We have a ton of games to play with the other WC contenders

[eddie83]

Playing the role of Captain Obvious, at the end of they day no matter what they have to move into 3rd place to make postseason. They need to catch Tampa and then beat out the second place teams from the West and Central.  

That is a ton to accomplish but first to me is getting past Tampa  

 

[LookitsPuck]

1 hour ago, Ruzious said:

My feeling is - When you're above .500, you can talk about being a playoffs contender.  Until then, you're kidding yourself.  

I sort of agree. But my general thought: when you have the worst starting rotation in MLB, you can't talk about being a playoff contender. And the Orioles have no business buying. It's asinine and irresponsible.

[99ct]

What ever happened to that Dominican academy we were building like 5-8 years ago? 

[99ct]

3 minutes ago, 99ct said:

What ever happened to that Dominican academy we were building like 5-8 years ago? 

Weird, I posted this in a different thread and it popped up here? How do I delete this post? 

[Tx Oriole]

1 hour ago, LookitsPuck said:

I sort of agree. But my general thought: when you have the worst starting rotation in MLB, you can't talk about being a playoff contender. And the Orioles have no business buying. It's asinine and irresponsible.

I agree.

[spiritof66]

4 hours ago, Frobby said:

As has been noted, there are currently five teams ahead of us for the second wild card, and a team tied with us (Texas).    I was just noticing that we play a lot of games against those teams:

3 vs KC

9 vs Tampa

6 vs LAA

6 vs Seattle

3 vs Texas 

The only team we don't play is the Twins.   We also play the current first wild card, the Yankees, 7 times.

The truth is, a lot of our destiny is in our own hands.    

I don't expect Minnesota or Texas to be there at the end, but what do I know?

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

I don't expect Minnesota or Texas to be there at the end, but what do I know?

KC worries me.   They are playing well and could separate themselves.   By the way, I was looking at the batting leaders today and saw that Mike Moustakas was only 3 behind Mike Judge for the HR lead.   Clearly I haven't been paying much attention this season, I'd completely missed the fact that he's suddenly Mike Schmidt.

[spiritof66]

8 minutes ago, Frobby said:

KC worries me.   They are playing well and could separate themselves.   By the way, I was looking at the batting leaders today and saw that Mike Moustakas was only 3 behind Mike Judge for the HR lead.   Clearly I haven't been paying much attention this season, I'd completely missed the fact that he's suddenly Mike Schmidt.

I agree. The Royals are going in the right direction, and while I haven't looked at their schedule it has to be soft in that division. I was going to say that KC and Seattle look better than the others you listed (along with BOS/NY), but that would have gotten into a discussion of the Tribe since I like KC's chances of finishing in first. 

I don't know what to make of Cleveland and the Rays, along with the Orioles.

[weams]

Oh, if the Orioles pitch, It's not over. 

[spiritof66]

4 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I don't care if they sneak into the second WC slot.  This is not a team that can win consecutive series against playoff teams.  To me, it is not worth an actual prospect to give them a slightly better shot at being one and done.

The way I look at it, this isn't the equivalent of waging war, in which you're planning a strategy of current and future battles, campaigns, and strategic retreats to optimize the chances of conquering and minimize the chances of being conquered, even if that's a ways down the road.

It's entertainment. I find it very entertaining to see the Orioles get to the post-season, or even come down to the wire fighting for a spot. That's true even if the stay is a short one. Yeah, I know I said a lot of stuff and threw a lot of objects when Ubaldo faced the Parrot guy and during the Royals debacle. But getting to see, and even better go to, an Orioles post-season game is fun. I'm all for building the team for the future -- though what we fans are for doesn't mean a thing to the owners -- and wouldn't like to see anyone of potential value traded away at the deadline, but you never know whether or when that rebuild will you to the post-season.

[LookitsPuck]

1 hour ago, spiritof66 said:

I don't expect Minnesota or Texas to be there at the end, but what do I know?

Texas has a decent chance. Their rotation is pretty nice:

• Cole Hamels: 3.78 ERA
• Yu Darvish: 3.44 ERA
• Andrew Cashner: 3.64 ERA
• Martin Perez: 4.67 ERA

Offense is pretty solid. 4.8 R/G good for 4th in the AL. For reference, the O's are at 4.7 (7th in the AL). 

I'm inclined to believe Minnesota won't be there in the end. I don't think their offense is much to write home about and their pitching isn't great by any stretch. That said, they do have Santana and Berrios and a couple of decent bullpen arms. 

[weams]

1 hour ago, 99ct said:

What ever happened to that Dominican academy we were building like 5-8 years ago? 

We were?  You must mean before MacPhail.

[spiritof66]

1 hour ago, 99ct said:

What ever happened to that Dominican academy we were building like 5-8 years ago? 

This may be it -- from 2007, a few months after MacPhail's arrival. The Orioles rented rather than bought -- trying out the neighborhood, I suppose.

Fits in with my theory of aversion to investing much in anything other than MLB contracts. ("OK, Andy, but what if this Dominican baseball thing is just a passing fancy? We did invent the game, you know.")

https://www.camdenchat.com/2007/11/28/64419/693

[weams]

11 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

This may be it -- from 2007, a few months after MacPhail's arrival. The Orioles rented rather than bought -- trying out the neighborhood, I suppose.

Fits in with my theory of aversion to investing much in anything other than MLB contracts. ("OK, Andy, but what if this Dominican baseball thing is just a passing fancy? We did invent the game, you know.")

https://www.camdenchat.com/2007/11/28/64419/693

Seems like a lifetime ago. 

[99ct]

1 hour ago, spiritof66 said:

This may be it -- from 2007, a few months after MacPhail's arrival. The Orioles rented rather than bought -- trying out the neighborhood, I suppose.

Fits in with my theory of aversion to investing much in anything other than MLB contracts. ("OK, Andy, but what if this Dominican baseball thing is just a passing fancy? We did invent the game, you know.")

https://www.camdenchat.com/2007/11/28/64419/693

Yeah that looks to be what I had in memory. Can't find much follow up on Google. It looks like we have a team in the Dominican:

 

http://m.milb.com/t621

 

Not surprisingly, they are sub-.500 ?