SI.com: O's had one of the worst offseasons of any team

[MikeAD]

I find it funny how you all continue to hammer on these guys every offseason when they come out with lists like this and every year, they end up being right.

You all need to grow some thicker skin and pay attention to what has actually happened.

What Heyman said isn't actually false EXCEPT he should have acknowledged a few things:

1) We acquired a couple of low risk/high reward targets that could really pay long term dividends.

2) The Orioles have placed an emphasis on defense and feel that it is undervalued.

Those 2 things should have been mentioned.

You're right on here.

To take it a step further, from the outside looking in, we haven't really done anything. We signed a pitcher from the Asian market and got Mark Hendrickson. We made a lot of trades that brought about players with a good amount of upside. On here, or to an Os fan, all of this together looks great, but hes not exactly making a list of "best off seasons for 2010." Little we did helps us now, once agian, at least from the outside looking in.

[Pruke]

I guess it takes 450MM to impress him - oh well, no sweat off our team's backs...

[PaulBako]

He put the Blue Jays in front of the Orioles for a better off-season?????

And the Pads? And the Rockies? And the Brewers?

All of those teams had worse off-seasons but went ahead of the Orioles in that list.

[Osfan13]

If we'd signed Teixeira, we would have been equally blasted IMO.

Unsexy low-risk high-reward trades and signings that address real needs cannot make a writer's job easier so this isn't a suprise. All in all, we are still a team that hasn't had a winning season in 11 years so this shouldn't be a suprise.

This is the year we cut alot of pitching fat from our roster so-to-speak.

April looks brutal. Three against the Yankees, three against the Rays, then on the road against Texas (3) and Boston (4). Back home to take on the ChiSox (3), Texas (4) and then the Angels come to town to close out the month. April is a nightmare. In the month of April, we play every AL playoff team from 2008 and a team that spent over $400 million on three players for 15 out of 22 games. The other team we play is a great hitting one that will get used to our pitching quickly as they will see it 7 times this month. We got completely f*cked.

May looks bad too (although not as bad). The Orioles should get burried in the standings relatively quickly but play well afterwards. How about September in April, guys?

[bej6789]

I find it funny how you all continue to hammer on these guys every offseason when they come out with lists like this and every year, they end up being right.

You all need to grow some thicker skin and pay attention to what has actually happened.

What Heyman said isn't actually false EXCEPT he should have acknowledged a few things:

1) We acquired a couple of low risk/high reward targets that could really pay long term dividends.

2) The Orioles have placed an emphasis on defense and feel that it is undervalued.

Those 2 things should have been mentioned.

So let me get this straight, get thicker skin because he's usually right, yet you just outlined our entire offseason -- none of which appeared in his analysis?

[Miller192]

I find it funny how you all continue to hammer on these guys every offseason when they come out with lists like this and every year, they end up being right.

You all need to grow some thicker skin and pay attention to what has actually happened.

What Heyman said isn't actually false EXCEPT he should have acknowledged a few things:

1) We acquired a couple of low risk/high reward targets that could really pay long term dividends.

2) The Orioles have placed an emphasis on defense and feel that it is undervalued.

Those 2 things should have been mentioned.

That's all I'm saying right here

[NewMarketSean]

Drungo Hazewood > John Heyman

Heck, cindyluvsbrady > John Heyman

[Lucky Jim]

Mets: A run at Manny Ramirez would have made them the kings of the winter. But while they'll hope Fernando Tatis and Daniel Murphy can form a viable platoon in left field and apparently also that Luis Castillo can spring to life (Jerry Manuel wisely is already making him feel better by saying he might get some leadoff at-bats), they did plenty to overhaul a pitching staff in need. Importing two stud closers -- the record-setting Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz -- within 48 hours saved their winter. Plus, they not only brought back talented (but inconsistent) lefty Oliver Perez but gave themselves plenty of options at the back end of the rotation by adding Tim Redding, Freddy Garcia and Livan Hernandez.

This merits No. 2 on the list? Two closers and bringing back Oliver Perexz.

Or what about the Phils over-paying for Raul Ibanez? As Fangraphs puts it, the Ibanez signing is The Ultimate Headscratcher:

When Jayson Stark broke the story that the Phillies and Raul Ibanez were in hot pursuit of each other, I immediately e-mailed him to see if this was a half-hearted rumor or something serious. Of course, his reply implied that Ibanez to the Phillies was much more of a reality than a rumor. And, as many of us saw today, Ibanez officially inked a 3-yr/$30 mil deal to become the everyday left-fielder of the defending World Series champions. Signing Ibanez officially ends the Pat Burrell chapter in Phillies lore.

I presented Stark with my opinions on the deal, with which he agreed, and then asked him why their front office truly felt Ibanez would be the best bet. His answer, at which we both had a hearty web-chuckle, was that Ruben Amaro, Jr, wants to get better defensively at the position. For those unaware, Pat Burrell has been one of the worst left-fielders in baseball over the last three years.

UZR data has him costing the team -38.2 runs on defense from 2006-2008, the third lowest total for any left-fielder. Manny Ramirez is worst, at -42.6. Guess who comes in second place, slightly worse than Burrell and just a smidgeon better than Ramirez? That’s right, folks: Raul Ibanez.

The Phillies just replaced the third worst left-fielder over the last three seasons with the second worst. That could potentially be okay, though, if Ibanez could at least equal Burrell’s offensive productivity. I mean, they won with Burrell, and if Raul could provide similar offense, he would likely be had for a lesser fee, right? Well, let’s see. Ibanez signed for 3 yrs/$30 mil, an average annual value of $10 mil. Burrell, at most, would have cost the team $16 mil in arbitration for this year, or something like 3-yrs/$45 mil.

Therefore, if Ibanez could equal Burrell’s offense, and equal his putrid defense, then the Phillies would get the same player for $5 mil less. Unfortunately, the offense of Ibanez is not going to be equal to Burrell’s. Burrell is projected to be about +19 runs on offense. Marcel doesn’t like Ibanez, putting him at just +6 runs on offense, but I would tend to think that +11 is a more appropriate figure.

Therefore, we are talking about two players equally bad on defense who would get the same adjustments for position and value above replacement, not average, and one who is almost one full win less valuable on offense. Well, there goes that theory. Ibanez is projected to be worth 1 WAR next season, Burrell at 1.7. Neither is an elite player and both will be overpaid relative to their actual contribution, but if the goal truly involved improving defensively, then this is an absolutely horrendous move. I mean, if the goal is to improve defensively, then going out and signing one of the only two players worse than your lame duck left-fielder really does not help you reach that goal.

Add in that Ibanez is five years older than Burrell and this just makes no sense. Assuming Raul loses 0.25 wins each year, he would be a 0.5 WAR player by the time this contract ends, commanding something like $3-4 mil at fair market value and earning over double that figure. If Burrell were to lose the same 0.25 wins, he would go from 1.70 to 1.45 to 1.20, a total of 4.35 compred to Raul’s 2.25.

The other issue many in the Phillies blogosphere bring up is the fact that Ibanez is a Type A free agent, meaning the Mariners will receive the team’s first round draft pick this year. And even another issue is that he is a left-handed hitter, meaning that the only realistic right-handed threat is Jayson Werth.

Something important to keep in mind here is that there is a big difference between disliking a deal and disliking a player. As a devout Phillies fan, it isn’t as if I’m going to turn the television off whenever Raul bats, or constantly rail on his abilities. I’m going to root for him and hope he pulls through. I like him as a player and a person, but I dislike the move Amaro made in bringing him here, especially if the goal is to improve defense at the position. I think we are well past the stage when statistical analysis is not implemented in each and every front office, and I just cannot fathom the idea that nobody in the Phillies FO understood that Raul cannot field. Or, that they did know, publicly stated the goal of improving defensively, and STILL went out and signed him.

And before I wrap this up, let me just say that I HATE when people try to justify moves by saying a player is “a good clubhouse guy.” Who cares? To me, this is the hitting equivalent of calling a pitcher an “innings eater.” These are inane characteristics that are only used to describe players whose production does not speak for itself. I don’t care if Raul Ibanez can console Eric Bruntlett after a bad game, if he loves to discuss Jim Varney movies with Jamie Moyer, or can teach Geoff Jenkins and Matt Stairs the intricacies of Stratego. I care about wins, and as a fan and analyst, this move is not going to add wins to the team relative to the other alternatives.

If Amaro wanted to add a solid bat to man left-field not named Pat Burrell, why not sign Adam Dunn? In that case, he wouldn’t lose a draft pick and Dunn likely isn’t going to cost that much more than Ibanez. And even if he did, he’s 29 years old! All told, they got a nice player, but one that will serve as a downgrade from the alternatives. I hope this isn’t the sign of things to come in the Amaro era. Regardless, Phillies fans like myself will root on Ibanez in every way possible, but this deal is unequivocally poor.

I hate to pile on, but Heyman is a dolt.

[MikeAD]

He has the Phillies #1. That's as far as I got in the article before discrediting it.

Yeah, they locked up their two stars, but Howards contract isn't all that great. Other than that they didn't really do anything and I wouldn't say they had a better off season than the Mets. Or the Yankees.

[tywright]

I find it funny how you all continue to hammer on these guys every offseason when they come out with lists like this and every year, they end up being right.

You all need to grow some thicker skin and pay attention to what has actually happened.

What Heyman said isn't actually false EXCEPT he should have acknowledged a few things:

1) We acquired a couple of low risk/high reward targets that could really pay long term dividends.

2) The Orioles have placed an emphasis on defense and feel that it is undervalued.

Those 2 things should have been mentioned.

Compared to the rest of the league, the O's don't rank 25th best for their offseason efforts. You know that...I know that...and everybody else knows that, except for Jon Heyman.

[JTrea81]

I find it funny how you all continue to hammer on these guys every offseason when they come out with lists like this and every year, they end up being right.

You all need to grow some thicker skin and pay attention to what has actually happened.

What Heyman said isn't actually false EXCEPT he should have acknowledged a few things:

1) We acquired a couple of low risk/high reward targets that could really pay long term dividends.

2) The Orioles have placed an emphasis on defense and feel that it is undervalued.

Those 2 things should have been mentioned.

The signing of Uehara also should have been mentioned as it was huge. It represented the Orioles finally getting talent from the Pacific Rim. I don't see how he can rank the Orioles behind the Pirates and Royals of all teams and even below the Blue Jays, who had the worst possible offseason of all.

The Orioles made too many good moves, and non-moves such as jettisoning Cabrera and not re-signing the Millars and Faheys of the world to be ranked as low as they are.

Heyman has a bias against the Orioles, and it's very clear in these articles he writes...

[NewMarketSean]

I find it funny how you all continue to hammer on these guys every offseason when they come out with lists like this and every year, they end up being right.

You all need to grow some thicker skin and pay attention to what has actually happened.

What Heyman said isn't actually false EXCEPT he should have acknowledged a few things:

1) We acquired a couple of low risk/high reward targets that could really pay long term dividends.

2) The Orioles have placed an emphasis on defense and feel that it is undervalued.

Those 2 things should have been mentioned.

Hymen seems to think that every team in baseball should have offseasons like the Yankees. It takes 5 mins to realize that the O's are not in the same boat as the Yanks and have made moves that fit their situation. If the O's would have signed Tex, would he have ranked us any higher? Because we'd still be a crappy team.

[O'sWhyNot52]

This is ridiculous. If he wants to be short sighted and pass the acquisitions of Pie, Hill, Uehera, Pauley.. off because they are wild cards then fine.

But we got great value on the cheap in players like Wiggington, and we have locked up Markakis and Roberts long term. Combine all that with the arrival of the number #1 prospect in baseball and only a moron would dismiss the O's offseason.

It's like he didnt even read the title of his own column! Some of the teams that he calls winners made questionable, if not bad decesions.

-The Royals acquiring Jacobs for good cheap pitching,when they already have 3 1st basemen and blowing $$ on Farnsworth.

-Arizona signing...Jon Garland...and that's it! c'mon man!

-The Reds missing out on a number of better outfielders and signing Wily Tavares! ugh

- ...and how about the Cubs, who's own fans are not happy with Hendry's moves this offseason. Losing Wood, Derosa, Ceda, Pie, Hill, Cedeno.... and signing an injury prone Bradley.

whatever---Rant over, hopefully he is forced to write a piece on the emerging young Orioles at some point this season.

[bej6789]

You're right on here.

To take it a step further, from the outside looking in, we haven't really done anything. We signed a pitcher from the Asian market and got Mark Hendrickson. We made a lot of trades that brought about players with a good amount of upside. On here, or to an Os fan, all of this together looks great, but hes not exactly making a list of "best off seasons for 2010." Little we did helps us now, once agian, at least from the outside looking in.

From the outside looking in? He's a writer for SI, his job is to know what the Orioles have done. This offseason, as stated over 1000 times, isn't about this next season. It's about bettering yourself down the road when the Orioles will really be ready to compete. For what the Orioles needed to do, they had a tremendous offseason. It doesn't matter whether you are outside, inside -- or on another planet.

[Sports Guy]

So let me get this straight, get thicker skin because he's usually right, yet you just outlined our entire offseason -- none of which appeared in his analysis?

No, get thicker skin because the bottom line is, unless 2 major question marks hit for us, then we have done nothing for the long term good of the team, outside of Nick.

It was sloppy for him not to mention Hill or Pie but generally speaking, he is right on what he said.

The ranking and things like that? Who cares....That is meaningless...His main point is do more for the long term good of the team...Nothing wrong with him saying or thinking that.