Orioles

[Inside Pitch]

As bad as things have been at times here, and by that I mean JD's abruptly quitting and all the associated drama, I don't think we have ever seen the situation come close to what's happening in Baltimore.   

Still without a GM, or manager -- to date the name most often associated with them is Ned Colletti, which IMO would be a pretty significant downgrade from Duquette, and Duquette had his warts.   But maybe worst of all, they basically just shit the bed when it came to international signings.    The Orioles traded guys away for more pool money, upping their total to 6.5 mil and have so far come up completely empty...    The Mesa's, Gaston -- all gone and they are sitting on all that pool money..

They seem to be as rudderless an organization as there is in all of sports.

 

[arch stanton]

At least they've got Chris Davis locked up long term

[Inside Pitch]

5 minutes ago, arch stanton said:

At least they've got Chris Davis locked up long term

As ugly as that contract is, at least they arent sitting on a ton of bad money.   They only have 35 mil in guaranteed money after this season, unfortunately they may not have anyone capable of putting up a league average OPS+ beyond Mark Trumbo and Villar unless Davis has some massive return to form.

This roster is brutal...  https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BAL/2018.shtml    Their farm system isn't as bad but they were forced to rush guys up last year and most of their better guys are not close to ready.

[Blarg]

I was about to defend Coletti's record because of how he kept the Dodgers in contention even through the McCourt disaster but then I look at the drafts from 2005-2014 and they are pretty bad. His analytics team really didn't fill the roster with home growns outside of Kershaw, Stripling, Pederson, Seager and Bellinger. 

[Inside Pitch]

12 minutes ago, Blarg said:

I was about to defend Coletti's record because of how he kept the Dodgers in contention even through the McCourt disaster but then I look at the drafts from 2005-2014 and they are pretty bad. His analytics team really didn't fill the roster with home growns outside of Kershaw, Stripling, Pederson, Seager and Bellinger. 

Dude, I never looked...   Holy crap they had some awful drafts...   http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/team/draft.jsp?c_id=la&year=2005   You go year by year 05-14 and its pretty ugly.

[Blarg]

I did. That's why I realized Ned was a lot of smoke and mirrors trading to make it seem like he was doing things the "Dodger Way." Oh, and Puig was one of Coletti's deals from his Latin American crews. I think his career is over. 

[Angel Oracle]

Coletti?   Dipoto?

Heh heh heh to both

Angelos needs to sell the O's STAT.     

 

[Fish Oil]

It's really a shame what has happened there. Frankly, I was surprised when they let Duquette go. I thought he had done reasonably well. 

And yeah, trading Gausman for pool money and letting it turn to smoke is indicative of an organization in full disarray. If they bring in Colletti, they're likely looking at another 14 year losing streak.

[T.G.]

The Orioles used to be one of the best run organizations in baseball... It's a shame to see them reduced to the hot mess they are now.

[Angel Oracle]

Is it all Angelos?

[Second Base]

I seem to remember a team that wasn't a contender, had an inflated payroll, no prospects to speak of, no international presence to speak of, but was also somehow in penalty, so they couldn't compete for any of the top international prospects even if they had a presence, had a coach with way too much power that outright refused to implement the analytical adjustments of his general manager, an over-involved owner that didn't know anything about baseball, and no general manager, and the one that they did eventually hire, had no experience leading an organization and immediately traded whatever prospect capital he actually had for a shortstop with an OBP south of .300 for more than half of his career. 

Fast forward three years later and the team payroll is well under control, we have a top 10 minor league system chalked full of high upside talent, we landed the top international prospect in all recent history, are very much in the mix in the Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Panama and Cuba. have open communication between ownership, front office and the dugout, have embraced the analytical side of things, and that SS we acquired three years ago has posted three consecutive "career" years at the plate, is about to win his second consecutive gold glove and the fourth of his career, he's garnered MVP votes, is the best defensive player in all of baseball and has generated discussion that he may be the best defensive shortstop of all time. 

Things can change quickly if the organization knows what they're doing and can get on the same page. 

[Angel Oracle]

Arte seems to have gotten out of the way, ever since the Hackilton fiasco.

Can Angelos do the same?   Hire a solid GM, and let the GM do his thing uninterrupted?

[Taylor]

"At least we're not the Orioles!" should be the Angels' 2019 marketing slogan.

[red321]

My understanding is Angelos is pretty ill and his two sons are supposed to be taking the reins. That club is certainly a friggen mess.

[Second Base]

Just now, Taylor said:

"At least we're not the Orioles!" should be the Angels' 2019 marketing slogan.

Better than the West Coast Yankees mantra that completely failed. 

[Angel Oracle]

49 minutes ago, red321 said:

My understanding is Angelos is pretty ill and his two sons are supposed to be taking the reins. That club is certainly a friggen mess.

He does turn 90 soon.

[Inside Pitch]

4 hours ago, Fish Oil said:

It's really a shame what has happened there. Frankly, I was surprised when they let Duquette go. I thought he had done reasonably well. 

And yeah, trading Gausman for pool money and letting it turn to smoke is indicative of an organization in full disarray. If they bring in Colletti, they're likely looking at another 14 year losing streak.

Agreed on all fronts... I genuinely believe Duquette did an admirable job there considering Angelos.   

[Inside Pitch]

3 hours ago, Second Base said:

Things can change quickly if the organization knows what they're doing and can get on the same page. 

That's just it....   The Orioles seem to be lacking any semblance of direction....   It's sad, because they are a pretty storied franchise.

[Second Base]

3 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

That's just it....   The Orioles seem to be lacking any semblance of direction....   It's sad, because they are a pretty storied franchise.

They'll find their direction.  There are too many smart people out there for them not to. 

[Fish Oil]

The two sons are saying that they will give "full baseball authority" to whomever they hire to run the organization. I've read Cherington and Ng are in the running.

[Angel Oracle]

17 hours ago, Fish Oil said:

The two sons are saying that they will give "full baseball authority" to whomever they hire to run the organization. I've read Cherington and Ng are in the running.

Cherington would be huge.   Red Sux have continued their solid play, long after Epstein left.

[UndertheHalo]

My understanding was that Angelos had some issue with international acquisitions and that’s why they’re never involved.  The Orioles didn’t even put a bid together for Ohtani.  One of the few teams that didn’t. 

[Fish Oil]

9 hours ago, UndertheHalo said:

My understanding was that Angelos had some issue with international acquisitions and that’s why they’re never involved.  The Orioles didn’t even put a bid together for Ohtani.  One of the few teams that didn’t. 

The O's have been out of the international market for some time. For a long time, Angelos had a hard rule of no Cuban players whatsoever. Not sure why. Then they got into trouble with a Korean player. Not sure exactly what. After the Korean thing, they pretty much stepped out of the international market.

[Fish Oil]

9 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

Cherington would be huge.   Red Sux have continued their solid play, long after Epstein left.

Cherington says he wants to build an organization from the ground up. This seems like an opportunity for him to get that wish. They have so little going for them that an organizational rebuild certainly can't hurt.

 

[Brandon]

Maybe Tony Reagins can step in over there.