TT: The Orioles are a mediocre team

[Redskins Rick]

Agree with most of what you've said. However, may I suggest we just pretend that the grass is greener than it is? The board is taking this slump very hard indeed!

(pretend being the operative word)

I cant begin to image how this board would be, if this team took another 14 year spell of very bad baseball.

[Tony-OH]

Agree with most of what you've said. However, may I suggest we just pretend that the grass is greener than it is? The board is taking this slump very hard indeed!

(pretend being the operative word)

I know it sucks, but honestly, the issue is the team is playing a lot more like it was constructed and our record is a bit of a mirage as we beat up the terrible Twins early on in the season. I will say though that this team will have some fun nights and when we hot homeruns it's going to score and win some games. I don't think this team is terrible and it's not as bad as it's been during this bad streak, but even after we go back on a winning streak, we have to know that another one of these down streaks is on the way.

[Frobby]

I know it sucks, but honestly, the issue is the team is playing a lot more like it was constructed and our record is a bit of mirage as we beat up the terrible Twins early on in the season. I will say though that this team will have some fun nights and when we hot homeruns it's going to score and win some games. I don't think this team is terrible and it's not as bad as it's been during this bad streak, but even after we go back on a winning streak, we have to know that another one of these down streaks is on the way.

It's likely to be a bit of a roller coaster, but I'm certainly not going to throw in the towel on this team making the playoffs at this stage. Did we look like a playoff team in the first two months of 2012 or 2014? Things change, and the only thing we know for sure right now is that the team hasn't played its way out of contention, and in fact is in pretty decent position so far. We'll see what June tells us.

[SpinJr]

I cant begin to image how this board would be, if this team took another 14 year spell of very bad baseball.

My wife and I actually are without cable for the first time this year. I must say I'm loving it. I listen to the games on Sirius and read the phone apps/articles. These past 10 days let me know I made the right call. LOL my wife doesn't miss me yelling at the TV.

[SpinJr]

I know it sucks, but honestly, the issue is the team is playing a lot more like it was constructed and our record is a bit of a mirage as we beat up the terrible Twins early on in the season. I will say though that this team will have some fun nights and when we hot homeruns it's going to score and win some games. I don't think this team is terrible and it's not as bad as it's been during this bad streak, but even after we go back on a winning streak, we have to know that another one of these down streaks is on the way.

I understand the frustration with the overall health of the organization. The vast majority of posters on this board are highly analytical and know what shape we're in. I do have hope that our system can turn around on a dime if a few things break right. One thing is for sure it will improve if we have to trade Manny

[webbrick2010]

It's likely to be a bit of a roller coaster, but I'm certainly not going to throw in the towel on this team making the playoffs at this stage. Did we look like a playoff team in the first two months of 2012 or 2014? Things change, and the only thing we know for sure right now is that the team hasn't played its way out of contention, and in fact is in pretty decent position so far. We'll see what June tells us.

Well we didn't have Manny for the first two months of 2012

and we didn't have Manny for the first month of 2014, and really he wasn't at full

strength until June

and there was a lot less talent in the AL East

Who is the 2016 Manny that we are going to promote from the minors to impact the

performance of the ML team. The system is bare

[Ripken]

Has he won a trade? I mean, Andrew Miller did give us a legitimate chance to win a World Series so I understand giving up a Eduardo Rodriguez, and Hader gave us Bud Norris who helped us that season as well. But outside of that season, every trade we've lost. Hell, even the Valencia for Lough trade looks terrible. Lough was never a good player for us Valencia sure would look good at 3B right now. All Valencia has done is slash (.286 /332/.473/.805) since we gave him away for Lough.

He won the Trumbo trade. Maybe. And he's pretty much sucked everywhere else.

I was one of about three people who hated the Lough trade at the time and got a bunch of static for it. Then many folks spent two years saying how valuable Lough was despite him sucking something awful. It does get a bit too much orange-colored glasses around here sometimes.

[Tony-OH]

It's likely to be a bit of a roller coaster, but I'm certainly not going to throw in the towel on this team making the playoffs at this stage. Did we look like a playoff team in the first two months of 2012 or 2014? Things change, and the only thing we know for sure right now is that the team hasn't played its way out of contention, and in fact is in pretty decent position so far. We'll see what June tells us.

I understand the desire to stay positive, but tell me why our rotation makes you think we are a World Series caliber team? Could we sneek into the playoffs as a wild card? It's possible, so in that regard you are right, we shouldn't give up on this team. Saying that though, we have 43 games of mediocrity to go off of. Other than Jones and Alvarez (who may not be able to make the adjustments to the AL), I don't see a lot of guys way under performing offensively. Davis should get hot at some point like he usually does, but Trumbo is playing over his historical norms so it's safe to say he might cool off more.

The rotation is what we thought it would be, mediocre to bad. Tillman is our only starter you feel good about when he starts, although Wilson has been able to keep us in games more times than not. I'm honestly done with Ubaldo. They could DFA tomorrow and I wouldn't care. The guy is brutal to watch pitch. Slow, 3-2 on what seems like every batter, and just ugly to watch pitch. Wright is a reliever playing starter, but he doesn't have the stuff to go through a lineup three times (Wilson either for that matter but he limits the damage more than Wright before he gets to that 3rd time thru the order). Gausman has potential and he'll flash you the stuff that makes you think he'll one day put it all together, but he's been in a slump. At the end of the day, the last two years he's 4-10 with a 4.11 ERA which matches his 4.22 FIP. He's a 4th starter on a good team, but I think we're past the point of thinking he's going to become a TOR.

How do we compete with that rotation? Well, we need to hit a lot of home runs and outscore our opponents. If the O's offense can start getting hot we can win some games.

The season is not over, and the Orioles should stay competitive because this team will get hot again offensively, but these cold spells will also come back and that will bring us back to the .500 team they are.

[NashLumber]

They have played sub .500 ball for the last 43 games. Sure, they are in a slump, and of course they will go on a win streak at some point, but the problem is, they will also have another one of these losing streaks and end up where they are, a .500 team.

It's certainly depressing. But I'm not convinced Boston will keep up this pace.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tony-OH]

He won the Trumbo trade. Maybe. And he's pretty much sucked everywhere else.

I was one of about three people who hated the Lough trade at the time and got a bunch of static for it. Then many folks spent two years saying how valuable Lough was despite him sucking something awful. It does get a bit too much orange-colored glasses around here sometimes.

No, you are on the mark there. It definitely seems like he's going to win that one. Trumbo has been a nice addition, though if he were able to DH or play 1B he would be more valuable.

[JKOriole]

I think it's pretty straight forward what our problem is and has been for so long. As others have alluded to, it's simply our lack of investment/competency in scouting and player development. One has only to look at our actual track record in the last 10 years or so. As a small-mid market team, we obviously can't compete for top free agents, and yet we still don't make the changes we need to in order to build our farm. In comparison, look at the Red Sox current lineup: Betts, Bradley Jr and Shaw were drafted by the Sox in 2011. On top of savvy drafting and good player development, they are a big market team on top of it. Good Lord

[25 Nuggets]

Challenge for Tony. Name 4 AL teams that are clearly better than mediocre.

Boston.

Seattle...

...

. . . . . .

[ArtVanDelay]

Boston.

Seattle...

...

. . . . . .

KC, Texas.

[Ripken]

No, you are on the mark there. It definitely seems like he's going to win that one. Trumbo has been a nice addition, though if he were able to DH or play 1B he would be more valuable.

The worst part is, Trumbo will very likely leave (like Cruz) and it, too, will be a mistake (unless his money demands are outrageous). I really wanted to keep Nelson and now we have his clone. I hope Trumbo sticks around.

We could give Manny $25M/year this offseason just with what he's making now, plus the Wieters and Alvarez money. Tillman could be extended with some other departing cash (eg, Matusz and others). Then there's $40M freed up the following year from the three disasters (Jimenez, Gallardo, Hardy) to maybe add a real starter and someone else. We'll have to add significant talent through FA though (which is dicey at best) because of that awful farm system.

I expected Jones to fall off a cliff suddenly (I've never been a huge fan but that's blasphemous) but even I didn't think it would happen this early.

[duffaphonic]

Gausman has to get better. Alvarez too. Hardy's return should help. They are still playoff bound. After that anything can happen.