Straight talk: Buck is not coming back for a rebuild

[Aristotelian]

Way too early to say. Need to address the organizational structure and see what we get back for Manny and the others. See what we have and then see whether there is a path to contending in 2019.

[24fps]

54 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

They did try and address the pitching, they sign Cobb and Cashner. Cobb was one of the so-called big 3 available and Cashner was high on the list of FA SP.

Tillman was a gamble, and I think they figured between him, one of the rule 5 guys, or one of the Castro/Wright system guys, they could find SP #5.

 

I think this past offseason was the first time in a while that Duquette actually followed through on his stated goal.  His spotty record when it comes to starting pitching is one of my few knocks against him.  Tillman on a minor league contract would be a gamble - on a major league contract it's a train wreck that was completely forseeable.  I suspect the blame for that can be comfortably spread around.

[TheDeau52]

As a 49ers fan, "retool" is a trigger word for me. Yoda voice: rebuild or go for it, there is no retool.

With that being said, the question is how long of a rebuild. I think it can be on the shorter side, but I'm sure I'm being overly optimistic. Doesn't hep that the Yanks and Sox are stacked.

[Redskins Rick]

2 minutes ago, 24fps said:

I think this past offseason was the first time in a while that Duquette actually followed through on his stated goal.  His spotty record when it comes to starting pitching is one of my few knocks against him.  Tillman on a minor league contract would be a gamble - on a major league contract it's a train wreck that was completely forseeable.  I suspect the blame for that can be comfortably spread around.

He admitted two years ago, he under anticipated the market value for pitching and how it had gone through the roof.

[wildbillhiccup]

I think it's somewhere in between a full rebuild and a slight retool. If they do this the right way (i.e., trade Machado, Britton, O'Day, Brach, etc.) and hit on a few of the prospects they get back (and those already in the system) they should be able to be competitive again in 3 - 4 years. They have too many bad contracts and holes in their offense to  simply retool. 

I'm not sure about everyone else, but the main thing is I don't want to see Valancia / Alvarez types in the lineup. I want young players with upside in the unsettled positions. Playing aging, flawed/one dimensional veterans is like putting lipstick on a pig at this point. Especially when we already have two that we're stuck with (Davis and Trumbo). 

[wildcard]

2 hours ago, wildbillhiccup said:

So we should be more concerned with what Buck wants then what's best for the team and franchise long-term? I think you just inadvertently made the argument for letting Buck go and not keeping him. 

I guess that depend on what you think of Buck.   I think Buck and Dan allowed be the best O's baseball I have seen in 20 years.

[clapdiddy]

Personally, I don't trust any of our current braintrust to "retool" or "rebuild".  

[wildcard]

2 hours ago, wildbillhiccup said:

This team need more than a retool on the offensive side and I don't think Beckham has demonstrated that he should be an everyday player. 

Did you notice I did not put Beckham in the OP.  I need to see him fromJuly to October to see whether he can help the team.

[wildcard]

2 hours ago, maybenxtyr said:

Manny. He's the only one that should be brought back.

And he will probably not be back.

[Ripken]

Are we signing Manny or trading him?  Because that's your answer.

[TommyPickles]

I think they could retool and be competitive in 2020. 

[spiritof66]

2 hours ago, Redskins Rick said:

Roch had this interesting quote from DD:

I agree with the great part, but dang, they are not very good at communicating effectively on what they are trying to do.

Note that Duquette said "if we communicate effectively what we're trying to do, I'm sure [Oriole fans will] support the club." He seems to me to have chosen his words with some care.

Right now, it's a mystery as to how the Orioles see the balance that Duquette referred to between putting "more resources into winning now [and putting] more resources into winning later." Having read all the facts and speculation that have been floating around recently (and having my own half-baked ideas about what's going on and who is to blame for what), I wonder whether this is Duquette's way of (a) saying that it would serve the team's interests to make and implement a decision about what direction it's going in and tell its fans what that direction is, and (b) signaling that he's not able to tell the fans what the team's direction is, either because no direction has been decided on and communicated to him or because he's been told not to discuss that publicly..

So, Duquette is talking about the importance of being honest and transparent with the fan base about the team's overall strategy without being transparent about what that strategy is (and whether it has been or is being revisited because of the terrible start to the season. I find that odd, and wonder why else he would be doing that. Just his poor communications skills? Maybe.

[Redskins Rick]

3 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

Note that Duquette said "if we communicate effectively what we're trying to do, I'm sure [Oriole fans will] support the club." He seems to me to have chosen his words with some care.

Right now, it's a mystery as to how the Orioles see the balance that Duquette referred to between putting "more resources into winning now [and putting] more resources into winning later." Having read all the facts and speculation that have been floating around recently (and having my own half-baked ideas about what's going on and who is to blame for what), I wonder whether this is Duquette's way of (a) saying that it would serve the team's interests to make and implement a decision about what direction it's going in and tell its fans what that direction is, and (b) signaling that he's not able to tell the fans what the team's direction is, either because no direction has been decided on and communicated to him or because he's been told not to discuss that publicly..

So, Duquette is talking about the importance of being honest and transparent with the fan base about the team's overall strategy without being transparent about what that strategy is (and whether it has been or is being revisited because of the terrible start to the season. I find that odd, and wonder why else he would be doing that. Just his poor communications skills? Maybe.

Maybe, its a dig back at the ownership, and he is saying, "IF" they come forward and tell us what is going on, we accept it better, than being kept in the dark, and it looks clueless to us, like nobody is minding the store at times.

[spiritof66]

8 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

Maybe, its a dig back at the ownership, and he is saying, "IF" they come forward and tell us what is going on, we accept it better, than being kept in the dark, and it looks clueless to us, like nobody is minding the store at times.

I agree. Duquette's comments both are impossible to disagree with and suggest that those in charge aren't doing right by the fans because they're not telling them what's going on (and that he would do that if he could).  

[wildbillhiccup]

42 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I guess that depend on what you think of Buck.   I think Buck and Dan allowed be the best O's baseball I have seen in 20 years.

Agreed...but all good things must end. Buck and the team are heading in different directions.