Camden Depot: Jon Shepherd on Davis

[weams]

http://camdendepot.blogspot.com/2018/05/people-have-hypotheses-why-chris-davis.html

"In early October of 2015, Peter Angelos talked to Roch Kubatko about the importance of Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter to continue on doing what they do.  He also dropped what I thought was a bombshell at the time that no one else seemed to notice.  Angelos made it known that it was his intention to re-sign Chris Davis.  That was stunning to me because the thought at the moment was that Davis would pull in a 200+ MM deal, which seemed unthinkable in Baltimore given its status as a small market, lower revenue club.  It was also frightening because Davis is exactly the kind of player who should not have been given that contract.  Alas, Detroit was also curiously interested and the structure of a contract for a 161 MM deal with deferred money was figured out."

[MagicBird]

This is depressing:

When you look at everything on the table, the popularly peddled excuses for poor performance simply are not very credible.  Davis has lost athleticism.  He is no longer a gold glove first baseman.  He no longer hits the ball with authority.  He no longer runs at a decent clip.  It may be a boring excuse, but the likely problem with him is that he is aging.  His chimp days are behind him.

[Aglets]

34 minutes ago, MagicBird said:

, This is depressing:

When you look at everything on the table, the popularly peddled excuses for poor performance simply are not very credible.  Davis has lost athleticism.  He is no longer a gold glove first baseman.  He no longer hits the ball with authority.  He no longer runs at a decent clip.  It may be a boring excuse, but the likely problem with him is that he is aging.  His chimp days are behind him.

I think what a lot of fans want to know is, is it really just a precipitous physical decline at the age of 31/32.............. or is it a work ethic thing?   Thanks to the drama from Palmer and Coolbaugh we now have (legitimate, imo) potential concerns that Davis just doesn't care that much anymore which is incredibly depressing and frustrating.   And I normally HATE it when people play the 'oh they just don't care' card.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

With today’s advanced trading techniques and what we know about nutrition, there is no reason for Davis to fall off a cliff like this.

Players have much better diets now and the days of smoking cigarettes during games is long gone.

[Tx Oriole]

1 hour ago, weams said:

http://camdendepot.blogspot.com/2018/05/people-have-hypotheses-why-chris-davis.html

"In early October of 2015, Peter Angelos talked to Roch Kubatko about the importance of Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter to continue on doing what they do.  He also dropped what I thought was a bombshell at the time that no one else seemed to notice.  Angelos made it known that it was his intention to re-sign Chris Davis.  That was stunning to me because the thought at the moment was that Davis would pull in a 200+ MM deal, which seemed unthinkable in Baltimore given its status as a small market, lower revenue club.  It was also frightening because Davis is exactly the kind of player who should not have been given that contract.  Alas, Detroit was also curiously interested and the structure of a contract for a 161 MM deal with deferred money was figured out."

Oh how I wish CD had signed with the Tigers. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

Just now, Tx Oriole said:

Oh how I wish CD had signed with the Tigers. 

He would have, but Ilitch was talked out of it by his front office.  

[MagicBird]

20 minutes ago, Aglets said:

I think what a lot of fans want to know is, is it really just a precipitous physical decline at the age of 31/32.............. or is it a work ethic thing?   Thanks to the drama from Palmer and Coolbaugh we now have (legitimate, imo) potential concerns that Davis just doesn't care that much anymore which is incredibly depressing and frustrating.   And I normally HATE it when people play the 'oh they just don't care' card.

I dont buy into the he "just doesnt care anymore" mantra.  I dont think we heard enough to make that conclusion.  

[Fuzzball22]

41 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

With today’s advanced trading techniques and what we know about nutrition, there is no reason for Davis to fall off a cliff like this.

Players have much better diets now and the days of smoking cigarettes during games is long gone.

This is no cliff. He has fallen in to the Abyss.

[24fps]

1 hour ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

He would have, but Ilitch was talked out of it by his front office.  

Oh how I wish the O's had an owner who could be talked out of something by his front office.

[foxfield]

I believe that Chris Davis wants to be successful, and I believe it is also possible he has been pretty stubborn so far in his work habits.  By that I mean that what he has done in the past....should keep working.

I do not think the effort is what is lacking.  I fear that Davis is simply not the player he was and because he was pretty one dimensional, his slide is going to be pretty fast and pretty steep.  In hind site this looks pretty obvious to have foreseen.  Of course the reality is that even those who were against his signing, believed he could make that contract with the deferrals look pretty good for a couple of years.

Hind sight makes all of us have better vision.  Chris earned his contract and I have to believe he is trying to prove he is worth it.  But with each passing day, it seems he has declined and this is not a slump that he will come out of soon.

That will force the O's to remove him from the roster, not this year...as for 161M, they can afford to trot him out everyday to hope he does bounce back, as this season is over anyway.  But if he does not improve, he will be gone.

 

[TouchemAll]

10 minutes ago, foxfield said:

I believe that Chris Davis wants to be successful, and I believe it is also possible he has been pretty stubborn so far in his work habits.  By that I mean that what he has done in the past....should keep working.

I do not think the effort is what is lacking.  I fear that Davis is simply not the player he was and because he was pretty one dimensional, his slide is going to be pretty fast and pretty steep.  In hind site this looks pretty obvious to have foreseen.  Of course the reality is that even those who were against his signing, believed he could make that contract with the deferrals look pretty good for a couple of years.

Hind sight makes all of us have better vision.  Chris earned his contract and I have to believe he is trying to prove he is worth it.  But with each passing day, it seems he has declined and this is not a slump that he will come out of soon.

That will force the O's to remove him from the roster, not this year...as for 161M, they can afford to trot him out everyday to hope he does bounce back, as this season is over anyway.  But if he does not improve, he will be gone.

 

Pretty good post I mostly agree.

[Rene88]

Yeah, but we have Davis and Detroit doesn’t! Nanny nanny boo-boo! Oh wait...

[NashLumber]

2 hours ago, foxfield said:

 

That will force the O's to remove him from the roster, not this year...as for 161M, they can afford to trot him out everyday to hope he does bounce back, as this season is over anyway.  But if he does not improve, he will be gone.

 

Interesting point about them being able to afford trotting him out there every day now that the season is a lost cause (and batting 4th or 5th - which just seems on the surface - under the surface and any way you slice it to be utterly insane).

I guess in some ways maybe it’s being considered a true test or experiment to see if this is the real Chris Davis and the largest of sample sizes to make a decision about releasing him eventually, whenever that is. 

It also kind of reminds me of the story (not sure if it’s true) that it was the opinion of the coroner that Elvis had been dead about three hours when they found him slumped on the toilet in Graceland with no pulse. The paramedics performed CPR on him anyway, which I guess is standard procedure. But he was long gone when they found him.  

[bobmc]

4 minutes ago, NashLumber said:

Interesting point about them being able to afford trotting him out there every day now that the season is a lost cause (and batting 4th or 5th - which just seems on the surface - under the surface and any way you slice it to be utterly insane).

I guess in some ways maybe it’s being considered a true test or experiment to see if this is the real Chris Davis and the largest of sample sizes to make a decision about releasing him eventually, whenever that is. 

It also kind of reminds me of the story (not sure if it’s true) that it was the opinion of the coroner that Elvis had been dead about three hours when they found him slumped on the toilet in Graceland with no pulse. The paramedics performed CPR on him anyway, which I guess is standard procedure. But he was long gone when they found him.  

I eat PB and bananas every day.  Any chance I can suffer the same fate?  Asking for my wife....

But not the worst way to (pun intended) "go". 

[foxfield]

9 minutes ago, NashLumber said:

Interesting point about them being able to afford trotting him out there every day now that the season is a lost cause (and batting 4th or 5th - which just seems on the surface - under the surface and any way you slice it to be utterly insane).

I guess in some ways maybe it’s being considered a true test or experiment to see if this is the real Chris Davis and the largest of sample sizes to make a decision about releasing him eventually, whenever that is. 

It also kind of reminds me of the story (not sure if it’s true) that it was the opinion of the coroner that Elvis had been dead about three hours when they found him slumped on the toilet in Graceland with no pulse. The paramedics performed CPR on him anyway, which I guess is standard procedure. But he was long gone when they found him.  

At this point...the only thing that really could be worse for the Orioles would be to release him and pay him the remainder of his 161M contract to make the all star team for another club.  Now we both know that is not gonna happen.  But he is gonna play most every day this year because:  1) they have to pay him anyway and 2) as Buck says almost daily....who else is there and 3) Well there isn't any moral satisfaction in not losing more ground to the remainder of the teams with actual major league players.

Davis may well take a turn at 1b or OF along the way.  But I expect them to bat him until....well we are are exhausted and mortified for him.  I honestly think the foot comes off the pedal when he gets to enough at bats to officially be the worst ever.  You know we have to preserve the mendoza line.  Besides, the Crush Line would really just screw with peoples heads.