Same old Os offseason... sigh

[VeveJones007]

The O's will probably enter the season as an 85 win team a standard deviation away from the Playoffs. I'm okay with them not overspending to get to a baseline 90 wins even though I have a championship standard.

Draft, sign, and develop. Rinse, repeat.

[notyourbuddy]

Exactly. The Yankees aren't scary.

Then again the Yankees aren't done spending.

All it takes is a Tanaka/Garza/Cano/+ spree for them to vault right back over us.

[waroriole]

The O's will probably enter the season as an 85 win team a standard deviation away from the Playoffs. I'm okay with them not overspending to get to a baseline 90 wins even though I have a championship standard.

Draft, sign, and develop. Rinse, repeat.

Great. We're the Blue Jays of a few years ago. Right up until we "can't afford to keep Wieters and Davis" in a couple of years. Then we're back to mediocrity.

We need to pick a direction. Either we start adding pieces and make a run at contending very soon. Or, we start trading guys we "can't afford."

It's silly to ask the team to catch lightning in a bottle again to have any hope of a championship in the foreseeable future.

[MemorialStadKid]

I have never seen a franchise/fan base more in love with players on a mediocre team. This team finished out of the playoffs yet many want to bring back every player from that team. Roberts, Feldman, McClouth....yes, yes and YES! I've seen some of the most creative posts on here to justify the status quo.

I agree with you in general, but I haven't seen too many folks (except one core group) advocating for standing pat and hoping for the best.

I think where many of us get excited/upset is when you have Buck and DD saying all the right things but then falling right back into the overall MacPhail pattern of talking about improvements but then waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting while a bunch of other teams - especially those in the AL East - steadily make excellent trades, sign quality FAs, get rid of AAAA talent and find great deals.

For all those that say "the offseason isn't over" I'm fully aware of that. I think we all understand that. However, the offseason wasn't over in 2007 and nothing happened, or 2008, or 2009, or 2010... we have quite a few things to fix and it doesn't look like we're going to make the necessary improvements... again.

MSK

[centralpaosfan]

I agree with you in general, but I haven't seen too many folks (except one core group) advocating for standing pat and hoping for the best.

I think where many of us get excited/upset is when you have Buck and DD saying all the right things but then falling right back into the overall MacPhail pattern of talking about improvements but then waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting while a bunch of other teams - especially those in the AL East - steadily make excellent trades, sign quality FAs, get rid of AAAA talent and find great deals. For all those that say "the offseason isn't over" I'm fully aware of that. I think we all understand that. However, the offseason wasn't over in 2007 and nothing happened, or 2008, or 2009, or 2010... we have quite a few things to fix and it doesn't look like we're going to make the necessary improvements... again.

MSK

Well said. I'm tired of hearing about signing the same old re-treads year after year. I don't want to sign Roberts and hope, magically, he can play half a season much less a full season. I don't want to sign Feldman who is a #3, at best, pitcher. I like McClouth but there are much better options out there. I don't want to cross my fingers and hope a light bulb goes on for guys like Britton. Hearing all the right words come out of Buck and DD's mouth and never following through makes it 10x worse.

[weams]

Then again the Yankees aren't done spending.

All it takes is a Tanaka/Garza/Cano/+ spree for them to vault right back over us.

Is Tanaka permitted to sign with anyone here?

[waroriole]

Is Tanaka permitted to sign with anyone here?

There have been questions about whether he's going to be able to sign this year.

[Tx Oriole]

Well, that's about the way things go.

McCann to the Yanks. Peralta to the STL.

Tigers-Rangers make a blockbuster trade that enhances both teams.

Meanwhile the Orioles are doing... what?

Speculating about trades but not making one. Outright refusing to sign anyone other than inventory/depth that might not help us at all. Still sitting on the stump watching other teams improve.

For all the newbies here, don't get upset, this is how it always goes.

Always.

MSK

Yes let's get all upset and pissed off in late November.

[MemorialStadKid]

Well said. I'm tired of hearing about signing the same old re-treads year after year. I don't want to sign Roberts and hope, magically, he can play half a season much less a full season. I don't want to sign Feldman who is a #3, at best, pitcher. I like McClouth but there are much better options out there. I don't want to cross my fingers and hope a light bulb goes on for guys like Britton. Hearing all the right words come out of Buck and DD's mouth and never following through makes it 10x worse.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to centralpaosfan again.

Bless you sir.

MSK

[MemorialStadKid]

Yes let's get all upset and pissed off in late November.

Not pissed. Just... I dunno... tired of the same old, same old.

The same people complain that we're complaining. They always say that the offseason isn't over.

When it's over, we're still not a playoff-caliber team.

MSK

[Tx Oriole]

Most knew they were taking a gamble with Reyes and Johnson. Dickey was solid. Burhle is what he is. Injuries killed the Jays. Not spending money. Atleast their ownership was willing to go for it.

At least their owner spent foolishly. You don't spend just to spend. You want the

O's to have signed Peralta? He got 52 million from the Cards. He is not worth that.

[centralpaosfan]

At least their owner spent foolishly. You don't spend just to spend. You want the

O's to have signed Peralta? He got 52 million from the Cards. He is not worth that.

The worth of anything is what people are willing to pay for it. A 16oz beer is not worth $7.50 but they charge that because people are willing to pay it.

[TonySoprano]

Enough of the generalizations that only serve to polarize those in the discussion. If you can't make a point without the "us vs. them," then keep it to yourself.

[VeveJones007]

Great. We're the Blue Jays of a few years ago. Right up until we "can't afford to keep Wieters and Davis" in a couple of years. Then we're back to mediocrity.

We need to pick a direction. Either we start adding pieces and make a run at contending very soon. Or, we start trading guys we "can't afford."

It's silly to ask the team to catch lightning in a bottle again to have any hope of a championship in the foreseeable future.

No, it really isn't. This isn't the NFL or the NBA. In those leagues, you definitely need either a stud QB or a couple stud players. Baseball is an utter crapshoot once you get to the postseason.

I'm not going to sacrifice a 25% shot at getting into a wide open tournament the next two seasons to grab a handful of prospects. I'm also not going to hate Angelos for not spending an extra $25 million to buy another 5 wins in this scenario. The Rays and A's certainly do fine with their considerably smaller budgets. I expect the O's to be able to operate similarly.

Do I wish he would loosen the purse strings? Yes. Do I resent him for it? No.

[CA-ORIOLE]

This being a mediocre FA group I thought we might actually sign somebody decent (i.e a decent midlevel FA like the Red Sox and Indians did last year to short term deals). Looks like the price of those guys is going crazy). I just don't see ownership going along with it.