Comparing the Orioles' first half/second half grades

[PaulFolk]

Trumbo was a salary dump by Seattle and ended up leading MLB in HRs. I don't think anyone expected the output.

The O's may not have expected Trumbo to lead MLB in HRs, but they certainly expected he could contribute to the team, and he did. You have to give them credit for that.

[Mitch Connor]

DD made the following moves after the All Star break:

Acquired Wade Miley in a trade with Seattle.

Acquired Steve Pearce in a trade with Tampa.

Acquired Drew Stubbs off waivers from Texas

Acquired Michael Bourn in a trade with Texas

Signed Tommy Hunter after his release from the Indians.

None of these moves were blockbusters, but they were made to address needs on the club at the time. 9 Starter to replace Jimenez in the rotation, right handed bat, OF defense and speed, and bullpen depth)

Because of the costs involved, ( minor league players, non of whom appear to be on the cusp of the major leagues) I think that these were all reasonable moves at the time. I also think that it is unfair to say that he did nothing after the All Star Break. I would give him a "C" Grade for the second half of the season. I agree with your B grade for the off season. He gets a B- overall in my gradebook.

Miranda actually pitched better than Miley and a greatly reduced salary and we would have had him under control longer.

About the rest of the moves, you are right they were no blockbusters, mostly due to Dan having no minor league depth to trade to get a quality starter or a reliever, like a Miller.

[Mitch Connor]

With the benefit of hindsight, what moves do you think were out there that he could have made?

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He was limited to get quality, due to lack of minor league depth.

[Frobby]

A few overall bits:

Offense:

1st half: 47-34, .272/.332/.469, 415 runs, 128 HR, 396 RBI, 241 BB, 683 K's.

2nd half: 42-39, .239/.302/.417, 329 runs, 125 HR, 314 RBI, 227 BB, 641 K's.

Interesting to see that the BB rate wasn't really down very much, and the K rate also was down. Power about the same, but the team simply didn't hit for average in the second half. I feel like the overall numbers reflect the team's true talent more accurately than either half does.

Starting Pitching:

1st half: 27-27, 440.2 IP, 5.15 ERA, 7.2 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 1.37 HR/9

2nd half: 30-31, 445.1 IP, 4.30 ERA, 7.8 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 1.19 HR/9

Didn't get a lot deeper into games, but overall much more effective. The slightly sub-.500 record compared to .500 in the first half is a reflection on the offensive woes in the second half.

Bullpen:

1st half: 20-7, 274.1 IP, 3.28 ERA, 8.3 K/9, 3.6 BB/9, 0.95 HR/9

2nd half: 12-8, 271.2 IP, 3.51 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 0.93 HR/9

Really, a very consistent performance in both halves by the bullpen as a whole. The bullpen gave up a lot of garbage-time runs, but was nails when it counted most, as evidenced in August when the pen had a 6.22 ERA and yet never blew a lead the entire month.

[Superbee83]

Miranda actually pitched better than Miley and a greatly reduced salary and we would have had him under control longer.

About the rest of the moves, you are right they were no blockbusters, mostly due to Dan having no minor league depth to trade to get a quality starter or a reliever, like a Miller.

I did not remember seeing a lot of hand wringing when Miranda was moved for Miley. The move was obviously made because of the struggles of Jimenez. While your statement about the Miley trade is true, it is obviously with the benfit of hindsight.

You are also correct that the Orioles lacked the minor league depth to make a major trade. I would contend that DD did a decent job of addressing the team's needs at the time by acquiring a right handed bat to make up for a struggling Reimold ( Pearce), outfield defense and speed ( bourn and Stubbs), and a right handed reliever all at very little cost. These are the kind of moves DD is good at.

So although it may not have been enough in your mind, He did in fact do something.

[LA2]

I did not remember seeing a lot of hand wringing when Miranda was moved for Miley. The move was obviously made because of the struggles of Jimenez. While your statement about the Miley trade is true, it is obviously with the benfit of hindsight.

You are also correct that the Orioles lacked the minor league depth to make a major trade. I would contend that DD did a decent job of addressing the team's needs at the time by acquiring a right handed bat to make up for a struggling Reimold ( Pearce), outfield defense and speed ( bourn and Stubbs), and a right handed reliever all at very little cost. These are the kind of moves DD is good at.

So although it may not have been enough in your mind, He did in fact do something.

Bourne and Hunter were excellent pick-ups. But in regard to Miranda, the amount of hand-wringing by fans is irrelevant--it was yet another case of the front office showing an alarming inability to accurately assess or properly cultivate its own young pitching talent. This has got to change as soon as possible.

[Superbee83]

Bourne and Hunter were excellent pick-ups. But in regard to Miranda, the amount of hand-wringing by fans is irrelevant--it was yet another case of the front office showing an alarming inability to accurately assess or properly cultivate its own young pitching talent. This has got to change as soon as possible.

The hand wringing is relevant to the discussion at hand on this board.

( Maybe DiPoto "lucked out" by acquiring Miranda for Miley.)

The initial results are clearly in

I

[Frobby]

Bourne and Hunter were excellent pick-ups. But in regard to Miranda, the amount of hand-wringing by fans is irrelevant--it was yet another case of the front office showing an alarming inability to accurately assess or properly cultivate its own young pitching talent. This has got to change as soon as possible.

It is too soon to tell if Miranda will be a decent major league pitcher. I'll judge that if Miranda has a decent year next year.

[Redskins Rick]

I am not too torn up into actually grading the first half and second half.

I give them a B, for making the playoffs this season.

My scoring is pretty simple.

A is you win your division.

B if you make the wildcard.

E for everything else. You play the games to make the playoffs, and anything short of that is a failure, regardless of the reason (excuse).

[LA2]

It is too soon to tell if Miranda will be a decent major league pitcher. I'll judge that if Miranda has a decent year next year.

A decent year from Miley would help too!

I was commenting on Miranda in the context of the larger series of younger pitchers who would cost a tiny fraction of Gallardo and Miley and would have probably done better than them in the actual periods that have elapsed.

[Frobby]

A decent year from Miley would help too!

I was commenting on Miranda in the context of the larger series of younger pitchers who would cost a tiny fraction of Gallardo and Miley and would have probably done better than them in the actual periods that have elapsed.

Fair enough, but for me, I don't want to judge that trade yet. It certainly hasn't started well. I hated the EdRod and Davies trades, so it's not like I'm inclined to like trading young pitchers. If Miranda turns out to be a solid BOR starter, I'll hate this one in hindsight. I didn't hate it at the time because I didn't think Miranda was likely to be a long term asset. I agree if DD misjudged that, it's a black mark on him, but to me the jury is still out.

[ChosenOne21]

Miranda way outpitched his peripherals in Seattle and Miley underpitched his in Baltimore. When all is said and done I think we'll like this trade just fine.