Throwing in the towel on the offseason

[scOtt]

We let Reynold sgo because if we kept him we would have been paying him 6-8 M to take away AB from Reimold/Betemit at the cost of 3M. Most likely Reimold/Betemit will put up better than Reynolds career ave..807 OPS. and probably at least 25 HR combined.

Or that Mark, bless his heart, hit 8 of his 23 homers in a two week span. The other 24 weeks he only hit 15. Chris Davis can do that on an off-year.

[El Gordo]

You think MOOSE is why people hate posting here...

I think you either need to get off of, or back ONto whatever meds are ruling your life. If you think Moose is the problem, then that really proves that YOU are the problem!

I'm pretty sure he was referring to me not Moose. But for the record IMO the O's are no longer a bottom feeding team. The may not make the payoffs again this year, but I am tired of listening to people who have yet to figure that out, continue to whine as if we were still a perennial 69 W team.

[scOtt]

I'm pretty sure he was referring to me not Moose. But for the record IMO the O's are no longer a bottom feeding team. The may not make the payoffs again this year, but I am tired of listening to people who have yet to figure that out, continue to whine as if we were still a perennial 69 W team.

I'd back you as much as Moose, Gordo. pb.com is an idiot. Sorry to speak my mind. Sorry for the infraction beforehand.

[wildcard]

I feel like the off season was about the budget. Peter must have told DD, 'You started last year with 81M. You have 12M more. Make it work'.

That would explain why Reynolds had to go. Too many arbitration guys that the O's had to sign.

The O's team is better then what its was to start 2012 but not as good as what it was at the end of the season. DD will have to add during the season.

[jtschrei]

I have thrown in the towel on the offseason as well. I have no problems with any of the non-moves. I only wonder if we should have gone after Justin Upton a little harder. Every other non-move, I'm fine with.

I liked Reynolds, but he played so bad for most of the year that I have no problem trying something else.

[ChaosLex]

Seeing as how two of DD's biggest goals were 1) acquiring a MOO bat and 2) focusing on OBP, you've got to think he considers this offseason a failure.

[Orioles0615]

I am going to be bold and throw the towel in on next offseason too because I don't think they do anything significant then either.

[clarence]

I think DD did the right thing this offseason. My reasoning is based upon the fact that so many of our key contributors still have room to improve due to age. That improvement is crucial in us being able to sustain a competitive level of play for years to come, AND determine how to allocate future resources. I think one more year of finding out what we really have in regards to the young pitchers was the right way to go, instead of trading away a few of them. I think finding out if Bundy, Gausman and Schoop are for real only puts us in a better position going forward to know how to properly spend on the free agent market. I hope for another season like 2012 this year, but I believe that the groundwork is in place for a much longer window of success by being patient this offseason. Just my opinion.

[Singleton]

Hey we could have had Butler, Dickey, Upton, or maybe even Stanton. All we had to do was give up Bundy.

Given what Arizone received for Upton, I feel confident in saying it would not have taken Bundy. Delgado's upside is #3 starter. Bundy's upside is best pitcher in the game.

A package centered around Tillman seems like it may have worked. I don't have a paritcular axe to grind about Upton or any of the players you mention. I don't feel like our offseason rested on getting any one player but I have a hard time justifying essentially doing nothing.

[Tx Oriole]

Hmm...charity work AND a solid hitter? I think I could live with that...

I could have too. I don't hate swisher like others seem to. He may be an odd duck and rub folks the wrong way.

[Frobby]

I feel like the off season was about the budget. Peter must have told DD, 'You started last year with 81M. You have 12M more. Make it work'.

That would explain why Reynolds had to go. Too many arbitration guys that the O's had to sign.

The O's team is better then what its was to start 2012 but not as good as what it was at the end of the season. DD will have to add during the season.

I think you are roughly correct about the budget Angelos gave Duquette. My only caveat is that we don't know how much more or less is being spent on things other than the major league payroll.

As to whether we are better or worse than we were at the end of 2012, I think it depends on health. We didn't have Markakis, Reimold or Roberts at the end of the year. What do those guys conribute in 2013? Who else gets hurt this time around? I think if Markakis, McLouth, Reimold, Davis and Betemit all stay relatively healthy, Reynolds' at bats are easily absorbed and we may get better production from those at bats than we did last year. But if a couple of them go down, then Reynolds will be missed. As to the pitching, it depends who steps up and who falls back. Our top 13 pitchers from 2012, in terms of IP, are all returning. We'll see if five of them can be as good or better than Saunders. I'd say the odds are less than 50/50, but I woudn't say impossible.

[Ohfan67]

I am disappointed in the offseason. I don't see how anyone can really be "happy" about it. DD and Buck said they wanted a quality starter and a significant bat and they got neither.

I think DD ended up only making minor moves for two main reasons: budgets and the poor farm system. I think when DD says he is broke he is being completely honest. Either for real financial reasons that are not clear or for weird Angelos reasons that are also not clear, the O's have an extremely tight budget. When it comes to trades, I think other teams only wanted the jewels of the system and the O's system is so thin that trading any of the few top quality prospects would leave the cupboard totally bare. So these two things combined to make for a real wimpy offseason. It's depressing. Last season was so fantastic. But the sad truth is that the O's still have a ways to go before they are a quality franchise again. They have Buck and several good young players and a scary good pitching prospect, so all is not hopeless. But it's still not all sunshine and roses.

Unfortunately there is a third possible reason that the offseason was not a party. Angelos. It's hard to believe that the hyperactive, move-making DD that we saw during the season just tip-toed around during the offseason. Deep down I am afraid that DD set up free agent deals and trades and then had to get Angelos' approval. And waited. And waited. And waited. We see DD making small moves left and right. But no significant moves. Angelos has done this before to GM's (or rather the goofy VP title since we're talking Angelos here). I hope this is just frustrated thinking on my part and that Angelos really has given DD more freedom. But...

[VeveJones007]

Given what Arizone received for Upton, I feel confident in saying it would not have taken Bundy. Delgado's upside is #3 starter. Bundy's upside is best pitcher in the game.

A package centered around Tillman seems like it may have worked. I don't have a paritcular axe to grind about Upton or any of the players you mention. I don't feel like our offseason rested on getting any one player but I have a hard time justifying essentially doing nothing.

Prado was a 5.9 WAR player last year. The d-backs also got some high upside lower-tier prospects back.

The d-back would have wanted Jones or Bundy to headline a package from the O's.

[Ohfan67]

I think you are roughly correct about the budget Angelos gave Duquette. My only caveat is that we don't know how much more or less is being spent on things other than the major league payroll.

As to whether we are better or worse than we were at the end of 2012, I think it depends on health. We didn't have Markakis, Reimold or Roberts at the end of the year. What do those guys conribute in 2013? Who else gets hurt this time around? I think if Markakis, McLouth, Reimold, Davis and Betemit all stay relatively healthy, Reynolds' at bats are easily absorbed and we may get better production from those at bats than we did last year. But if a couple of them go down, then Reynolds will be missed. As to the pitching, it depends who steps up and who falls back. Our top 13 pitchers from 2012, in terms of IP, are all returning. We'll see if five of them can be as good or better than Saunders. I'd say the odds are less than 50/50, but I woudn't say impossible.

There are just so many "ifs" on this team. That's the part that really gets to me. If you had asked me three or four years ago if the O's would field a team in 2013 with this many "ifs", then I would have said no way. There's a lot more promise than three or four years ago, for sure. And I'm trying to focus on that promise. But so many "ifs".

[VeveJones007]

I feel like the off season was about the budget. Peter must have told DD, 'You started last year with 81M. You have 12M more. Make it work'.

That would explain why Reynolds had to go. Too many arbitration guys that the O's had to sign.

The O's team is better then what its was to start 2012 but not as good as what it was at the end of the season. DD will have to add during the season.

I disagree with the bold.

Additions after ALDS Game 5:

Markakis

Betemit

Reimold

Jurrjens

Wada

Losses after ALDS Game 5:

Reynolds

Saunders

Thome

If everyone goes into the season healthy, then the 2013 Opening Day roster is better than the roster available for the Playoffs.