Is the 2019 Season a Blatant Tank Job?

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, Frobby said:

They were fortunate not to have long term albatross contracts hanging over their heads.   One year of Carlos Lee, and that’s about all, as I recall.   

They managed to find a taker for Norris.

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

They managed to find a taker for Norris.

Yeah, and his deal wasn’t that big, either.    

[Absltgreek]

11 minutes ago, atomic said:

What will your excuse be when they don’t spend their full draft allotments.

What will your excuse be when/if they do?

[mdoriolefan]

[Orioles West]

1 hour ago, Ripken said:

It's so bad the league is not letting us play the last 16 games.

As bad as it is -- this was the belly laugh I needed today. Patience is down to the bare bones, so humor may be the only weapon left as we await a brighter day.

[HowAboutThat]

3 hours ago, baltfan said:

I look at this year as one for experimentation and seeing what we have.  Numerous guys have been brought in or have been called up and given a chance.  If you didn't do it this way, maybe John Means or Smith don't emerge.  We have also learned that a ton of these guys just aren't major leaguers.

Did we have to learn that? All guys on the 25-man who were PTBNL/cash considerations  trades, waiver claims or Rule 5 guys, were guys no longer wanted by the former team. And then the minor league FA signings:

Smith, Broxton, Rickard( since departed) Straily, Ynoa(?) Armstrong, Lucas, Castro, Santander, Núñez, Ruiz, Bleier, Gilmartin, Severino, probably others that don’t come to mind. But that’s over 50% of the 25-man who were essentially given away by their old clubs because they had no value.

And they have no value. They have ability and talent but not enough to be effective. They have one medium-good skill canceled by greater flaws.

The team we have now is the result of years of bad planning, bad trades, wasted off-seasons, ridiculous FA signings, ignoring meaningful international signings, and myriad other problems.

Mike is a GM, not the Risen Savior. He chooses to let the slop acquired by the past play while developing the quality for the future.

And that’s the way it is.

[jjnono]

2 hours ago, wildbillhiccup said:

Again, losing and not trying to win are two completely different things to me. I'm not ok with a complete tank job. Even if they have limited resources they should be trying to win and it doesn't seem like they are. And for me that really boils down to decisions to roster / play players who haven't performed. By not cycling out some of those players, like Straily, for someone new (anyone really) it crosses into "we're tanking" territory for me. And as much as Elias wants to base his rebuilding strategy on securing multiple #1 draft picks it needs to happen organically. Otherwise it goes against the spirit of the game. 

You're crossing into Atomic territory here, who I believe described the Orioles current rebuilding approach a "moral failure."  (aside from sportsmanship, I wasn't aware that concepts of morality were built-in components of the game...)

FWIW, I don't understand why Straily is on the team any more than you do... it's a mystery for sure, perhaps buried in the thought that if you are going to waste an arm, it might as well be one that has no career left upon release...

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, jjnono said:

You're crossing into Atomic territory here, who I believe described the Orioles current rebuilding approach a "moral failure."  (aside from sportsmanship, I wasn't aware that concepts of morality were built-in components of the game...)

FWIW, I don't understand why Straily is on the team any more than you do... it's a mystery for sure, perhaps buried in the thought that if you are going to waste an arm, it might as well be one that has no career left upon release...

The spirit of the game is...do what you gotta do, within the rules.  

I am positive that Straily won't be here for the rest of the year and I'm positive that whatever corpse we haul in off the street won't be much better.

[Ripken]

8 minutes ago, Orioles West said:

As bad as it is -- this was the belly laugh I needed today. Patience is down to the bare bones, so humor may be the only weapon left as we await a brighter day.

[atomic]

16 minutes ago, Absltgreek said:

What will your excuse be when/if they do?

They won’t.  

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

The spirit of the game is...do what you gotta do, within the rules.  

I am positive that Straily won't be here for the rest of the year and I'm positive that whatever corpse we haul in off the street won't be much better.

I dunno, 9.82 ERA and a homer every other inning is pretty hard to match.    

[jjnono]

3 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

The spirit of the game is...do what you gotta do, within the rules.  

I am positive that Straily won't be here for the rest of the year and I'm positive that whatever corpse we haul in off the street won't be much better.

In complete agreement...

[atomic]

27 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Earlier today you admitted that you thought that the moon landing was a hoax.  There's not much I can say to you that'll resonate with you.  I'm convinced that you're not willing to engage in open minded discussions with the rest of the posters here and that you're doing a magnificent, world class troll job.  A tip of the cap to you.

I’m did not say it was a hoax.  I said as conspiracy theories go it is somewhat believable.  The earth is flat is in no way believable.

[Moose Milligan]

3 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I dunno, 9.82 ERA and a homer every other inning is pretty hard to match.    

We found Straily, we can find another.

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, atomic said:

The earth is flat is in no way believable.

Are you sure about that one?