- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
Orioles top last year's win total
Posted on 8/28/12 at 1:14 pm
Posted on 8/28/12 at 1:14 pm
70 wins, bitches!
No, I have no earthly idea how they are doing this either. There is really no rational reason why the Orioles should be a wild card team, but here they are, clinging to the second wild card.
The O's do demonstrate a few theories/concepts:
ONE. Replacement players. It is an article of faith among statheads that there is such thing as a "replacement value", that any team can acquire this player at no cost at any time. During the course of the year, the O's have picked up off of the wire: Miguel Tejada, Lew Ford, Nate McLouth, JC Romero, and Jamie Moyer. These moves had varying degrees of success, but it has been fun to watch the O's constantly tinker with their roster.
TWO. Bullpens are high leverage and can be built on the cheap. The O's have one of the very best pens in baseball, and it's essentially a bunch of castoffs. Also, the O's keep the pen fresh by trotting out the back of their pen when the team is down, essentially punting the game. The O's get blown out a lot, but they win close games on the backs of guys like Strop, Patton, and O'Day. Speaking of which...
THREE. One man's trash is your treasure. The O's have raided the dregs of the Rangers roster, adding the guys who can't make the best team in baseball to their own roster. The O's have Ranger washouts in O'Day, Strop, Hunter, Teagarden, and Davis. None are stars, but all are vital parts of a team not really in direct competition with the Rangers. The Rangers almost have TOO MANY good players, and it has supplemented the O's farm system.
FOUR. Build up the middle. The O's openly suck at the corners, except Markakis. But they have a nice core up the middle of Wieters, Hardy, and Jones. OK, Hardy's having an awful year, but the team has a reliable middle and is putting in spare parts on the edges.
FIVE. Buck Showalter is a genius. I have no idea how he is doing this, particularly the way he is cobbling together a staff by shuttling guys back and forth to AA. But the team has bought in and now is in an honest to God playoff race.
No, I have no earthly idea how they are doing this either. There is really no rational reason why the Orioles should be a wild card team, but here they are, clinging to the second wild card.
The O's do demonstrate a few theories/concepts:
ONE. Replacement players. It is an article of faith among statheads that there is such thing as a "replacement value", that any team can acquire this player at no cost at any time. During the course of the year, the O's have picked up off of the wire: Miguel Tejada, Lew Ford, Nate McLouth, JC Romero, and Jamie Moyer. These moves had varying degrees of success, but it has been fun to watch the O's constantly tinker with their roster.
TWO. Bullpens are high leverage and can be built on the cheap. The O's have one of the very best pens in baseball, and it's essentially a bunch of castoffs. Also, the O's keep the pen fresh by trotting out the back of their pen when the team is down, essentially punting the game. The O's get blown out a lot, but they win close games on the backs of guys like Strop, Patton, and O'Day. Speaking of which...
THREE. One man's trash is your treasure. The O's have raided the dregs of the Rangers roster, adding the guys who can't make the best team in baseball to their own roster. The O's have Ranger washouts in O'Day, Strop, Hunter, Teagarden, and Davis. None are stars, but all are vital parts of a team not really in direct competition with the Rangers. The Rangers almost have TOO MANY good players, and it has supplemented the O's farm system.
FOUR. Build up the middle. The O's openly suck at the corners, except Markakis. But they have a nice core up the middle of Wieters, Hardy, and Jones. OK, Hardy's having an awful year, but the team has a reliable middle and is putting in spare parts on the edges.
FIVE. Buck Showalter is a genius. I have no idea how he is doing this, particularly the way he is cobbling together a staff by shuttling guys back and forth to AA. But the team has bought in and now is in an honest to God playoff race.
7
Posted on 8/28/12 at 1:17 pm to Baloo
quote:
The O's have raided the dregs of the Rangers roster, adding the guys who can't make the best team in baseball to their own roster.
The Rangers are not the best team in baseball.
Posted on 8/28/12 at 1:19 pm to reddman
quote:
The Rangers are not the best team in baseball.
Agree to disagree. That will be settled in October.
But I believe the Rangers are the best team in baseball.
Posted on 8/28/12 at 1:19 pm to Baloo
quote:
The O's get blown out a lot
Yeah they do. Check out their run differential... -45
They are the only team in baseball with a negative run differential and a winning record.
The funny thing is that there are 4 teams with a positive run differential but a losing record.
Posted on 8/28/12 at 1:23 pm to Baloo
I hope they make it.
I think the Yankees are the best team in baseball though.
I think the Yankees are the best team in baseball though.
Posted on 8/28/12 at 1:27 pm to Baloo
quote:was going to mention this
the O's keep the pen fresh by trotting out the back of their pen when the team is down, essentially punting the game. The O's get blown out a lot, but they win close games
This seems to me to be a key factor. they'll accept a loss in the 4th inning if they think they can take the next 2 games behind some fresh arms
Posted on 8/28/12 at 1:34 pm to Slinger16
quote:
They are the only team in baseball with a negative run differential and a winning record.
It's not unheard of. The 2007 D-backs won 90 games and made the NLCS with a negative run differential. Interestingly, they had the same bullpen construction -- four great arms and then a bunch of crap. They also punted games in the 5th inning if they were down, turning 3-1 deficits into 10-2 losses.
It's not a longterm sustainable model, but it can work for a season.
Posted on 8/28/12 at 1:36 pm to Baloo
quote:
t's not a longterm sustainable model, but it can work for a season.
Do they have any arms in the farm system that can remedy this next season?
Posted on 8/28/12 at 1:38 pm to Slinger16
bundy and gausman 
Posted on 8/28/12 at 1:39 pm to Slinger16
They graduated their arms, and they all flamed out: Matusz, Tillman, Loewen, Arrieta, Bergesen, and Britton were all highly regarded prospects. Only Tillman even sort of panned out. That's an amazing failure rate. Put it like this, the O's are due some luck.
Dylan Bundy, don't let us down.
Dylan Bundy, don't let us down.
Posted on 8/28/12 at 1:42 pm to Baloo
They can sign and bring home Bedard...
Posted on 8/28/12 at 1:44 pm to tduecen
quote:
They can sign and bring home Bedard...
Dude seems to be snakeitten lately.
Posted on 8/28/12 at 1:47 pm to Slinger16
Well it won't cost much at least
Posted on 8/28/12 at 1:50 pm to Baloo
Posted on 8/28/12 at 1:53 pm to Baloo
quote:
Other players will ask these players and others about what happened, and other players will hear about how it came to be that these three established stars embraced the opportunity to exit Boston less than two years after agreeing to massive contracts with the Red Sox. The stories told about the club's management and about Valentine will be ugly and perhaps one-sided, not necessarily fair. But they will become a factor as the Red Sox look to acquire players from other teams -- as well as retain their own stars, including Jacoby Ellsbury.
A decade ago, when the Orioles' decline became steep and no prominent player would seriously consider signing with Baltimore, then-GM of the Orioles Syd Thrift joked that it seemed as if his team was working with Confederate money. Unless there is a significant and tangible change, the Red Sox may well be facing a similar dynamic.
I saw this earlier in the week, and I want to get your take on why this occurred?
Posted on 8/28/12 at 2:00 pm to TigerintheNO
quote:
I saw this earlier in the week, and I want to get your take on why this occurred?
A few reasons, but mainly Peter Angelos is a gigantic assbag. But the Orioles locker room was famously toxic in the late 90s. The classic 25 guys, 25 taxis kind of room. The team was maxed out and committed to some real albatross contracts (Albert Belle and Scott Erickson both had a huge deals and promptly got hurt). The team was moving backwards and also, it fired its manager the day he won a Manager of the Year award. The O's were beyond dysfunctional. Why would you join that?
The O's pitch was: get paid less than you would in NY, but you also get to play for a loser, for an incompetent front office, in an unpleasant clubhouse. Sign me up!
Posted on 8/28/12 at 2:08 pm to Baloo
quote:
it fired its manager the day he won a Manager of the Year award.
I believe that had happened to him once before
Posted on 8/28/12 at 2:20 pm to Baloo
Great Season for your O's so far!
Posted on 8/28/12 at 2:23 pm to tduecen
they just signed randy wolf
Posted on 8/28/12 at 2:24 pm to Lester Earl
sign them both.... add some depth
Page 1 of 2
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News