Meltdown thread

[DrungoHazewood]

I'm starting to wonder if Rick Adair is the issue. All pitchers having same issues re: third strike, third out, walking 9th batter.

He's almost as much to blame as Crow caused the hitting woes.

[OrangeJerseys]

One week of mediocre baseball and people think we're the St. Louis Browns. Never thought a winning season would sour this board like this.

[Pushmonkey]

He's almost as much to blame as Crow caused the hitting woes.

Just a different voice or point of view. I agree it's the players not the coaches, but its the coaches to fix the players. A week with out a win and suck the life out of a team. It can make a fan base go nuts.

[Pushmonkey]

He's almost as much to blame as Crow caused the hitting woes.

Just a different voice or point of view. I agree it's the players not the coaches, but its the coaches to fix the players. A week with out a win and suck the life out of a team. It can make a fan base go nuts.

[SteveO]

One week of mediocre baseball and people think we're the St. Louis Browns. Never thought a winning season would sour this board like this.

Cause in their hearts most people know that many of the struggles this team are going through now are completely unnecessary even if they dont want to admit so openly.

We did nothing but wave goodbye to a guy who was a part of the success we had last year after years of being told when we were competitive we would go out and get what we need. Now we have DH issues that the guy we waved goodbye to could have helped.

Had we at least signed a viable 5th starter we would not be relying on a bunch of boderline MLB pitchers to fill 2/5th of our rotation. They would be filing one spot (the one Chens injury created). Injuries are predictable. Its why you don't fill your 5th spot with whatever sticks that you throw against the wall. You use that method to fill the slot created by injury

Many of the issues this team faces are issues that could and should have been addressed in the offseason. They chose to essentially do nothing and we are seeing the end result of it.

[Pushmonkey]

One week of mediocre baseball and people think we're the St. Louis Browns. Never thought a winning season would sour this board like this.

Mediocre would be 2-5 not 0-7 in a week.

[Ori-Al]

1-6.

Right now, we're doing whatever it takes to lose.

[Ripken]

I think we'll be under .500 by June. If so, it's on to next season and having the FO actually address holes in the roster instead of throwing retreads at them.

[Jon]

Great post.

This is who they want to be and last season basically gives them the right to try again even though many knew the issues that lied ahead.

So Duquette can either hope that the ship rights itself or he can go out and try to bring in some reinforcements. However unlike last year I don't see the ship righting itself. Especially not with Boston back in the mix and Tampa coming on hot.

I think we are, by in large, in agreement here. The one caveat being that I sincerely believe that Duquette's hands are tied, financially. I don't feel that he deserves much of the blame if we were to want to assign blame, here.

As Steveo explained so well in the "Is anyone else starting to worry?" thread, this past off season and current problems facing the O's has Angelos's fingerprints all over it. I honestly believe that DD and Buck would have gone about this past off season and buildng of the roster differently if they had more financial support. As I said in the "worry" thread, if this team is to repeat last year and end up winners, it will have been done in spite of ownership. Not because of ownership. That being said, as we both agree on, this all seems like a real competitive disadvantage to the O's, though. Very little room for error, indeed...

[DrungoHazewood]

Cause in their hearts most people know that many of the struggles this team are going through now are completely unnecessary even if they dont want to admit so openly.

We did nothing but wave goodbye to a guy who was a part of the success we had last year after years of being told when we were competitive we would go out and get what we need. Now we have DH issues that the guy we waved goodbye to could have helped.

Had we at least signed a viable 5th starter we would not be relying on a bunch of boderline MLB pitchers to fill 2/5th of our rotation. They would be filing one spot (the one Chens injury created). Injuries are predictable. Its why you don't fill your 5th spot with whatever sticks that you throw against the wall. You use that method to fill the slot created by injury

Many of the issues this team faces are issues that could and should have been addressed in the offseason. They chose to essentially do nothing and we are seeing the end result of it.

Oh yes, a team with Mark Reynolds and Joe Saunders would never scuffle.

[NewMarketSean]

Oh yes, a team with Mark Reynolds and Joe Saunders would never scuffle.

Poor way to look at his response. He didn't mention either player and they weren't the only options the O's had this past offseason.

That said, I don't see how letting Reynolds walk because you didn't want to pay him $6 million as a smart move. Where else was that money allocated in the team?

[Barnaby Graves]

That said, I don't see how letting Reynolds walk because you didn't want to pay him $6 million as a smart move.

He was let go because he did not want to primarily be a DH. Chris Davis must've felt the same way so Duquette had to pick. If money was a factor it's secondary to lineup constraints anyway.

[SteveO]

Oh yes, a team with Mark Reynolds and Joe Saunders would never scuffle.

Real bright response there.

For most the offseason DD talked about getting another bat and a SP. It didn't happen for whatever reason. But DD seemed to recognize the need.

Last but not least this team would be better with those two guys on it. Saunders may be struggling but he is a far more capable pitcher than Garcia, Stinson, Arrieta, Jurjjens. By the end of the season his numbers will bear that out. Reynolds for all his faults would look a good bit better in the lineup than what we are trotting out at DH. There were other guys beside Reynolds or Saunders who could have filled either role. But by all means keep believing that the right moves were made even when the evidence is staring you in the face they were not.

[Barnaby Graves]

Real bright response there.

For most the offseason DD talked about getting another bat and a SP. It didn't happen for whatever reason. But DD seemed to recognize the need.

It didn't happen because Duke weighed his options and didn't like them and decided to let it ride. Risks of either money or prospects did not justify likely rewards. There are 30 GMs in baseball who would like another bat and a starter. After gathering together Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt, I bet Ruben Amaro Jr. sat in his office and tried to think of a way to replace Joe Blanton with Tim Lincecum. But if the price doesn't work, overpaying is usually a very bad option, and you just got to go with what you have.

Last but not least this team would be better with those two guys on it. Saunders may be struggling but he is a far more capable pitcher than Garcia, Stinson, Arrieta, Jurjjens.

Really? Saunders owns a 1.10 SO/BB and a 1.2 HR/9 and without checking his xBABIP and BABIP he's allowed 11.1 H/9. I'm not saying you're wrong that he's better than some of these guys (maybe all of them) but he's still earning $6.5 million to be slightly less terrible. He doesn't help our cause significantly if we have him. And remember his home park plays like a deadball era arena so between the 1.228 OPSa away and .464 OPSa home, I think it's fair to say he wouldn't be faring as well at Camden as he is in Safeco.

By the end of the season his numbers will bear that out. Reynolds for all his faults would look a good bit better in the lineup than what we are trotting out at DH.

It sounds like he didn't want to DH regularly. He's played 12 of his Indians games at DH and he's still managing to rack up some pretty bad defensive metrics when in the field.

There were other guys beside Reynolds or Saunders who could have filled either role. But by all means keep believing that the right moves were made even when the evidence is staring you in the face they were not.

This is 20/20 hindsight so if you're going to play that way, between Chris Davis and Mark Reynolds, I prefer Chris Davis at 1st and the evidence bares that out. Between Manny Machado and Mark Reynolds at 3rd I prefer Manny Machado and the evidence is staring me in the face that my hindsight is correct here too. Reynolds didn't want to DH. What's left?

[NewMarketSean]

He was let go because he did not want to primarily be a DH. Chris Davis must've felt the same way so Duquette had to pick. If money was a factor it's secondary to lineup constraints anyway.

Reynolds has played 19 games at 1b, and 12 each at DH and 3B.

I don't see why Reynolds and Davis couldn't alternate between DH and 1B this year.

That said, the problem with this team isn't the offense. It's the SP.