Would Duquette have signed Cruz if......

[33rdst]

...... he wasn't saddled by the bad contracts of Ubaldo Jimenez and Sun Yuk Moon (14,225,000). Right off the bat let me say that I love Duquette and I think he's the best GM the O's have had since Hank Peters. However, just for the sake of discussion, does Duquette offer Cruz more money if he doesn't have these contracts? Or did he value Cruz at the level of his offer and wouldn't have gone any higher regardless?

I think Duquette would have gone higher on a three year deal and, although that might not have been enough to counter Seattle's four year offer, it might have made a difference.

Here's another thought. What would Wallace have been able to do with Stroop and Arrieta if they weren't traded for Feldman.

Hey, it's 13 degrees outside what else do you have to do?

[ledzepp8]

I think he would have signed Cruz, if Cruz wanted to sign here for what DD was offering (if he was offering anything). DD is smart enough to realize the Cruz situation for what it is. Cruz is a fairly limited player, he's a negative on defense, and he's above average of offense but nothing amazing. DD knows that Cruz had a career year and is most likely not repeating it again.

[weams]

...... he wasn't saddled by the bad contracts of Ubaldo Jimenez and Sun Yuk Moon (14,225,000). Right off the bat let me say that I love Duquette and I think he's the best GM the O's have had since Hank Peters. However, just for the sake of discussion, does Duquette offer Cruz more money if he doesn't have these contracts? Or did he value Cruz at the level of his offer and wouldn't have gone any higher regardless?

I think Duquette would have gone higher on a three year deal and, although that might not have been enough to counter Seattle's four year offer, it might have made a difference.

Here's another thought. What would Wallace have been able to do with Stroop and Arrieta if they weren't traded for Feldman.

Hey, it's 13 degrees outside what else do you have to do?

Strop was a day from DFA. Feldman kept us in the race. Jake was not good that season.

[Can_of_corn]

Strop was a day from DFA. Feldman kept us in the race. Jake was not good that season.

I think Jake needed a life changing event to get on track.

[Ven6]

I think Jake needed a life changing event to get on track.

I absolutely agree. And the market for Cruz was why DD didn't sign him, not the O's budget. Put another way, if DD didn't have those commitments to Ubaldo and Yoon, he still wasn't going to shell out 58 million to a one dimensional aging DH coming off a career year.

[weams]

I absolutely agree. And the market for Cruz was why DD didn't sign him, not the O's budget. Put another way, if DD didn't have those commitments to Ubaldo and Yoon, he still wasn't going to shell out 58 million to a one dimensional aging DH coming off a career year.

Plus, we forget this all the time...the Orioles are in Baltimore.

[Frobby]

Strop was a day from DFA. Feldman kept us in the race. Jake was not good that season.

It's entirely possible that Wallace and Chiti could have helped Arrieta and Strop, just as the Cubs' pitching coaches apparently were able to do. But we'll never know, so why worry about it?

[ShaneDawg85]

I don't see any connection between Ubaldo and the Cruz outcome. Duquette was clearly willing to go for Cruz a second time, but within limits, because he knows what type of player Cruz is and how old he is.

[Can_of_corn]

Erik Bedard had arm problems and was never the same. Could happen to Jake too. He missed some time last spring. Still, if he stays healthy he looked awesome last summer. Also, even in his good year, I don't think Bedard was as good as Jake was last year.

I think they were pretty comparable once you factor in the change in league offense.

[crawjo]

How many teams in baseball aren't saddled with at least one bad contract?

[Babypowder]

I think they were pretty comparable once you factor in the change in league offense.

fWAR has Bedard's 2007 at 5.1 WAR, Arrieta's 2014 is at 4.9 WAR. rWAR has it 5.7 to 5.3, also in favor of Bedard.

[Aristotelian]

I think the plan was always to bring him in for one year and take the comp pick. I can't imagine Duquette going to four years at Age 34 for Cruz regardless of the amount committed to Ubaldo.

[Can_of_corn]

fWAR has Bedard's 2007 at 5.1 WAR, Arrieta's 2014 is at 4.9 WAR. rWAR has it 5.7 to 5.3, also in favor of Bedard.

I know, I looked it up before I posted.

Jake has a slight advantage in ERA+.

I think the difference is slight enough that comparable is a very fair term.

[Babypowder]

I know, I looked it up before I posted.

Jake has a slight advantage in ERA+.

I think the difference is slight enough that comparable is a very fair term.

Absolutely.

[scOtt]

I don't think it was about $$$ with Cruz. It was all about the number of years.