Update your offseason grade after the Yoon, Jimenez and Cruz signings

[Guest]

A they got Cruzzzzzzzz

[weams]

Another thing to consider is were these "oh crap we really pissed off the fan base this time" signings or was this the plan from the begining

I fan base is not a diver with the Orioles business model. As I have often said about attempts to boycott and stage protest. There were 15 k + at Fan Fest with Liam Hendriks in the New Look forum. That said, I am sure that they are happy we are now pleased.

[Frobby]

Another thing to consider is were these "oh crap we really pissed off the fan base this time" signings or was this the plan from the begining

I don't know if the timing of events was in accordance with their original plan, but Duquette has been saying since the day he traded JJ that he expected to sign a couple of veteran pitchers and that the payroll would be higher than last year's. He has said those things at least 5-6 times between early December and when he finally pulled the trigger, and never backed off those statements.

[scOtt]

I don't know if the timing of events was in accordance with their original plan, but Duquette has been saying since the day he traded JJ that he expected to sign a couple of veteran pitchers and that the payroll would be higher than last year's. He has said those things at least 5-6 times between early December and when he finally pulled the trigger, and never backed off those statements.

All this. I think this was certainly not the way DD drew it up. But he waited out the market and struck like a snake when the time was right. Well damn done!

[isestrex]

It was a C and it is now a C+

I'm very worried about 4 years for Jimenez and I hate that we gave up 2 draft picks for the "now" when I think our real chance for competing is in 2016.

[Hank Scorpio]

I'm okay with it, gave it a B. I like the Jimenez deal and there's no harm in a 1 year cheapo for Cruz.

I don't think the offseason is quite as pivotal to the team's success as most do, however. It's mostly about staying healthy and getting a couple of good breaks along the way. Jimenez will definitely help buy Gausman some time and while I have some concerns about the offense's ability to get on base, they should be pretty solid from top to bottom.

[ShaneDawg85]

Before the recent moves I would have said a D-. With these recent moves I bump it up all the way to a C+. There's still some very critical holes and downgrades that cannot be overlooked. Even with the more cost effective Webb, the bullpen is weaker, no two ways around it. The Orioles have essentially put themselves into a too big to fail situation with Tommy Hunter that he has to succeed at closer, or it could be ugly. I know some of you will bring up Koji for Boston last year as evidence of you can still have a positive result even if the first man up struggles, but Koji had had some use as a closer before, whereas Hunter has next to none, Koji never had the gaping splits that Hunter does, and there was no way of knowing that Koji would be as good as he was last year or any reason to believe he won't regress some this year. The Orioles have hitched their wagon on Hunter succeeding, and while I'm not saying that paying Jim Johnson $10 million would have been the right answer, because keeping him would have made some of these moves more difficult to pull off, if Hunter fails the Orioles are in trouble.

The rotation is significantly upgraded from where it was at the end of last season. Even if Jimenez isn't what he was at the end of last season, he's got more upside than Feldman, and Norris is worlds better than anybody who was in the fifth spot last season. The loss of a first round pick stings, but for a long-term deal at a position of need, I can handle it. I don't like the Cruz deal and can see it very easily being a bust, but I've already gone on record as saying that and hope to be proven wrong.

There's still the question marks at second and in left. I'm glad they didn't hitch themselves on the nostalgia train with Roberts, but now it's sink or swim time for Flaherty and others. Lough is good defensively but still very unproven, and I'm sorry, any scenario that involves Cruz with the glove is a failure, end of discussion. All in all the Orioles made some good moves, some bigger and some smaller throughout the offseason, they didn't get lost in the terrible baseball economics and deal out an incomprehensibly stupid, long-term deal, and they have made some good financial decisions. They also haven't addressed the long term future of the club with Hardy, Wieters, Markakis, and Davis, and I have to dock them for that. You can't get it all in one offseason, and some of them we've already concluded are going to take this to free agency no matter what. However, we've been talking about them for months, and outside of the recent Hardy news and the Davis story around Fan Fest there hasn't been much of anything. Hopefully that changes as the season goes on, but the Orioles still have some big long term questions that short of Jimenez haven't been addressed.

[scOtt]

Bell curve says B+. What a difference a week makes!

[GoldGlove21]

I give it a B+ and I can't imagine the Orioles doing more in an offseason than for than getting a starter that is better than a #3 starter, a real DH, a guy who can be a long guy and another guy who pitched pretty well last year out of the pen. Couple that with the depth of options at second and left and I think that this offseason turned into a good one. If they fill another position with a quality ML player than this grade becomes an A for me.

[mdbdotcom]

I voted B+ for 3 reasons:

1) We have a better chance to win in 2014 than we did at the end of the 2013 season.

2) Aside from the short term benefits, Jimenez and Cruz buy time for Urrutia and Gausman to work on their games at Norfolk.

3) Weams is always right.

[atomic]

I have the team a B. Could have used another bullpen guy.

[George Zuverink]

I went B+ because I believe that:

1)They can now field a 25 man roster that can make the playoffs without any one player having a career year or being 3 standard deviations to the right the mean of the bell curve of one run game and extra inning results, like we were in 2012

2)Unless we're gutted when the dust settles on who does and doesn't have options, there is now enough serviceable AAAA talent in Norfolk to make the injury replacement drop off smaller than it has been since Jeffrey Maier played hookie from middle school

3)There is enough depth at starter that, with a plausible amount of luck, in 12 to 18 months, we could offer positive WAR starters as currency in trades to replenish our farm system field position talent

4)We maintained enough salary flexibility that we could have room to extend two of Crush, J.J., and Wieters without salary dumping someone else we'd have a hard time replacing

5)They don't have to rush their top prospects to Baltimore before they're ready

Unlike some of the other posters, I don't deduct "style points" for taking so long, looking like jerks with Balfour, etc. It's the result that's important to me. I couldn't grade any higher because:

1)I would have preferred Morales to Cruz

2)The candidates for 2B and backup catcher are not confidence-inspiring

3)They don't have a "been there, done that" closer

[oriole]

It was a C and it is now a C+

I'm very worried about 4 years for Jimenez and I hate that we gave up 2 draft picks for the "now" when I think our real chance for competing is in 2016.

You've gotta consider the unknown in 2016 vs what is known going into 2014. Bundy and Gausman could tank, Davis will be gone, we may have to look for scraps in the FA catcher market, corner outfield positions are big question marks after this year.

2014 you know you've got Davis, Jones, Tillman, Machado, all coming off good years and legit bounce back candidates in Markakis and Wieters. I'd say now is a good a time as any to go all in.

[Enjoy Terror]

Moves I have opinions about:

- Ubaldo Jimenez - A. Immediately fulfills a need where a fifth starter was needed and we got a #1. He might have some issues and not statistically fulfill the needs of a #1, but if he makes for a better #4 than Zach Britton would have, that's not really all that bad.

- David Lough for Danny Valencia - A. Solid trade. Need for a need. A guy with some speed, some power, good defense. Just needed a shot to start full time. I think he's going to be a fan favorite in Baltimore.

- Nelson Cruz - B. It's the DH we wanted but never had. Hopefully we aren't reliving Sosa or Guerrero, and I'm pleased that we aren't running out 5 different DH's every week.

- Jemile Weeks - B. Low risk high reward move. I suspect he will be on the bench to start the season and spell Flaherty on Sundays. He'll also pinch run. If he can be anything like the .303/.340/.421 hitter he was three years ago, we robbed the A's.

- Suk-Min Yoon - B. I have no idea what to think about this. Is this Koji? Is this Wada? I imagine we'll find out in Spring Training if it was a good use of funds.

- Ryan Webb - C. I've never really understood the need to BUY relief pitching, when the Orioles have enough failed starters to stick out there and succeed *cough Britton cough*. But it worked when we had Ayala, and he was a stud in Miami so there's that.

- Brad Brach - D. I'd honestly rather have Devin Jones than Brad Brach. Seems dumb to get worked up about this trade, but my O's irrationality knows no bounds.

- Delmon Young - D. Don't like the player and don't see the point of wasting a roster spot on a half-trick pony. He can't even do a whole trick!

Other notes:

- Francisco Peguero. I imagine we'll see him up at some point if the David Lough experiment goes horribly wrong. He'd even be a good candidate to replace Reimold in the event that he's thrust from the team.

- Michael Almanzar. I'm convinced that the only reason they signed him was in case of Machado's leg falling behind schedule. It doesn't sound like it has, so I expect him to be on the first flight to Boston in April.

- Johnny Monell, David Freitas. This tells me that Caleb Joseph has no future in Norfolk, let alone Baltimore, and that makes me sad.

- Matt LaPorta, Cord Phelps, Julio Borbon, Ivan DeJesus, Quintin Berry, Aaron Laffey, Alex Gonzalez, Evan Meek. A stack of guys I really like. Seeing any one of them in Baltimore means something went terribly wrong, but nevertheless I like these depth signings.

- Olelky Peralta, Carlos Andres Diaz, Jomar Reyes. This is going to be the most spanish team in history in four years.

Can anyone on this team play centerfield besides Adam Jones?

[isestrex]

You've gotta consider the unknown in 2016 vs what is known going into 2014. Bundy and Gausman could tank, Davis will be gone, we may have to look for scraps in the FA catcher market, corner outfield positions are big question marks after this year.

2014 you know you've got Davis, Jones, Tillman, Machado, all coming off good years and legit bounce back candidates in Markakis and Wieters. I'd say now is a good a time as any to go all in.

I agree with the premise... but if you're going to go all in, you trade Bundy and Gausman for Price and/or Scherzer while expanding payroll to $160M to sign Cano and Choo. THAT's going all in to take the current team from fringe playoff to WS contender.

DD didn't go all in. He took a cautious approach of "I believe in the guys we have here" and then did a little dumpster diving when a few FA were at their most desperate. It cost him draft picks though and that's why I gave him the C+. It's not a bad strategy but it's also not committing fully to the now or to the future, it's more of a little of both.