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Throwing in the towel on the offseason

Moose Milligan

By Moose Milligan
in Orioles Talk

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Moose Milligan Hangout Grand Counsel

Moose Milligan

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Well, with one day to go in January and pitchers and catchers reporting in two weeks, I'm throwing in the towel on the offseason. After arguably the best and most fun season of baseball I could have ever asked for, I was expecting some big moves to be made. I'm not saying I was expecting Josh Hamilton or anything, but I was hoping we wouldn't stand pat.

DD has once again bolstered the depth and that's always a good thing. I was just hoping for a little more sizzle this offseason after such a magical 2012 year.

Oh well. Pitchers and catchers, pitchers and catchers, pitchers and catchers...

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andrewrickli Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

andrewrickli

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To DD's defense, the only route we could have gone was trade, and teams didn't value our young pitching (minus Bundy) so, oh well. It's more pitching depth for us to deal in August.

We have a 93 win team on our hands. If anything we should get better with more experience. All of our guys are in their prime (for the most part) and everyone on our team is hungry.

We have power (Jones, Davis, Reimold, Wieters)

We have a a great defense, and our pitching should improve (knock on wood) I'm excited. We didn't do anything stupid this offseason.

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Moose Milligan Hangout Grand Counsel

Moose Milligan

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To DD's defense, the only route we could have gone was trade, and teams didn't value our young pitching (minus Bundy) so, oh well. It's more pitching depth for us to deal in August.

We have a 93 win team on our hands. If anything we should get better with more experience. All of our guys are in their prime (for the most part) and everyone on our team is hungry.

We have power (Jones, Davis, Reimold, Wieters)

We have a a great defense, and our pitching should improve (knock on wood) I'm excited. We didn't do anything stupid this offseason.

We do have a great defense and you're right...we didn't do anything stupid. I will argue that letting Reynolds go was stupid as he became part of that great infield defense last year. I also expect a big year from him in Cleveland from a power perspective. We'll be wishing we had him back here.

On the flip side, we still have a relatively low OBP. The record in extra inning games and one run games cannot be expected to be duplicated.

I'm not sure what to make about the rotation. I can see it going both ways.

There's a lot of reasons to like this team, there's other reasons not to be so thrilled. I ride the fence and can agree on arguments for why this will be a good team and why there will be a significant regression.

I do like DD and I do trust him at the end of the day.

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Moose Milligan Hangout Grand Counsel

Moose Milligan

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Yeah we really should have signed Nick Swisher, Bourn or Lohse, better yet all three,( we don't need no stinkin' pick) and upgraded back up cather by going after Ramon Hernadez. :rolleyestf:

Yeah dude, cause I advocated Ramon Hernandez. If you could take that leap of logic and actually translate it into physical ability, you could have hopped over the Grand Canyon with that one.

I've gone on record as being anti-Bourn.

Swisher gets a bad rap cause he's always smiling and acting like a toolbox but he's a guy I'd like to have on our team...switch hitter with pop and can get on base. I wouldn't have argued that at all.

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Orioles Jim Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

Orioles Jim

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Swisher gets a bad rap cause he's always smiling and acting like a toolbox but he's a guy I'd like to have on our team...switch hitter with pop and can get on base. I wouldn't have argued that at all.

That, and his wife is Joanna Garcia.

You really can't argue against any of that.

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Saintbird All-Star

Saintbird

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We didn't even stand pat. I think we downgraded (offensively and defensively). Now we have a DH playing at first base and bench players as our DH. I don't care if I'm beating a dead horse anymore. Why oh why did we lose Reynolds?

I think this team is significantly improved from last year. Having Machado all season will shore up 3rd base defensively and will add another dangerous bat to the lineup. A (hopefully) healthy Reimold and a full-season of McLouth significantly improves the left field situation. And our second base options are vastly superior to what they were last year. Casilla provides much more to this team than Andino did.

Not to mention Bundy and possibly Gausman will be up sometime this season. Which is essentially a blockbuster move in itself.

So while a lot of our "moves" have come internally, it's hard to say that this team "downgraded".

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Moose Milligan Hangout Grand Counsel

Moose Milligan

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I think this team is significantly improved from last year. Having Machado all season will shore up 3rd base defensively and will add another dangerous bat to the lineup. A (hopefully) healthy Reimold and a full-season of McLouth significantly improves the left field situation. And our second base options are vastly superior to what they were last year. Casilla provides much more to this team than Andino did.

Not to mention Bundy and possibly Gausman will be up sometime this season. Which is essentially a blockbuster move in itself.

So while a lot of our "moves" have come internally, it's hard to say that this team "downgraded".

Having Machado up for a full year is nice, this is true. 2nd base should be better.

Reimold cannot be counted on to stay healthy at all. We don't even know how he factors into any plans as of yet.

Hope that Bundy and Gausman can contribute.....but for your case scenario, a lot of things have to break right for us.

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SteveA Hangout Grand Counsel

SteveA

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Pretty much agree with the original post, though I won't rule out one more pitcher (Saunders or Lohse if they find they can't get the kind of multiyear contract they are looking for).

And yes, I must admit to being a bit disappointed with the offseason. I was hoping we would find a way to pick up a good young bat such as a Billy Butler.

But it didn't happen.

At this point, all I will say is that it's clear that DD never stops trying to improve the team, so even if we start camp with what we have now, or even with one more pitcher, that doesn't mean we are "done".

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Saintbird All-Star

Saintbird

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Having Machado up for a full year is nice, this is true. 2nd base should be better.

Reimold cannot be counted on to stay healthy at all. We don't even know how he factors into any plans as of yet.

Hope that Bundy and Gausman can contribute.....but for your case scenario, a lot of things have to break right for us.

That may be true. I still don't think we "downgraded" this offseason... We're doing the same thing we did last offseason, adding depth, and in the end, despite our griping, it did improve our team significantly.

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El Gordo Hangout Grand Counsel

El Gordo

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We didn't even stand pat. I think we downgraded (offensively and defensively). Now we have a DH playing at first base and bench players as our DH. I don't care if I'm beating a dead horse anymore. Why oh why did we lose Reynolds?
A full season of Machado, McLouth, Markakis, and Casilla, is and upgrade for defense. The only possible downgrades are Roberts and Davis, and I think Davis will be fine. His career UZR at 1B is better than Reynolds'. Reimold and Betemit will put up better numbers at DH than we had last year, and those numbers weren't all that bad. We lost Reynolds because what we would have had to pay him wasn't worth takiing AB away from cheaper players who could out produce him.
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El Gordo Hangout Grand Counsel

El Gordo

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Yeah dude, cause I advocated Ramon Hernandez. If you could take that leap of logic and actually translate it into physical ability, you could have hopped over the Grand Canyon with that one.

I've gone on record as being anti-Bourn.

Swisher gets a bad rap cause he's always smiling and acting like a toolbox but he's a guy I'd like to have on our team...switch hitter with pop and can get on base. I wouldn't have argued that at all.

Many people here are upset with the poor OPS of Teagarden Henandez is oneon the best number 2 C in OPS MLB. Is Swisher the difference maker worth 4/56M and a first round pick?
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luismatos4prez All-Star

luismatos4prez

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Swisher gets a bad rap cause he's always smiling and acting like a toolbox but he's a guy I'd like to have on our team...switch hitter with pop and can get on base. I wouldn't have argued that at all.

Let's see what Dan Duquette has to say about this:

Somebody said that Nick Swisher is the kind of player you hate when he's on the other team, and when they said it, I didn't say anything.

The idea of calling and talking to Nick Swisher or listening to him speak next to me in a press conference would be too much for me to bear. Complimenting him while he beams at the cameras would make me physically ill. It appears Duquette feels the same way.

Edit: If you can sit through this and still say you'd love to have him aboard, then more power to you

[video=youtube;YgJaIohEYN0]

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