What is the first thing you want the O's to do this off season?

[Frobby]

14 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I guess it depends on whether you understand the realities to major league baseball or not.     Any team that can't pay 200m in payroll on a regular basis is going to go through a cycle.   Collect core players and win to a peak and then go down hill to the bottom.   Its the way the draft is structured.  If you win, you draft low.  If you lose you draft high. The O's rode the wave up for about five years and they have ridden it down to bottom.  It makes very little difference if the O's lose 115 or 85.  Either way they are still not be a playoff team and need to rebuild.

They is no apology needed to a fan the understands the normal baseball cycle.  It is a rare team that can avoid it unless they are the Yankees, Red Sox or Dodgers that can afford to spend their way through the bottom of the cycle.

 

I don’t see a lot of other teams playing sub-.300 baseball at any point in their cycles.    This season has been an embarrassment and a disgrace.   There are advantages to being the worst team viz. the draft, but it’s not like the O’s planned this.    It’s been pathetic.  

[wildcard]

14 minutes ago, Ruzious said:

When does the cycle where we get to the WS start?  

The World Series a crap shoot.   Even a team that wins 100 games during the season needs their players healthy for the playoffs and that is not guaranteed.   Run into a hot team during the playoffs and there went the hope of being World Champions.  

[wildcard]

5 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I don’t see a lot of other teams playing sub-.300 baseball at any point in their cycles.    This season has been an embarrassment and a disgrace.   There are advantages to being the worst team viz. the draft, but it’s not like the O’s planned this.    It’s been pathetic.  

I agree.  And we can all be mad about it or we can enjoy the rebuild.   I know not being a O's fan is not a option for me.   I've been through too much to give up on them now.  I'm an O's fan for life.  I just hope they hire a good GM.  Make a plan and stick with it.

[Tx Oriole]

18 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I agree.  And we can all be mad about it or we can enjoy the rebuild.   I know not being a O's fan is not a option for me.   I've been through too much to give up on them now.  I'm an O's fan for life.  I just hope they hire a good GM.  Make a plan and stick with it.

I agree with you. 

[Frobby]

22 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I agree.  And we can all be mad about it or we can enjoy the rebuild.   I know not being a O's fan is not a option for me.   I've been through too much to give up on them now.  I'm an O's fan for life.  I just hope they hire a good GM.  Make a plan and stick with it.

I think I will enjoy the rebuild as much as I enjoyed my last colonoscopy.   Some things are necessary, but not enjoyable.    Hopefully you wake up on the other side and conclude it was worth it.

[spiritof66]

5 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I think I will enjoy the rebuild as much as I enjoyed my last colonoscopy.   Some things are necessary, but not enjoyable.    Hopefully you wake up on the other side and conclude it was worth it.

I expect it will be a rough ride as far as winning games is concerned. But we'll see more new faces, and watching them should be interesting as well as, on occasion, frustrating and even maddening. I would love to see a manager who's thoughtful, innovative and interesting to listen to. Maybe some creativity in bringing fans to the ballpark to watch a bad team. We might even get new ownership, which would make a big difference in how I view the future of the team. 

One pleasant side effect: I didn't mind, and barely noticed, the off-day yesterday after a string of losses. It's almost as if every day is an off-day, so that an off-day when there's no game doesn't seem that different from an off-day when there is one. 

[wildcard]

39 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I think I will enjoy the rebuild as much as I enjoyed my last colonoscopy.   Some things are necessary, but not enjoyable.    Hopefully you wake up on the other side and conclude it was worth it.

I look forward to see Hays and Diaz play sometime next year.  I like watching Mullins play.   Villar and Nunez are interesting players.   The pitching is not very good yet. I look forward to seeing a new pitching coach.  Wallace was very good.  McDowell stinks.  I hope they find a way to keep Bobby Dickerson.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, wildcard said:

I look forward to see Hays and Diaz play sometime next year.  I like watching Mullins play.   Villar and Nunez are interesting players.   The pitching is not very good yet. I look forward to seeing a new pitching coach.  Wallace was very good.  McDowell stinks.  I hope they find a way to keep Bobby Dickerson.

I expect there to be individual performances that will be interesting to watch, just like Nick Markakis was interesting in 2006, Adam Jones in 2008, Matt Wieters in 2009, etc.   But overall I’m expecting this to be pretty painful and to take several years.    And I’m expecting some disappointments along the way with players in which we’ve placed high hopes.   

[JR Oriole]

2 hours ago, wildcard said:

The World Series a crap shoot.   Even a team that wins 100 games during the season needs their players healthy for the playoffs and that is not guaranteed.   Run into a hot team during the playoffs and there went the hope of being World Champions.  

I agree with this to an extent.....the crap shoot part.  The 17 Astros, 16 Cubs, and 15 Royals were really very good and balanced teams....all very worthy and non-surprising champions.  I do think health is a big key though.  In 2014 we were not healthy and missing some key players....the Royals were extremely healthy and missing nobody.  So that definitely plays a role.  As does being a "hot team," since we know that can definitely change things.

I think we have had fewer "what the hell are they doing here" WS participants in recent memory than we did when I was a kid.  Back then, the 85 Royals, 87 Twins, and 88 Dodgers would have fit the crap shoot bill.  Other than some of the recent Giants teams that were good/not great and the 07 Rockies, I think we have had very strong teams make the WS in the last decade or so. 

[weams]

3 hours ago, Ruzious said:

When does the cycle where we get to the WS start?  

2014. 

[wildbillhiccup]

3 hours ago, Frobby said:

I don’t see a lot of other teams playing sub-.300 baseball at any point in their cycles.    This season has been an embarrassment and a disgrace.   There are advantages to being the worst team viz. the draft, but it’s not like the O’s planned this.    It’s been pathetic.  

I think you hit the nail on the head and it's a strong argument for why they  should clean house. Dan, Buck, Brady and anyone else who had a hand in assembling this team (and I use that word lightly) should probably be gone. 

[wildcard]

4 hours ago, Frobby said:

I expect there to be individual performances that will be interesting to watch, just like Nick Markakis was interesting in 2006, Adam Jones in 2008, Matt Wieters in 2009, etc.   But overall I’m expecting this to be pretty painful and to take several years.    And I’m expecting some disappointments along the way with players in which we’ve placed high hopes.   

Sound right to me.  Except for the painful part.  If expectations are low the pain is not that much IMO.  The 2nd half has not been painful to me.   They proved they sucked in the 1st half.  My expectation were low the 2nd half.

[wildcard]

3 hours ago, wildbillhiccup said:

I think you hit the nail on the head and it's a strong argument for why they  should clean house. Dan, Buck, Brady and anyone else who had a hand in assembling this team (and I use that word lightly) should probably be gone. 

I don't blame those guys for assembling team.  I blame the players for the most part.  They underachieved big time.  However, the Gausman trade was inexcusable. 

[wildbillhiccup]

11 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I don't blame those guys for assembling team.  I blame the players for the most part.  They underachieved big time.  However, the Gausman trade was inexcusable. 

No blame for the Davis and Trumbo contracts? 

[eddie83]

13 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I don't blame those guys for assembling team.  I blame the players for the most part.  They underachieved big time.  However, the Gausman trade was inexcusable. 

That had to be ordered by ownership to save money.