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

[CA-ORIOLE]

I'll have you know that I cried when I saw "released" next to his name.

Tears of joy!

I've had years of sensitivity training. I've made a lot of progress but still a ways to go.

I always knew you had a soft spot.

[Dipper9]

I am a big believer in the psychological importance of an athlete performing up to the top of his or her abilities. I think it plays a bigger part than even I realize. I know I have played sports my entire life, from golf (4 hndcp) to tennis (played in college) to hockey (played from the time I was 4 until now) to baseball to bball to football to bowling (212 average) to weightlifting to a host of others, and it always amazes me how my head can influence how well I do on any given day. It's kind of crazy.

So in that vein, DD did two things this off season that imo destroyed the 2015 season before it even began. First, he did the Toronto thing. For the past 3-4 years, ever since Buck and DD came here, there has always been a sense of continuity and family. I think that played a big part in the teams consistency the past few years. When DD tried to leave? I think that surprised a lot of the players and made them lose that sense of stability that they felt here. It kind of cast a cloud over everything. The good feels were gone.

Second, when DD failed to sign Cruz, Miller, and to a lesser extent Markakis, and when he replaced them with no one, and him doing this when the team just got done going to the ALCS? I think it really took the momo and sense of confidence away from the players. It also made them lose some of that extra drive and mojo they have had the past 4 years. I am sure many stopped and asked themselves, "we just got to the ALCS, and management's plan is to LOSE some of our top players? Without replacing them? Ok then." They had to subconciously wonder, what is the point in going all out when our GM and owner are not giving their 100% to win?

I know many will pooh pooh this, but ask Peyton Manning about the off season and what it means to a team. He has said many times that to have the full support of the coaching staff and owner....to have all of the players on the same page at off season conditioning and workouts...is vital. He repeatedly says that the off season is by far the most important time of the year for the team. That it leads up to the team getting in the right frame of mind and competing at 100%.

I really feel that DD hoodwinked the team this past year. And at this point I want him to go to Toronto next year so the cloud hanging over the team can lift and they can start fresh. I would go so far as to say he almost deserves to be fired for the disaster this season has been, all while coming off our first ALCS appearance in many, many years.

Peyton Manning restructured his contract so that Denver could sign other players around him. Talk to me when Jones and Davis do that instead of just mouthing off on Twitter.

[Beef Supreme]

On 5/17/2015 at 7:30 PM, weams said:

I would have signed Cruz. And I would have been wrong. I liked Nelson. He was great for us. Except for those three months.

You and I would have been right to sign Nelson Cruz, Mr. weams. It just took a long time to prove it.

[weams]

16 hours ago, Beef Supreme said:

You and I would have been right to sign Nelson Cruz, Mr. weams. It just took a long time to prove it.

Yes. It did. 

[Ruzious]

18 minutes ago, weams said:

Yes. It did. 

Fwiw, I must have posted at least 50 times (maybe a hundred) saying why the O's should have re-signed him - all before he had an at bat with Seattle - probably 25 on why they shouldn't have signed Hardy.  

[weams]

1 hour ago, Ruzious said:

Fwiw, I must have posted at least 50 times (maybe a hundred) saying why the O's should have re-signed him - all before he had an at bat with Seattle - probably 25 on why they shouldn't have signed Hardy.  

Yes, you did. 

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, Ruzious said:

Fwiw, I must have posted at least 50 times (maybe a hundred) saying why the O's should have re-signed him - all before he had an at bat with Seattle - probably 25 on why they shouldn't have signed Hardy.  

Even a broken clock is right twice a day!   

For those who thought Cruz would have three of the best years of his career at ages 34-36*, congratulations.     You certainly were correct.

* Cruz's birthday is July 1.    If he'd been born one day earlier, these would be considered his age 35-37 seasons instead of 34-36.

[Beef Supreme]

20 hours ago, Beef Supreme said:

You and I would have been right to sign Nelson Cruz, Mr. weams. It just took a long time to prove it.

I posted this because weams' words have rung in my head for years. Nary a week goes by without me thinking of them. They really rubbed me wrong because I thought he - and I - were not wrong in our desire to sign him and make him a building block of the offense for the (at that time) near future. I thought that Cruz would have been a clubhouse leader and continue to be valuable as a DH.

I think I understand why the Orioles chose not to pursue signing him more than they did. I would have preferred signing Cruz to 3/$45-$48 as opposed to Seattle's offer of 4/$56. The only thing that shocks me -- since Cruz is a special hitter and his age didn't worry me much -- is what he has accomplished at Safeco! That ballpark seems to break some lesser hitters. 

btw, why is it that no one acknowledges Cruz's 2010 season as a "career year." Heck, 2009 is forgotten, too. 2013, when he as on pace for 40 HRs, is ignored. I think some people think he came out of nowhere and became great when he joined the Orioles. Cruz has had four or five or six years that people could describe as "career years." Truth is, he has had a very good career, not limited to one particular "career year."

PS: Sorry I missed your posts, Ruzious. I don't have time to read all the posts. But glad to hear you are "of the body." 

Post Post-Script: Oh, and, "The This Team IS Done, We are Dumb and Nothing can Fix it" 

[Ruzious]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

Even a broken clock is right twice a day!   

For those who thought Cruz would have three of the best years of his career at ages 34-36*, congratulations.     You certainly were correct.

* Cruz's birthday is July 1.    If he'd been born one day earlier, these would be considered his age 35-37 seasons instead of 34-36.

You really want to go through this for the 157th time?  Nobody thought he'd do as well as he's done, but a lot of us did think he'd be more than worth what he signed for in Seattle.  We did this thing called watching him play and looking at talent.    

And a lot of the folks who were so against him were fine with the Davis contract.  What's the percentage of money in Cruz' contract vs Davis'?    

 

 

 

[Ruzious]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

Even a broken clock is right twice a day!   

For those who thought Cruz would have three of the best years of his career at ages 34-36*, congratulations.     You certainly were correct.

* Cruz's birthday is July 1.    If he'd been born one day earlier, these would be considered his age 35-37 seasons instead of 34-36.

Let me get this f'n thing straight.  I turn out to be right, and you're making fun of me.  Great job.  

[Can_of_corn]

5 minutes ago, Ruzious said:

You really want to go through this for the 157th time?  Nobody thought he'd do as well as he's done, but a lot of us did think he'd be more than worth what he signed for in Seattle.  We did this thing called watching him play and looking at talent.    

And a lot of the folks who were so against him were fine with the Davis contract.  What's the percentage of money in Cruz' contract vs Davis'?    

 

 

 

For me Cruz and Davis are like Miller and O'Day.  While I didn't want to extend any of them I would have preferred the former to the latter.  And that is without the benefit of hindsight.

At least we have Mountcastle.

[Frobby]

20 minutes ago, Ruzious said:

Let me get this f'n thing straight.  I turn out to be right, and you're making fun of me.  Great job.  

Sorry, I didn't know you would take my comment as anything other than good-natured ribbing.    

I agree that being against Cruz but for the Davis deal would be pretty inconsistent thinking.   

[25 Nuggets]

I'm still not in any sort of outrage over the Davis contract.  And yeah I did want Cruz resigned, but I wasn't outraged overt letting him go.  And I'm not upset over the O'Day contract.  Look at next year's payroll - these aren't franchise-crippling moves.

Personally the contract I was really iffy about was Trumbo, because he blocks other people on the 25-man roster.  Thankfully Mancini learned how to play LF, but really he should be in Trumbo's spot.

Oh, and I really didn't like the Gallardo signing and Frog Face trade but that's another thing.