Per the Sun: "Orioles most inactive team..."

[sportsfan8703]

I won't neg-rep you. I don't do that unless there's justification.

But again, when have I EVER suggested spending money for the sake of spending money?

Not once.

I have suggested that we sign guys that will make us a better team. So far, that has not occurred during this offseason.

What I can't stand are the ridiculous conversations (including an 80+ page thread on Balfour) about the talent we have as if standing pat will somehow get us over the top.

Folks have come out of the woodwork attacking me, but they never say anything about the fact that A LOT of people are upset with the Orioles' lack of movement.

ESPN (who used to ignore us) noticed it.

MLB Network (who are usually more democratic) noticed it.

Baltimore Sun writers noticed it.

Sports writers NOT in Baltimore noticed it.

Are you suggesting that the stuff we're saying is fabricated? That the team is solid for 2014? That the personnel we have at this moment is a championship caliber squad?

That's not the case. No matter how upset the defenders get (not calling you a defender) it doesn't change the win-loss column at the end of a season. You'd think that after 14 years those guys would understand. But...

MSK

To me you make great points. Why spend so much time defending every non move when you don't know if we even had a legitimate reason not to? But on the other hand every move we dont make is a clear indication that we didn't agree with it. This team doesn't need much but we need moves to go back to the playoffs. Deals I would have made: Mcclouth, Dejesus, R.Davis, Hart, Kubel. Give me one of those and Balfour and I'd be happy with the offseason.

[Il BuonO]

I usually use Fangraphs but I'll take the point because even if he was worth 1.4 WAR, or even if he was worth 2 WAR, we are talking about the most volatile position in baseball as far as year-to-year production. At 2 WAR he is worth at least 11 million and for such a price I'd rather have a few years of Omar Infante.

Exactly what I was alluding to when I said,"Bad allocation of resources." It's because they are so volatile. C o c has advocated Mike Wright and I would say him or even a few others would be a better idea than throwing money after another "closer" when we just got rid of one with the idea we would save that money for other areas of need.

[Barnaby Graves]

Exactly what I was alluding to when I said,"Bad allocation of resources." It's because they are so volatile. C o c has advocated Mike Wright and I would say him or even a few others would be a better idea than throwing money after another "closer" when we just got rid of one with the idea we would save that money for other areas of need.

You and Dr. Corn du Can are right. Mike Wright and/or other minor leaguers vaguely resembling Mike Wright are the proper choice for such a position.

And I'll go one further, though I think you'd agree anyway: scrap the stupid "closer" position and just have random minor league middle relief types throw an inning when needed against favorable matchups. There, I just solved the closer problem for the price of basically free. Can I be GM now?

[Il BuonO]

You and Dr. Corn du Can are right. Mike Wright and/or other minor leaguers vaguely resembling Mike Wright are the proper choice for such a position.

And I'll go one further, though I think you'd agree anyway: scrap the stupid "closer" position and just have random minor league middle relief types throw an inning when needed against favorable matchups. There, I just solved the closer problem for the price of basically free. Can I be GM now?

Another thing C o c and I have advocated is match ups. I hate the whole idea of a closer and the save. It's basically become the tool with which guys increase their salary in arbitration.

You're hired.

[Austin]

Good luck Zepp but I think you're wasting your time. I'm at the point of waiting until February or March to start posting again. Maybe the crap won't be as deep.

Same. There's no use in engaging them.

[Barnaby Graves]

Another thing C o c and I have advocated is match ups. I hate the whole idea of a closer and the save. It's basically become the tool with which guys increase their salary in arbitration.

You're hired.

What bothers the crap out of me is that such an obvious solution is ignored in favor of lore and traditionalism.

Frankly there are a lot of highly-paid, highly-touted people that are making dumb decisions in this area. I don't worship the baseball establishment but the fact is that they are making decisions I disagree with. So either a) I am right and people making 100 times what I make are idiots or b) due to a mix of union-greasing and romanticism they are right, and I don't have any idea why. I don't know why, man! I don't know why Jim Johnson should be paid any huge amount of money. I don't know why Grant Balfour should get a two year deal. And it bothers me that I don't know, because if it REALLY WAS a simple decision, if Mike Wright could just get a major league job and that would be that, that everyone would do it. I feel like I am saying "gravitational attraction is dominated by the larger mass" and GMs everywhere are saying "well have you considered intelligent falling?" I don't care if they have professional clout, this is such a ridiculous tradition and it deserves criticism.

Put money anywhere... but not into the bullpen!!!!!!!!

[weams]

What bothers the crap out of me is that such an obvious solution is ignored in favor of lore and traditionalism.

Frankly there are a lot of highly-paid, highly-touted people that are making dumb decisions in this area. I don't worship the baseball establishment but the fact is that they are making decisions I disagree with. So either a) I am right and people making 100 times what I make are idiots or b) due to a mix of union-greasing and romanticism they are right, and I don't have any idea why. I don't know why, man! I don't know why Jim Johnson should be paid any huge amount of money. I don't know why Grant Balfour should get a two year deal. And it bothers me that I don't know, because if it REALLY WAS a simple decision, if Mike Wright could just get a major league job and that would be that, that everyone would do it. I feel like I am saying "gravitational attraction is dominated by the larger mass" and GMs everywhere are saying "well have you considered intelligent falling?" I don't care if they have professional clout, this is such a ridiculous tradition and it deserves criticism.

Put money anywhere... but not into the bullpen!!!!!!!!

Well. You have a bird. You must be right. Intelligent falling indeed.

[Il BuonO]

Well, I don't have a bird but I do have some experience playing and more recently coaching and I can tell you BP management would never be considered this way at lower levels. And what a relief that is to me. It's become second nature to me that my recommendation is for the situation and not whether I have a Senior trying to pad his stats because he's trying to get to the next level. It's about the right pitcher vs the hitter at the plate at that point in the game. Maybe I'm oversimplifying.

What's puzzling to me is that for an organization that seemingly is so budget conscious why hasn't become a dictum of sorts that "there will be no set closer for the Orioles." I mean when the arbitration system bases one of it's main criteria for paying relievers on saves then it seems clear to me that the team might want to avoid that practice. Just a thought.

[Barnaby Graves]

Well. You have a bird. You must be right. Intelligent falling indeed.

Has anybody ever told you what a cheeky bastard you are? :rofl:

Seriously though. What is with the disproportional investments into relief pitching?

[McNulty]

:rofl:

Right.

Sabermetrics will tell us that getting guys off the corner of Greenmount and North Avenue at 3AM and putting them in Orioles uniforms will equal +3.14159265359 wins next season. In fact, if we buy out Adam Jones' contract, let Wieters, Davis, JJ and Machado walk, the Orioles will win the World Series in 2014, 2015 and 2016 because the team payroll will be $8mm.

Book it.

MSK

This is one of the most asinine posts I've ever seen. Kudos to everyone else for ignoring it.

[Barnaby Graves]

This is one of the most asinine posts I've ever seen. Kudos to everyone else for ignoring it.

You might as well give me a trophy for not stapling my tongue to my nose.

[MemorialStadKid]

This is one of the most asinine posts I've ever seen. Kudos to everyone else for ignoring it.

I only wrote that to show how insane it's been for the last 6 years. The constant justifications for mediocrity and non-improvement are astounding. Feel free to continue with the insults. I can handle it.

MSK

[McNulty]

I only wrote that to show how insane it's been for the last 6 years. The constant justifications for mediocrity and non-improvement are astounding. Feel free to continue with the insults. I can handle it.

MSK

Your posts insult everyone's brain, so feel free to continue with that.

[notyourbuddy]

Fangraphs has Grant Balfour at 0.6 WAR last year, behind such names as Jenrry Mejia and Brandon Cumpton, and Josh "Best Pitcher in Baseball" Collmeter.

Fangraph's WAR is terrible at measuring the actual performance of a pitcher in a given year. Their WAR is instead a measurement of a player's worth in some fantasy based alternate reality where they ignore what really happened and instead tell you what they think should have happened. I would seriously take those numbers with a grain of salt.

[Barnaby Graves]

Fangraph's WAR is terrible at measuring the actual performance of a pitcher in a given year. Their WAR is instead a measurement of a player's worth in some fantasy based alternate reality where they ignore what really happened and instead tell you what they think should have happened. I would seriously take those numbers with a grain of salt.

Because why? Who has a better metric?