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Post by Evil Yoda on May 28, 2016 17:10:31 GMT -5
Another terrible start from Duquette's Folly, Ubaldo Jimenez.
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2016 20:01:19 GMT -5
The hazard of multi-year, guaranteed contracts.
Definitely not one of the better signings in recent memory. Other than a drop in velocity, messed-up mechanics, and a fastball that comes in on a straight line, Ubaldo looks like Cy Young material. Trouble is, with nearly $25 million still due him through next season, the Orioles can't simply cut ties. My guess is that we'll see him going on the DL soon with an injury to be named later.
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Post by mmmbeer on May 31, 2016 7:24:30 GMT -5
IIRC, last time he was due for a new contract, he had a good half year. The Os should keep him around for that next year. The fact a pitcher with a long term contract didn't work out is not out of the ordinary. I bet only about 50% of those perform as hoped/paid for the entire length of the contract. That's the price you pay if you don't develop your own pitching. Three strategies for creating a major league staff:
1) draft and develop 2) spend $$$$ and acknowledge half of that will be a waste 3) do neither 1 or 2 and stink
The Os strategy is to walk the tightrope between #2 and #3.
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Post by Evil Yoda on May 31, 2016 12:37:54 GMT -5
The Orioles cannot develop pitching. Whether they scout and draft poorly, or simply can't develop the talent they do acquire, I don't know.
Rumors: Duquette sets organizational policy about what pitches developing pitchers can throw. Angelos made a pool of money available but only to re-sign Davis. I like Davis, but they needed a good starter more. When Duquette was hired there were certain front office personnel whom he could not fire. He was Angelos' fourth choice for the job; we don't know why the first three declined it. When someone new is hired for a job like GM or manager, every single individual who reports to that person ought to be worried for their job. No one should be safe. Collectively, these rumors point to a micromanaged organization. Micromanagement rarely works, and because it shows a lack of confidence in subordinates, it usually creates a culture of fear. Who knows how many of these rumors are true - maybe none of them - but ultimately the fans need better ownership when Peter goes, or the team will rumble along as it has been. It will occasionally thrill, more often disappoint, and never win the World Series.
We do know from Arrietta and Britton comments that Rick Adair was a poor pitching coach, and it's not good that Buck did not discover this before hiring him, and/or took a long time to discover it after the fact. I like Buck and Dan for the fact that they have made the team at least competitive, but they have weaknesses and pitching development appears to be one.
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Post by Evil Yoda on Jun 1, 2016 14:27:05 GMT -5
McFarland coming back up. Expect Ubaldo to go on the DL with some sort of mysterious injury in the next day or so. A strained strikeoutis muscle, or perhaps an inflamed overtheplatus tendon. Maybe even a concussion if he doesn't take the hint and Buck has to lure him to where maintenance never seems to fix the broken lights, where he'll hear a brief whistle and then see an explosion of stars.
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Post by Evil Yoda on Jun 1, 2016 17:48:46 GMT -5
McFarmhand is Tolliver's replacement.
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Post by Evil Yoda on Jun 12, 2016 12:37:21 GMT -5
Good lord, Ubaldo's bad. So, so bad. He literally cannot get out major league hitters any longer.
I must now cling to the hope that Duquette will at long last admit he screwed the pooch on this guy and cut the team's losses. I can't recall if he has ever admitted to a mistake, though, so I don't expect it to happen.
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Post by Evil Yoda on Jun 12, 2016 17:09:34 GMT -5
Buck has said that if the team makes a change, Ubaldo will hear about it from them before he reads about it in the news. In essence, journalists aren't going to find out what opitons Buck is contemplating. I agree with this; employees should discover changes in employment from their boss before they discover it some other way. What's interesting, though, is that this is probably the closest the team has come to saying that they're considering a change for Ubaldo. In essence, Ubaldo cost them yesterday's and today's games: yesterday, Buck had to put in McFarland because he knew he'd need relievers for Ubaldo today. There are around 25 million reasons why Ubaldo has been given chance after chance, but at this point they've got to move on.
It is troubling that there is apparently no one in the minors better than the pitchers here now.
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Post by Evil Yoda on Jun 14, 2016 17:31:27 GMT -5
Ubaldo will be available out of the bullpen beginning tomorrow. Gallardo is showing as the Saturday starter at the team's website.
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Post by mmmbeer on Jun 15, 2016 7:00:27 GMT -5
They need 2 more average starting pitchers. Tillman and Gausman are having good years. If Gallardo will pitch to historical norm, they still need 1 more SP to compete all year. I'm not seeing it in Wilson/Wright. They look more suited to the 5 spot. Hope I'm wrong.
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Post by Evil Yoda on Jun 15, 2016 10:22:48 GMT -5
Like every team, they need pitching. Unlike a lot of other teams, they are not good at drafting and developing it.
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Post by Evil Yoda on Jun 18, 2016 12:49:45 GMT -5
Ubaldo was horrendous yesterday. I guess the pattern is going to be, every few games is a throwaway game where they burn innings with Ubaldo and McFarland.
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Post by Evil Yoda on Jul 8, 2016 20:05:20 GMT -5
Once again, Ubaldo proves that Angelos' wallet is more important than winning. It's past time for Duquette to admit he caught an "Awshxt" on this one and move on. And, yes, one "Awshxt" does still wipe out all your "Attaboys". Duquette did not give Buck the tools he needs - good starters - to at least try to win every game. So every so often we get a game like tonight's, where Buck probably knew going in that they weren't going to win it.
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Post by Evil Yoda on Jul 17, 2016 15:22:21 GMT -5
He was passed over today for a guy who wasn't going to go deeper than 70 or so pitches regardless of how well he did. And on Tuesday, Worley will start (today's appearance was regarded as more like a side session).
Buck won't use him. Dan won't cut him. So Buck's going to have to win a man short.
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Post by Evil Yoda on Sept 5, 2016 14:54:54 GMT -5
Ubaldo, after giving up a three run shot, throws a remarkably good game, for a complete game in 114 pitches!
Rod Serling has got to be around here somewhere...
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2016 23:03:06 GMT -5
Ubaldo, after giving up a three run shot, throws a remarkably good game, for a complete game in 114 pitches! Rod Serling has got to be around here somewhere... All of a sudden, Ubaldo is becoming our most reliable pitcher. If this keeps up, the Orioles should trade him at the first opportunity in the offseason.
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Post by Evil Yoda on Sept 7, 2016 14:48:46 GMT -5
All of a sudden, Ubaldo is becoming our most reliable pitcher. If this keeps up, the Orioles should trade him at the first opportunity in the offseason. I'd like to see them trade him, because he's not the future of the club and he costs a lot of money. But his inconsistency is going to keep them from getting anything of real value for him, unless his last start is the rest of the season for him. Then someone might actually believe he's worked out his problems. I don't think he'll ever return permanently to form, though. We'll see flashes of brilliance, and head-shakingly bad performances punctuating mediocrity, until the end of next season when his contract (and likely his career) end.
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Post by mmmbeer on Sept 8, 2016 7:03:22 GMT -5
The last good year he had was a contract year, wasn't it? That has a way of bringing out the best. He might pitch well next year.
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Post by Evil Yoda on Sept 8, 2016 16:25:35 GMT -5
The last good year he had was a contract year, wasn't it? That has a way of bringing out the best. He might pitch well next year. I've gotten in arguments because I've asserted that you can't judge a man by his walk year performance. He's playing to be paid and he's therefore trying harder. The counterargument appears to be that these men have giant egos and try hard all the time. I've seen superpar walk year performances too often. Some men play harder when their future salaries are on the line. Ethically, it ought not be that way, but when have humans, collectively, ever been ethical?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2016 23:48:27 GMT -5
The last good year he had was a contract year, wasn't it? That has a way of bringing out the best. He might pitch well next year. I've gotten in arguments because I've asserted that you can't judge a man by his walk year performance. He's playing to be paid and he's therefore trying harder. The counterargument appears to be that these men have giant egos and try hard all the time. I've seen superpar walk year performances too often. Some men play harder when their future salaries are on the line. Ethically, it ought not be that way, but when have humans, collectively, ever been ethical? Money is, indeed, a powerful motivator, but I generally don't buy into the notion of players trying harder in walk years than in others. Oftentimes I think it's just a case when players typically become free agents, which is generally in their late 20s to early 30s. When you sink big money (and relatively speaking, Ubaldo's contract doesn't come close to being big money) into a free agent, you're typically paying for what he's done for someone else, not what he's going to do for you. What happens is that teams often largely pay for declining years instead of peak years.
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Post by Evil Yoda on Sept 11, 2016 10:10:18 GMT -5
Is... is that two good starts in a row? Did Buck put a pod next to Ubaldo's hotel room?
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Post by Evil Yoda on Sept 11, 2016 10:14:35 GMT -5
When you sink big money (and relatively speaking, Ubaldo's contract doesn't come close to being big money) into a free agent, you're typically paying for what he's done for someone else, not what he's going to do for you. What happens is that teams often largely pay for declining years instead of peak years. And yet, how often do we see the lucky players of the World Series or Super Bowl winner who happen to be in their walk year earn way over what they're worth, based on what they do for their new team. One of the things I like about Ozzie is he's not sentimental about keeping those guys - but, then, he tried it once and got burnt. With a cap, you can't be sentimental. Of course baseball GMs also have a cap, but it's different from team to team. I don't know what to make of the Orioles spending last year, because while it seems like they spent more than Angelos has wanted to in the past, they also did not spend wisely in some regards.
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