How do the Orioles become competitive again?

[AnythingO's]

27 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I think he stays.  The Brothers Angelos will want someone they can trust around.

I'll go one further, Brady, Stockstill, and Graham all stay IMO.

[Aristotelian]

To play Devil's Advocate, setting aside the organizational issues and just looking at the players in the system, we have a pretty good core of pitching prospects in the minors. Hall, Rodriguez, Kremer, Akin, and Harvey are a potential nucleus of a competitive team. This group really seems as strong as any that I can remember as an O's fan. Knight, Lowther, etc look like good bets for back end guys. None are ready now but could be 2-4 years away. I think it is quite likely that two of those guys turn out to be as good as Gausman or better. 

We also have a bunch of OF prospects, between DJ, Mullins, Hays, and Yusniel. Mountcastle if he doesn't stick at 3B. OF's are also easy to fill in free agency when the time comes.

The big structural obstacles to us competing any time soon are middle infield and Chris Davis's contract. We can somewhat compensate for Davis by going super lean and hoarding cash for a few years. As bad as Davis' contract is, we don't really have any others that are really terrible. Middle infield is the biggest issue IMO. We just have no prospects there. Still, it is possible that one of Villar, Beckham, Mancini, or Bundy have a big year and turn into a major trade chip. Cobb as well.

I wouldn't say there is a clear path, but I also don't think we are necessarily doomed to another 14 years.

 

[NCRaven]

35 minutes ago, AnythingO's said:

I'll go one further, Brady, Stockstill, and Graham all stay IMO.

I certainly think that Graham could stay.  He seems to be fairly well regarded in the industry. And, the new Pres/GM will need people in place until he can decide where people are good and where they need to be replaced.

No real feel for Stockstill or Anderson.

[tntoriole]

5 hours ago, Aristotelian said:

To play Devil's Advocate, setting aside the organizational issues and just looking at the players in the system, we have a pretty good core of pitching prospects in the minors. Hall, Rodriguez, Kremer, Akin, and Harvey are a potential nucleus of a competitive team. This group really seems as strong as any that I can remember as an O's fan. Knight, Lowther, etc look like good bets for back end guys. None are ready now but could be 2-4 years away. I think it is quite likely that two of those guys turn out to be as good as Gausman or better. 

We also have a bunch of OF prospects, between DJ, Mullins, Hays, and Yusniel. Mountcastle if he doesn't stick at 3B. OF's are also easy to fill in free agency when the time comes.

The big structural obstacles to us competing any time soon are middle infield and Chris Davis's contract. We can somewhat compensate for Davis by going super lean and hoarding cash for a few years. As bad as Davis' contract is, we don't really have any others that are really terrible. Middle infield is the biggest issue IMO. We just have no prospects there. Still, it is possible that one of Villar, Beckham, Mancini, or Bundy have a big year and turn into a major trade chip. Cobb as well.

I wouldn't say there is a clear path, but I also don't think we are necessarily doomed to another 14 years.

 

I am nowhere near as enthused about this group of pitching prospects as you are.  None of them are anywhere near competitive AL East rotation caliber, imho and it remains to see what they will turn out to be.  Harvey, in particular, need to have one year where he is not on the DL mostly. 

Again, our outfield prospects could be competitive or they could turn out to much less productive big league players than we think.  I do not yet see a young Adam Jones or Nick Markakis in the group you mentioned.

I think we are going to be pretty noncompetitive for a few years and that the high draft picks we are going to get must turn out to be over the top superstars to get us back in the division mix after only a few years.  Otherwise, a longer cycle down. 

 

[Rick_Schu]

It’s so far in the future, that I really wonder what the world around us will look like when the Orioles are competitive again. Maybe virtual reality will have become so advanced that it can seem like the Orioles are competitive. 

 

[theocean]

5 minutes ago, Rick_Schu said:

It’s so far in the future, that I really wonder what the world around us will look like when the Orioles are competitive again. Maybe virtual reality will have become so advanced that it can seem like the Orioles are competitive. 

 

The year is 2057. Performance enhancing exoskeletons. Parents getting their baby's DNA modified to be the perfect baseball player. Blade runners tracking down players who are actually replicants. And the Orioles finally win more than 81 games.

[Aristotelian]

11 hours ago, tntoriole said:

I am nowhere near as enthused about this group of pitching prospects as you are.  None of them are anywhere near competitive AL East rotation caliber, imho and it remains to see what they will turn out to be.  Harvey, in particular, need to have one year where he is not on the DL mostly. 

Again, our outfield prospects could be competitive or they could turn out to much less productive big league players than we think.  I do not yet see a young Adam Jones or Nick Markakis in the group you mentioned.

I think we are going to be pretty noncompetitive for a few years and that the high draft picks we are going to get must turn out to be over the top superstars to get us back in the division mix after only a few years.  Otherwise, a longer cycle down. 

 

Oh, I agree with you, I am just trying to answer OP's question with a possible path.

Some reputable places have compared Diaz to Lorenzo Cain. Not AJ or Markakis, but a different kind of player. I like the idea of building around guys who can catch the ball.

[interloper]

Well it has and always will start with good pitching.

[Tony-OH]

On 10/25/2018 at 12:01 PM, Can_of_corn said:

I swear the second he made that catch in front of the standings board I was like, "Good grief!" The Orioles embarrassing record this year is why a clearing of the house was in order. My biggest issue, why wasn't it done earlier in the season? If you weren't sure that Duquette was your guy, why was he allowed to architect the trades at the trading deadline? If Buck wasn't your guy anymore, why allow him to continue to manage a club that was clearly awful?  

I'm not saying a new manager would or wouldn't have lit a spark, but could it have been any worse? 47-115.. Just let that settle in and think to yourself, how bad do you have to be to only win 47 games in a season?

After thinking about that, think about why ownership has been non existence in the press even after they dismissed their baseball operations folks? Who in the world would allow their team to sink to this level and not even publicly come out and say, "We're working this. We are looking for a qualified candidate for baseball operations that will rebuild this franchise back to being winner once again?" 

What have we gotten, nothing, zilch, not nary a comment and it's not only sad, but quite honestly it's embarrassing for the Angelos family. The Orioles franchise is a joke around baseball and we as fans get to take the brunt of that because we actually care about out team. We have been given absolutely nothing. 

To me, the silence is deafening. By that I mean the dysfunction within ownership is at an all-time high. Maybe the Angelos brothers will announce a prime President candidate who will announce a GM and manager and we'll start to feel better, but the lack of addressing this entire situation goes beyond embarrassing, but to the point of bordering on incompetence. 

I'm not trying to be dramatic here, but this is the lowest of the lows for my as a fan of Orioles baseball because I literally have no idea where the brothers are, who they are interviewing, and honestly, what there plans are for the future of this franchise. It certainly appears so far that the apples did no fall far from the tree and that's very disappointing.

[jtschrei]

11 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I swear the second he made that catch in front of the standings board I was like, "Good grief!" The Orioles embarrassing record this year is why a clearing of the house was in order. My biggest issue, why wasn't it done earlier in the season? If you weren't sure that Duquette was your guy, why was he allowed to architect the trades at the trading deadline? If Buck wasn't your guy anymore, why allow him to continue to manage a club that was clearly awful?  

I'm not saying a new manager would or wouldn't have lit a spark, but could it have been any worse? 47-115.. Just let that settle in and think to yourself, how bad do you have to be to only win 47 games in a season?

After thinking about that, think about why ownership has been non existence in the press even after they dismissed their baseball operations folks? Who in the world would allow their team to sink to this level and not even publicly come out and say, "We're working this. We are looking for a qualified candidate for baseball operations that will rebuild this franchise back to being winner once again?" 

What have we gotten, nothing, zilch, not nary a comment and it's not only sad, but quite honestly it's embarrassing for the Angelos family. The Orioles franchise is a joke around baseball and we as fans get to take the brunt of that because we actually care about out team. We have been given absolutely nothing. 

To me, the silence is deafening. By that I mean the dysfunction within ownership is at an all-time high. Maybe the Angelos brothers will announce a prime President candidate who will announce a GM and manager and we'll start to feel better, but the lack of addressing this entire situation goes beyond embarrassing, but to the point of bordering on incompetence. 

I'm not trying to be dramatic here, but this is the lowest of the lows for my as a fan of Orioles baseball because I literally have no idea where the brothers are, who they are interviewing, and honestly, what there plans are for the future of this franchise. It certainly appears so far that the apples did no fall far from the tree and that's very disappointing.

Great post. I feel the same way. 

[JR Oriole]

19 minutes ago, jtschrei said:

Great post. I feel the same way. 

I absolutely agree as well.  Basically, this is a slow and inept company with a single, terrible product and no ability to read what their customers need.  And 35 seasons without so much as a World Series appearance doesn't really give you any currency with anybody younger than 45, which basically means two generations in a row have no clue what it feels like to invest in a winner.  Good thing for the Orioles they are a sports franchise rather than an actual business, as they would be shut down faster than Toys R Us in any normal environment. 

[Natty]

Not having the worst pitching in the majors would be a good start to being competitive.