People here seem to forget

[ledzepp8]

Do they really? I'm not trying to be a smart aleck. Is it really common for a player to have a pretty big peak around ages 25-27, then tail off to mediocrity, then have another peak from 31-33 or something?

I'm trying to think of some examples, and haven't come up with any. I thought of Yaz, who was up and down a lot, but he was basically never under an OPS+ of 110. I thought of Ruben Sierra, but he was good early, then kind of hung on as a crappy player for a long time, with a few good years here and there. I looked at all of Huff's comps on bb-ref, and nobody really had a career that fit that mold. Some of them like Richie Zisk had a below-average year in the middle of a good run, but that's about it.

Seriously, I want to see some examples of players who had two peaks, one at the normal time, one in the early-to-mid thirties. I'll look some more, too.

Edit: Eric Davis kind of fits the mold, but there was an obvious reason for his decline: he couldn't stay off the DL for more than about six weeks at a time.

Maybe I misspoke...I didn't necessarily mean that there were players that had different peaks throughout their careers. I just meant that there are players that have otherwise good careers with bad or subpar seasons mixed in. I think just because a player had good seasons and then bad seasons, it doesn't automatically mean he's going to be closer to bad than to good from that point on. It's not totally out of the realm of possibility that a 31 year old Huff could duplicate this season or at least be in the ballpark (better than the couple of seasons before).

[Sports Guy]

So, are we going to go into another offseason thinking miracles can happen again with guys like Mora and Huff and do the ol "well its possible, so plan for that" idea?

I mean, that is basically what has gone on for 11 years now, so why not make it 12, right?

[DrungoHazewood]

So, are we going to go into another offseason thinking miracles can happen again with guys like Mora and Huff and do the ol "well its possible, so plan for that" idea?

I mean, that is basically what has gone on for 11 years now, so why not make it 12, right?

MacPhail won't be doing that. Or at least we can hope.

[Sports Guy]

MacPhail won't be doing that. Or at least we can hope.

Yea I hope not but I can already see the sell job on Huff is we miss out on Tex.

[ledzepp8]

So, are we going to go into another offseason thinking miracles can happen again with guys like Mora and Huff and do the ol "well its possible, so plan for that" idea?

I mean, that is basically what has gone on for 11 years now, so why not make it 12, right?

What miracle? That Huff will play like a 31 year old and not a 41 year old? I fail to see how that's a miracle.

[JTrea81]

Yea I hope not but I can already see the sell job on Huff is we miss out on Tex.

I don't think anybody is buying that Huff can be a substitute for Tex as we will still need to add a bat like Burrell or Dunn if we miss out on him, but rather he can complement that bat until he is traded or walks for draft picks.

Using Huff as an excuse to not go after Tex or another bat is inexcusable because Huff is only signed for one season, therefore he's not a long term solution.

[ledzepp8]

I don't think anybody is buying that Huff can be a substitute for Tex as we will still need to add a bat like Burrell or Dunn if we miss out on him, but rather he can complement that bat until he is traded or walks for draft picks.

Using Huff as an excuse to not go after Tex or another bat is inexcusable because Huff is only signed for one season, therefore he's not a long term solution.

Of course they're not, but that won't stop Sports Guy from trying to argue that. For a guy that complains about misinterpretation...:scratchchinhmm:

[battlefeverjnb]

I don't think Huff's sudden lack of production when he came to the O's was a result of his aging process. From what I've heard someone helped correct his batting stance a little last August and he's been on a tear ever since. I think most people have chalked it up to him living up to his general end of the season hot streak, but I think this time the correction in the way he bats has resulted in this year's onslaught. I definitely wouldn't mind seeing him on the O's next year, because I think now that he has relaxed and found a better way of hitting, that he won't suddenly drop off the map after the season. He still has a few years of good production in him at the very least. But if we can trade him for something valuable, then I say go for it. I'd be happy with either scenario.

[DrungoHazewood]

What miracle? That Huff will play like a 31 year old and not a 41 year old? I fail to see how that's a miracle.

I'm pretty sure he's talking about the Orioles' plans from recent years being something like "if four or five of our guys buck the odds and have a great year we'll be competitive." The Flanagan Orioles would pretty regularly field a team that they said would be .500 or better when the only way that was happening was for players in their mid-30s to repeat career years.

[hatepaste]

I don't think anybody is buying that Huff can be a substitute for Tex as we will still need to add a bat like Burrell or Dunn if we miss out on him, but rather he can complement that bat until he is traded or walks for draft picks.

Using Huff as an excuse to not go after Tex or another bat is inexcusable because Huff is only signed for one season, therefore he's not a long term solution.

Huff is perfect compliment to Teixeira...Hitting 5th and behind him. As good as O's offense has been this year, still had a hard time finding someone to hit cleanup.

And I don't really know how you consider Huff an alternative if we don't get Teixiera, because Huff is already here.

[Sports Guy]

I don't think anybody is buying that Huff can be a substitute for Tex as we will still need to add a bat like Burrell or Dunn if we miss out on him, but rather he can complement that bat until he is traded or walks for draft picks.

Using Huff as an excuse to not go after Tex or another bat is inexcusable because Huff is only signed for one season, therefore he's not a long term solution.

That wasn't my point...If we miss out on Tex, i can see AM trying to sell the fans on the idea that we have Hufre for a lot money and it makes sense for us to go that route.

[TyCobb]

Do they really? I'm not trying to be a smart aleck. Is it really common for a player to have a pretty big peak around ages 25-27, then tail off to mediocrity, then have another peak from 31-33 or something?

I'm trying to think of some examples, and haven't come up with any. I thought of Yaz, who was up and down a lot, but he was basically never under an OPS+ of 110. I thought of Ruben Sierra, but he was good early, then kind of hung on as a crappy player for a long time, with a few good years here and there. I looked at all of Huff's comps on bb-ref, and nobody really had a career that fit that mold. Some of them like Richie Zisk had a below-average year in the middle of a good run, but that's about it.

Seriously, I want to see some examples of players who had two peaks, one at the normal time, one in the early-to-mid thirties. I'll look some more, too.

Edit: Eric Davis kind of fits the mold, but there was an obvious reason for his decline: he couldn't stay off the DL for more than about six weeks at a time.

A-Rod and Jermaine Dye come to mind.

[Sports Guy]

I'm pretty sure he's talking about the Orioles' plans from recent years being something like "if four or five of our guys buck the odds and have a great year we'll be competitive." The Flanagan Orioles would pretty regularly field a team that they said would be .500 or better when the only way that was happening was for players in their mid-30s to repeat career years.

Glad to see you got the point there.

[JTrea81]

That wasn't my point...If we miss out on Tex, i can see AM trying to sell the fans on the idea that we have Hufre for a lot money and it makes sense for us to go that route.

And I'm saying Oriole fans, even the most casual ones, would not accept that excuse from MacPhail. I would hope that he wouldn't think fans were dumb enough to believe that Huff as good a 1B solution as Teixeira is. I don't see him pulling that because I think he knows fans aren't that naive, especially the only fans that the Orioles have left...

[hatepaste]

A-Rod and Jermaine Dye come to mind.

A-rod never had a bad year.

Dye did start out strong and had some off years. Looked like might have had some injuries in there?