Halfway to 74 wins?

[Sports Guy]

Just now, Pickles said:

How's DeJong doing?  You were big on him too right?

Yep..Wish we had him too.

[Pickles]

3 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Yep..Wish we had him too.

Despite the fact he has a 22 OPS+. been sent to the minors months ago, and has like 20 million still owed to him?

 

[Sports Guy]

Just now, Pickles said:

Despite the fact he has a 22 OPS+. been sent to the minors months ago, and has like 20 million still owed to him?

 

Yep.  He was always a gamble in that the bat had been off in recent years, while the defense was elite.

He is signed to a very reasonable contract where he can kept through 2025 or be done after 2023.

He has certainly been terrible although you have no idea how a change in scenery would have effected him.  I don't think we would be any worse off now if we had him and Mateo playing more of a UTI role and I would still like the potential of DeJong finding his offense again more than Mateo finding something he has never had.

He may be done or he may just be having a terrible year.  Maybe he has a nagging injury of some sorts?  Who knows.  

The only reason I would currently not want him is because Gunnar looks like he can play SS moreso now than before.  Its not a guarantee but its looking better. 

 

[Aristotelian]

2 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Yea, those 2 were 2 of my suggestions although I would not have given him 7 or more years like the Rockies did.

I wanted Stroman and would still be happy with him.

This season has zero to do with his long term strategy. 

Not giving out big contracts, getting extra year of service time for AR, and continuing to develop prospects until ready are absolutely about Elias's strategy.

[foxfield]

5 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Well zero people wanted them to do anything that hurt the future of the team.

The argument was that there was no need to tank anymore and that there is value on having a better product on the field for fans to watch.

This year is proving that.  

That's a bit revisionist, but that's also not completely honest.  Some nameless folks argued that they did not need to tank anymore and that they needed to put a better product on the field for fans to watch.  But in all honesty those people  pretty much said that THIS team, as assembled in 2022, was not trying to win, and that it was still tanking and that anyone who saw otherwise was blindly following Elias.  

This team could still lose 100 games so it's not like anything is settled here.  But let's just remember that there are not as many absolutes as we tend to imagine.  Well other than Wildcard is eternally optimistic, Can of Corn is not, and you are always aware of a better way than whatever path is being followed.

We all want the same thing I think and that is another World Series Banner.  Next year will be 40 years since our last WS Championship.  It's pretty clear the games matter now.  The clock is ticking...onward and upward.

Cheers

[Sports Guy]

6 minutes ago, foxfield said:

That's a bit revisionist, but that's also not completely honest.  Some nameless folks argued that they did not need to tank anymore and that they needed to put a better product on the field for fans to watch.  But in all honesty those people  pretty much said that THIS team, as assembled in 2022, was not trying to win, and that it was still tanking and that anyone who saw otherwise was blindly following Elias.  

This team could still lose 100 games so it's not like anything is settled here.  But let's just remember that there are not as many absolutes as we tend to imagine.  Well other than Wildcard is eternally optimistic, Can of Corn is not, and you are always aware of a better way than whatever path is being followed.

We all want the same thing I think and that is another World Series Banner.  Next year will be 40 years since our last WS Championship.  It's pretty clear the games matter now.  The clock is ticking...onward and upward.

Cheers

This was not a team put together with the thought of winning a lot of games. 

[Sports Guy]

8 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Not giving out big contracts, getting extra year of service time for AR, and continuing to develop prospects until ready are absolutely about Elias's strategy.

Continuing to develop prospects had zero to do with any strategy about this years team.  Every single team develops prospects.  You don’t need to rebuild to do it.

The extra year of service time for Adley is complete and utter bs.

[foxfield]

1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:

This was not a team put together with the thought of winning a lot of games. 

That's right.  It was an insult to the fans and a continuation of tanking.  Someone clearly f'd up.

[Sports Guy]

22 minutes ago, foxfield said:

That's right.  It was an insult to the fans and a continuation of tanking.  Someone clearly f'd up.

You really think this was a team put together to win 70+ games? 

[foxfield]

25 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

You really think this was a team put together to win 70+ games? 

I did not think this team was tanking or trying to lose.  The pitching has outperformed, but it appears that the moves made assembling this team were both very well planned and very cost effective.  The year is not over and nobody should be doing bat flips, but this first year focusing on the ML results have been much better than the detractors here and elsewhere predicted.

And to your question above...yes, I have posted multiple times since this original thread that I thought 67+ wins should be the goal.  I am still solid on that line as even though the Orioles stand to be improved with more call ups, the pitching will determine whether they slide or rise in the second half. 

Do you think it is possible they will be better at intentionally losing in the second half.  

[Too Tall]

32 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

You really think this was a team put together to win 70+ games? 

I seem to remember back when the O's started to win under Buck, many attributed it to "luck." Maybe you are right - the O's never intended to win this year and they are just lucky that they have.  When I think of the hits taken to our potential statring pitching and the strength of schedule up until June, the infield, the injuries yet here we are - Yea, it's probably luck. 

I'm no expert and I don't play one on TV or any Internet Board. I always preface "in my opinion or I think." I do think the intent was for the ML Club to be more competative this year. The fact that they have so far is a positive I'm not going to argue about. I predicted we'd play 400 ball - win between 62 and 70 games. I still think piching will determine whether we beat that or regress. 

You know I agree with you often - particularly when you write about the Ravens. Your matter-of-fact statement that this team was intentially put together to lose, not so much! 

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, Pickles said:

How's DeJong doing?  You were big on him too right?

I’ll say this for SG: he throws out specific ideas and you can look back on them later and see how they might have worked out.  The idea on DeJong was he was a buy-low salary dump, not unlike JJ Hardy in 2011 (someone who SG also wanted us to chase, long before we did).   That looks like it wouldn’t have worked out, but I kind of liked the idea, so long as there was little cost in talent traded back.  

[NCRaven]

2 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

The only reason I would currently not want him is because Gunnar looks like he can play SS moreso now than before.  Its not a guarantee but its looking better. 

I believe that this is as close to an "oops, my bad" as the Hangout is ever going to get from you even when proven wrong. 

 

[foxfield]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

I’ll say this for SG: he throws out specific ideas and you can look back on them later and see how they might have worked out.  The idea on DeJong was he was a buy-low salary dump, not unlike JJ Hardy in 2011 (someone who SG also wanted us to chase, long before we did).   That looks like it wouldn’t have worked out, but I kind of liked the idea, so long as there was little cost in talent traded back.  

This.  

[Aristotelian]

5 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Continuing to develop prospects had zero to do with any strategy about this years team.  Every single team develops prospects.  You don’t need to rebuild to do it.

The extra year of service time for Adley is complete and utter bs.

Some examples of how this year's team affects development of prospects: not signing Correa or Bryant means more opportunity for Mateo and not blocking Gunnar or Westburg at any position. Signing Lyles means we are not precommitted to anyone in the rotation, so more opportunities for prospects. Not signing a bullpen arm means we get to try Jorge at closer etc.