Past off season and Dan Duquette/Blue Jays distraction.

[ChinMusic]

Oops. Forgot to mention the performances of Tillman, Norris, etc. as well. If you want to understand why the team is underperforming and in the position they're in right now, look no further. That's not on Dan.

[neveradoubt]

And we all know who those select feware

[TiredofLosing20]

Yes, quite a few people have considered this as the reason for the lackluster offseason results.

But it's a tough subject to broach here because you can't really quantify his poor choices with UZR, WAR or PECOTA. I mean, you could use your eyes to see the results of his being distracted by a potential new assignment.

Also, wins and losses tell the story but according to a select few, DD did an outstanding job during the winter months.

MSK

Bubkis. I would elaborate but it would be a waste of time.

[TiredofLosing20]

Does anyone think we are starting to see results of the whole DD/Blue Jays distraction?

It crossed my mind and am wondering what others think.

It has crossed many peoples minds. But I think most rational people understand that the offseason was likely due to many other factors than DDs supposed "inattentiveness".

I have been critical of the offseason, I think that is more than fair, but this "he was distracted" stuff seems like wading pool thinking.

[wildcard]

I never thought that Snider was a replacement for Nick. I saw him as a cheap stop gap player until Dariel Alvarez was ready. Alvarez's slow start to the season has delayed that from happening but it could still happen.

And far as replacing Cruz's power, I thought that O's could do it will the existing players but it is not working out because of injuries and non performance.

My prediction was:

Pearce 24 - his slump has really hurt

Davis 37 - he might still do that

Wieters 17 - I thought he would miss a month. He has missed two.

De Aza 12 - That didn't happen

Manny 20 - he could do that

Jones 31 - he is little behind but that could happen

Hardy 18 - his injury has made that unlikely if not impossible

Schoop 18 - not happening

Alvarez 10 - might still happen

Joseph 9 - might still happen

So the down years of Pearce, De Aza, Hardy and Schoop are why the O's are not likely to replace Cruz's power IMO.

If Pearce would play close to what he did last year and Alvarez gets promote to play right at some point with Young and Paredes sharing DH this team would look at lot better and so would DD's off season.

[33rdst]

I've never bought the argument that DD was distracted during the offseason. He was plenty active. However, I don't believe ,like some here seem to, that DD is infallible. You'll remember he was quoted several times this spring that DeAza (career 99 ops+) would put up similar numbers to Markakis (career 113 ops+). I'm not saying he should have kept Nick. He made him a fair offer. His comments were just overblown. Also, so far it looks like Snider isn't performing up to DD's projections. Although, I think the issue here is Buck is not playing him enough. The jury is still out.

[tntoriole]

Players play. GMs GM. The choices DD made during the offseason were understandable and reasonable. They could easily have worked out just fine, however, as others have noted, there have been major underperformances. The two most glaring are Bud Norris and Chris Tillman. Flip their numbers over and we are right in the middle of it, if not on top. That had nothing to do with DD's offseason.

[weams]

It has crossed many peoples minds. But I think most rational people understand that the offseason was likely due to many other factors than DDs supposed "inattentiveness".

I have been critical of the offseason, I think that is more than fair, but this "he was distracted" stuff seems like wading pool thinking.

Pretty accurate. That or talk radio thoughts.

[TiredofLosing20]

Hazewood has to be the leader! He loves that UZR stuff.

If they think Hazewood is bad, they should have met SG or LJ. Tho I believe MSK knows LJ. Something about a bet..

[weams]

If they think Hazewood is bad, they should have met SG or LJ. Tho I believe MSK knows LJ. Something about a bet..

I don't know. It's Jim that I don't see around much

[SeaBird]

I do think the Blue Jays job was on his mind. He wanted it and made no secret about it with his staunch refusal to say he was not interested. As far as it hurting his off season performance and the lack of major acquisitions, it was just typical "Dollar Store" shopping and hopes of finding a diamond in the rough. Maybe he was under spending limits from PA? His off season grade? Put it this way; he didn't make the honor roll.

[DrungoHazewood]

I am not questioning DD's work ethic. It is human nature when you think you may be moving on with a possible better job to be distracted. Anything in someone's life can distract someone from their job.

Did the board spend half the offseason debating this? I think a quick search could dredge up 20 or 30 threads on the topic. I'm not really 100% sure because I just stayed away from the board most of the winter because I couldn't come up with an indecipherable acronym to quantify Duquette's duplicity.

[mdbdotcom]

It's baseball. We are all going to be wrong a lot and right a little. The problem is that when "a select few" think they are right, they want to tell you "I told you so" until your ears and eyes bleed.

So, it would be just like when David Lough bats?

[Redskins Rick]

Matusz is puzzling, when it comes to his true worth, not surprising even DD missed it.

One side of the fence post and some in OH feel that Brian is lower than dog dodo and needs to be sent packing on the DFA bus.

The other side of the fence post and some in OH feel that Brian is a very effective LOGO arm, when used in the right manner.

[TiredofLosing20]

SG was nowhere near the saber guy that Drungo is though. Let's say, he (SG) didn't have the diplomacy of some others. LJ (Lucky Jim)? You do forget about some of these guys. Blast from the past.

I used to have some knock out, drag outs, with SportsGuy but at least I respected his baseball knowledge and the arguments were actually about baseball. I'd take him back over this "select few" who only want to rehash the lack of offseason moves for the one millionth time.

Drungo is definitely more saberish, I referenced SG because MSK was complaining about how he and others are being treated. SG was about the most condescending internet guy I have seen. I was ok with it, because I stopped wearing panties years ago and I did respect SGs knowledge. He really knew a lot. Drungo for the most part is civil but just simply knows more about baseball then pretty much everyone.

I really liked Lucky Jim, he was a smart guy and while he could be condescending it wasn't usually until after a poster had bludgeoned the board with drivel. Really no one offends me here. I get annoyed with the posters who beat the same drum over and over but it's a message board and I can just look past it. I don't like the whining and persecution complexes some people seem to have, but again I can look past it. The moderators here do a good job of keeping it under control. I learned pretty quick here that if you offer an opinion you better be able to support it with facts other than feelings, rainbows, and water lillies. To be honest its what makes it the best site out there IMO.

Before I came here years and years ago, I didn't know or understand much about sabermetrics. For the most part I have learned most of what I know from you guys, or things that I have seen here has led me to investigate further. I will say that while I subscribe to the vast majority of it there is some stuff I don't buy into yet (defensive metrics for instance).