The Implosion of 2015

[TheDirtyBird]

Here is a Jerry Crasnick article on what went wrong this season and what's ahead.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/13610413/fade-oblivion-baltimore-orioles

[Stotle]

"For the Orioles to get back to playing winning baseball, we need to do a lot of things better," Duquette said. "We need to draft better. We need to develop better. We need to procure players better. We need to coach better, and we need play better. We need to do all of those things better.

That's kind of grim from the man who has orchestrated the direction/state of the organization over the past four years.

[DrungoHazewood]

That's kind of grim from the man who has orchestrated the direction/state of the organization over the past four years.

Honesty is nice.

[Stotle]

Honesty is nice.

And frightening. Yikes...

[murph]

The 10 players who've replaced Cruz in left field have combined to rank 29th in the majors at the position with a .602 OPS.

Wow, 10 players in LF, that says something.

[Stotle]

Wow, 10 players in LF, that says something.

It's almost as if sticking a thumb in the dike each time a hole springs isn't a sustainable approach to maintaining a healthy dam. It is good to see Duquette state flatly the organization has work to do on the acquisition/development front. The evidence certainly seems to point to that aspect of the organization being too long neglected.

[Stotle]

You're really nit picking now. He's not pointing a finger at anyone. Just baseball speak for we all need to do better. Did you expect anything else?

I disagree. This is a team with the best record in the AL from 2012-2014 and in order to start winning again it needs to draft and develop better? That's about as black and white as you get stating "we're at the bottom of the organizational barrel and need to do a better job keeping that barrel stocked."

[DrungoHazewood]

And frightening. Yikes...

The first step to fixing the problem is identifying it. They've done that, now just go fix it. How hard could it be?

[DrungoHazewood]

It's almost as if sticking a thumb in the dike each time a hole springs isn't a sustainable approach to maintaining a healthy dam.

Depends. How much cheap, fungible labor do you have?

[Stotle]

The first step to fixing the problem is identifying it. They've done that, now just go fix it. How hard could it be?

I don't know. I'm told there has already been much progress on this front, and this is where we are after four years of progress. You tell me.

[DrungoHazewood]

I disagree. This is a team with the best record in the AL from 2012-2014 and in order to start winning again it needs to draft and develop better? That's about as black and white as you get stating "we're at the bottom of the organizational barrel and need to do a better job keeping that barrel stocked."

I don't think that's terribly surprising. But it's not quite as black and white as you seem to imply. They've done a semi-reasonable job lately, with Machado and Schoop and Britton and Joseph and Tillman and other home-grown talent producing. They've just not done enough, and they've had some bad luck (or arguably poor process?) with injuries and maybe development. Saying you need to do better isn't the same as saying they've totally failed.

[Il BuonO]

Nope. Wrong.

Duquette improved drafting and development when he stepped in, and you know that. It was a lapse year, they gotta do better next year. That's what he's saying, that's all he's saying, and that's what any good GM is going to say in this situation. Whether or not your agenda lets you believe that, well that's on you.

You can say he's improved some of the people in positions of the development team, but the system is not well regarded. A little late in the game to be just bringing it into focus. I hope it's not just lip service.

[Stotle]

Depends. How much cheap, fungible labor do you have?

Not enough to make a dam structurally sound by stacking thumbs on top of each other.

[Stotle]

I don't think that's terribly surprising. But it's not quite as black and white as you seem to imply. They've done a semi-reasonable job lately, with Machado and Schoop and Britton and Joseph and Tillman and other home-grown talent producing. They've just not done enough, and they've had some bad luck (or arguably poor process?) with injuries and maybe development. Saying you need to do better isn't the same as saying they've totally failed.

I agree with this completely. But it's telling the names you're listing were all acquired (and mostly developed) by the previous regime.

[DrungoHazewood]

I don't know. I'm told there has already been much progress on this front, and this is where we are after four years of progress. You tell me.

Could be relatively simple. Could be nearly insurmountable. I know that's kind of silly and flip, but I really don't know. I assume there will be significant challenges to be overcome before the Orioles are a top development organization. I know the fan response is always to fire everyone, and in some cases that may actually have some merit - but Angelos mightn't allow that to happen, and that situation in the past may have led to the rumors of internal dissent.