Duquette says signing Davis a priority.

[DrungoHazewood]

The O's made some good choices and some bad choices - which have been discussed ad nauseum, but you bring up a point that gets lost too often'tn. Playing the pauper/martyr/cheap bleeper role is going to hurt the team if it continues to use it. If top players see you're being too cheap to keep a winner, they won't stay/come here. If you don't win, people won't come to watch or build your tv ratings. Losing is bad for business, and if you don't take some chances on top talent, you will lose.

The other side of that is if you make poor financial decisions with the justification that you need to go for it to keep winning and draw fans, you may end up like the Phillies. With the worst record in baseball and years left on massive contracts for players who long since cratered.

[LookitsPuck]

The other side of that is if you make poor financial decisions with the justification that you need to go for it to keep winning and draw fans, you may end up like the Phillies. With the worst record in baseball and years left on massive contracts for players who long since cratered.

Well, I'd argue that the O's have never truly "gone for it"...for better or worse.

[DrungoHazewood]

Well, I'd argue that the O's have never truly "gone for it"...for better or worse.

I think that's much more for better than worse. There are no free lunches, and when you go for it karma will eventually get you. The O's did go for it in '96-97, and paid dearly for a couple of short playoff runs.

[Nevermore]

Only hitters (for major money) I would go after is Dexter Fowler or Denard Span. The Orioles desperately need a table-setter at the top of the lineup who can get on-base consistently. And I view the Orioles hitting problems differently than you do. I don't think the Orioles need to make any major position player signings. Their problem is not lack of star power or elite offensive players in the lineup. Their main problem is how many black holes they have in the everyday lineup (Hardy, both corner outfielder positions, DH when Paredes is in a slump which is fairly often). You can't really do anything about Hardy but if you fill the other three positions with capable offensive players, the offense will improve next year whether Davis is here or not. I would rather have the Orioles sign a frontline starting pitcher. The FA market is flooded with good pitchers (Anderson, Cueto, Colon, Fister, Gallardo, Price, Latos, Iwakuma, Zimmerman). Signing one or two of those guys would make a bigger difference than signing someone like say Jason Heyward to a massive contract.

Or maybe resign Wei-Yin Chen?

[LookitsPuck]

I think that's much more for better than worse. There are no free lunches, and when you go for it karma will eventually get you. The O's did go for it in '96-97, and paid dearly for a couple of short playoff runs.

Would you argue that by not "going for it" this year by selling Nelson Cruz that they effectively punted this season by going with more than 6 AAAA players to try and fill not just 1...but 2 COF spots and completely relying on health of Wieters, Machado, Schoop, Hardy, etc. to step up and fill the gap?

[Nevermore]

Not to mention the O's won 96 games last year. The Mariners won 87.

I think the big issue with Davis walking this year is that the O's aren't coming remotely close to 96 wins. They might be lucky to win 87. If they go into next season with the same pauper attitude that they always do...don't expect them to have a winning season next year.

This idea that the O's are poor, small-market types isn't going over with many Os fans. Many of them simply see Angelos (and/or DD) as being cheap.

[MurphDogg]

This idea that the O's are poor, small-market types isn't going over with many Os fans. Many of them simply see Angelos (and/or DD) as being cheap.

Right, but those fans are idiots. The payroll has gone up 10-15 percent each of the last three years.

You know what team's payroll declined from 2014 to 2015? The Blue Jays. Those cheap hosers from the Great White North!

[weams]

Right, but those fans are idiots. The payroll has gone up 10-15 percent each of the last three years.

You know what team's payroll declined from 2014 to 2015? The Blue Jays. Those cheap hosers from the Great White North!

It's a beauty way to go.

[weams]

Right, but those fans are idiots. The payroll has gone up 10-15 percent each of the last three years.

You know what team's payroll declined from 2014 to 2015? The Blue Jays. Those cheap hosers from the Great White North!

Meanwhile none of us have ANY idea how much actual revenues the investors in the Orioles have been making. It might be a lot, but there is no evidence at all of it. Maybe the Clancy probate will clear that up a bit. Or the MASN Lawsuit which might open some books.

[Frobby]

Would you argue that by not "going for it" this year by selling Nelson Cruz that they effectively punted this season by going with more than 6 AAAA players to try and fill not just 1...but 2 COF spots and completely relying on health of Wieters, Machado, Schoop, Hardy, etc. to step up and fill the gap?

The irony is, that despite all the bitter complaints about the failure to re-sign or find high-end replacements for Cruz, Markakis and Miller, our offense is in pretty much the exact same spot as last year and our bullpen is better than last year. It's the starting pitching -- the one part of the team where we had everyone returning -- that has been the biggest disappointment.

[LookitsPuck]

The irony is, that despite all the bitter complaints about the failure to re-sign or find high-end replacements for Cruz, Markakis and Miller, our offense is in pretty much the exact same spot as last year and our bullpen is better than last year. It's the starting pitching -- the one part of the team where we had everyone returning -- that has been the biggest disappointment.

But as the Blue Jays have shown, if your starting pitching stinks, you can make up for it by taking a great offense and make it elite.

So, if the O's starters stink, score an extra run a game. That'll help, IMHO.

[Nevermore]

Right, but those fans are idiots. The payroll has gone up 10-15 percent each of the last three years.

You know what team's payroll declined from 2014 to 2015? The Blue Jays. Those cheap hosers from the Great White North!

Exactly. Which means that the Orioles are not some poor, small-market type. And actually, it wasn't Angelos who decided not to resign Nelson Cruz and instead sign a bunch of AAAA players. It was Dan Duquette. And it wasn't a money decision, it was a baseball decision, whether one agrees with DD or not (and in the case of Cruz, I certainly did NOT).

[Nevermore]

The irony is, that despite all the bitter complaints about the failure to re-sign or find high-end replacements for Cruz, Markakis and Miller, our offense is in pretty much the exact same spot as last year and our bullpen is better than last year. It's the starting pitching -- the one part of the team where we had everyone returning -- that has been the biggest disappointment.

This logic about not needing to resign Cruz because we have Wieters/Davis/Machado is based upon erroneous reasoning. We would have had Wieters/Davis/Machado regardless. Cruz would have been an addition, not a replacement.

[weams]

This logic about not needing to resign Cruz because we have Wieters/Davis/Machado is based upon erroneous reasoning. We would have had Wieters/Davis/Machado regardless. Cruz would have been an addition, not a replacement.

At the budget that was set, Davis would have been traded. Maybe even if Nick had signed as well. Hard to say. Remember. I was all for signing Cruz to his mistake of a contract. All for it.

[DrungoHazewood]

Would you argue that by not "going for it" this year by selling Nelson Cruz that they effectively punted this season by going with more than 6 AAAA players to try and fill not just 1...but 2 COF spots and completely relying on health of Wieters, Machado, Schoop, Hardy, etc. to step up and fill the gap?

Punted the season? No. It's odd to me that anyone would think a season where they're in the 2nd wildcard slot in mid-August is one where they punted. To me punted is what the A's did. I don't think strong contention for a playoff spot, relying on a core of talent like Machado, Jones, Britton, Tillman, Schoop, Davis, is the same as rebooting your team and just not caring where they finish.