Is Dan going in the wrong direction with aging players?

[wildcard]

Last year Dan Duquette added Mark Trumbo 30, Kim 28, Rickard 25. Pedro Alvarez 29.   During the season he added Hart 25, and Miley 29.  All were in their prime or younger.

This off season Dan has done some of that with Castillo 30, Nuno 29.  But he has taken a turn toward older players in Smith 34, Gentry 33 and Bourn 34.  Older players are normally in decline.  Is this the right direction for the Orioles?

[El Gordo]

2 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Last year Dan Duquette added Mark Trumbo 30, Kim 28, Rickard 25. Pedro Alvarez 29.   During the season he added Hart 25, and Miley 29.  All were in their prime or younger.

This off season Dan has done some of that with Castillo 30, Nuno 29.  But he has taken a turn toward older players in Smith 34, Gentry 33 and Bourn 34.  Older players are normally in decline.  Is this the right direction for the Orioles?

They are all on one year comtacts, some MiL deals. That is not a direction, it is a one yeaqr stop gap.

[Redskins Rick]

4 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Last year Dan Duquette added Mark Trumbo 30, Kim 28, Rickard 25. Pedro Alvarez 29.   During the season he added Hart 25, and Miley 29.  All were in their prime or younger.

This off season Dan has done some of that with Castillo 30, Nuno 29.  But he has taken a turn toward older players in Smith 34, Gentry 33 and Bourn 34.  Older players are normally in decline.  Is this the right direction for the Orioles?

When you are looking for depth at your 24 & 25th roster spot, I am more concerned with ability and not age.

So Bourn is 34, he still has decent speed left and an ability to play defense at all 3 OF is a plus, and its not like they expected him to play 150+ games, and he came pretty cheap, if he made the team.

[wildcard]

10 minutes ago, El Gordo said:

They are all on one year comtacts, some MiL deals. That is not a direction, it is a one yeaqr stop gap.

Stop gap implies that the O's have younger players they are waiting on to take over those jobs.  Who are those young players?

[Redskins Rick]

10 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Stop gap implies that the O's have younger players they are waiting on to take over those jobs.  Who are those young players?

Stopgap could also mean, another look at free agents next off season, not like you are bringing them in for long term deals.  IMO

[El Gordo]

12 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Stop gap implies that the O's have younger players they are waiting on to take over those jobs.  Who are those young players?

It means they are one year solutions. These guys have nothing to do with direction, Quite possibly neither do Buck or Dan, since they only have one more year after this one. But you should know this. 

[Aglets]

Yea, stopgap means that you either are bridging the gap to a prospect in the minors (like Castillo to Sisco for example) or it means you just look at the FA options again next year.

I don't think anyone can really predict with any degree of certainty what 2/3 of the Orioles OF will look like in 2018........let alone with all THREE OF positions in 2019.

[Redskins Rick]

1 minute ago, Aglets said:

Yea, stopgap means that you either are bridging the gap to a prospect in the minors (like Castillo to Sisco for example) or it means you just look at the FA options again next year.

I don't think anyone can really predict with any degree of certainty what 2/3 of the Orioles OF will look like in 2018........let alone with all THREE OF positions in 2019.

or even the Manager and GM for 2019.

[El Gordo]

How the O's respond to the 2018 FA, what they do at the trade deadlines this year and next, will indicate direction . Three one year contacts two of them MiL, wont.

[Frobby]

If Dan is going in the wrong direction, it has to do with longer term issues like signing Chris Davis through his age 36 season and not doing enough to build up the farm system and bring young players up that way.    I'm not concerned about the age of the players he's acquired who are only here for 2017.    None of them are so old that there's a reason to expect some precipitous decline in 2017, and in several cases, they're here on minor league deals -- it's not like they've brought in Derrek Lee and Vlad Guerrero for large sums late in their career.

[Aglets]

39 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

or even the Manager and GM for 2019.

Are you excited at the idea that Buck and Dan might both be gone?

[Redskins Rick]

15 minutes ago, Aglets said:

Are you excited at the idea that Buck and Dan might both be gone?

Not one bit, sorry was just having fun, and was just agreeing that we dont know too much about the future.

I know neither is perfect, but at times, I wonder if we dont over analyse their every breath.

They helped bring winning baseball back to this town, and I for one, am grateful.

 

[Aristotelian]

1 hour ago, El Gordo said:

They are all on one year comtacts, some MiL deals. That is not a direction, it is a one yeaqr stop gap.

Except Davis/Trumbo. Mancini does not have a clear path, now or in the future. 

[UpstateNYfan]

I think DD and BS are on the same page for temporary solutions. That's why guys like Pearse, Hunter get recycled. They prefer a known quantity, especially for the short run.

[Redskins Rick]

21 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Except Davis/Trumbo. Mancini does not have a clear path, now or in the future. 

Is it DD's fault Mancini is a one trick pony, by his defensive abilities?