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Connolly: Orioles Focused on Adding SP, Not CL


luismatos4prez

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I love O'Day so I'm fine with him at the closer role. If he shares that role with Hunter, I've got some hesitation when it comes to Tommy. I think Tommy is a great guy and has definitely improved but I worry that his stuff is predictable. I see him as a Joel Zumaya type reliever, throws fast and hard but not much else. Throwing that fast in relief counts for something but I'd like someone with a little more to offer. Maybe I'm completely wrong and Tommy has a lot more than I've seen. Just my 2 cents. I'm ok with the options we have internally regardless. I still would have loved to see Balfour on this squad but with him out of the running, I don't see anyone out there worth the money they're asking for.

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The 2012 Jim Johnson trade will be to the Orioles what the 2012 Anquan Boldin trade was to the Ravens. We will revisit this pain point and poor decision with every blown save and failed closer. Trading wins for losses just because a player doesn't fall within some budgetary standard...

What has Boldin done for SF that is so great? Decent player and loved him for his toughness, but insignificant compared to the losses of Ed Reed and Ray Lewis. If JJ is our Boldin I am OK with that.

Let's see if JJ gets back to 2012 form, otherwise $10 million is insane for a guy with very hittable stuff who has looked shaky at times in the closer role and led the league in blown saves. I will root for him to have a great year in Oakland but I don't think you can call it a poor decision.

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I think you can basically disagree with the entire approach to the offseason -- which at this point seems like "wake up each morning and see if we think of anything."

Spot on. You could make a case for keeping JJ, or dumping him and signing Balfour or dumping him and giving the job to TH. All 3 are viable to me as part of a broader strategy.

But signalling all three options at various points in a 90 day period is a pretty strong sign that there is no clear vision. Compare our flips and flops to how the Cards approached the offseason. Don't even get into the money. Just note the clear plan, decisiveness and they're done. And now look at our shenanigans. Not impressed.

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What has Boldin done for SF that is so great? Decent player and loved him for his toughness, but insignificant compared to the losses of Ed Reed and Ray Lewis. If JJ is our Boldin I am OK with that.

Let's see if JJ gets back to 2012 form, otherwise $10 million is insane for a guy with very hittable stuff who has looked shaky at times in the closer role and led the league in blown saves. I will root for him to have a great year in Oakland but I don't think you can call it a poor decision.

Ed Reed and Ray Lewis are hall of famers but they were way past their prime and weren't capable of playing at a high level any more. Boldin had a couple of good years still in him. So Boldin was the best player we lost of the three.

JJ is not equal to Boldin. I don't get the comparison.

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Ed Reed and Ray Lewis are hall of famers but they were way past their prime and weren't capable of playing at a high level any more. Boldin had a couple of good years still in him. So Boldin was the best player we lost of the three.

JJ is not equal to Boldin. I don't get the comparison.

I don't think it was the most apt comparison, but I interpreted it as "You're going to miss having him but just don't know it yet." I think there's a decent chance that could happen, because we simply don't know if Hunter and/or O'Day can fill the void on a full time basis, but the total opposite could be true that they flourish and for lesser money than JJ would have cost.

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I think the problem of the O's off season, from a fan and baseball pundit perspective, may be that:

1) Duquette hasn't been blown away by any of the options available in free agency this year - who besides Cano would really be a "game changer" for the O's? And the combinations of performance, position, price, and age of Cano would make that contract horrendous for us.

2) He believes in our young prospects (Bundy, Gausman, Rodriguez, and Schoop) more than he does the players that teams have been offering in trade.

If these two things are true, then looking for underpriced options to fill needs - guys like Lough, Webb and Balfour (before the physical) - and young players that could "pop" like Tillman did - think Britton, Weeks, Peguero, Urrutia - makes sense.

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I think the problem of the O's off season, from a fan and baseball pundit perspective, may be that:

1) Duquette hasn't been blown away by any of the options available in free agency this year - who besides Cano would really be a "game changer" for the O's? And the combinations of performance, position, price, and age of Cano would make that contract horrendous for us.

2) He believes in our young prospects (Bundy, Gausman, Rodriguez, and Schoop) more than he does the players that teams have been offering in trade.

If these two things are true, then looking for underpriced options to fill needs - guys like Lough, Webb and Balfour (before the physical) - and young players that could "pop" like Tillman did - think Britton, Weeks, Peguero, Urrutia - makes sense.

Colon for 9 million next year and 11 million in 2015 seems like a deal worth making. Ellsbury is a game changer as well. There were other guys signed that could have helped the team improve.

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I think the problem of the O's off season, from a fan and baseball pundit perspective, may be that:

1) Duquette hasn't been blown away by any of the options available in free agency this year - who besides Cano would really be a "game changer" for the O's? And the combinations of performance, position, price, and age of Cano would make that contract horrendous for us.

2) He believes in our young prospects (Bundy, Gausman, Rodriguez, and Schoop) more than he does the players that teams have been offering in trade.

If these two things are true, then looking for underpriced options to fill needs - guys like Lough, Webb and Balfour (before the physical) - and young players that could "pop" like Tillman did - think Britton, Weeks, Peguero, Urrutia - makes sense.

I agree to an extent. But I also think most fans would like to see payroll increasing to allow for improvements. Trading JJ to be replaced by Webb is moving in the opposite direction. Also I think there were a few more guys in the Balfour category that could have been had earlier in the offseason at a cheaper price - notably Mujica and Joe Smith - and it is fair to criticize Duquette for missing the boat on those guys. Hopefully Webb is for real, but he seems like a downgrade. I don't mind losing JJ but I would like to see us sign a pitcher--preferably Garza or Burnett, but I suppose I would settle for Arroyo.

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The 2012 Jim Johnson trade will be to the Orioles what the 2012 Anquan Boldin trade was to the Ravens. We will revisit this pain point and poor decision with every blown save and failed closer. Trading wins for losses just because a player doesn't fall within some budgetary standard...

You could go the other way with that as well and say Jim Johnson is like Flaco. The Ravens decided to sign flaco to a long term deal which was a huge burden on their teams salary cap and caused them some of their better players and important pieces like Bouldin and their linbacker and then fell out of the playoffs because they didn't have the talent this season due to paying Flaco so much money. The Orioles could have signed Johnson to a long term contract but their is a good chance that it would cost them Hardy for the upcomming years and maybe a chance to sign someone next year.

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You could go the other way with that as well and say Jim Johnson is like Flaco. The Ravens decided to sign flaco to a long term deal which was a huge burden on their teams salary cap and caused them some of their better players and important pieces like Bouldin and their linbacker and then fell out of the playoffs because they didn't have the talent this season due to paying Flaco so much money. The Orioles could have signed Johnson to a long term contract but their is a good chance that it would cost them Hardy for the upcomming years and maybe a chance to sign someone next year.

I know what you are saying, but comparing a closer to a quarterback isn't really apples to apples.

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Colon for 9 million next year and 11 million in 2015 seems like a deal worth making. Ellsbury is a game changer as well. There were other guys signed that could have helped the team improve.

Ellsbury has missed large parts of two of the last four seasons. I don't think he is worth the contract he received and would not have had the O's pay that. Obviously, Duquette did no teither. I think there are players like Colon, veteran starters that can be had on a one or two year deal are still out there is DD wants to make that move. Lough helps the team to improve - at least that's my opinion. Webb helps the team improve. Weeks could help the team improve. None are splashy or particularly exciting.

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The 2012 Jim Johnson trade will be to the Orioles what the 2012 Anquan Boldin trade was to the Ravens. We will revisit this pain point and poor decision with every blown save and failed closer. Trading wins for losses just because a player doesn't fall within some budgetary standard...

I don't see a closer that blew 9 saves last year being much of a loss.

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