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I tend to agree with this.  We certainly aren't the best farm system any more and it's time to use Uncle Dave's money some.  I'm in favor of buying the pitching we need.  There are some good FA arms out there.  If there's a bat on another team they want to trade for that's different since the FA position player list isn't good.

This what I think happens too.  We'll trade from the FV 40ish tier not the 45 or higher tier.  And I can see dealing from the top ofthe deck (i.e. Mounty, Urias, Kremer*...) to build the ceiling of the pipeljne or weaker/thinner positions.  *A Kremer based deal would be predicated on an FA SP signing.  I don't see it happening but it's an interesting case study.

Maybe he should be a free agent target this offseason. 

Hays hit .354 / .404 / .537 against LH pitching this season. I would absolutely take him back as a platoon player who can fill in all three OF positions. Given the number of southpaws other teams throw against us we'd be nuts not to consider signing him if he gets DFA'd. 

I went and checked how we compared to other playoff teams in platooning and pinch-hitting during the playoffs.  I used the first two wildcard games as the sample to keep it apples to apples with the Orioles’ experience.  For the 8 wildcard teams, I counted the number of line-up changes from game 1 to game 2 and the number of pinch hit PAs and added them together.  For lineup changes, I didn’t consider batting order or positions, only the number of hitters that started game 1 but didn’t start game 2 (only McCann for the Orioles). The Orioles were middle of the pack - 4th highest moves among the 8 wildcard teams. #       Team                Lineup changes Pinch hits PAs Total        T1 Tigers 3 5 8            T1 Astros 1 7 8 3 Mets 1 6 7 4 Orioles 1 5 6 5 Royals 1 4 5 6 Braves 1 2 3 7 Brewers 1 1 2 8 Padres 0 0 0 For some additional context, only the Orioles and Tigers faced different-handed starters the first two games AND had opposing pitcher handedness change at least 5 times in those games. Teams that faced same-hand starter both days: Royals Astros Mets Braves   Number times opposing pitcher handedness changed in game: Astros - 8 Royals - 8 Orioles - 5 Tigers - 5 Mets - 4 Padres - 3 Braves - 2 Brewers - 1