tntoriole

Maybe they think Santander can still continue to improve over 2022.

If you do eat the oatmeal and are reallly good, then maybe World Series tickets for you!!!

18 pages on a Kyle Gibson thread … man, it is going to be a long offseason.

Exploring …aggressively.. is not the same as saying we are going to do everything to upgrade via free agency. GM speak, like politicians, seems to say something for every outcome. If they sign no one major, well we said we would “explore aggressively “ but found no fit. The most specific part is the first part, that “much the escalation in payroll” will be on “our guys in arbitration. “ And that he will focus on trade improvements as they did in Houston at this stage rather than free agent stars. But talk is cheap. I will judge the actions not what he says. Not impressed by the actions as of today … at all. But will wait for Christmas .. hoping it will not be like this guy .. waiting to the last minute

This is the kind of stuff that used to come out from the Warehouse in the old days … tell me what “in on” means and I may see it as something other than trying to placate us fans ..

Exactly

Liftoff requires just enough fuel to get off the ground. If you have too much fuel, it will keep you down on the ground. “Zen GM strategy”

He threw 103 innings between Aberdeen (zero competition) and Bowie in 2021 .. injured last season he threw 75 Hard for me to see beyond 120.. i think pitch count total will be much more determinant than innings

Although Gunnar just was under 3 years .. 18 years old in 2019 and played 30 games after draft, no games in 2020, 2021 rocketed to Bowie, 2022 Bowie/Norfolk till Aug promotion.. I would say that is 2 actual playing years.. sure he worked on stuff in 2020 but even if that year is included there he is 3 years max

Opt outs would certainly be part of the planning given our assets. Unless you trade some assets to get the top tier pitcher

Which I also believe was very unfair to Chris.

So were you Ok with Duquette offering Cruz 3 years? And if Cruz had taken the 3 years? If so, what we are really talking about is 1 year , not 4 years because the GM here happily would have signed up Nelson for three. My point was if you are in for three, a fourth year is not such a wild and crazy disastrous move as everyone here is painting it. … if the deal was .. well we are not signing Cruz but hey we are going to replace him .. hello ,Colby Rasmus.. then would you have wanted a fourth year of Cruz? I think Duquette knew exactly what he was doing when he didn’t keep Markakis and Cruz and Miller. And he knew he wasn’t going to replace them either. Angelos Payroll management. Sign Colby Rasmus, jettison 3 high salaries and our payroll advanced just marginally in 2015.

Actually one of the very rare instances on this board when I was right lol .. and there was no hindsight with me saying it back then. I said it on this board throughout the offseason after 2014 and I clogged up those threads too. Lol

Sure …81-81 in 2015 was just fine.

Never saw any of us here on the OH bashing Nellie too much for this problem in 2014. He says he didn’t, MLB didn’t suspend him, so I would have taken the production.. if it was such a problem why did they offer him even 3 years? Why sign him in 2014 even for one year? 3years we don’t care if it is steroids but oh no, not going for that fourth year.

He should have been kept. Period.

Analytic types believe every aspect of sports performance is explained only by simple data. Creativity, craft, drive to improve, practice hours .. none are captured by data. Abreu is a craftsman about hitting imho. We shall see.

Not for Seattle or the Twins but hey we loved going back to the cellar with our “prudent” intact. Who did he replace him with , our smart, prudent GM?

Chris Davis had zero interest in improving his craft. Zero.

Maybe if Duquette was not otherwise occupied .. worst debacle by a GM in major league history imho was the offseason after capturing the AL East.

How many games did he play after the sanctions? 8 years worth . Was he tested? So you are either saying the testing is totally inept or that he was using substances that escaped detection. And you think he was not subject to particular scrutiny due to prior offenses? Yet he played 8 years with ZERO violations which would have cost him an entire season. So if you think it was steroids that had him playing a huge role in us winning the AL East then show me where you wanted him not signed or suspended during 2014 back then. And again you say all GMs knew this yet Oriole GM, Seattle GM, Twins GM etc all signed him? Are they just stupid? https://www.twinkietown.com/platform/amp/2021/7/1/22557471/mlb-minnesota-twins-dh-steroids-should-not-be-synonymous-with-nelson-cruz

Just my own contrarian nature, but I predict Abreu will outperform his 3/60 from the Astros. And by a lot. Will revisit in 2025 lol

I agree… with the last sentence lol Predicting future performance and value is supposedly what GMs do. So how Cruz performed after he left is absolutely relevant. Good organizations look at outliers they missed on and reexamine their analysis. Rigid and failing organizations blame black swans, steroids and the moon rather than their system of decision making.

Nelson Cruz was a professional hitter who excelled at his craft in my view. And who kept getting better by refining his hit tool and figuring out pitchers better and better as the pitcher quality got worse and worse. Nellie was an outstanding contributor and team leader in the best season since 1983 .. but hey, the “data” said no. My real problem was the complete lack of any replacement or upgrade strategy by Duquette who was distracted a bit perhaps during that offseason. I cannot recall another person on OH at the time who agreed with me and I was raked pretty good about it then. Most fans agreed with you. And occasionally over the following 6 years when Nelson was beating us over the head, I admit to taking a certain pleasure in revisiting the decision. But hopefully Abreu will not be Nellie or Ortiz and will underperform for the Astros and we will not regret not pursuing him.

I am happy to go back and show you my quotes on this board PRIOR to the decision in 2014 so please stop with the “hindsight” remarks. And the Seattle and Twins GMs agreed with me, not with you and Duquette. They were just misinformed and i guess.