On the Record: Better pitchers available that could be had for free instead of Eveland

[OrioleMagic]

I think the point is... Let me take a shot at this... The Orioles organization appears to believe that Eveland has hidden value. We can only speculate on how they came to this conclusion. They are the people being paid by Peter Angelos to make the decisions. They do this based on scouting reports from people who have personal knowledge of the performance, mechanics, makeup both physical and mental, and any other intangible that might be known or unknown. Probably some of this information comes from persons who have been in the clubhouse with the player in question.

This, I think is part of the point that is missed by some. While stats are a good indicator, they are not a stand-alone evaluation mechanism.

When fans have a lot of time on their hands, and a passion for their team, I think they lose sight of the real-world aspect of this issue, and start to play fantasy GM or sim-baseball GM and come to their conclusions based on the limited information they have.

[i hope this doesn't sound condescending. I may be wrong in my perspective. I never played baseball after high school. I am a fan who prefers to give DD the benefit of the doubt on MOST things, and trades at the Teagarden and Eveland level are very deserving of the benefit of the doubt.]

[glenn__davis]

CJ Wilson and Darvish come to mind right off the bat. But I never said for free. Anyway the Orioles did one thing right this offseason. They interviewed someone for GM who signed Pujlos and CJ. Unfortuntately they choose their GM's the same way they choose their players. Get soemone no one else wants.

Do you really believe that if we had DiPoto as GM that we would have signed Pujols and Wilson?

[erb8472]

Eveland might not even make the team after spring training.

Let's just say the Orioles do not acquire any other Starting pitchers or trade any. If this is the case we still have guys that are 1) better than Eveland or 2) that I would rather see giving a chance to start.

1) Guthrie

2) Britton

3) Hunter

4) Matusz

5) Arrieta

6) Tillman

7) Simon

[weams]

Thanks for clarifying. I wasn't sure. That's why I specifically asked, "Am I understanding the question correctly that this is not what you're looking for the "GMs" to identify?"

I could be wrong, It was certainly the way I interpreted it.

Regarding Bedard.

Signing him would have meant that these players could not be paid if all things are equal in a flat payroll for 2012

Bergesen, Brad

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Andino, Robert

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Arrieta, Jake

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Tillman, Chris

rhp

Angle, Matt

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Britton, Zach

lhp

[atomic]

I think the point is... Let me take a shot at this... The Orioles organization appears to believe that Eveland has hidden value. We can only speculate on how they came to this conclusion. They are the people being paid by Peter Angelos to make the decisions. They do this based on scouting reports from people who have personal knowledge of the performance, mechanics, makeup both physical and mental, and any other intangible that might be known or unknown. Probably some of this information comes from persons who have been in the clubhouse with the player in question.

This, I think is part of the point that is missed by some. While stats are a good indicator, they are not a stand-alone evaluation mechanism.

When fans have a lot of time on their hands, and a passion for their team, I think they lose site of the real-world aspect of this issue, and start to play fantasy GM or sim-baseball GM and come to their conclusions based on the limited information they have.

[i hope this doesn't sound condescending. I may be wrong in my perspective. I never played baseball after high school. I am a fan who prefers to give DD the benefit of the doubt on MOST things, and trades at the Teagarden and Eveland level are very deserving of the benefit of the doubt.]

Well it could be that DD has never seen Eveland play. Probably even likely.

[DrungoHazewood]

I'm surprised no one has picked Kevin Slowey. He was acquired for less than Dana Eveland. He will put up better numbers pitching in San Diego and agains the NL West.

Wasn't he acquired by the Rockies? Maybe I'm crazy, but I could see a Josh Towers-type pitcher having some difficulty pitching half his games at altitude.

[atomic]

Do you really believe that if we had DiPoto as GM that we would have signed Pujols and Wilson?

Of course not. We still would have gotten someone no one else wanted. That is why anyone who could has or could get a job in major league baseball is not the GM right now.

[erb8472]

Wasn't he acquired by the Rockies? Maybe I'm crazy, but I could see a Josh Towers-type pitcher having some difficulty pitching half his games at altitude.

Ahh yes. My apologies. I was getting my NL West teams mixed up. You are right he could have some difficulty pitching half his games at altitude, but Eveland could also have some difficulty pitching against the AL East instead of the NL West.

[Dr. FLK]

BTW, people are saying there are similar pitchers out there as well.

IE, if you can acquire a .3 WAR pitcher for free and you have to give up players to get a .5 pitcher, you are better off with the .3 WAR pitcher even if the .5 pitcher has a better season.

For whatever reason, this obvious and consistently made point is being lost on some.

Not if the players you give up have a WAR < 0.2, right?

[Fan4Life]

Well it could be that DD has never seen Eveland play. Probably even likely.

More likely is that anyone on the HO has seen him play and that the FO has resources to people that have. They have made a determination about his value with regard to those players we gave up. We'll see how that goes.

[OrioleMagic]

Well it could be that DD has never seen Eveland play. Probably even likely.

Do you expect every GM to personally see every player he acquires play???

[other posters have already logically speculated that Bill Castro is behind this acquisition...]

[El Gordo]

Well it could be that DD has never seen Eveland play. Probably even likely.

So, why should hew have to? That's what scouts are for. We didn't trade Reimold last year, based on reports from Brady who was working out with him. AM didn't travel to CAL to check that out. And a good thing he listened, we got Hardy instead, and kept Reimold.

[atomic]

Do you expect every GM to personally see every player he acquires play???

[other posters have already logically speculated that Bill Castro is behind this acquisition...]

And I am sure Buck was the one behind the back up catcher we got. No I don't expect the GM to know every player. But I expect one of his scouts to recommend someone. I think anytime your coaches are the ones making the moves it shows a lack of knowledge in scouting and from the GM.

[utvolzac]

I don't recall saying I was smarter than anyone. I voted that I disagree with the trade (both of them).

I don't care that we gave up some organizational filler prospects, I just thought both trades are a waste of time.

IMO, with the significant holes on this team, it's unnecessary to trade for a backup catcher and a journeyman AAAA pitcher. I'd prefer we kept what we had and signed similar free agents to minor league deals if we need depth.

Besides that, I don't see anything in Evelands career history to indicate that he's going to be anything more than he already is. 30 decent MLB innings is too small a sample size to even be relevant.

[Austin]

I mentioned 2. I am not an expert on minor league talent. I follow teams in other sports (Ravens, Capitals, Manchester City) and none of them have the attitude we can't afford any players that another team would want and as soon as a player is availabe for free agency we will lose them. Don't you see how pathetic this strategy is? Trading for a 28 year old minor leaguer that 6 other teams have already given up on? WHo had a mediocre year in triple A last year?

I don't understand how anyone could mistake this for strategy rather than the byproduct of having a terrible, penny-pinching owner. It's not like Duquette has access to the Angelos vault and he's just choosing to be cheap.