Over at Camden Chat, I measured and analyzed the offensive and defensive decline of the team from 2014 – 2015.
2014’s team won 96 games and romped to a division title, but this year’s team will be lucky to finish at .500. As many predicted would happen, the losses of Nick Markakis and Nelson Cruz contributed heavily to the team’s offensive (and even defensive!) decline. Something I didn’t realize at the time but that makes sense now is that when Cruz left he took with him production at not only left field but also designated hitter.