Anyone getting tired of the "do-nothing" approach???

[Can_of_corn]

Was that by design? Or necessity? Would you do it again?

While I am not a fan Alvarez is a much better prospect then Joseph.

[jjnono]

While I am not a fan Alvarez is a much better prospect then Joseph.

Agreed with regard to prospect status. But you can't say the Os winning 96 games with Joseph was some sort of savant move on behalf of the front office... the closer truth is that they won 96 games DESPITE having Joseph behind the dish for 77 games... Anyway, I'm not nitpicking. I don't think Alvarez is going to be counted on in any meaningful way this season. Opinion, clearly...

[Carllamy]

I heard that Peter Angelos uses most of his money to buy great big jars of olives that he doesn't even eat! He just leaves them around the kitchen as decorations!

I hear he uses all of his money to buy mannequins, which he then decapitates, and then puts they severed fake heads in jars. He then places the jars on shelves and sits staring at them while requiring everyone to call him "The Governor".

[25 Nuggets]

Last year Byrd had 25 hr, 71 runs and 85 RBI. I'll take that this year in right field wouldn't you.

Sure, of course. I'd take it at DH too. And as far as I know he's a good clubhouse personality. But Byrd is going to be 37 years old. There's a definite age risk there.

[El Gordo]

RF Lough .268 .308 .392 .701 9 HR

3B Manny .278 .313 .434 .747 18 HR

LF De Aza .268 .330 .403 .733 11 HR

CF Jones .280 .320 .461 .781 25 HR

1B Davis .253 .322 .493 .815 35 HR

DH Pearce .255 .335 .433 .768 16 HR

C Wieters .257 .320 .423 .743 22 HR

SS Hardy .261 .312 .422 .734 21 HR

2B Schoop .211 .246 .358 .605 19 HR

If we do nothing and field this team, this is what they'd do if they hit their career average. The embolden are those I would expect to do better than their career average. That's a pretty good offense if we do nothing else.

[BohKnowsBmore]

Agreed with regard to prospect status. But you can't say the Os winning 96 games with Joseph was some sort of savant move on behalf of the front office... the closer truth is that they won 96 games DESPITE having Joseph behind the dish for 77 games... Anyway, I'm not nitpicking. I don't think Alvarez is going to be counted on in any meaningful way this season. Opinion, clearly...

I don't believe Joseph's playing time was being presented as a savant move. I think his point was that the team built around a very strong core is strong enough to work in a guy like Alvarez if that's what it comes to. Or at the very least that's not the Jenga block that's going to knock the entire tower down.

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[weams]

I don't believe Joseph's playing time was being presented as a savant move. I think his point was that the team built around a very strong core is strong enough to work in a guy like Alvarez if that's what it comes to. Or at the very least that's not the Jenga block that's going to knock the entire tower down.

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[OFFNY]

I was in 4th grade when that happened.

My oldest brother (a senior in high school at the time) listened to it on the radio, while I was sleeping.

An amazing feat by The Greatest.

[Rene88]

I'd love to get Max Scherzer and J. Upton.

Then sign Delmon Young for 2 years and get some catching depth.

The rest you fill with in-house development.

MSK

LOL: keep dreaming.

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[Can_of_corn]

I don't believe Joseph's playing time was being presented as a savant move. I think his point was that the team built around a very strong core is strong enough to work in a guy like Alvarez if that's what it comes to. Or at the very least that's not the Jenga block that's going to knock the entire tower down.

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Exactly what I meant.

[mikegallo]

Yeah Can you are right in that good teams can get away with having a marginal guy or two playing regularly but 1 or two more of those guys starting and a playoff season one year can turn into a losing season the next real quick.....I am sorry but a 26 year old OF would hasn't had a .800 OPS in AAA yet plus a 2b with an obp below .250 (I am a Schoop fan btw, he is Brandon Phillips come again imo) plus a Caleb Joesph who is prolly gonna start 70+ games at catcher next year plus a LF (De AZA) who had an OPS that started with 6 last year plus aging SS with back problems and a 3b who has yet to stay on the field both being backed up by a guy who is basically replacement level plus a 1b who batted below .200 is a recipe for big big issues...Not to mention a catcher coming back from TJ..If a guy has a down year (maybe AJ) and another misses big time (Pearce?)....Then we are in big trouble.

This club needs a guy like Morse and Rasmus to hedge their bets....I am not a guy who thinks we have anyone in the minors who can be counted on to be even average with the bat next year.....Bottom line DD will make a couple moves to help us sleep better I just hope they work out.

[Dark Helmet]

That's not entirely true. Davis, De Aza and Wieters will hardly be getting big raises this year

(current salaries courtesy of Cot's Baseball contracts)

(projected salaries courtesy of MLBTradeRumors)

Alejandro De Aza, OF (5.139): $4.25MM --> $5.9MM projected salary

Matt Wieters, C (5.129): $7.7MM --> $7.9MM

Steve Pearce, 1B/OF (5.116): $850K --> $2.2MM

Bud Norris, SP (5.068): $5.3MM --> $8.7MM

Tommy Hunter, RP (5.066): $3MM --> $4.4MM

Chris Davis, 1B (5.061): $10.35MM --> $11.8MM

Brian Matusz, RP (4.156): $2.4MM --> $2.7MM

Chris Tillman, SP (3.113): $546K --> $5.4MM

Miguel Gonzalez, SP (3.107): $529K --> $3.7MM

Ryan Flaherty, IF (3.000): $521.5K --> $1MM

Zach Britton, RP (2.158): $521.5K --> $3.2MM

So here's the math:

1st year arbitration eligible players are projected to earn 11.182MM in raises this year, whereas 2nd and 3rd year arbitration eligible players are projected to earn 9.75MM in raises.

Granted, that's a lot of salary we're likely to shed in 2015, but Tillman, Gonzo, Britton, et al are going to continue to get raises in arbitration in 2016 and 2017.

Probably atleast 7 of those names will be gone after 2015. I wouldn't be shocked if Tillman and Gonzo get traded at some point. Ubaldo killed an chances the Orioles lock a SP up again.

[Can_of_corn]

Probably atleast 7 of those names will be gone after 2015. I wouldn't be shocked if Tillman and Gonzo get traded at some point. Ubaldo killed an chances the Orioles lock a SP up again.

I think it is more the market for pitching then it is Ubaldo.

His performance in 2014 was certainly something that we knew was possible.

[Can_of_corn]

This was my point with that comparison: last offseason the Thunder had a very comparable season to ours...ton of regular season success, lost to the Spurs in the conference finals. It was very clear that they needed a third guy to rely on after Durant and Westbrook. If they wanted to spend a little more than usual, they could've added a guy like Pau Gasol or Paul Pierce. Instead, their marquee signing was Anthony Morrow (bargain bin guy) and basically gave away their first round draft picks. They did nothing to help those guys, and look what happened when both of them got hurt.

That's exactly what we are doing. It has absolutely nothing to do with a salary cap

The NBA and MLB playoffs are very dissimilar beasts.

[osfan83]

An average front office would see how close we are and would do a little more than usual to ensure that we have the best team possible. Instead, we're getting brainwashed into thinking Dariel Alvarez is going to be an upgrade over Cruz.

The Thunder in the NBA are a perfect parallel to us right now. They have an extremely good core in Durant and Westbrook, and ownership has ridden them to 60 win seasons and a Finals appearance. However, their owners are insanely cheap and have done nothing to support them in terms of trades or free agent signings. The team have turned ridiculous profits, yet they pocket it and refuse to even go near the luxury tax threshold and trade away good players (Harden) simply because they don't want to pay him. In 2 and 3 years, respectively, Durant and Westbrook are free agents and will probably leave because of this.

It's a good team who has some success, but could've achieved so much more if they had the backing of their superiors....just like us.

The whole point of every professional sports team is to make money, plain and simple. If winning helps turn a larger profit great! Anyone who thinks pro sports teams are run for any other reason than profit is mistaken. If this bothers you, then following a pro team might not be the best thing to spend your time doing.