Dan added 8 players that contributed to the 2017 team

[wildcard]

Yes, the O's didn't have enough starting pitching and that caused the them to not be a playoff team.  We have beaten that to death already.

But there were 8 players that Dan added that made positive contribution in to the 2017 team

1) Tim Beckham - Acquired at the trade deadline for a low A Ball pitcher.  The 27 year old Beckham had an immediate positive August that helped the team to one of their best hitting months ever.  The O's led the league with 57 homers in August to go with a 306/357/534/882.  Beckham contributed batting leadoff with 6 homers. 27 runs scored and a 394/417/646/1062.  This from a shortstop position that offered little else offensively the rest of the year.   Beckham had his defensive problems and his September was forgetable but  he gave the O's reason for hope that the shortstop position is filled for years to come.

2) Welington Castillo -   Picked up as a non tendered player from Arizona, Welington was a offensive force.  He hit 282/323/490/813  and had 20 homers, 53 RBI in just 341 at bats which made the loss of Matt Wieters a little more palatable.   He controlled the running game by throwing out 49% of stealers.  He had his problem with CERA and who knows if that was the pitchers fault or his.  But Welington made a positive contribution to the O's for 6m dollars which is pretty good for front line catcher.

3) Anthony Santander -  Rule 5 guys are normally thought to be fill in players with a few exception.   The O's may have an exception in 22 year old Santander.   We haven’t seen much from him yet but his 20 days in AA were memorable.   His 380/458/780/1238 performance in 50 at bats fit in really well with is 862 OPS at A ball in 2016.   We can hope the best is  yet to  come as he plays in the AFL and maybe winter ball this off season.   He is definitely a plus to the O's organization at a steal of a price.

4) Seth Smith - Picked up in a trade for Gallardo, the O's seem to get the best of that deal.   He held down  right field vs right-handed pitching  both offensively and defensively. His 340 OBP had him leading off for part of the season and allowed him to score 50 runs in 330 at bats.  The now 35 year old will probably not be back with Hays joining the team but he was a nice stop gap player for a starter that did not do well for the O's in 2016.

5) Miguel Castro -  Picked up on the waiver wire from Colorado, the 22 year old Castro became a rubber armed  middle inning guy for the O's saving the pen on many occasions.   Originally called up in May by June 12 he was with the O's to stay.   He has 39 appearances for 66.1 IP.   His 3.53 ERA and 1.22 WHIP were inflated by overuse late in the season.   Overall, Castro pitched 90.2 IP in the minors and majors.  More than any reliever on the  O's major league roster.   He is not a big strikeout pitcher but pitches to contact.  Next spring he probably gets a shot at the rotation.  He’s  a pretty good waiver wire pick up. (O's sent minor league pitcher Jon Keller to the Rockies to complete the trade.)

6) Richard Bleier - Acquired from the Yankees for cash,  this  30 year old minor league veteran became another May relief addition for the O's pen.   With an 88 mile per hour sinker and some breaking pitches Bleier put up a 1.99 ERA in 57 appearance and 63.1 IP with a 1.18 WHIP.   His effectiveness earned Buck’s trust the more he pitched.   

7) Craig Gentry - Signed to a minor league contract as a free agent, Gentry  add much needed speed on offense and defense.   He was a defensive replacement in late innings, a  pinch runner when a steal was needed, a right-handed  platoon player for Smith in right field and a fil- in  in  center when Adam Jones needed to rest his legs.    The 33 year old  made 77 appearance  and have 101 at bats putting up a 333 OBP.   The O's had no better speed guy on  the team and I expect him back next year at something close to the 850k he signed for last year.

8) Gabriel Ynoa -   Purchased from the Mets for cash,  Ynoa had a bad first half at AAA (7.64 ERA) followed by a good second half (2.87 ERA)that earned him a call up to the majors and  4 September starts.  The 24 year old Ynoa had one relief appearance in May and 3 in June before his call up in September.   He stuff is not overwhelming but he pitched to a 4.15 ERA which is better that many of the veteran pitchers of the O's staff.   That is probably gets  Ynoa to stay on the roster all winter and have a chance in the spring to earn starting or long relief job.

 

[Frobby]

I'd agree these all look like pretty decent moves.    The Castillo CERA disturbs me a lot, but who knows if it actually means something.    

For some reason, Bleier never looked as good to me as his stats suggest.   His K/9 was super-low (3.7) and I feel like he's pretty pedestrian, though he got results.   

[wildcard]

8 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I'd agree these all look like pretty decent moves.    The Castillo CERA disturbs me a lot, but who knows if it actually means something.    

For some reason, Bleier never looked as good to me as his stats suggest.   His K/9 was super-low (3.7) and I feel like he's pretty pedestrian, though he got results.   

I always felt that way about Miguel Gonzalez.   It never looked like he had enough stuff to be successful but he kept doing it long enough that I loved the guy.

[Slappy]

He's gotten dogged a lot this year - much of it earned - but overall I still like the job DD has done with the O's.  A bunch of those guys - notably Beckham, Santander, and Castro - are going to be big contributors to the club over the next 3+ years.  He's shown in the past he can improve a rotation substantially in one offseason (2011->2012 comes to mind).  Let's hope he's got the trick up his sleeve again.

I know a lot of ppl have called for his head this year, but we could do a lot worse than DD.

[Morgan423]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

The Castillo CERA disturbs me a lot, but who knows if it actually means something.    

It disturbs me too... particularly if he opts back in next year.   

If last season was a one off, then no worries... but he's been in the bottom 5 in MLB for CERA every year since 2014 (including having the 2nd-worst in 2016 and 2017).  I'm hoping he'll move on...  if he doesn't, I don't see us DH'ing him most games.  

[Frobby]

19 minutes ago, Morgan423 said:

It disturbs me too... particularly if he opts back in next year.   

If last season was a one off, then no worries... but he's been in the bottom 5 in MLB for CERA every year since 2014 (including having the 2nd-worst in 2016 and 2017).  I'm hoping he'll move on...  if he doesn't, I don't see us DH'ing him most games.  

Are you sure he's been in the bottom 5 for four years in a row?   In 2015 he was at 4.35 for the season, which doesn't seem likely to be in the bottom 5.    What are you using as a cut-off for games or innings caught?

[Morgan423]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

Are you sure he's been in the bottom 5 for four years in a row?   In 2015 he was at 4.35 for the season, which doesn't seem likely to be in the bottom 5.    What are you using as a cut-off for games or innings caught?

This lets you go back several seasons.  You can sort highest to lowest.

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/stats?season=2017&category=FIELDING+II&group=1&sort=8&time=0&pos=2&qual=1&sortOrder=0&splitType=0

[Morgan423]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

In 2015 he was at 4.35 for the season, which doesn't seem likely to be in the bottom 5.    

That was actually the exception year (barely), he was sixth-worse.  He's had at least 700 innings caught in all of those seasons.

[Going Underground]

5 hours ago, Frobby said:

I'd agree these all look like pretty decent moves.    The Castillo CERA disturbs me a lot, but who knows if it actually means something.    

For some reason, Bleier never looked as good to me as his stats suggest.   His K/9 was super-low (3.7) and I feel like he's pretty pedestrian, though he got results.   

Wieters went to fifth this year.Heard all last year that he was a terrible pitch caller.All about the pitchers.Put Castillo on the Nationals he would move right up.Plus the Nationals have a better bullpen now. 

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

Are you sure he's been in the bottom 5 for four years in a row?   In 2015 he was at 4.35 for the season, which doesn't seem likely to be in the bottom 5.    What are you using as a cut-off for games or innings caught?

 

6 minutes ago, Morgan423 said:

This lets you go back several seasons.  You can sort highest to lowest.

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/stats?season=2017&category=FIELDING+II&group=1&sort=8&time=0&pos=2&qual=1&sortOrder=0&splitType=0

Thanks.    Actually, on that list, Castillo in 2015 is just out of the bottom 5, at 23/28.    To my original point, it looks like they only included catchers who started at least 78 games at C.    

[Frobby]

6 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

Wieters went to fifth this year.Heard all last year that he was a terrible pitch caller.All about the pitchers.Put Castillo on the Nationals he would move right up.Plus the Nationals have a better bullpen now. 

Then why was Joseph's CERA more than a run better than Castillo's?   And Castillo's was especially bad with the starting pitchers.    

[webbrick2010]

If DD would be prohibited from making July deals and offseason FA signings he would be a good GM

[Ripken]

That's almost as long as the list of mistakes he's made.

[LookitsPuck]

Bit of a stretch to say that Gentry contributed meaningfully. 

He carried a .215/.300/.304 - .604 OPS for 62 games (up until mid August). In 92 plate appearances.

He did turn it on after, though: .409/.458/.682 - 1.140 OPS

...for 25 plate appearances.

Santander didn't really do much, either. He had 31 plate appearances and put up a .625 OPS.

I'd agree on Castro, Bleier, Castillo, Beckham and Smith.

Ynoa has potential, but he was oft injured and really only helped the last month of the season.

Of course what really stands out among the 8 you listed...none of them are starting pitchers that contributed meaningful lengths throughout the season. And that's really the crux here. Duquette hasn't really signed a competent starting pitcher since 2012-2013. 

I'm hoping that Ynoa and Castro can turn out to be a solid back of the rotation arm. I really don't have any faith in Bleier. Bleier is more of a situational reliever...and his numbers are ripe for regression. I don't think I've seen such a miserly strikeout rate (3.7) for such an extended period and have the pitcher be effective. Somehow he was. I don't get it, but those numbers would make Chris Lee blush.