The This Team IS Done, We are Dumb and Nothing can Fix it MEGA THREAD

[MemorialStadKid]

Yep. We are a very average team the way it is presently constructed. We lost two elite players last year and replaced them with no one. How is that logic of "yeah, but we will get Wieters back and Machado and Davis too!" working out?

Not very well.

Last year Cruz kept us going the first part of the year, and then we got hot with the addition of Miller and we rolled. A lot of that had to do with player confidence causing some to play over their head rather than pure talent. Much of the talent we did have...is gone.

There. It. Is.

All offseason long, that was the refrain.

Take a good hard look at the fruit of the non-movement.

There are those who will simply refuse to criticize the front office under no circumstance.

MSK

[islandecho]

There. It. Is.

All offseason long, that was the refrain.

Take a good hard look at the fruit of the non-movement.

There are those who will simply refuse to criticize the front office under no circumstance.

MSK

Yeah I really don't get it. I love the Os as much as anyone, as a kid all I wore was oriole stuff. Wore my O's cap Fri night. But I am a realist. How people can possibly defend what has happened the past 6 months, ESPECIALLY when we all know we are losing players next year, is beyond laughable. It's purple kool aid cult like stuff.

[MemorialStadKid]

Yeah I really don't get it. I love the Os as much as anyone, as a kid all I wore was oriole stuff. Wore my O's cap Fri night. But I am a realist. How people can possibly defend what has happened the past 6 months, ESPECIALLY when we all know we are losing players next year, is beyond laughable. It's purple kool aid cult like stuff.

I see you joined in April 2011. A lot of the defending has a basis in the last three winning seasons, but the "we'll just be okay with whatever the FO does" attitude is one that was strong even during the dark losing years.

Clearly, Cruz and Miller would have made a positive difference.

Clearly, DD did NOT do what he was supposed to have done when he had the chance.

Clearly, the team's talent level is lesser than last year.

Yet the mere suggestion that DD and the FO have underperformed is met with a dismissive arrogance that has no basis in reality.

Indeed, it is strange.

MSK

[Crazysilver03]

Yep. We are a very average team the way it is presently constructed. We lost two elite players last year and replaced them with no one. How is that logic of "yeah, but we will get Wieters back and Machado and Davis too!" working out?

Not very well.

Last year Cruz kept us going the first part of the year, and then we got hot with the addition of Miller and we rolled. A lot of that had to do with player confidence causing some to play over their head rather than pure talent. Much of the talent we did have...is gone.

Why do you keep calling them elite? They both had career years in 2014. But neither have shown anything in their past to suggest it is sustainable. If they were truly elite, yeah a lot more people would be upset about losing them.

[Crazysilver03]

And, shockingly, MSK completely ignores the posts directed his way asking him to clarify his statements. Says we didn't do anything to shore up the pitching. What was wrong with it? What would have been a reasonable "fix" after the year they had. Same with the bullpen. Oh this team is blowing so many leads this year. Fact check, no.

[Crazysilver03]

And it isn't defending DD to suggest that this is his "norm." It is looking at the facts from his three full seasons here. Every year mid year he trades for a key pitching addition. The off-season he doesn't do as much. Yet he gets criticized for not doing anything during the winter when he works on this team 11 months of the year.

I would have loved for this team to move on from Norris, Matusz, Hunter, and DeAza. Was a little surprised they went with so much inflexibility but it makes sense in the way Buck and DD have built this team. If you were expecting more you were setting yourself up for disappointment.

[Crazysilver03]

I see you joined in April 2011. A lot of the defending has a basis in the last three winning seasons, but the "we'll just be okay with whatever the FO does" attitude is one that was strong even during the dark losing years.

Clearly, Cruz and Miller would have made a positive difference.

Clearly, DD did NOT do what he was supposed to have done when he had the chance.

Clearly, the team's talent level is lesser than last year.

Yet the mere suggestion that DD and the FO have underperformed is met with a dismissive arrogance that has no basis in reality.

Indeed, it is strange.

MSK

Is it the criticism that is met with dismissiveness or your over the top, nonobjective declarations that are met with dismissiveness. Most people didn't buy into the whole "we are getting injured players back" thing. But the team as a whole was more or less fine.

Treating Cruz and Miller as other wordly players is ridiculous. Cruz was amazing to start the year. Then sucked mightily for three months. And was good in September. Miller was amazing, for what, 25 innings? They were helpful talents but they weren't the two biggest reasons we made the playoffs. Especially considering Cruz was basically a nonfactor after this team turned the corner.

[MemorialStadKid]

And, shockingly, MSK completely ignores the posts directed his way asking him to clarify his statements. Says we didn't do anything to shore up the pitching. What was wrong with it? What would have been a reasonable "fix" after the year they had. Same with the bullpen. Oh this team is blowing so many leads this year. Fact check, no.

Sign another FA pitcher.

There were several names available.

Peavy was out there.

J. Shields was out there.

E. Santana was out there.

If you can't get those guys, then you find someone using scouts or via the international level. DO SOMETHING.

DD's job is to find the pieces to make this team a contender. He didn't do that.

We have a tendency to hold on to our talent for the sake of being cheap instead of building a winning squad. If Chen, M. Gon and/or Matusz had value (and they did during the offseason), you trade for a bat or a young starter with a higher ceiling than Gausman (until Bundy is ready).

Find SOME KIND OF DEAL. Make it happen.

DD did not do that. Period.

What are you defending exactly?

MSK

[weams]

Sign another FA pitcher.

There were several names available.

Peavy was out there.

J. Shields was out there.

E. Santana was out there.

If you can't get those guys, then you find someone using scouts or via the international level. DO SOMETHING.

DD's job is to find the pieces to make this team a contender. He didn't do that.

We have a tendency to hold on to our talent for the sake of being cheap instead of building a winning squad. If Chen, M. Gon and/or Matusz had value (and they did during the offseason), you trade for a bat or a young starter with a higher ceiling than Gausman (until Bundy is ready).

Find SOME KIND OF DEAL. Make it happen.

DD did not do that. Period.

What are you defending exactly?

MSK

Ervin Santana lost his arm.

[Crazysilver03]

Sign another FA pitcher.

There were several names available.

Peavy was out there.

J. Shields was out there.

E. Santana was out there.

If you can't get those guys, then you find someone using scouts or via the international level. DO SOMETHING.

DD's job is to find the pieces to make this team a contender. He didn't do that.

We have a tendency to hold on to our talent for the sake of being cheap instead of building a winning squad. If Chen, M. Gon and/or Matusz had value (and they did during the offseason), you trade for a bat or a young starter with a higher ceiling than Gausman (until Bundy is ready).

Find SOME KIND OF DEAL. Make it happen.

DD did not do that. Period.

What are you defending exactly?

MSK

Trade for a pitcher with a higher ceiling than Gausman? Now how exactly would you do that?

If Matusz had any value, he would have been traded already. Seems that the league has already decided he is overpaid.

So we had 6 starters and your suggestion is add more?

I am defending logic from some of the silliness you are throwing out there. For a "realist," you aren't in touch with reality.

And isn't your biggest complaint that we don't have a TOR. Santana and Peavy are MOR arms and Shields is between TOR MOR. So they don't exactly solve your other criticism.

[MemorialStadKid]

Trade for a pitcher with a higher ceiling than Gausman? Now how exactly would you do that?

If Matusz had any value, he would have been traded already. Seems that the league has already decided he is overpaid.

So we had 6 starters and your suggestion is add more?

I am defending logic from some of the silliness you are throwing out there. For a "realist," you aren't in touch with reality.

And isn't your biggest complaint that we don't have a TOR. Santana and Peavy are MOR arms and Shields is between TOR MOR. So they don't exactly solve your other criticism.

I'm saying make trades, find deals, etc. If you make deals, then you won't have 6 starters.

There's always a way to improve.

Always.

KC found a way. Houston is shocking people now.

The Giants and St. Louis make it happen year after year.

Why is it hard to understand DD dropped the ball this time around?

MSK

[ArtVanDelay]

Sign another FA pitcher.

There were several names available.

Peavy was out there.

J. Shields was out there.

E. Santana was out there.

If you can't get those guys, then you find someone using scouts or via the international level. DO SOMETHING.

DD's job is to find the pieces to make this team a contender. He didn't do that.

We have a tendency to hold on to our talent for the sake of being cheap instead of building a winning squad. If Chen, M. Gon and/or Matusz had value (and they did during the offseason), you trade for a bat or a young starter with a higher ceiling than Gausman (until Bundy is ready).

Find SOME KIND OF DEAL. Make it happen.

DD did not do that. Period.

What are you defending exactly?

MSK

Your solution is to make deals just for the sake of making deals. If DD had a deal lined up that he thought would have improved the team, he would have done it. I'm not sure why you continuously question DD's integrity by suggesting that he purposely tanked the offseason.

[ArtVanDelay]

I'm saying make trades, find deals, etc. If you make deals, then you won't have 6 starters.

There's always a way to improve.

Always.

KC found a way. Houston is shocking people now.

The Giants and St. Louis make it happen year after year.

Why is it hard to understand DD dropped the ball this time around?

MSK

You think KC, Houston and STL have built their teams by signing free agents? All 3 teams have drafted well for years to get where they are.

[Crazysilver03]

I'm saying make trades, find deals, etc. If you make deals, then you won't have 6 starters.

There's always a way to improve.

Always.

KC found a way. Houston is shocking people now.

The Giants and St. Louis make it happen year after year.

Why is it hard to understand DD dropped the ball this time around?

MSK

You think KC, Houston and STL have built their teams by signing free agents? All 3 teams have drafted well for years to get where they are.

Yeah. Odd comparisons. Are there ways to improve, yes. Did DD not do enough, possible. But again, you are expecting DD to completely buck his MO, and then get mad as hell that he follows his MO.

KC, Houston, and STL all draft well. Houston mainly because they were terrible for so long. San Fran does the complete opposite, ignoring the draft and spending in FA.

And expecting a dramatic overhaul of a team that went to the ALCS was setting yourself up for disappointment. Billy Beane made radical moves to improve and they went from division champ to wildcard game loser to last place.

[MemorialStadKid]

Your solution is to make deals just for the sake of making deals. If DD had a deal lined up that he thought would have improved the team, he would have done it. I'm not sure why you continuously question DD's integrity by suggesting that he purposely tanked the offseason.

That's not what I'm saying.

Stop muddying the waters.

DD's integrity is not in question - he just wanted to go to a better job. He didn't "tank" the offseason by malice, he didn't do his duty because he expected to be in Toronto.

That's all that happened. To pretend otherwise is just... I dunno... bizarre.

IF he had been 100% locked into improving the Orioles, we might have a better squad with a better record. Instead, we've been losing games.

MSK