Chris Davis 2019 and beyond

[rudyrooster]

46 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

I hate to say this, but the best way to get any good settlement with Chris Davis might be to make him play, be terrible, be hated by fans and teammates, and finally get so down that he's willing to accept some kind of settlement offer. I'm not even sure what such an offer could look like, but if it's like last year, he'd probably be willing to give up some money to get out of that situation.

I'm not so sure that the MLBPA would allow a settlement.  Is there a precedent for such a settlement?  I don't know.

[theocean]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

It’s completely realistic.    They’ve never had a player that bad.    They’ll be an absolute joke of a franchise if they continue to carry a guy that bad once it becomes obvious he’s not going to materially improve.    And fans will be throwing garbage on the field at some point if that occurs.    

I realize it’s a lot of money to eat but there are literally hundreds of minor league players who could outperform what Davis did last year by a substantial margin.   

One more time: I’m all for giving Davis an ample opportunity to show he can materially improve.  But if it’s obvious he can’t, it would be moronic to keep the guy around just because you have to pay him.    

The closest comparison I can think of is Ryan Howard. And at least he was ONLY putting up -1.2 / -1.2 / -1.6 WAR his last three years.

[SteveA]

16 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

It will be a toxic environment for the team and the player to keep sending him out there if he isn’t performaning. 

He will get a good look but if he is hitting .132 on July 7th good chance they say goodbye.  

Right.   All the happy talk about playing aggressively, have a camp full of competition, becomes noise if you have an albatross at first base who isn't required to compete in any way to keep his job.

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, rudyrooster said:

I'm not so sure that the MLBPA would allow a settlement.  Is there a precedent for such a settlement?  I don't know.

What mechanism is in place that would allow them to stop it?

 

Players have retired and given some or all of the money owed them back.

 

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, theocean said:

The closest comparison I can think of is Ryan Howard. And at least he was ONLY putting up -1.2 / -1.2 / -1.6 WAR his last three years.

That is about the best example.  And a lot of Howard’s negative value came from his poor defense.   His offense was nowhere near as bad as Davis’ last year.   .690, .720, .710 OPS; 23, 23 and 25 HR; 95, 77 and 59 RBI.    He might have been replacement level if the NL had a DH.

[Tx Oriole]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

It’s completely realistic.    They’ve never had a player that bad.    They’ll be an absolute joke of a franchise if they continue to carry a guy that bad once it becomes obvious he’s not going to materially improve.    And fans will be throwing garbage on the field at some point if that occurs.    

I realize it’s a lot of money to eat but there are literally hundreds of minor league players who could outperform what Davis did last year by a substantial margin.   

One more time: I’m all for giving Davis an ample opportunity to show he can materially improve.  But if it’s obvious he can’t, it would be moronic to keep the guy around just because you have to pay him.    

Yes it is but I don't see ownership eating 80 million or whatever is owed Davis. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

17 minutes ago, theocean said:

The closest comparison I can think of is Ryan Howard. And at least he was ONLY putting up -1.2 / -1.2 / -1.6 WAR his last three years.

With Howard that was mostly due to his defense at 1B, and I've always found defensive metrics for 1B curious at best.  Howard still wasn't hitting up to the level of his contract but not nearly as bad as 2018 Davis. 

[Ripken]

Angelos may not want to eat all that money but it was his mistake that caused this.  It wasn't some great misfortune.  He pushed for Davis against all advice, complete with a bidding war against himself that raised term.  Sometimes you have to man up and pay for your mistakes.  Said another way, I don't feel bad for Pete since he's the one who screwed up.  I'll give the new regime 80 games or so to try whatever... but it already looks bad and Davis' attitude strikes me as awful.  Is he even trying to get better?

[Ripken]

1 hour ago, Moose Milligan said:

They already are swallowing 80 million if he's -3 WAR.  

I mean, that's worse.  The money is gone either way but they'd also be swallowing -3 WAR.  I'm not convinced everyone gets that.

[Moose Milligan]

4 minutes ago, Ripken said:

I mean, that's worse.  The money is gone either way but they'd also be swallowing -3 WAR.  I'm not convinced everyone gets that.

Yeah, you're right.  

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

2 minutes ago, Ripken said:

I mean, that's worse.  The money is gone either way but they'd also be swallowing -3 WAR.  I'm not convinced everyone gets that.

Davis needs to be treated as a bad product release barring a dramatic turnaround. Apple or Microsoft wouldn't just keep producing a product that bombed because they invested $80M into it.  That is how Davis precisely needs to be treated at this point. 

Transition Mancini or Mountcastle to 1B and free up a roster spot wasted on Davis. 

[theocean]

32 minutes ago, Ripken said:

I mean, that's worse.  The money is gone either way but they'd also be swallowing -3 WAR.  I'm not convinced everyone gets that.

The money isn't gone, though, if he gets hurt and the O's can collect some insurance money. I agree with everything you're saying, but I could see ownership thinking, "We're tanking the next few seasons, what's the rush of getting rid of him? Maybe he tears an ACL at some point." As dark and macabre as that is...

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

9 minutes ago, theocean said:

The money isn't gone, though, if he gets hurt and the O's can collect some insurance money. I agree with everything you're saying, but I could see ownership thinking, "We're tanking the next few seasons, what's the rush of getting rid of him? Maybe he tears an ACL at some point." As dark and macabre as that is...

So what you’re saying is drill a massive hole next to Chris Davis’ parking spot at Camden Yards.  

[Can_of_corn]

13 minutes ago, theocean said:

The money isn't gone, though, if he gets hurt and the O's can collect some insurance money. I agree with everything you're saying, but I could see ownership thinking, "We're tanking the next few seasons, what's the rush of getting rid of him? Maybe he tears an ACL at some point." As dark and macabre as that is...

You have to miss an entire season for insurance to kick in.

Very much a long shot.

Better chance he fails another drug test.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

5 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Better chance he fails another drug test.