Who's most to blame for this mess?

[Can_of_corn]

Lew Ford.

[wildbillhiccup]

57 minutes ago, Frobby said:

A fish rots from the head.    I’d blame the GM if the GM clearly had the authority to make the decisions and screwed them up.   But that’s not the case, and so the blame goes to the guy who can’t run an organization with a normal chain of command.   (By the way, I’m not absolving Duquette of blame, either.    He’s made plenty of bad decisions.   But not all the decisions were his, apparently.)

What Frobby said. 

[wildbillhiccup]

My predictions for this thread. 

1) Angelos

2) All of the above

3) Brad / Buck tied for third

4) Dan (a distant  4th)

[spiritof66]

1 hour ago, O's84 said:

Lew Ford.

Beat me to it. I can't understand why he's not on the list. 

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

Beat me to it. I can't understand why he's not on the list. 

Would have to ask OP.  I'd hate to think he's a Lew Ford fan.

[NashLumber]

1 hour ago, now said:

Who's most to blame for this mess?

Multiple answers are possible. Let's start from the top... 

• Peter - puppet master, or out to pasture?
• John and Lou - new stripes or same tiger?
• Brady - responsible for recent crash?
• Dan - lame duck, hands tied, or incompetent?
• Buck - does the buck stop here... Britton his achilles heel?
• McDowell / Coolbaugh - scapegoats, or judge by results?
• Drafting and Scouting - bust after bust
• Player Development - or, player destruction?
• The Players - just not that talented?

I'll go with all of the above.

Agreed. Dan’s hands have been tied, so with the trio of Dan, Buck and Brady, I’m more aggravated at the latter two. But all of this has been a perfect storm as some have said elsewhere. The chickens have come home to roost and they closed the window upon their arrival. 

[now]

4 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Would have to ask OP.  I'd hate to think he's a Lew Ford fan.

Hmm, now I wonder what there is about Lew Ford I'm forgetting? I did think of starting to list individual players: Tillman, Davis, Ubaldo... but that grows to a very long list. And it's not their fault their agent pays them and their managers play them.

[El Gordo]

This mess is the result of PA placing parameters on his FO that severely limited their ability to build for the future and forced them to play win now at all costs. No International prospects, Davis contract. No trades of players at their peek. Manny, Brach, Britton, etc., no FA TOR signings. 

[Can_of_corn]

9 minutes ago, now said:

Hmm, now I wonder what there is about Lew Ford I'm forgetting? I did think of starting to list individual players: Tillman, Davis, Ubaldo... but that grows to a very long list. And it's not their fault their agent pays them and their managers play them.

Where to start?

I can't even.

 

 

[now]

1 hour ago, glenn__davis said:

I'm not sure how you could describe the recent drafting as "bust after bust".

Okay, maybe busted expectations is more like it, and I'm thinking farther back (Matusz, Hopgood, Chris Smith, et al.) than the last few years, when some picks seem good but haven't proven themselves yet. As far as expectations, yeah, Gausman has been following Wieters and Markakis there, with Bundy now in hot pursuit.

[Bradysburns]

It's impossible to know without inside knowledge. Since we can't say with any certainty who's actually making decisions... I can't know for sure. I can only make wild, irresponsible guesses as to what's going on... And that's what I'm going to do right now: 100% Lew Ford's fault. 

[atomic]

As nothing is happening right now I would say ownership is to blame.  They aren't holding anyone accountable. Players, Manager, GM.  Assistant GM. Everyone is getting a free pass.  If I was the owner heads would be rolling. 

[O's84]

30 minutes ago, now said:

Hmm, now I wonder what there is about Lew Ford I'm forgetting? 

If memory serves me correct, Ithink he was tearing the cover of the ball in the minors for a long time yet he wasn't being brought up.  So it evolved (the joke) eventually to the point that he must be evil.

[wildcard]

Davis, Jones. Joesph, Santander for not hitting.

Schoop, Beckham, Rasmus, Trumbo, Britton for getting injured

Tillman, Wright, Brach, O'Day, for not pitching better.

Givens for not being able to feel the ball in the cold.

Duquette for not acquiring more starting pitching..

Ownership for signing Davis and Trumbo to contracts that are too large.

Hays for a poor start to the season.

Cobb for signing too late.

God for the cold April.

The Major League  home office for the hardest starting schedule on record.

[weams]