Offseason Praise for the FO

[Number5]

I don't think you can give a grade other than Incomplete for the offseason at this point. Too much has yet to be determined. You can give grades for individual decisions but those don't mean a lot without context. With rumors of the Orioles in the market for at least one major move, it is likely that the big move is the one that will make or break the offseason. Could be a massive overpay on Davis, could be a legitimate #2 SP. The moves that have been made so far have to be seen as complementary moves to a larger strategy that has yet to be revealed.

Going by individual decisions I would say:

Wieters QO: C. Wieters accepting the QO hurts, but if he has a good year it's possible we still get the pick. Most in the baseball world expected Wieters to accept the QO. Hard to fault the Orioles here.

Trumbo for Clevenger: B+. I didn't like this at first but once Wieters takes the QO, there is little downside to loosing Clevenger. Trumbo gives us an established hitter with power and we have a hole at DH whether or not we sign Davis. Should offset about 75% of Davis's production in the event that CD is not resigned. Only downside is he costs $9M but even then it's only one year.

O'Day: B. Terrific pitcher, fan favorite, AAV is competitive for an elite pitcher. However, four years is a risk at his age, and bullpen was not a glaring need. If O'Day prevents us from spending on a pitcher or 1B, this does not seem the best use of resources. I would have preferred we get in on Zimmerman or Chen rather ending up with O'Day and Gallardo, for example. (I wonder if this is another one that Peter got personally involved in).

Kim: B+. Fills a need as a cheap lefty OF who can get on base. Aoki would have been more of a sure thing, but more expensive with less upside.

If this is all we do, then the offseason is probably a D at this point with at least one bat short of last year and a major hole in the rotation. Davis' market disappears and we get him at a lower commitment and somehow acquire a legitimate starting pitcher, these minor moves all of sudden would start to look like complementary pieces of a pretty awesome offseason. Unfortunately most of the good pitchers are gone so I am worried that we will end up somewhere in between.

I believe that you meant to say that most in the baseball world expected Wieters not to accept the QO.

I generally agree with you. I do think that there is a benefit in the clubhouse to signing O'Day. It is very hard to put a dollar value on that, but it is a factor nonetheless.

[Aristotelian]

I believe that you meant to say that most in the baseball world expected Wieters not to accept the QO.

I generally agree with you. I do think that there is a benefit in the clubhouse to signing O'Day. It is very hard to put a dollar value on that, but it is a factor nonetheless.

Yes, thanks for the edit. I agree with you, I love everything about O'Day, I just hope we have the dollars left to sign a good starting pitcher. The thought of last year's rotation without Chen is truly frightening, whereas I think the bullpen could have gotten by without O'Day.

[Tx Oriole]

If the purpose of a big offer to Davis was to sign him quickly, it failed. Otherwise, , either we overbid and will pay him more than we could have if we'd started lower, or someone will beat our offer. Mainly I just wish we were more interested in the other top hitters, some of whom are likely to be better than Davis in the long run.

I agree.

[Mayor McCheese]

I am not sure how much praise I can give for this offseason because we still haven't addressed the biggest issue..... STARTING PITCHING. Sure we overpaid for O'Day but what's the point if your starters can't be effective and go deep into the game.

We have tons of power in the lineup - We don't really need Davis. Sure the Kim signing is very low risk but I don't see those numbers transferring over to MLB at all. Also, I don't think his arm strength is fit for LF.

[scOtt]

Agree with all this, and I like the Trumbo trade. But the biggest decisions of the offseason are yet to come. As it stands now, we are worse offensively and we are down our best starting pitcher. How we address those issues remains to be seen.

And both those markets, top tier sluggers and second tier starters, both those markets are stalled right now. It's really a tense moment right now. Things could break all of a sudden or just continue to stagnate.

[El Gordo]

And both those markets, top tier sluggers and second tier starters, both those markets are stalled right now. It's really a tense moment right now. Things could break all of a sudden or just continue to stagnate.

If Leake is signed by STL that could dislodge things. Other teams targeting him might turn and spend on OF.

[scOtt]

I believe that you meant to say that most in the baseball world expected Wieters not to accept the QO.

I generally agree with you. I do think that there is a benefit in the clubhouse to signing O'Day. It is very hard to put a dollar value on that, but it is a factor nonetheless.

I think having O'Day back cements the culture of the pen. You have to have the arms and we do. But Darren was the absolute leader of that culture. The group mindset of being a drop dead pen. 6 and done.

The defense and the killer pen on their own saves us what? 10 games a year?

[scOtt]

If Leake is signed by STL that could dislodge things. Other teams targeting him might turn and spend on OF.

You know what this reminds me of. 1 run game late. Fast runner at first. My ex-gf thought this was boring. Pitcher toes the rubber. Batter steps in. Runner steps off. Pitcher takes the signs and holds the ball. batter calls time and steps out. Ex thought that was boring. I think it's the most exciting time of the game.

The market is just like that right now. Most think Dan has no plan... but even the BEST GMs are tensely watching, waiting. To someone who would understand, it's great theater.

[Roll Tide]

I don't know how anybody could rank this off season a B at this point!

They still are without Davis and Chen. They won't give the same money for a better player in Upton and the rotation is without its best pitcher by far and only LH starter.

Right now I'm between a C-D.... I'm not mad at the Trumbo move and think they botched the Davis thing with all the noise about not offering a big contract to another top free agent.

The need a LH starter that isn't named Matusz, Davis/Upton, and another corner OF so that we don't see Trumbo in the OF/ or a DH like Alvarez if they don't resign Davis.

[scOtt]

I don't know how anybody could rank this off season a B at this point!

They still are without Davis and Chen. They won't give the same money for a better player in Upton and the rotation is without its best pitcher by far and only LH starter.

Right now I'm between a C-D.... I'm not mad at the Trumbo move and think they botched the Davis thing with all the noise about not offering a big contract to another top free agent.

The need a LH starter that isn't named Matusz, Davis/Upton, and another corner OF so that we don't see Trumbo in the OF/ or a DH like Alvarez if they don't resign Davis.

Lefthanded outfielder. And Dan WILL get a starter. Mark my words, a proven starter to shore up Chen's loss. There seems to be a major sticking point at 3 years. That may dictate the quality of starter we get...

[scOtt]

Buckwheat, use the word dictate in a sentence.

[FanSince88]

I don't know how anybody could rank this off season a B at this point!

They still are without Davis and Chen. They won't give the same money for a better player in Upton and the rotation is without its best pitcher by far and only LH starter.

Right now I'm between a C-D.... I'm not mad at the Trumbo move and think they botched the Davis thing with all the noise about not offering a big contract to another top free agent.

The need a LH starter that isn't named Matusz, Davis/Upton, and another corner OF so that we don't see Trumbo in the OF/ or a DH like Alvarez if they don't resign Davis.

I gave them a B- not a B. And that's probably where the grade will stay unless they sign Kazmir or Span.

They are missing all these pieces because of decisions made BEFORE the start of this offseason, which I am not taking into account.

They could have put themselves in a better starting position by selling Davis and Chen at the 2015 trade deadline, which I was advocating for.

They didn't do that, so they were in a deep hole to start this offseason. They had two choices, try to remain competitive or try to do a rebuild. I wanted a rebuild but they aren't going that route.

Their goal is to remain competitive. They've taken some steps toward that goal this offseason. They haven't reached it yet, but I must give them credit for moving in that direction. Given the position they started -- without Wieters, O'Day, Davis, or Chen -- they've signed two of those four (the two cheapest and least committment-heavy), and added a few pieces to offset the possible loss of Davis. It is true that they need more starting pitching, but let's understand they've been playing with house money on the starting pitching since 2012. They've been coasting on very cheap SPs that have massively outperformed their salaries for four seasons. Now they are going to have to pay big money if they want to simply retain the same level of talent at SP that they had last year. Last year, that talent was very cheap, this year it will be very expensive. It's understandable that they are reluctant to spend big on SP just to get back to the same place they were a year ago.

Look at it this way, they were at risk of going from a team that had some strengths (power, relief pitching) to becoming a team that had no strengths and all weaknesses. Now, they've at least shored up their strengths (re-signed O'day for the BP, signed Wieters and Trumbo for power), and even addressed one of their weaknesses -- OBP -- from last year with the Kim signing. Sure, their starting pitching, even with Chen, was a weakness and could become weaker, but with the wild market for starters it will take a massive effort to improve.

It would have been easier to rebuild this offseason. The FO for better or worse is taking a much more difficult path.

[twinedenter]

Lefthanded outfielder. And Dan WILL get a starter. Mark my words, a proven starter to shore up Chen's loss. There seems to be a major sticking point at 3 years. That may dictate the quality of starter we get...

Not sure how to quality of starter we get, won't have an affect on "shoring up Chen's loss", but ok. :0)

[OFFNY]

Much more needs to be done this offseason to be successful in 2016.

But that is more a consequence of previous decisions by the FO, than their decisions so far. That doesn't let them off the hook if they fail to secure another bat and a legitimate starter. But there are some moves that have impressed me.

1) Signing Kim. Classic DD move (in a good, clever way.) Nice way to think outside the box and get someone who has just as much potential as much more expensive options, with less commitment. Sure, he could get injured or be ineffective, but so could Heyward or Gordon. At least if that happens, we aren't stuck with the guy.

2) QOing Wieters. I didn't think the FO had the guts to do this, but they did it. Yes, he called them on it and took the QO but at least they took the risk for the sake of getting an extra pick. And really, having Wieters for another year isn't the worst way to spend $16 mil, believe it or not. Especially when he's going to be healthier and motivated to succeed.

3) Signing O'Day. Pretty good signing to retain some of the strength the team already has without breaking the bank. But a SP signing would be better.

4) The offer to CD, whether it came from Angelos or DD, was actually pretty clever. They have put the O's AL rivals in a very uncomfortable position. Anyone who wants to sign him will now have to beat that deal or come very close to it, which will force them to make a much longer commitment to him than they should. Sure, Boston or Toronto may end up with him, but odds are it will be a bad contract that they'll regret before the end of the decade. Or, if nobody takes the plunge, the O's might be able to renegotiate the deal for considerably less commitment.

5) Signing Trumbo to a one-year deal was a nice safety valve that gave the team less urgency to sign Davis, and a bit more flexibility. At least you know you have a dude who can field the position at first base and offer some of what a traditional first baseman is supposed offer at the plate. It means you can confidently sign a corner outfielder instead of Davis, without having to worry about forcing Wieters to play first in 2016.

I'd still give this offseason a B- so far. We'll see what happens and whether they can improve on that. But they've already done better than they did last year given the constraints they were facing.

6) Signing Chris Davis to a long-term contract.