New Fangraphs article "The Orioles Stars and Scrubs Problem"

[atomic]

Nice piece.

We should have signed Cano than we could have added 7 WAR in one guy.

[weams]

We should have signed Cano than we could have added 7 WAR in one guy.

http://www.nj.com/yankees/index.ssf/2013/12/yankees_president_randy_levine_to_alex_rodriguez_robinson_cano_needs_some_steroids.html

If he averages 5 WAR over the next five years, he will be worth exactly what he is being paid for. The next five season? He wont come close to paying for himself. Might as well call it a five year 48 million a year deal.

[luismatos4prez]

A value option doe DH that caught my eye is Scott Van Slyke. Not sure if we match up well with the Dodgers, but he's a solid contact/high OBP guy who's completely blocked, and can play 1B/OF. I'd rather approach our DH/LF situation with the healthiest/most productive combination from a group like Reimold/Urrutia/Lough/VanSlyke than lose a pick and/or give up too much in trade for an established mediocre guy. Thoughts?

(disclaimer - I haven't vetted this idea very much)

I was hoping the Os would trade JJ for Van Slyke earlier this winter. I don't think we have much to offer them now though.

[wildcard]

That's a lot going right, nothing going wrong, and no injuries.

Hey those are his numbers not mine. I wouldn't use WAR to calculate anything.

[UMDTerrapins]

I was hoping the Os would trade JJ for Van Slyke earlier this winter. I don't think we have much to offer them now though.

Would you trade Britton? Would that be enough or would you need to add a C level prospect? He has no place to play even if they do trade one of the OFs, and they do need some SP depth. I'd like a little more depth at 1B anyhow.

[weams]

We should have signed Cano than we could have added 7 WAR in one guy.

"Hey, what’s up with Robby. This guy must not be using the liquid,"

Randy Levine. (President, New York Yankees in an email.)

[scOtt]

Um... Britton? Long man? Sitting most of the season?

*tap* *tap* *tap* Is this thing on?

[Frobby]

That's a lot going right, nothing going wrong, and no injuries.

Not entirely. 5 WAR combined from Davis, Flaherty and Markakis seems like a pretty low bar. I'll admit, this may be the fan side of me talking. Of course, I don't think Burnett is a 4 WAR pitcher, either.

[weams]

I was hoping the Os would trade JJ for Van Slyke earlier this winter. I don't think we have much to offer them now though.

Fangraphs likes Urrutia better. Against 2/3rd of the pitchers. I can't see that Van Slyke is even much more than an Xavier Paul, Steve Pearce, Peguerro.

[UMDTerrapins]

Um... Britton? Long man? Sitting most of the season?

*tap* *tap* *tap* Is this thing on?

From what I've read, VanSlyke has become a bit of an afterthought given the OF logjam in LA. And he's been in the Dodger system so long that he's gotten an unfair label as a AAAA guy. In a way, he's a bit like Britton is to O's fans. The shoulder issue is a huge if, but if he's healthy he could still have a decent career. Moving from Camden Yards to Dodger Stadium wouldn't hurt. But my point isn't to fixate on Britton, and he certainly wouldn't have to be the only player traded. We have derailed a tad....I tend to do that. The question is whether Van Slyke would be a good target.

[SrMeowMeow]

This is why people obsess over cost-controlled players, and good value in free agency, and losing draft picks, and not overpaying, and cutting-edge analysis. This is why people said "there's a lot of risk here" about extending Roberts and Markakis while others yelled "hometown hero pay the man" and "sabermetrics is ruthless and baseball is about real people", and why people hated on horrible FA contracts like Prince Fielder and Jayson Werth while others yelled "make a commitment to winning."

We are right now feeling the crunch of a team without enough surplus value. 15 WAR (from our "stars") for 40M is excellent value, and would cost us about 75M (or more, with rising spending) on the FA market. That's great. But things like Markakis's contract, a bunch of blown draft picks, and the apparent reality that we're a middle-of-the-road spending team combine to demonstrate in no uncertain terms what happens to a team when its front office fails to execute well. We have no realistic way or expectation of making up that missing 20 WAR (which would only get us to fringe contention anyway).

This is why people care about things like overpaying Kendrys Morales and giving up a first rounder for him. Because when you don't care about things like that, you get a poorly run organization with very few avenues for improvement.

[Can_of_corn]

This is why people obsess over cost-controlled players, and good value in free agency, and losing draft picks, and not overpaying, and cutting-edge analysis. This is why people said "there's a lot of risk here" about extending Roberts and Markakis while others yelled "hometown hero pay the man" and "sabermetrics is ruthless and baseball is about real people", and why people hated on horrible FA contracts like Prince Fielder and Jayson Werth while others yelled "make a commitment to winning."

We are right now feeling the crunch of a team without enough surplus value. 15 WAR (from our "stars") for 40M is excellent value, and would cost us about 75M (or more, with rising spending) on the FA market. That's great. But things like Markakis's contract, a bunch of blown draft picks, and the apparent reality that we're a middle-of-the-road spending team combine to demonstrate in no uncertain terms what happens to a team when its front office fails to execute well. We have no realistic way or expectation of making up that missing 20 WAR (which would only get us to fringe contention anyway).

This is why people care about things like overpaying Kendrys Morales and giving up a first rounder for him. Because when you don't care about things like that, you get a poorly run organization with very few avenues for improvement.

You can feel sentimental about last year's team. No room for it with next year's team.

[weams]

This is why people obsess over cost-controlled players, and good value in free agency, and losing draft picks, and not overpaying, and cutting-edge analysis. This is why people said "there's a lot of risk here" about extending Roberts and Markakis while others yelled "hometown hero pay the man" and "sabermetrics is ruthless and baseball is about real people", and why people hated on horrible FA contracts like Prince Fielder and Jayson Werth while others yelled "make a commitment to winning."

We are right now feeling the crunch of a team without enough surplus value. 15 WAR (from our "stars") for 40M is excellent value, and would cost us about 75M (or more, with rising spending) on the FA market. That's great. But things like Markakis's contract, a bunch of blown draft picks, and the apparent reality that we're a middle-of-the-road spending team combine to demonstrate in no uncertain terms what happens to a team when its front office fails to execute well. We have no realistic way or expectation of making up that missing 20 WAR (which would only get us to fringe contention anyway).

This is why people care about things like overpaying Kendrys Morales and giving up a first rounder for him. Because when you don't care about things like that, you get a poorly run organization with very few avenues for improvement.

Si. Senor.

[Frobby]

This is why people obsess over cost-controlled players, and good value in free agency, and losing draft picks, and not overpaying, and cutting-edge analysis. This is why people said "there's a lot of risk here" about extending Roberts and Markakis while others yelled "hometown hero pay the man" and "sabermetrics is ruthless and baseball is about real people", and why people hated on horrible FA contracts like Prince Fielder and Jayson Werth while others yelled "make a commitment to winning."

While there were quite a few people who thought we overpaid for Roberts, the vast majority were flipping cartwheels when Markakis signed his deal. I hardly remember any dissent at all about that one, which committed Markakis to the team for his age 25-30 seasons after posting increasing OPS's of .799, .848 and .897 at ages 22-24. It has not worked out well, but that's a deal I'd do every time given a similar opportunity.

[weams]

While there were quite a few people who thought we overpaid for Roberts, the vast majority were flipping cartwheels when Markakis signed his deal. I hardly remember any dissent at all about that one, which committed Markakis to the team for his age 25-30 seasons after posting increasing OPS's of .799, .848 and .897 at ages 22-24. It has not worked out well, but that's a deal I'd do every time given a similar opportunity.

I was convinced that his next season would be .945 and then .996 and finally 1.043. Then he would start to decline.