61 replies to this topic

[ChaosLex]

Executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette said Thursday he is still exploring potential additions before Spring Training starts next month, with the emphasis shifted more toward pitching, and he remains intent on holding on to the team's young nucleus and is unmoved by public perception.

"We looked around the industry for that middle-of-the-order bat," Duquette said. "There was one free agent that was a significant player. There have been some other players available in a trade that I'm not sure they were better than what we had, and the cost of the acquisition has been a little pricey for us."

http://www.mlb.com/n...ws_bal&c_id=bal

[ChaosLex]

Also, from the article:

"Let's not confuse activity with the strength of our ballclub here in Baltimore; it was a club that won over 93 games last year, and we are returning that core with three playoff wins," Duquette said. "That's our team. If there were better players that were available to us at a reasonable cost, we would have added them, but we still have the core of a very competitive team here.

"We built our team last year, not just for last season, but so we could be competitive for a couple of years. And if you watched carefully, we didn't lose a lot of players this year. And the players that performed and did well, they are getting serious raises in the arbitration system.

"We should also have some other young players coming up through our farm system. That's where we are going to build our team. That's where a lot of our young players are going to come from. That's where Manny Machado and Matt Wieters came from -- like we hope that [top pitching prospects] Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman will this year. That's what the Orioles are about."

[Mike B]

We have seen this every off season.
Tell the fans, what they want to hear early, and then make some lower cost additions (lower than usual this year) and then tell the fans there were not suitable matches.

[RichardZ]

Washington asking for too much for Morse. The O's are in when and if the price comes down. How many teams are willing to give up a lot for one year and take on 6.75M for a DH? We'll find out. Rizzo talked up Morse and said they were find with keeping him. Duquette is calling his bluff. This his public way of telling Rizzo, not on your terms pal. We don't need him that badly.

[bnickle]

Washington asking for too much for Morse. The O's are in when and if the price comes down. How many teams are willing to give up a lot for one year and take on 6.75M for a DH? We'll find out. Rizzo talked up Morse and said they were find with keeping him. Duquette is calling his bluff. This his public way of telling Rizzo, not on your terms pal. We don't need him that badly.

I 100% believe this is DD publically negotiating.

[fan4life]

Thanks for the set up......

...............we shouldn't have let Reynolds walk............................

[ChaosLex]

Bump.

Didn't watch the press conference (I'm at work), but from what I've read, DD said we won't be adding a MOO bat this offseason. The price was too high and the usual "blah blah blah."

Blecch!

[SportsGuy]

Bump.

Didn't watch the press conference (I'm at work), but from what I've read, DD said we won't be adding a MOO bat this offseason. The price was too high and the usual "blah blah blah."

Blecch!

Its the same story every single offseason...every year.(with the exception of the Tejada offseason)

It doesn't mater who the GM is, we just never do anything. And yes, PA is partially to blame for this, no doubt but still, its the same story every year. We overvalue our guys, afraid to take risks, etc...It just never changes.

I really wanted to give them money for season tickets this year...sadly, they didn't earn it.

[bnickle]

What is sad is going to be if this team drops back to being a 75 win team. You had an opportunity to build on something and bring even more energy into OPACY but you're going to lose all of that in a year. This time next year, if we are coming off a poor season it's going to be back to the pre 2012 days. Ticket sales will be down, the energy will be back down, etc. This offseason and the inability to pounce on the excitement of the 2012 season is in some ways more telling about how poorly this franchise is run than the previous 14 years.

[Mackus]

What is sad is going to be if this team drops back to being a 75 win team. You had an opportunity to build on something and bring even more energy into OPACY but you're going to lose all of that in a year. This time next year, if we are coming off a poor season it's going to be back to the pre 2012 days. Ticket sales will be down, the energy will be back down, etc. This offseason and the inability to pounce on the excitement of the 2012 season is in some ways more telling about how poorly this franchise is run than the previous 14 years.

If the team drops back to a 75-win team, then much more went wrong than something that signing/trading for a Michael Morse type hitter and an Anibal Sanchez type SP could have possibly solved.

I do agree that Duquette gets a big fat F for the offseason (assuming nothing else major occurs, besides the signing of a #4/5 SP like Saunders), but whether the team will be able to contend again or not will be decided by the pieces who were already here. I think the more damaging scenario that would make me even more upset at Duquette would be if we contend again but fall just short. Then adding a couple average pieces really could have made a big difference at the end.

[SportsGuy]

What is sad is going to be if this team drops back to being a 75 win team. You had an opportunity to build on something and bring even more energy into OPACY but you're going to lose all of that in a year. This time next year, if we are coming off a poor season it's going to be back to the pre 2012 days. Ticket sales will be down, the energy will be back down, etc. This offseason and the inability to pounce on the excitement of the 2012 season is in some ways more telling about how poorly this franchise is run than the previous 14 years.

Absolutely.

They are going to go from we need a MOO bat, improve rotation, etc...to, this is the team that we went to the playoffs with and took the Yankees to 5 games....and plenty will fall for it.

Remember, this is NOT the team DD wants. He wanted to improve it. He wanted to add more offense. He wanted to upgrade the rotation.

If he ends up not doing those things, that wasn't some grand plan by him...he will have failed on what HE said he wanted to do.

[bnickle]

If the team drops back to a 75-win team, then much more went wrong than something that signing/trading for a Michael Morse type hitter and an Anibal Sanchez type SP could have possibly solved.
I do agree that Duquette gets a big fat F for the offseason (assuming nothing else major occurs, besides the signing of a #4/5 SP like Saunders), but whether the team will be able to contend again or not will be decided by the pieces who were already here. I think the more damaging scenario that would make me even more upset at Duquette would be if we contend again but fall just short. Then adding a couple average pieces really could have made a big difference at the end.

I don't disagree, but that is almost irrelevant to striking while the iron is hot on the fan excitement.I knew it wasn't realistic to think they were going to significantly raise the payroll nor do I think it would have been smart to bring in certain big money FAs. That said, more should have been done. There has been no effort on anyone's part in the FO to improve on the '12 team. That should be extrememly disappointing and unacceptable to every O's fan.

[Mackus]

I don't disagree, but that is almost irrelevant to striking while the iron is hot on the fan excitement.I knew it wasn't realistic to think they were going to significantly raise the payroll nor do I think it would have been smart to bring in certain big money FAs. That said, more should have been done. There has been no effort on anyone's part in the FO to improve on the '12 team. That should be extrememly disappointing and unacceptable to every O's fan.

Yeah, I agree completely with that sentiment. Ownership should be completely ashamed of their greed and Duquette needed to get more creative if he knew he was going to be unable to increase the payroll from last year (and if that was the case, Hardy and Johnson absolutely had to be traded).

And I think we should have made significant additions payroll, wise. I don't believe for a second that the Orioles are so cash-strapped that we have to remain at $90M or so. That's on Angelos, not Duke, though.

[SportsGuy]

I don't disagree, but that is almost irrelevant to striking while the iron is hot on the fan excitement.I knew it wasn't realistic to think they were going to significantly raise the payroll nor do I think it would have been smart to bring in certain big money FAs. That said, more should have been done. There has been no effort on anyone's part in the FO to improve on the '12 team. That should be extrememly disappointing and unacceptable to every O's fan.

Exactly right...and perception is key here.

If they don't improve the team and the team sucks, the fan base will look back on this offseason and wonder, why didn't you make moves?

Im not saying we should have done something stupid but the bottom line is there were/are moves out there to be made, that either improve us now or the long term, and we haven't done it.

Now, i know the fan base would have been pissed if you came out, said we don't think we can contend and traded off some guys for young players.

HOWEVER, if you had done that(coupled with these recent extensions), you would be signaling that you have a long term plan and that you feel you need more talent for the long haul. That's at least something. That's at least a direction. Right now, your direction is standing still.

[SportsGuy]

Yeah, I agree completely with that sentiment. Ownership should be completely ashamed of their greed and Duquette needed to get more creative if he knew he was going to be unable to increase the payroll from last year (and if that was the case, Hardy and Johnson absolutely had to be traded).

And I think we should have made significant additions payroll, wise. I don't believe for a second that the Orioles are so cash-strapped that we have to remain at $90M or so. That's on Angelos, not Duke, though.

Yep...We can't lose sight of the fact that a lot of this does fall on PAs shoulders...BUT, Duke certainly could be doing more within the budget he is allowed and he isn't.

Again, its the same story we consistently hear from this team...no matter who the GM is.

[bnickle]

Yeah, I agree completely with that sentiment. Ownership should be completely ashamed of their greed and Duquette needed to get more creative if he knew he was going to be unable to increase the payroll from last year (and if that was the case, Hardy and Johnson absolutely had to be traded).

And I think we should have made significant additions payroll, wise. I don't believe for a second that the Orioles are so cash-strapped that we have to remain at $90M or so. That's on Angelos, not Duke, though.

Absolutely. Lets be honest with ourselves, we all know deep down that this organization is not going to be a consistent winner with PA as the owner.

I mean I think Buck is an excellant manager and DD is a competent GM but they worked a lot of magic in '12.

[Woody Ball]

So you guys would have given up more than AJ Cole for Morse?

You'd have paid $60 million for Swisher?

You'd have dropped Bundy or Machado for Upton?

Who exactly nets us Wil Myers (Better offer than Shields) or convinces KC to trade Butler or Hosmer?

$90 million for Sanchez?

$5 million for Uehara?

What happened this offseason where you said, damn, we could have given up more than that and we didn't, I'm mad? Maybe Hamilton?

[SportsGuy]

So you guys would have given up more than AJ Cole for Morse?

You'd have paid $60 million for Swisher?

You'd have dropped Bundy or Machado for Upton?

Who exactly nets us Wil Myers (Better offer than Shields) or convinces KC to trade Butler or Hosmer?

$90 million for Sanchez?

$5 million for Uehara?

What happened this offseason where you said, damn, we could have given up more than that and we didn't, I'm mad? Maybe Hamilton?

Both JJs should be gone IMO.

Porcello is out there...We could potentially swing a deal for Upton without one of those 2. Smoak is out there.

There are plenty of teams who apparently like our pitching, so you could make things happen. Cle wanted Bauer..So, they traded Choo, a player they weren't going to be able to keep for a SS that netted them the guy they wanted. That's creative. That's using intelligence. Why not use either JJ to get you more prospects that could maybe be used to get you Upton?

To sit there and name a few names and then commend them for failing to do what THEY SAID THEY WANTED TO DO is absurd.

Every offseason, we hear the same fans say, well at least we didn't do something stupid. Guess what, not improving your organization IS stupid.

Perhaps you are satisfied with standing still...some of us aren't.

[Mackus]

So you guys would have given up more than AJ Cole for Morse?

You'd have paid $60 million for Swisher?

You'd have dropped Bundy or Machado for Upton?

Who exactly nets us Wil Myers (Better offer than Shields) or convinces KC to trade Butler or Hosmer?

$90 million for Sanchez?

$5 million for Uehara?

What happened this offseason where you said, damn, we could have given up more than that and we didn't, I'm mad? Maybe Hamilton?

Depends on who's shoes you are putting us in.

If it's Duquette's, and we have to live with Angelos' payroll constraints, then you trade away guys like Hardy and Johnson to fill other holes (target SP, LF, 1B, and 3B) with perhaps some young and promising guys or perhaps guys with a bit more experience and salary. You have to have a plan to improve the team using your tradable assets (SS and CL) since they are expensive and between the trade return and the freed up salary fill in the holes in the team (including any ones created by trading those guys). You have to get more creative given the burdensome financial constraints. Just trying again with the same pieces, fewer pieces actually since we haven't replaced Reynolds, is a really high-risk plan. I think competing again next season with the exact same team would only be slightly less improbable than competing last year in the first place was.

If it's Angelos' shoes, then you simply just stop being a miserable prick and give some of the tens, if not hundreds, of millions you are profiting from MASN and move it over the team. Keep Hardy and Johnson. Go hard after some big FAs. Maybe Greinke or Hamilton. Personally I would have gone after Sanchez and Swisher, both of whom I think were great targets and Swisher at least signed a very reasonable deal. Would have still had plenty of money left over for a truly impact-making player in future free-agency years and still plenty of cash on hand to take care of our own guys like Wieters if need be.

[SportsGuy]

Roch tweet:

Duquette: "It's cool being an Orioles fan again & I'll take that any day of the week. Now we have to find some more good young players."