The Reality about the Showalter-Duquette Era

[Uli2001]

The reality is that this team has been mediocre, with the sole exception of 2014. They promptly lost Cruz and Miller after that season and went back to mediocre. All these years (with the exception of 2014), they have been pulling off non-losing seasons with smoke and mirrors and a lot of "Orioles Magic," winning a lot of one-run games, hitting a lot of well-timed homers, etc. Starting pitching has been non-existent all these years (except 2014) and the offense has been founded on lots of strikeouts and Camden Yards power. That was the case in 2012, 2013, 2015, and yes, 2016.

The fact that everyone praises the current regimen so much and are afraid of a change is solely because of the 1998-2011 wilderness. I will give them one thing, they have been consistent the past five years (consistently mediocre). If this is enough for Orioles fans, that is, just not to stink so bad as in 1998-2011, then they have been good.

Rant over, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

[TradeAngelos]

1 minute ago, Uli2001 said:

The reality is that this team has been mediocre, with the sole exception of 2014. They promptly lost Cruz and Miller after that season and went back to mediocre. All these years (with the exception of 2014), they have been pulling off non-losing seasons with smoke and mirrors and a lot of "Orioles Magic," winning a lot of one-run games, hitting a lot of well-timed homers, etc. Starting pitching has been non-existent all these years (except 2014) and the offense has been founded on lots of strikeouts and Camden Yards power. That was the case in 2012, 2013, 2015, and yes, 2016.

The fact that everyone praises the current regimen so much and are afraid of a change is solely because of the 1998-2011 wilderness. I will give them one thing, they have been consistent the past five years (consistently mediocre). If this is enough for Orioles fans, that is, just not to stink so bad as in 1998-2011, then they have been good.

Rant over, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

What board are you reading? Surely not this one.

[Uli2001]

Just now, TradeAngelos said:

What board are you reading? Surely not this one.

That was a rhetorical device. It's not everyone, but a lot of regular fans do.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

1 minute ago, Uli2001 said:

That was a rhetorical device. It's not everyone, but a lot of regular fans do.

I think that is starting to change now, especially with Duquette.  The farm system cupboard is empty and the 25 man roster is starving.

[FanSince88]

We were mediocre in 2015, I'll grant you that.  Mostly because the team kept running Norris out there before the ASB after it was clear he didn't have it, and because our corner OF was barren and we had no decent DH.    

2012 we were a good team.  Mediocre teams do not make the playoffs in baseball.  You must be thinking of the NBA where everyone and their brother makes playoffs.

2013 we were still pretty good and could have made the playoffs had Jim Johnson not melted down, Hammel pitched better, and if our 5th starter position weren't a black hole for the first half of the year.  

2014 we were a great team with a few unfortunate weak spots that were exploited by the Royals.  Though we were swept, all four games were close and the Royals BP was an absolute buzzsaw that year.  

2016 we were once again a good team that nearly won the WC game and probably would have if it hadn't been for a horrible and out of character blunder by Buck.  Tillman and Gausman pitched well, the BP was elite, and the offense was very good.  

[HillbillyBird]

If you were lucky enough to experience the magic of the original 'Oriole Way', that was no wilderness. It was a living hell. Being the old codger that I am, I've reveled in this mediocrity. September and hope make a sweet fragrance. :-)

[allquixotic]

I fear that our 'mediocrity', luck, or whatever you want to call it, is quickly fading. The 14 years of losing could become the 30+ years of losing with 4-5 years of competitiveness sandwiched in between.

[ORIOLE33]

Have to agree with the OP.

[sportsfan8703]

2 hours ago, Uli2001 said:

That was a rhetorical device. It's not everyone, but a lot of regular fans do.

That's changed.  With the realization that we have a 170 million payroll and no pitching.  Buck is still Buck.  We're still outperforming what the numbers say by a lot.  The numbers say we should be 12-14 games under .500.  I think DD should be fired.  

[25 Nuggets]

4 hours ago, Uli2001 said:

The reality is that this team has been mediocre, with the sole exception of 2014. They promptly lost Cruz and Miller after that season and went back to mediocre. All these years (with the exception of 2014), they have been pulling off non-losing seasons with smoke and mirrors and a lot of "Orioles Magic," winning a lot of one-run games, hitting a lot of well-timed homers, etc. Starting pitching has been non-existent all these years (except 2014) and the offense has been founded on lots of strikeouts and Camden Yards power. That was the case in 2012, 2013, 2015, and yes, 2016.

All I can say is I disagree with this "reality".

[El Gordo]

I guess it's just me but I didn't expect that Britton., Tillman, O'Day, CD, would be on the DL, or Manny would go nutso,or Gausman would regress.

[JohnD]

A lot of the fault lies with the guys who made the Orioles good for the past few years.

Some lies with Duquette, who patched over a lot of the holes pretty good in recent years but hasn't done much to better strengthen the organization.

Some lies with injuries.  O'Day wasn't often himself this year, Britton wasn't himself either before going on the DL for the past two months.  When the bullpen is a strength, injuries to the best of that bunch will gut that strength, and highlight the flaws the other pitchers have.  Plus, Hart has temporarily (I hope) lost whatever magic he had working last year.

Tillman has to be injured.  Has to be, he's been so bad.  Not sure what Gausman's excuse is.

And lastly, Machado is hitting .200.  We gloss over it because none of us believe he's a .200 hitter.  And he shouldn't be.  But right now he is.  And it seems to be impacting his fielding, because his throws are all over the place.  I don't know if it's lazy or bad fundamentals, but Davis and Mancini have saved him from having a lot more errors than he should.  Oh yeah, Davis is hurt now too. 

Put it all together at once and Orioles magic turns into Orioles tragic.

[vab]

The best record in the AL from 2012-16 is mediocre? Ridiculous. That doesn't mean it's not time for change now but the premise of this thread is wrong. 

[pastorfan]

8 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

That's changed.  With the realization that we have a 170 million payroll and no pitching.  Buck is still Buck.  We're still outperforming what the numbers say by a lot.  The numbers say we should be 12-14 games under .500.  I think DD should be fired.  

He should be, but won't be. Yeah, the Cruz signing--that fell in his lap--was good. He failed to resign him or Miller (only to give almost as much money to O'Day a year later). I struggle to find any major FA signing that has worked: Davis, Hardy, Jimenez (chosen over Santana). Chen may have been his best signing. This is not even to mention the farm system. BTW, they will be in line with those numbers soon enough!

[Frobby]

11 hours ago, Uli2001 said:

The reality is that this team has been mediocre, with the sole exception of 2014. They promptly lost Cruz and Miller after that season and went back to mediocre. All these years (with the exception of 2014), they have been pulling off non-losing seasons with smoke and mirrors and a lot of "Orioles Magic," winning a lot of one-run games, hitting a lot of well-timed homers, etc. Starting pitching has been non-existent all these years (except 2014) and the offense has been founded on lots of strikeouts and Camden Yards power. That was the case in 2012, 2013, 2015, and yes, 2016.

The fact that everyone praises the current regimen so much and are afraid of a change is solely because of the 1998-2011 wilderness. I will give them one thing, they have been consistent the past five years (consistently mediocre). If this is enough for Orioles fans, that is, just not to stink so bad as in 1998-2011, then they have been good.

Rant over, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

So, everyone knows that the Orioles won more games than any other AL team during 2012-16.    But, to test out your "smoke and mirrors" assertion, I totaled up the Pythagorean record of every team in the league over that period.    By that measure, the Orioles came in third, at 428 wins.    If that's mediocre by your standards, then so be it.   By the way, the Orioles were the only team to have a winning Pythagorean record all five years.

Anyone want to guess the two teams that finished ahead of the Orioles?