justD

Been here 15 years, I think. My life would literally have been completely, 100% different without OriolesHangout.com - I was single, living in a different state, would never have pursued my horticulture degree, was even on my way to moving to Albuquerque before stumbling onto your minor league coverage back in 2004 and then, in 2007, meeting my future husband weams at a Hangout Night 🥰 So there's that. But honestly can't imagine having Orioles news happen without your take, Tony. I mean, I actually hang on every word. There's something about your angle, your take, that always opens me up to something new. And that doesn't mean I agree all the time, but there's something about getting your insight that always makes the news take on a different life. The site obviously amplifies that through everyone else's contributions, including how all of the moderators, led by your firm commitment to the posting rules here, see to it that conversation remains thought-provoking yet respectful in-depth debate. Really don't want to think that's over.

Two things that have been talked about needing attention in the minors are distances between venues within a league (i.e. travel burden on players) and pay. As someone already mentioned, fewer clubs = fewer players, possibly making it more feasible to consider pay increases for those remaining. This makes sense to me, and their current pay situation really does need to be addressed. As for distances, many of those on the list of 42 are clearly being eliminated because of their distance from other clubs. As someone else already mentioned, remaining venues will probably be reassigned, not only to a different MLB affiliation but also perhaps a different level and thereby a different league. With some doing, a better geographic alignment within leagues might ultimately be possible. Shortening the grueling bus-ride distances may take away a traditional rite of passage, but could really assist in the health of the players that teams are investing so much in. About Frederick? Perhaps their ability to draw decent attendance means they're good candidates for success as an independent league venue. Otherwise, no idea. Would really like to know the thinking behind eliminating them. My hope is that since the plan was initiated by Luhnow and quickly adopted by Stearns and Elias (see below), its focus really was on improving the development process, not just another plan to cut ownership costs -- naive as that might seem. More info: https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/rob-manfreds-plan-to-destroy-minor-league-baseball/ar-BBWRVGV

Okay, I listened to it again. Those three guys are gone. Roch asked if people from within the organization could be moved around to fill them. His answer was some movement may occur, but regardless, there will ultimately be three new ML coaches. Which means it won't necessarily be that each spot vacated will be filled from outside; after shifting around, it may be other spots that get filled from outside, but there will be three spots filled at the major league level from outside. Gad this got convoluted, but it was far too many words said in the interview for me to quote!

Twitter on the fly - sorry. His words were that last season's three coaches will remain in the organization in different roles, and their vacated spots will be filled by what he said was "three new coaches" (not sure if definitely from outside the organization or not). If I can replay the facebook live video, I'll fill in the exact quote later.

Came across this today while going through old videotapes, and recorded it off the TV. Really enjoyed hearing about Roy and about Garrett Olson and just being taken back to a time when we had not much to go on but hope for an improved farm system and our camaraderie here on the Hangout. Still pretty cool, right?

Astros had what looked like a mini tracman next to the cage. Bregman came out of his last round, went over and tapped on it, watched whatever it was displaying, then asked for three more balls after Correa finished so he could put what he saw to use.

Hyde had a fan club on the field shagging balls, meeting players, and heading up to a suite to watch the game (rode the elevator with them)

Pregame fun with Brian Roberts and his kid playing catch https://t.co/RzCnGwwERC?ssr=true

If anyone's interested in seeing three of the top 12 picks, this game from the NCAA Regionals was just posted. Playing for Stanford are Kyle Stowers (our 2nd Round Competitive Balance-B pick at #71), Maverick Handley (6th round, #168), and Andrew Daschbach (11th round, #318 pick). Throughout the game, the athleticism of Stowers and skills at 1B for Daschbach show up, and the announcers (JT Snow and Sam Ravech, ESPN) repeatedly remark upon Handley's ability to receive the ball/frame pitches (in particular how he helps out the true freshman starter).

These are from 2017, Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League** Listed as a sophomore at that time: And from 2018, as a Junior: **On their website PGCBL describes themselves as "New York's premier wooden-bat summer league."

Joey Ortiz?

More recent stats- note 10 saves this season

Yep. Will see what else I can find. Thanks for pointing that out! (It was a pretty ugly post anyway)

https://www.mlb.com/video/19-draft-bobby-zmarzlak Another group of enthusiastic fans! (Of course MLB video doesn't allow embed)