Orioles looking to go cheap WHATS NEW

[El Gordo]

Ha, that's a funny post. Just spit balling some names, though I could care less about validation of my opinions. Point is, I think the "what would you have done?" response is a lame way to excuse a GM's inaction, and that is exactly when it is tossed out there. Billy Beane and Andrew Friedman make moves within limited budgets, some of which will work and some won't.

It's not lame. If you wnt to be a wnna be GM, then you have to play by the O's GM's rules. Spitballing? That's kinda like pulling things out of your butt isn't it? DD has 20 marbles to work with, so you can't just go out and sign any one. No Tanaka. And he has serious restrictions when it comes to money and years for SP, particularly when it comes to their health. So you can rule out Garza and his four years with a screw in his elbow. Realistically his SP options were IMO, M. Gonzalez, Hudson, Fister, Burnett, and Arroyo. Why he didn't offer more than the 4M AAV M.Gonzalez signed fo,r is beyond me. It seems we could have afforded to give up what it took to get Fister, and Hudson would have fit into our budget, even if we had to pay more than the LAD did. I wouldn't have gone the 3 guaranteed years it would have taken to get Arroyo, and Burnett is still playing Hamlet. After that it really doesn't matter IMO. Capuano, Saunders ,etc, just place holders until Gausman is ready. Both Santana and Jimenez are too erratic to merit 3+ years and 13M+ as well as a pick. They would have to come way down in price, before I'd give them any interest.

[$Greatness$]

I still want Daniel Cabrera.

[weams]

So if they are able to sign Santana or Jiminez for 3/36, you'd still call it a massive failure?

Sure. And our team may still do well. No one took all our great players.

[weams]

I still want Daniel Cabrera.

We all did. But he was a juicer.

[El Gordo]

Sure. And our team may still do well. No one took all our great players.

I'm lost here. This makes absolutely no sense to me. Why would you call it a failure if no one took all of our players? Were we trying to rebuild? I try to understand, I really do try.

[mcgraw238]

It's not lame If you wnt to be a wnna be GM then you have to plauy by the O's GM's rules. Spitballing? That's kinda like pulling things out of your butt isn't it? DD has 20 M marbles to work with so you can't just go out and sign any one. No Tanaka. And he has serious restrictions when it comes to money and years for SP particularly when it comes to their health. So you can rule out Garza and his four years with a screw in his elbow. Relistically his SP options were IMO, M. Gonzalez, Hudson, Fister, Burnett, and Arroyo. Why he didn't offer more than the 4M AAV M.Gonzalez signed for is beyond me. It seems we could have afforded to give up what it took to get Fister, and Hudson would have fit into our budget even if we had to pay more than the LAD did. I wouldn't have gone the 3 guaranteed years it would have took to get Arroyo, and Burnett is still playing Hamlet. After that it really doesn't matter IMO. Capuano, Saunders etc, just place holders until Gausman is ready. Both Santana and Jimenez are too erratic to merit 3 years and 13M+ as well as a pick. They would have to come way down in price, before I'd give them any interest.

No wanna be GM here, I'm flat out judging our GM's performance. Regardless, it's doesn't change the fact that I shouldn't have to lay out a full fledged offseason plan on a message board in order to offer an informed opinion of our GM's performance or else be at the mercy of someone attempting to undercut said opinion with "what would you have done?" And trust me, that line is always thrown out at a time to undercut the poster's comment.

If DD needs more marbles, then move some existing allocated marbles from the payroll to get some more. It's his job to improve the team within the parameters from which he signed on. Maybe he should have moved JJ last offseason when the return would have been something having value. Maybe he should dump Nick now to get some extra marbles. Maybe the trade market is the way to improve the club. Maybe now is the time to move one of the 2 Boras clients that won't be here in two years. I don't have a single post on here advocating for Choo, Ellsbury, Tanaka, or that kind of expenditure so I am comfortable that my thoughts are within DD's playground. I've suggested that maybe Kemp should be explored since I like his upside and he's locked up (admittedly at a high price) though I have also acknowledged the risk involved. That's just me pulling things out of my butt.

We are on the same page with many of the options, I'm just not going to give DD a pass when he has largely done nothing. It's a tough job but he should have taken some calculated risk somewhere. Other GM's have the same type restrictions in play yet manage to get things accomplished.

[mcgraw238]

Sure. And our team may still do well. No one took all our great players.

As down as I am on this offseason, we do have good players for the next 2 years so should have some decent baseball to watch. I think we will come up a bit short but we will field some good teams.

[El Gordo]

No wanna be GM here, I'm flat out judging our GM's performance. Regardless, it's doesn't change the fact that I shouldn't have to lay out a full fledged offseason plan on a message board in order to offer an informed opinion of our GM's performance or else be at the mercy of someone attempting to undercut said opinion with "what would you have done?" And trust me, that line is always thrown out at a time to undercut the poster's comment.

If DD needs more marbles, then move some existing allocated marbles from the payroll to get some more. It's his job to improve the team within the parameters from which he signed on. Maybe he should have moved JJ last offseason when the return would have been something having value. Maybe he should dump Nick now to get some extra marbles. Maybe the trade market is the way to improve the club. Maybe now is the time to move one of the 2 Boras clients that won't be here in two years. I don't have a single post on here advocating for Choo, Ellsbury, Tanaka, or that kind of expenditure so I am comfortable that my thoughts are within DD's playground. I've suggested that maybe Kemp should be explored since I like his upside and he's locked up (admittedly at a high price) though I have also acknowledged the risk involved. That's just me pulling things out of my butt.

We are on the same page with many of the options, I'm just not going to give DD a pass when he has largely done nothing. It's a tough job but he should have taken some calculated risk somewhere. Other GM's have the same type restrictions in play yet manage to get things accomplished.

If you don't understand the constraints he's working under your opinion is not informed. You don't have to know how to drive to be a back seat driver.

[mcgraw238]

If you don't understand the constraints he's working under your opinion is not informed. You don't have to know how to drive to be a back seat driver.

I get the constraints just fine and my opinion takes that into account. I'm having a hard time understanding where you are pulling this from. I'm moving on, we can continue this when you are having a lucid interval.

[Three Run Homer]

He might be fine again though. He might be.

...said Andy MacPhail about Garrett Atkins.

Duquette has had a lot of success with reclamation projects, but he's never put himself in a situation where he was COUNTING on someone to turn his career around. Nate McLouth and Danny Valencia were signed for cheap, as depth. They wound up being valuable contributors. Signing Joe Saunders or Chris Capuano for real money and counting on them to pitch in the starting rotation is an entirely different and in my opinion unwise strategy.

[El Gordo]

I get the constraints just fine and my opinion takes that into account. I'm having a hard time understanding where you are pulling this from. I'm moving on, we can continue this when you are having a lucid interval.

You're right, I should have dismissed you after you brought up Infante, Vagas, Kazmir, and Johnson. :rolleyestf:

[El Gordo]

...said Andy MacPhail about Garrett Atkins.

Duquette has had a lot of success with reclamation projects, but he's never put himself in a situation where he was COUNTING on someone to turn his career around. Nate McLouth and Danny Valencia were signed for cheap, as depth. They wound up being valuable contributors. Signing Joe Saunders or Chris Capuano for real money and counting on them to pitch in the starting rotation is an entirely different and in my opinion unwise strategy.

5 M is real money? They should be worth at least 1 WAR.

[quidam]

You're right, I should have dismissed you after you brought up Infante, Vagas, Kazmir, and Johnson. :rolleyestf:

Infante and one of those starters would fit into DD's budget.

[weams]

I'm lost here. This makes absolutely no sense to me. Why would you call it a failure if no one took all of our players? Were we trying to rebuild? I try to understand, I really do try.

Yeah, I was multi multi tasking.

I believe we should have done much more.

I would like another starter.

It could have been worse, we could have lost our good players and gotten cash back.

We still have a good team. Did anyone watch Aceves' start in the Caribe World Series for Mexico. It was brilliant.

[Tx Oriole]

And you would have been happy with which pitchers/players?

Maybe it wouldn't matter. Just so long as DD signed a FA. As for me I don't get

as upset about the offseason. Some get too worked up from the lack of signings

this offseason. No matter the amount of cussing and fussing, hair pulling and hand wringing will change a thing. I have learned to live with the fact PA is not going to

change. I am not going to blow a gasket over the off seasons lack of moves. IMO