Buster Olney/ESPN slap at the Os

[Dark Helmet]

You don't think the phrase "Holy Crap!" is an expression of surprise? So if you have known for a really long time that you will get exactly what you wanted on your birthday, and you won't be surprised at all but you are excited, the words out of your mouth when you open it will be "Holy Crap!"???

Sorry, that's weird...it's definitely an expression of surprise or unexpectedness that is tied to excitement...

You'd be better off just saving the time, and go directly to banging your head against the wall, instead of wasting time talking to it

[OrioleMagic79]

They knew they were a good team, but after the All Star break, they knew they could be an elite team. Doesn't seem that strange of a quote.

I guess...still tells me he was surprised with how good they were...and that doesn't seem consistent with "We knew we were good" - but whatever...

To me it is more about him probably just spitting out clich? phrases that it is supposed to be taken so literally...that said, my reason for analyzing all this is that I am in the "worried we won't be able to repeat our success this year with virtually the same roster because so many things fell into place to make last season happen the way it did" crowd...and I believe they are saying these things because they believe that they can/will have the same success with the same formula...

I would feel a lot more confident in repeating last year's success if we had done it a few years in a row, but it was just as likely a fluke as it was something that will be sustained long term...

I hope that I am worried about nothing and that this is sustainable, but I guess I will have to see it to believe it. For 14 years I didn't want to spend big in free agency and wanted to have a team with a good foundation so that we could add a few pieces to finish off the puzzle...now that we have that foundation, I am not seeing what I was hoping for...and I think it is unstable.

That said, I won't sit here and proclaim that I am right about that, it is just my worry and my opinion...I may be way off, and let's hope I am...but I think with last year's roster, or a very similar one this year, I feel as though we are likely an 80-ish win team that played hard and had some luck, resulting in 13 or so extra wins last year...

I guess we will see though...

[Orange_Crush]

I can't stand espn.

Their analysis is meaningless anymore. What makes someone like Buster Olney, or the powers at ESPN that decide what topics to force down the Nation's throats, the King of Swing anyway.

If you want to really know what is going on with your team, do the following:

1) Know your roster and watch the games

2) Follow the local reports on twitter and read their articles

3) Watch the press conferences in the post game.

All this other business is just noise.

True but #1 can be difficult for those who don't live near. This isn't the NBA, NHL or NFL. One can hardly find an internet stream and more than likely has to pay an arm and a leg for MLB.TV or the package on your digital cable/Direct TV

[Orange_Crush]

JJ Hardy disagrees.

"In spring training, we all believed we had a good team and we would be able to be competitive," said shortstop J.J. Hardy. "I'd say sometime after the All-Star break, we really started to go, 'Holy cow, this really could happen.' We were right in the mix the whole season. Everybody was doubting us. They didn't think we'd be able to hold on, but in the clubhouse, we all felt like we had a good team and that we would be able to hold on."

So what about the people who now doubt that the Orioles can duplicate or exceed their successful season because of all those one-run and extra-inning wins?

"We're all aware of what happened last season with all the extra-inning wins and one-run wins," Hardy said. "We all believe we have a good team. We had a great team last year and we have pretty much the same group coming in. We have a lot of depth, starting pitching, the same bullpen out there. We all believe we have a good team. We haven't done a whole lot this offseason, but it's kind of hard to get better when we did what we did last year. We haven't made any bad moves."

http://www.masnsports.com/school_of_roch/2012/12/a-case-of-he-said-he-said.html

Not sure being competitive means much anymore. If you look at the MLB Standings in recent years more than half the league contends into September, which is surprising given the season length and some of the cash differences

[Orange_Crush]

Hammel, Chen, Gonzalez, and Tillman all say hello.

So 4 guys who before 2012 had done nothing of note have success they are all of the sudden top pitching guys? Yet Chen is the only guy on that list to pitch more than half the season. Small sample sizes much?

[Trackmaster]

Why would they talk about us? To say "Oh those Orioles, they're standing their ground and not doing anything."

[TonySoprano]

Baltimore Orioles

After such an uplifting season, the Orioles seemed positioned for a big offseason. But maybe they were just positioned for a big second half of the offseason -- because their big league additions in the first half have consisted of Trayvon Robinson, Danny Valencia and Alexi Casilla (plus Rule 5 draft pick T.J. McFarland).

"I'm really surprised by what they've done, or haven't done," said one AL executive. "With the momentum they had going into the offseason and the resources I thought they had financially, I don't think anybody would have been surprised if they'd gotten in on something big."

"Coming off such a good year, they haven't done anything to make you say they're taking that next step," said an NL exec. "It didn't even have to be something big. Even signing a Ryan Dempster. Go out and get one veteran guy to put in your rotation and stabilize it. I don't know how they can sit there and say this rotation is good enough to get them back there."

source - ESPN

[Scrat1]

source - ESPN

Unlike these executives, I don't think lying low is necessarily a bad move for the Orioles. That said, I don't see DD going into 2012 without making a move, simply because lying low isn't DD's style. I'm still expecting another move, whether it's something larger and surprising, such as signing Swisher; or something smaller and tactical, like trading for Smoak. I think we're almost definitely going to bring in another starter, whether that is Saunders or someone a little pricier, like Marcum.

Kudos to DD for not running out and signing someone just to show fans and rival executives that the O's mean business. Is there any contract that a free agent has signed (other than Reynolds...) that the Orioles should have beaten?

Hamilton? Nope.

Sanchez? Nope.

Upton? Nope.

Greinke? Nope.

Hunter? Nope.

Cabrera? Nope.

Victorino? Nope.

Blanton? Nope.

Broxton? Nope.

Drew? Nope.

Guthrie? Nope.

Napoli? Nope.

Pagan? Nope.

Scutaro? Nope.

You get the idea.

It's easy to assert that the Orioles should be doing more, but what exactly should the Orioles have realistically done? As far as trades go, the Orioles didn't have the top of the rotation guys the Royals wanted and they certainly weren't going to beat the d'Arnaud offer for Dickey. Aside from letting Reynolds get away, I don't feel DD has done anything particularly worthy of criticism.

[Can_of_corn]

Unlike these executives, I don't think lying low is necessarily a bad move for the Orioles. That said, I don't see DD going into 2012 without making a move, simply because lying low isn't DD's style. I'm still expecting another move, whether it's something larger and surprising, such as signing Swisher; or something smaller and tactical, like trading for Smoak. I think we're almost definitely going to bring in another starter, whether that is Saunders or someone a little pricier, like Marcum.

Kudos to DD for not running out and signing someone just to show fans and rival executives that the O's mean business. Is there any contract that a free agent has signed (other than Reynolds...) that the Orioles should have beaten?

Hamilton? Nope.

Sanchez? Nope.

Upton? Nope.

Greinke? Nope.

Hunter? Nope.

Cabrera? Nope.

Victorino? Nope.

Blanton? Nope.

Broxton? Nope.

Drew? Nope.

Guthrie? Nope.

Napoli? Nope.

Pagan? Nope.

Scutaro? Nope.

You get the idea.

It's easy to assert that the Orioles should be doing more, but what exactly should the Orioles have realistically done? As far as trades go, the Orioles didn't have the top of the rotation guys the Royals wanted and they certainly weren't going to beat the d'Arnaud offer for Dickey. Aside from letting Reynolds get away, I don't feel DD has done anything particularly worthy of criticism.

I would have been very interested in Lannan at around 3 million. (He signed for 2.5 guaranteed).

[El Gordo]

I was hoping they would make a trade for Butler. Other than that I wouldn't have wanted them to sign any of the others for the money they got. I did have some interest in Napoli, but not for 3/39M.

[DrinkinWithFermi]

Unlike these executives, I don't think lying low is necessarily a bad move for the Orioles. That said, I don't see DD going into 2012 without making a move, simply because lying low isn't DD's style. I'm still expecting another move, whether it's something larger and surprising, such as signing Swisher; or something smaller and tactical, like trading for Smoak. I think we're almost definitely going to bring in another starter, whether that is Saunders or someone a little pricier, like Marcum.

Kudos to DD for not running out and signing someone just to show fans and rival executives that the O's mean business. Is there any contract that a free agent has signed (other than Reynolds...) that the Orioles should have beaten?

Hamilton? Nope.

Sanchez? Nope.

Upton? Nope.

Greinke? Nope.

Hunter? Nope.

Cabrera? Nope.

Victorino? Nope.

Blanton? Nope.

Broxton? Nope.

Drew? Nope.

Guthrie? Nope.

Napoli? Nope.

Pagan? Nope.

Scutaro? Nope.

You get the idea.

It's easy to assert that the Orioles should be doing more, but what exactly should the Orioles have realistically done? As far as trades go, the Orioles didn't have the top of the rotation guys the Royals wanted and they certainly weren't going to beat the d'Arnaud offer for Dickey. Aside from letting Reynolds get away, I don't feel DD has done anything particularly worthy of criticism.

Victorino or Maicer Izturis, I might've matched. Other than that, hell to the no.

[weams]

Keep in mind Olney is the expert!

Best Case Scenario.

[Scrat1]

I'm not sure why there's so much hostility toward Olney here. Yeah, he flubbed up his prediction for the 2012 Orioles, but so did everyone else everywhere. The guy was actively rooting for Baltimore down the stretch. People on twitter were constantly accusing him of Oriole homerism.

[jjnono]

Right now it seems that the FO is banking on an improved starting rotation (mostly, it seems, by hoping certain guys "just do better") making up for the near-certain decline in one-run winning percentage. That's it, as far as I can tell. Barring getting Adam LaRoche, or trading for another veteran pitcher, nothing else DD has done so far has significantly improved or weakened this team. The return of Wada helps the rotation, and a potentially healthy Reimold (which cancels out the departure of Reynolds) bolsters the lineup. But Casilla for Andino? Meh. McClouth in left? HUGE roll of the dice (although I suppose that Reimold can slide in if that signing doesn't pan out - which come to think of it, is a roll of the dice in its own right....) What's our backup plan at third? Success for the O's in 2013 is certainly not impossible, but it's tenuous at best, IMHO. Like last year, A LOT has to go right; there seems very little room for injury or error... (then again, that's how I felt about last season's pitching staff and it performed brilliantly....) So, for now, just enjoy your holidays and let's see what the team looks like at the end of January...

[El Gordo]

Right now it seems that the FO is banking on an improved starting rotation (mostly, it seems, by hoping certain guys "just do better") making up for the near-certain decline in one-run winning percentage. That's it, as far as I can tell. Barring getting Adam LaRoche, or trading for another veteran pitcher, nothing else DD has done so far has significantly improved or weakened this team. The return of Wada helps the rotation, and a potentially healthy Reimold (which cancels out the departure of Reynolds) bolsters the lineup. But Casilla for Andino? Meh. McClouth in left? HUGE roll of the dice (although I suppose that Reimold can slide in if that signing doesn't pan out - which come to think of it, is a roll of the dice in its own right....) What's our backup plan at third? Success for the O's in 2013 is certainly not impossible, but it's tenuous at best, IMHO. Like last year, A LOT has to go right; there seems very little room for injury or error... (then again, that's how I felt about last season's pitching staff and it performed brilliantly....) So, for now, just enjoy your holidays and let's see what the team looks like at the end of January...

Since we have so many players that are rolls of the dice, IYO, doesn't it seam wiser to roll them and see what we really have, than to spend 25 M on Josh Hamilton, only to discover that everyone else on the team had a fluke year last season?

I don't think this is the case. I think we were an 85 W team that got lucky and won 93. But if the rotation of Hammel, Chen, Tillman GoNzo and Johnson/Britton/Saunders just pitch the same as they did last year, for a full season, we could win as many games if not more.