AA's Failure

CyYoung31 said:
You're less than impressed that he was able to lead a franchise who hadn't reached the playoffs in 22 years to back to back playoff appearances? That he was able to wrestle the stranglehold of the division away from the Red Sox and Yankees with a middling payroll?
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Go look at the moves he made. He couldn't get out of his own way.
 
I could take AA constantly lying to the fanbase if he was at least a competent GM. The fact that he lying to our faces and bad at his job is too much.
 
I just don’t like the either we get value or no deal type of mentality. It’s ok to overpay just a little sometimes to improve your team. All it does when you half a$$ it is lose an extra year of control over your own players. We don’t know what the Mariners wanted for Haniger, Paxton, or Diaz or the Marlins for JTR but we had what it took to get any of them. I know Haniger would have cost a ton but Paxton and Diaz would have boosted the pitching staff in a huge way. I think the way AA handled the offseason was mediocre at best. I know he got good value on JD but to just shut it down after that wasn’t the way you’d want your GM to handle the offseason of a team that just won the division.
 
Hudson2 said:
I just don’t like the either we get value or no deal type of mentality. It’s ok to overpay just a little sometimes to improve your team. All it does when you half a$$ it is lose an extra year of control over your own players. We don’t know what the Mariners wanted for Haniger, Paxton, or Diaz or the Marlins for JTR but we had what it took to get any of them. I know Haniger would have cost a ton but Paxton and Diaz would have boosted the pitching staff in a huge way. I think the way AA handled the offseason was mediocre at best. I know he got good value on JD but to just shut it down after that wasn’t the way you’d want your GM to handle the offseason of a team that just won the division.
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Who just won the division and had a TON of dead payroll coming off the books.
 
striker42 said:
Who just won the division and had a TON of dead payroll coming off the books.
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Everybody won’t agree on everything I get that. But to look at the offseason and say he didn’t blow it by not signing a bullpen arm or two is mind blowing. He did nothing after JD and Mac. Nothing. And now it’s showing. Acuna won’t get anything to hit all year with Markakis hitting behind him and he’ll burn up the kids clock by using them in the bullpen to try making up for his short comings in the offseason. I was excited when we hired AA but I have started second guessing him and how his arrogance won’t let him give in on certain things to help the team.
 
Hudson2 said:
Everybody won’t agree on everything I get that. But to look at the offseason and say he didn’t blow it by not signing a bullpen arm or two is mind blowing. He did nothing after JD and Mac. Nothing. And now it’s showing. Acuna won’t get anything to hit all year with Markakis hitting behind him and he’ll burn up the kids clock by using them in the bullpen to try making up for his short comings in the offseason. I was excited when we hired AA but I have started second guessing him and how his arrogance won’t let him give in on certain things to help the team.
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If you want to see his arrogance, Adam Duv-awful is getting paid his full salary by the Braves. AA will never admit a mistake.
 
Hudson2 said:
Everybody won’t agree on everything I get that. But to look at the offseason and say he didn’t blow it by not signing a bullpen arm or two is mind blowing. He did nothing after JD and Mac. Nothing. And now it’s showing. Acuna won’t get anything to hit all year with Markakis hitting behind him and he’ll burn up the kids clock by using them in the bullpen to try making up for his short comings in the offseason. I was excited when we hired AA but I have started second guessing him and how his arrogance won’t let him give in on certain things to help the team.
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Not fixing RF was inexcusable. I wanted a high quality veteran reliever too, but I can forgive that.
 
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Hudson2 said:
Duval making 3 million to play in AAA is crazy. He should of never been tendered a contract.
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Anyone with half a brain knew Duvall was done. The only person who thought he had anything left in the tank was AA and only then because nontendering him is tantamount to admitting a mistake.

Tendering Duvall a contract confirmed AA can't set aside his ego when making player evaluations.
 
CyYoung31 said:
Not fixing RF was inexcusable. I wanted a high quality veteran reliever too, but I can forgive that.
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RF was the biggest hole on the roster heading into the offseason imo. We had Camargo to fall back on at 3b and Riley was coming. We needed to get a big bat for the OF to bat 5th and it just didn’t happen and there’s no excuse why. He could of taken Duvals and Sam Freeman’s money and got a solid bullpen arm. As fans and the people who keep the doors open at the parks with the money we spend we have to hold these people accountable and ask questions.
 
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striker42 said:
Anyone with half a brain knew Duvall was done. The only person who thought he had anything left in the tank was AA and only then because nontendering him is tantamount to admitting a mistake.

Tendering Duvall a contract confirmed AA can't set aside his ego when making player evaluations.
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And that’s his worst trait. He’s bull headed and arrogant and it’s probably pissed off some other GM’s and that’s why no trades got done.
 
For AA not to have egg on his face we need all of our pitching prospects to excel in the 1st half of the season to increase their trade value before July rolls around.
 
Although I advocated getting a bullpen arm, such as Bud Norris, I would not make the claim that this was a high priority. We have a lot of pitching depth. Consider the list of players ticketed for AAA this year: Touki, Wilson, Wright, Allard, Soroka, Gohara. That's a lot of depth knocking on the door.

But we've had a confluence of injuries and some of those young pitchers who have been called upon have had a case of the jitters. Injuries to pitching this spring include Gohara (shoulder), Soroka (shoulder), Gausman (shoulder), Minter (shoulder), Folty (elbow) and O'Day (forearm). That's a lot. You can foresee needing depth. But you can't foresee so many injuries at the same time. The good news is that most of those guys are on their way back. The only one who might be out for a while is O'Day.

The pitching will sort itself out. I don't think overpaying for DK or CK is a good idea (and I think it is telling that so far 30 major league teams have passed on their asking price). Focusing relentlessly on getting good value IS a good idea.
 
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nsacpi said:
Although I advocated getting a bullpen arm, such as Bud Norris, I would not make the claim that this was a high priority. We have a lot of pitching depth. Consider the list of players ticketed for AAA this year: Touki, Wilson, Wright, Allard, Soroka, Gohara. That's a lot of depth knocking on the door.

But we've had a confluence of injuries and some of those young pitchers who have been called upon have had a case of the jitters. Injuries to pitching this spring include Gohara (shoulder), Soroka (shoulder), Gausman (shoulder), Minter (shoulder), Folty (elbow) and O'Day (forearm). That's a lot. You can foresee needing depth. But you can't foresee so many injuries at the same time. The good news is that most of those guys are on their way back. The only one who might be out for a while is O'Day.

The pitching will sort itself out. I don't think overpaying for DK or CK is a good idea (and I think it is telling that so far 30 major league teams have passed on their asking price). Focusing relentlessly on getting good value IS a good idea.
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The only injury that was probably unpredictable was Gausman. Folty's elbow issues cropped up from time to time last year and are well known. O'Day, Gohara, and Soroka should never have been counted on when making plans for this year. And, as I've said before, you can usually count on at least one reliever not being ready at the start of the season as we saw with Minter.

Our staff is not durable. That was known. The only fall back when injuries inevitably struck was relying on young pitchers to contribute in a serious way. That's a bad strategy. You should be easing guys like Wright and Wilson into the rotation in the 5th spot, maybe the 4th. You should throw them out there in the opening series.
 
striker42 said:
The only injury that was probably unpredictable was Gausman. Folty's elbow issues cropped up from time to time last year and are well known. O'Day, Gohara, and Soroka should never have been counted on when making plans for this year. And, as I've said before, you can usually count on at least one reliever not being ready at the start of the season as we saw with Minter.

Our staff is not durable. That was known. The only fall back when injuries inevitably struck was relying on young pitchers to contribute in a serious way. That's a bad strategy. You should be easing guys like Wright and Wilson into the rotation in the 5th spot, maybe the 4th. You should throw them out there in the opening series.
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Injuries are unpredictable. Injuries for formerly injured pitchers. Injuries for formerly durable pitchers. They happen. You accumulate depth to deal with them. We've had six pitchers get injured this spring. That many is NOT predictable. As it turns out, we have a lot of pitching depth. I wouldn't have minded signing Bud Norris. I WOULD mind overpaying for DK or CK.
 
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nsacpi said:
Injuries are unpredictable. Injuries for formerly injured pitchers. Injuries for formerly durable pitchers. They happen. You accumulate depth to deal with them. We've had six pitchers get injured this spring. That many is NOT predictable. As it turns out, we have a lot of pitching depth. I wouldn't have minded signing Bud Norris. I WOULD mind overpaying for DK or CK.
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I think 6 injuries is a number we should have been prepared against. Gohara, Soroka, and O'Day could not be counted on. Their existing injury issues pretty much precluded them from being counted on in any meaningful way. A good GM prepares as if he's getting no production from those guys and is pleasantly surprised if he does.

Really we had 3 "new" injuries. Folty's elbow issue has flared up in the past so while you can't predict when it will cause issues, is something you have to prepare against. With Minter, Viz, Venters, and (to a lesser extent) Biddle, you're going to have relievers injured. When you have that many guys with that long of injury histories, you have to prepare extra depth there.

The only injury that caught me off guard was Gausman who has been a horse. But, pitchers get hurt.

Considering our known injury issues and the fact that random injuries can happen, it was incredible foolishness not to add pitching depth. Even with adding veteran depth, there were going to be enough injuries to give opportunities for the kids.
 
We are probably still going to be a good team, a contending team, but with a couple of moves we could've been a powerhouse. That's what hurts. That's why the fans are "overreacting." At least some of them.
 
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