Buck, Dan and ownership need to deal with the Davis issue first

[tntoriole]

3 hours ago, Roy Firestone said:

This is a great post. Sometimes I let friendships cloud my opinion. I was "for" the Davis signing because he showed great power and he was still young , and his work in the community(which is nice but has nothing to do with his ability on the field) and because I genuinely like Chris Davis. But I was terribly, hugely wrong, and I openly acknowledge it, and the Orioles were too. Davis is a sunk cost. His bat speed has waned and he won't get it back. Even when he connects (he struck out 4 times today) he can rarely go opposite field to beat the shift. He has limited skills as a hitter and does not recognize pitches and can't judge speeds. He needs to be moved somehow...or have an " Oblique issue" and get sent down for about a month and hope some hitting guru can make something out of this mess. But he IS a mess and it kills this team when there are runners on and he can't do anything.I believe if its not the worst signing in Oriole history ...its in the playoffs. And Chris Davis, whose playoff suspension for PED's also let the team down when they needed him. And what did we do? We rewarded him with the richest Oriole contract ever. Gawd what a mess.

I agree with this.  And whomever is responsible for this decision should be canned.   Buck? Brady? Peter?  We shall never know who was truly the advocate.  But there is no real reason to move him now (as if that were possible) or even send him down.  This season is toast and there are likely going to be trades coming soon which will change the nature of the clubhouse altogether.  He can at least play first base.     You have to wonder too if there were steroids involved somewhere that have now gone out of the picture.  So much changed after he was required to switch his ADHD treatment after the playoff suspension- after this he just has become a completely different performer.  

[TouchemAll]

8 hours ago, Pat Kelly said:

I know this subject has been exhausted but I think Os leadership is underestimating now big the Davis issue is.     He is having a horrific season and is unlikely to improve.  Some big issues to think about.

1) Running him out there every day batting 5th or 6th will not fix him at this point and is making him and the team even worse.  If he is in the lineup he should bat 8th. 

2) impact on teammates.  I think he effects other players - they do not expect him to do anything, they know he is the highest paid player on the team and the three best Machado, Schoop and Jones are all leaving because the team cannot pay any one of them in part because of the Davis money.   How is he a good influence or even a helpful teammate at this point?  It is sad and disheartening watching him - easily the worst thing about this team.

3) impact on roster, lineup and defense.  Playing him at first against LHP makes zero sense.  At this point Rickard and Gentry are no worse against LHP and make the OF defense better allowing Mancini to play 1B.   But the reality is CD should be benched, DLd or sent to Tibet to find himself.  Mancini at 1B would allow room for a LHB for LF - DJ Stewart who has speed and gets on base and for now can platoon with Gentry or Rickard.    Eventually Mullins should replace Gentry.  

4) $.   This problem has come up for many teams and has gotten fixed - Redsox,  Marlins,  Prince Fielder and Mat Kemp.  Need to get creative and deal with this can’t afford the dollars and player to handcuff the franchise.  

It stinks to have to trade Machado but he has delivered tremendous surplus value and can be flipped into some new valuable assets - he is doing everything he can to help deliver that.   Davis is actually the bigger issue to solve and Buck et al need to stop saying that he will right himself.   The sooner we move on we can start rebuilding  and fixing things. 

 

 

Agree with ALL OF THE ABOVE, we're stuck with him and it's a league laughing stock that we run him out there against LH pitching. We've got plenty of guys that could play just as good a 1st base as Davis, sit his BUTT against LH pitching at the very least and SHOW THE FANS AND THE REST OF THE TEAM YOU ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT WINNING...

[TouchemAll]

4 hours ago, Roy Firestone said:

This is a great post. Sometimes I let friendships cloud my opinion. I was "for" the Davis signing because he showed great power and he was still young , and his work in the community(which is nice but has nothing to do with his ability on the field) and because I genuinely like Chris Davis. But I was terribly, hugely wrong, and I openly acknowledge it, and the Orioles were too. Davis is a sunk cost. His bat speed has waned and he won't get it back. Even when he connects (he struck out 4 times today) he can rarely go opposite field to beat the shift. He has limited skills as a hitter and does not recognize pitches and can't judge speeds. He needs to be moved somehow...or have an " Oblique issue" and get sent down for about a month and hope some hitting guru can make something out of this mess. But he IS a mess and it kills this team when there are runners on and he can't do anything.I believe if its not the worst signing in Oriole history ...its in the playoffs. And Chris Davis, whose playoff suspension for PED's also let the team down when they needed him. And what did we do? We rewarded him with the richest Oriole contract ever. Gawd what a mess.

Buck has to take some heat for this too I think he lobbied hard to re-sign Davis... and its exactly why he keeps playing him waiting for the miracle turn around to prove him right.

Not gonna happen Buck admit the mistake and bury Davis.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

1 hour ago, Natty said:

The record lowest batting avg for a qualifier is .179, Rob Deer in 1991.

Davis is batting .166. And he stuck out 4x last night.

 

Rob Deer still managed to put up a 91 OPS+.

Davis OPS+ is 41 and Buck still starts Davis against southpaws.  

[Odenton Mike]

Buck has to take more than just a little heat for this huge Davis mistake. That was a terrible (team) business decision and people (Showalter)  need to be fired... actually tarred and feathered! The Davis signing is/was a franchise crippling decision that this organization may not recover from anytime soon.  Davis needs to join Chris Tillman in the Orioles witness protection program --  and fast!!

[atomic]

Davis is hitting so poorly I am starting to think he is playing this badly on purpose so he gets released.   Getting Gallardo back and having him be our first baseman would probably be more productive than Davis.  Chris is the worst player in the major leagues and we owe him 100 million dollars.

[TheOtherRipken]

Serious question, what has happened with CD and pitch recognition? I know bat speed is a contributing factor but something else is going on here. He looks lost at least half of the pitches of every at bat he has had this season.

[atomic]

21 minutes ago, TouchemAll said:

Buck has to take some heat for this too I think he lobbied hard to re-sign Davis... and its exactly why he keeps playing him waiting for the miracle turn around to prove him right.

Not gonna happen Buck admit the mistake and bury Davis.

I think the last few years prove nothing but Buck is not a nugget or very smart.  No wonder teams instantly became World Series contenders after he was fired.  

[Ripken]

Someone mentioned in a similar thread that a buyout was possible - I had stated I didn't think that was possible with the union.

If he can actually be bought out, you gotta try.  Offer him $50M to just go away.  I imagine Angelos can swallow that and still not have to start clipping coupons.  Call it a mistake and move on.  Otherwise, tell Davis he's gonna be the 25th man who rides the bench and never sees action for the next 4.5 years, wasting his life, hurting the team, and being a huge distraction and embarrassment.

[maybenxtyr]

2 minutes ago, Ripken said:

Someone mentioned in a similar thread that a buyout was possible - I had stated I didn't think that was possible with the union.

If he can actually be bought out, you gotta try.  Offer him $50M to just go away.  I imagine Angelos can swallow that and still not have to start clipping coupons.  Call it a mistake and move on.  Otherwise, tell Davis he's gonna be the 25th man who rides the bench and never sees action for the next 4.5 years, wasting his life, hurting the team, and being a huge distraction and embarrassment.

There is literally no reason for Davis to do that. He's going to get paid every cent of his deal just by waking up each morning. This isn't J.G. Wentworth.

[clapdiddy]

At this point, I think you give him the rest of the season.   Maybe, by some miracle, he figures some things out and becomes productive.   If he does not, I think you need to release him, especially if we are going with a youth movement.    Move Mancini to first, and put a good defensive outfield of young guys out there.  Focus on building with pitching and defense.

[weams]

7 minutes ago, maybenxtyr said:

There is literally no reason for Davis to do that. He's going to get paid every cent of his deal just by waking up each morning. This isn't J.G. Wentworth.

I agree. And those very unusual situations that were mentioned were end of career (age, Retirement) or huge interest rate deferral situations. It would be good for all here to move on to something much more likely. A cramdown won't occur here. 

[matt331]

2 hours ago, InsideCoroner said:

At this rate I doubt Davis would be penciled in enough to get 500 ABs. At least Deer had an OPS of .700 and hit 25 HR. 

At his current pace Davis would hit 15 homers and knock in 51 runs.

What makes you think he won’t get enough at bats? He’s still batting 4th/5th most games.

[weams]

35 minutes ago, TheOtherRipken said:

Serious question, what has happened with CD and pitch recognition? I know bat speed is a contributing factor but something else is going on here. He looks lost at least half of the pitches of every at bat he has had this season.

The only way that Chris Davis does not get every cent owed him by the Orioles is if he tests positive for a banned substance. Again.  And I am certain he won't let that happen. 

[MagicBird]

Chris Davis had great power and carried this team many times.  He was one of the main pieces that made this team competitive.   They had to resign him.  How could u let him go and do the same for another team?  NOBODY, and I mean NOBODY posting here or anybody else knew this was coming.   So many here act as if they had some ability to ascertain the future in regard to Crush.  Yea it was a risk but so is every contract in MLB.   Hindsight says it was a huge mistake.   Looking at it now is totally different than when they signed him.

 

All the "heads need to roll" posts are ridiculous even if its just frustration and venting.  Everything in life doesnt work out and this is a prime example.