Are the 2016 O's patterned after the 2015 Blue Jays?

[wildcard]

The Blue Jays roll into town tonight and I can't help but think that these are two teams that are built similarly. The Jays won the division with 93 wins last year. They out scored their opponents last year by over 220 runs - 891 runs scored yto 670 allowed. The O's scored 713 runs last year. So maybe over the winter the O's decided to follow the Jays lead and bulk up.

The O's made a decision on December 2nd to replace Paredes who made a little over 500K last year with a 9M Trumbo. Yes, it was a hedge against losing Chris Davis at 1B but the day after they signed Trumbo Dan Duquette stated that everyone knows that the O's are pursuing Davis. And within a week its was reported that the O's had offered Davis 150m. So Trumbo was probably planned to be a DH from the time the O's acquired him. Trumbo was a 9m salary dump that the Mariners didn't want and the O's were happen to have.

So the O's were counting on a healthy Wieters and Schoop to boost their run production. The plan was to add OBP through the O's fielders with Kim in left and Fowler in right. Neither of those plans worked out but when Fowler didn't sign the O's decided if their couldn't add OBP then they would bludgeon opponents to death by adding Pedro Alvarez at DH and moving Triumbo to right. Not the original plan but it worked for the Jays so why not?

The Blue Jays where 12th in the the AL in pitching at the All Star break last year with a 4.18 ERA and a 45-46 record. The O's had a better pitching staff in the first half with a 3.74 ERA good enough of 6th in the AL and a 44-44 record. Half a game ahead of the Jays.

The Jays added David Price who went 9-1 with a 2.30 ERA after he was acquired. The O's didn't add pitching at the break and ran out of effective starters in August.

So maybe the O's figured with a turnaround by Tillman, a move forward by Gausman and the acquisition of Gallardo they can again be right with the Jays at the break and this time they may add pitching for the 2nd half.

The O's versus the Jays should be an interesting competition this year. Two powerful offenses, very good defenses and comparable pitching.

Let the games begin.

[Frobby]

The Blue Jays roll into town tomorrow, not today.

I don't think the O's went into the offseason planning to follow the Blue Jays' pattern. It sort of evolved that direction when starting pitching turned out to be more expensive than Dan Duquette had anticipated, and he decided he could get more bang for his buck by signing a couple of sluggers rather than going after a top-tier starter.

I do not expect our offense to perform as well as the 2015 Blue Jays. I said before the year started that I thought we'd be 20-50 runs better on offense compared to last year, and that is still what I think. That's not enough to slug our way to a division title unless the starting pitching also improves over last year. Most of that improvement is going to have to come in the form of last year's pitchers simply doing better than last year. Jury's out as to whether that will occur.

[MDtransplant757]

The Blue Jays roll into town tonight and I can't help but think that these are two teams that are built similarly. The Jays won the division with 93 wins last year. They out scored their opponents last year by over 220 runs - 891 runs scored yto 670 allowed. The O's scored 713 runs last year. So maybe over the winter the O's decided to follow the Jays lead and bulk up.

The O's made a decision on December 2nd to replace Paredes who made a little over 500K last year with a 9M Trumbo. Yes, it was a hedge against losing Chris Davis at 1B but the day after they signed Trumbo Dan Duquette stated that everyone knows that the O's are pursuing Davis. And within a week its was reported that the O's had offered Davis 150m. So Trumbo was probably planned to be a DH from the time the O's acquired him. Trumbo was a 9m salary dump that the Mariners didn't want and the O's were happen to have.

So the O's were counting on a healthy Wieters and Schoop to boost their run production. The plan was to add OBP through the O's fielders with Kim in left and Fowler in right. Neither of those plans worked out but when Fowler didn't sign the O's decided if their couldn't add OBP then they would bludgeon opponents to death by adding Pedro Alvarez at DH and moving Triumbo to right. Not the original plan but it worked for the Jays so why not?

The Blue Jays where 12th in the the AL in pitching at the All Star break last year with a 4.18 ERA and a 45-46 record. The O's had a better pitching staff in the first half with a 3.74 ERA good enough of 6th in the AL and a 44-44 record. Half a game ahead of the Jays.

The Jays added David Price who went 9-1 with a 2.30 ERA after he was acquired. The O's didn't add pitching at the break and ran out of effective starters in August.

So maybe the O's figured with a turnaround by Tillman, a move forward by Gausman and the acquisition of Gallardo they can again be right with the Jays at the break and this time they may add pitching for the 2nd half.

The O's versus the Jays should be an interesting competition this year. Two powerful offenses, very good defenses and comparable pitching.

Let the games begin.

that's a very good observation, but I don't think that was the original intent to build them the same.

[wildcard]

The Blue Jays roll into town tomorrow, not today.

Jays played a 11.05 game in Boston today. Even a 4 hour game would be over by 3.00pm. I bet they travel this evening. So the Jays roll into town tonight.

[wildcard]

Seems to me that the 2016 Orioles are patterned after the 2012-2015 Orioles.

The 2012-2015 O's scored between 705 -745 runs. Is that what you expect from the 2016 O's?

[El Gordo]

Currently the O's are projected to win 117 G. Not to worry yet.

[LookitsPuck]

I'd be ecstatic if they score 815 runs let alone close to 900.

[Crabcakes]

I'd be ecstatic if they score 815 runs let alone close to 900.

With their problem (carried over, so far, from last year) of leaving RISP 815 would be very good

[Frobby]

With their problem (carried over, so far, from last year) of leaving RISP 815 would be very good

The Orioles were very good in RISP situations last year, and have been this year. They are batting .321/.364/.551 with RISP. That's a .915 OPS, best in the league; second best is .768. Last year they were at .796, third best in the league.

The problem last year was not getting into enough situations with RISP. We were dead last in plate appearances with RISP in 2015. That's still a problem this year; we are 14th of the 15 AL teams.

[wildcard]

The Orioles were very good in RISP situations last year, and have been this year. They are batting .321/.364/.551 with RISP. That's a .915 OPS, best in the league; second best is .768. Last year they were at .796, third best in the league.

The problem last year was not getting into enough situations with RISP. We were dead last in plate appearances with RISP in 2015. That's still a problem this year; we are 14th of the 15 AL teams.

So far this year the O's lead the league in OBP. Their also lead in homers which keep sthe bases clear.