Replacing Cruz's Bat

[Guest]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>In looking at an O's offense minus Cruz keep in mind the 2013 O's (without Cruz) outscored the 2014 O'sm 745 to 705 runs.</p>— Steve Melewski (@masnSteve) <a href="

">December 1, 2014</a></blockquote>

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I don't know how much weight you put into this.

[backwardsk]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>In looking at an O's offense minus Cruz keep in mind the 2013 O's (without Cruz) outscored the 2014 O'sm 745 to 705 runs.</p>? Steve Melewski (@masnSteve) <a href="

">December 1, 2014</a></blockquote>

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I don't know how much weight you put into this.

Well, yeah. 2013 was supported by Chris Davis' historic year. And 150+ games of Machado, and Wieters instead of Joesph/Hundley. It's reasonable to expect the 2015 offense to out score the 2014 team. I'm more concerned about the pitching replicating their 2014 accomplishments.

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[TouchemAll]

Not a fan of Melky . Average defender,not a great clubhouse guy. Not a fan of paying Nick even 14 million a year.This is a big loss. Dont get why they couldn't go the extra year. He seemed happy and popular in the clubhouse.Cruz was our MVP. No counting on players like Pearce, DOD, Britton to have the kind of years they had. Of course, Wieters(prob a DH early), ,Manny and Davis returning COULD be the lift we need. But even that isn't a sure thing.I feel very skeptical of our chances without a big bat like Cruz, unless DD wants to trade Miguel for one.(Trumbo?) Lets let this play out, but so far Im not too happy...

I think Ubaldo's contract had something to do with not going 4 years on Cruz.

[jpking17]

It doesn't seem like we would have even had to ante up top tier money to re-sign Cruz. In today's market, $14-15M a year for four years is not a high price to pay for an impact bat.

Agreed...that isn't a contract that is necessarily going to end up haunting you like a Prince Fielder (Can all thank Texas for helping Detroit out on that one) or Pujols length contract...age is certainly a concern and DD knows that looking at the Yankees roster that staying young is important and the way they got talent in some cases was adding an extra year on a contract where others wouldn't. I am not completely upset with this but we do need another stick that can drive runs in and that doesn't necessarily have to come via the HR. I believe in Double D!

[Fiver]

I think Ubaldo's contract had something to do with not going 4 years on Cruz.

I think Cruz' age and likelihood of decline had much more to do with it than Ubaldo. In fact I don't think Ubaldo had anything to do with it at all.

If Cruz was 30, or even 32, I think he's an Oriole at that price. But he's not.

[atomic]

If we were going to go that route, why not just sign Cruz?

Kemp isn't gonna be walking through that door. Most likely it'll be Pearce at DH, and we'll need to go with more speed in the outfield with DeAza/Lough.

Pearce, De Aza and Lough would be pathetic, I guess if you like losing.

[atomic]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>In looking at an O's offense minus Cruz keep in mind the 2013 O's (without Cruz) outscored the 2014 O'sm 745 to 705 runs.</p>— Steve Melewski (@masnSteve) <a href="

">December 1, 2014</a></blockquote>

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I don't know how much weight you put into this.

The Orioles line up was pretty pathetic at the end of the year. Subtract Markakis and Cruz and runs will go way down. You can't expect Davis to bounce back and more than likely Pearce will go back to being a borderline major leaguer.

[weams]

Not a fan of Melky . Average defender,not a great clubhouse guy. Not a fan of paying Nick even 14 million a year.This is a big loss. Dont get why they couldn't go the extra year. He seemed happy and popular in the clubhouse.Cruz was our MVP. No counting on players like Pearce, DOD, Britton to have the kind of years they had. Of course, Wieters(prob a DH early), ,Manny and Davis returning COULD be the lift we need. But even that isn't a sure thing.I feel very skeptical of our chances without a big bat like Cruz, unless DD wants to trade Miguel for one.(Trumbo?) Lets let this play out, but so far Im not too happy...

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting/_/position/of/league/al/sort/WARBR/order/true

[SpinJr]

Cruz wasn't going to replace the 2014 Cruz. That's the big misconception. Trade for Kemp, sign Hunter, etc.

I feel you're always typing what I'm saying. I just don't have the time to post add much as you do.

[Yardball85]

Would anyone trade Norris for Cespedes? Not saying I would, but curious about what the board thinks.

[Bahama O's Fan]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting/_/position/of/league/al/sort/WARBR/order/true

Wait, where is Cruz? What is that telling us?

[wildcard]

It doesn't have free agents.

[Frobby]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>In looking at an O's offense minus Cruz keep in mind the 2013 O's (without Cruz) outscored the 2014 O'sm 745 to 705 runs.</p>? Steve Melewski (@masnSteve) <a href="

">December 1, 2014</a></blockquote>

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I don't know how much weight you put into this.

Not much. For one thing, the AL team average was down about 25 runs a game from 2013 to 2014. The team was healthier in 2013 than in 2014, but it's impossible to know where they'll be injury-wise in 2015.

[weams]

Would anyone trade Norris for Cespedes? Not saying I would, but curious about what the board thinks.

Yes. I would.

[tntoriole]

The idolization of Nelson Cruz is amusing given that one year ago many posters were nauseated by the prospect of signing him. Our team will be very competitive but the thing that makes the difference for the winners out of the competitive teams are the players who overperform expectations and those are almost impossible to predict.

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