Let me see if I understand our strategy correctly....

[MCO'sFan]

I agree with this. To be clear, I am not closing the book on this off season yet, but I am concerned with the allocation of resources to this point and where that leaves the budget for other needs. It's still early, but last off season left a pretty bad taste in my mouth.

We don't know what the resources are yet so I am not concerned at all. We are never going to give out these stupid contacts to the top tier pitchers and I am grateful for that. Only a tiny percent workout and we would be crippled if it failed.

[MCO'sFan]

It's the only way they have a realistic shot at contention.

Wow! Just wow. Hyperbole much? We were in contention last year and they all had down years.

[Es4M11]

We don't know what the resources are yet so I am not concerned at all. We are never going to give out these stupid contacts to the top tier pitchers and I am grateful for that. Only a tiny percent workout and we would be crippled if it failed.

Zimmerman's deal was stupid?

[NJOriolesFan]

Did I fall asleep for the last couple of years? If so, I'm wondering how Hader and Davies get mentioned in the same sentence as Arrieta as guys we gave up on. What have Hader and Davies accomplished?

[Can_of_corn]

Wow! Just wow. Hyperbole much? We were in contention last year and they all had down years.

Sorry by contention I meant have an actual spot in the playoffs, as in contention for a WS title.

I misspoke.

Obviously you can have a .500 season and be in contention in the wild card age.

Unless you are in the NL in 2015.

[Es4M11]

Did I fall asleep for the last couple of years? If so, I'm wondering how Hader and Davies get mentioned in the same sentence as Arrieta as guys we gave up on. What have Hader and Davies accomplished?

The Davies trade was stupid. It's not about what Davies has or hasn't accomplished yet, it's about the process. Trading Hader for Norris was acceptable.

[Can_of_corn]

The Davies trade was stupid. It's not about what Davies has or hasn't accomplished yet, it's about the process. Trading Hader for Norris was acceptable.

Not when they also gave up the draft pick.

At least not to me.

[Es4M11]

Not when they also gave up the draft pick.

At least not to me.

I understand your position.

I am willing to forgive the trade for Norris because 2014 was a lot of fun, and I don't know if it would have happened the way it did without Norris. The playoff game he pitched was pretty sweet, too. For a team as starved of winning as we were, I'll take it and not look back.

[DrungoHazewood]

Seems to me it is a strategy, if you have good reason to believe that the pitchers you had the year before are likely to do better. It is sometimes a mistake to panic when certain players have bad years.

I'm just playing devil's advocate here -- I do think we need to pick up a solid starter. But in the abstract, I don't think it's always wrong to have a strategy that in some part depends on certain players returning to form.

Fans always advocate for action. Standing pat is widely panned as lazy or stupid or naive. But imagine the state of the organization if they'd stood pat at the last three trading deadlines. 2014's playoff run mightn't have been as fun, but the farm and maybe the budget would be better off. Often the desire to have a fix, now, ends up trading away exactly what you need.

[DrungoHazewood]

The Davies trade was stupid. It's not about what Davies has or hasn't accomplished yet, it's about the process. Trading Hader for Norris was acceptable.

Stupid? Maybe. But of minor scale and likely consequence. It was upgrading a sub-replacement position to average in a pennant race by trading away a middling prospect from a poor farm system.

[Es4M11]

Stupid? Maybe. But of minor scale and likely consequence. It was upgrading a sub-replacement position to average in a pennant race by trading away a middling prospect from a poor farm system.

That's fair. I look at the Para trade as reorganizing the deck chairs on the Titanic. Now, if that trade were made in June, or even May, I would have liked it a lot better. DD waited too long to upgrade a position that was clearly lacking.

[DocJJ]

I was never as huge a fan of his as many O's fans. His 3 HR in 686 plate appearances last year seems a bit embarrassing.

However I agree he might have helped us in our playoff hunt. He walked over 70 times, hit 38 doubles, played good defense and had an OBP of .370. That would have looked good in the leadoff spot, wit Machado, Jones, and Davis up after him.

Yes, one can hope certain guys "return to form". Yes, one can hope for improvement from some guys who under-achieved. Yes, one can hope for unexpectedly good breakout performance from an unproven.

The problem is that is what we do every year. And it gets really, really old. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result...

[Can_of_corn]

I was never as huge a fan of his as many O's fans. His 3 HR in 686 plate appearances last year seems a bit embarrassing.

However I agree he might have helped us in our playoff hunt. He walked over 70 times, hit 38 doubles, played good defense and had an OBP of .370. That would have looked good in the leadoff spot, wit Machado, Jones, and Davis up after him.

Yes, one can hope certain guys "return to form". Yes, one can hope for improvement from some guys who under-achieved. Yes, one can hope for unexpectedly good breakout performance from an unproven.

The problem is that is what we do every year. And it gets really, really old. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result...

Not sure I would describe his defense in 2015 as "good".

[DocJJ]

That is, in fact, not the definition of insanity.

I'm willing to bet Einstein was smarter than you...

[Morgan423]

OP, if it were mid-February and not just barely into the second week of December, I might be as concerned as you are.