby]

I will believe it when I read an official press release saying it.   Not until then.     

I think the main driving factor regarding whether Davis gets released before next spring training will be whether the O’s are worried about losing players in the Rule 5 draft.    In the past couple years, it wasn’t very likely that the 41st player in our organization would get claimed, so leaving Davis on the roster over the winter didn’t have much downside.    This year could be different due to the better depth in our system.    That said, I haven’t really studied who needs to be added and who is likely to get subtracted.    
 

[Moose Milligan]

It feels that way, but it's hard to confuse that feeling with hope.  

[glenn__davis]

It's 2 years after this one, right?  I mean he's just getting worse.  I think it probably needs to go down one of the worst contracts in American sports history, no?

[Can_of_corn]

21 minutes ago, glenn__davis said:

It's 2 years after this one, right?  I mean he's just getting worse.  I think it probably needs to go down one of the worst contracts in American sports history, no?

The Machado deal.

[Philip]

It just seems like Davis himself doesn’t care. I don’t think he’s cared for the last several years, and he certainly gave indications he was phoning it in, but now, it’s as if no one is pretending anymore. He’s gone for now, and soon he will be gone for good.

Speaking of Rule 5, I sincerely hope that none of our PTBNL guys is eligible. That would be a pain.
Also, I wonder if this will be the first year in eons that we don’t make a rule 5 choice ourselves?

[Frobby]

29 minutes ago, glenn__davis said:

It's 2 years after this one, right?  I mean he's just getting worse.  I think it probably needs to go down one of the worst contracts in American sports history, no?

It’s certainly in the top 3 when it comes to baseball, and you could argue it’s the worst.    The other two are Pujols and Cabrera.    Both of those have a bigger gap between total payment and value of production, but at least those players have had positive value as players during their contracts, unlike Davis who has been sub-replacement.     

[Sports Guy]

There has been no reason to cut Davis.

By that I mean, he wasn’t blocking anyone in the last few years.  So, you can keep him and hope something happens and he can at least earn some of the money you are paying him.

But that time has come and gone and now we have players who need those at bats and we need that roster spot.

He gone.

[wildcard]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

I will believe it when I read an official press release saying it.   Not until then.     

I think the main driving factor regarding whether Davis gets released before next spring training will be whether the O’s are worried about losing players in the Rule 5 draft.    In the past couple years, it wasn’t very likely that the 41st player in our organization would get claimed, so leaving Davis on the roster over the winter didn’t have much downside.    This year could be different due to the better depth in our system.    That said, I haven’t really studied who needs to be added and who is likely to get subtracted.    
 

So study it.  I'll start a thread and so can all chime in.   I don't think it belongs here.

[now]

12 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

There has been no reason to cut Davis.

By that I mean, he wasn’t blocking anyone in the last few years.  So, you can keep him and hope something happens and he can at least earn some of the money you are paying him.

But that time has come and gone and now we have players who need those at bats and we need that roster spot.

He gone.

Plus, now we have a taste of "winning matters."

[OrioleDog]

I thought the reasoning when we've hashed this before that it would never ever happen as long as covid cancellation of some of 2021 remained possible therefore saving the club $$$$ was correct.

I suppose it is an arcane calculation for Omar whether that possibility vs. the roster spot to use in the offseason represents "value".

Hopefully if Davis has had any a-ha moments lately, that part can be negotiable between the parties.

[jerios55]

1 hour ago, Philip said:

It just seems like Davis himself doesn’t care. I don’t think he’s cared for the last several years, and he certainly gave indications he was phoning it in, but now, it’s as if no one is pretending anymore. He’s gone for now, and soon he will be gone for good.

Speaking of Rule 5, I sincerely hope that none of our PTBNL guys is eligible. That would be a pain.
Also, I wonder if this will be the first year in eons that we don’t make a rule 5 choice ourselves?

Obviously, I can not confirm nor deny, but being players not on the 60 man that requirement should be unlikely.

Combined with how many 2018 - 2019 draft guys that seem to be Elias targets, I really would be surprised if any were. 

Now watch it be all 6 to spite me...but I just don't think it makes sense.

[Frobby]

39 minutes ago, wildcard said:

So study it.  I'll start a thread and so can all chime in.   I don't think it belongs here.

I will study it between the end of the season and the time of the Rule 5 draft.    Generally, debating who is our 40th/41st best player who is eligible for Rule 5 has never been a favorite topic of mine.    I was never that worried about whether the Stevie Wilkersons of the world would get claimed.    But I do think this year might be a bit different.    I’ll worry about it once I see who’s on our 40 man roster as of September 27.

It’s also much harder to make judgments in the absence of a MiL season on which to judge many of the players.