Tony-OH

Sometimes you have way too much time on your hands. You clearly know what I meant by saying what I said. He lasted until the 10th round. I mean come on, let's try not to play word gymnastics in our discussion here.

I mean, I get it, and he does look like a very good little player that might have been slept on a bit, but still, that's too high in the Orioles system. I thought I was being a bit bold putting him in the top 30. Of course I don't have access to the "underlying metrics" so perhaps I would have liked him more, but I try to remember that 30 professional scouting staffs felt he was a 10th rounder at best. I guess we can all hope he's a steal and Kiley is right.

Wow, making a 10th round pick who signed for slot the #11 overall prospect in a deep system is a bold take for sure.

I'm not a hitting instructor by any means, but I did some research and the prevailing wisdom is that you are giving up the inertia created when your front foot lands firmly and doesn't move. As with all hitting and pitching philosophies, I'm sure the more you dig the more chances you have of finding different takes on the situation.

I didn't say why he took a vacation nor did I say it was planned. I simply said he took a vacation vs was suspended or fired.

Savant is the place to find the information that is not tainted. It's literally the direct information taken from systems. Is it perfect, no, but it's a lot closer than every other bit of information out there, especially defensive information. You know when I say a gut can't play SS, that I mean effectively. You've been around here long enough and know enough to see that Maton is obviously not an effective SS. No team wants to play him there for anything but an emergency. You know all of this yet you are wasting mine and your time for some reason.

I don't know where you dug up that scouting report, but before you go off and Wildcard me by acting like MLB.com scouting reports mean anything, go look up his arm strength and OAA numbers on baseball savant and come back and tell me he can play SSs effectively. Westburg has a lot of shortstop time in the minors but I don't want him playing SS in anything other than an emergency. That was a lazy post, especially for you.

Looks like another AAAA infielder with a little upside to compete with Maton for that Elias coveted left-hander infielder spot. Plays all three infield spots with 2B probably bein his best. It appears can play SS unlike Maton. Elias has done a nice job adding to the middle infield depth that was lacking at the upper levels.

Above average to slightly above avg according to statcast data. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=b744b0a7-f49a-4d7a-bd96-288e70f71879 3-star catch 2-star catches: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=aa98e4ff-c892-4363-bac9-df7aaef00db3 https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=9298142d-5309-4776-b2da-bdf48b7514db In Lf https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=1bc01fdf-5dfd-4241-8013-e90608a8c7d9 1-Star catches: Wall catch https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=5a010b21-5f17-456f-b9e3-8b2d90f25a0e https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=9281fc8c-ca61-4528-bc85-aece6dc16675

Probably because his projected starters at 2B and 3B are RH hitters so he would like a left-hander to throw in there on a day off. Whether that's Maton or not will probably depend on how he looks, and also how Holliday plays, though I think Holliday is going to minors no matter what to start the year.

He took vacation. Unless he's lying to me, which I doubt, he told me he was on vacation.

Premier Body Armor Park at Camden Yards seem appropriate!

So could Mark Trumbo. Tracking flyballs is just one aspect of being a good defensive outfielder. Saying that, Kjerstad is not a butcher out there, but he'll never be more than adequate out there either.

And he deserved every ounce of vitriol spewed at him. He literally lazily tried to one hand catch a ball that would have ended the game, a game in which the Orioles lost. Of course he's going to get destroyed. Did that make him a bad outfielder, absolutely not, but that kind of brain fart/laziness has been a staple of his career throughout the minors as well. Did it seem like that taught him a good lesson, sure. He actually played very well defensively the rest of the year, but he deserved every ounce of vitriol after that play.

I think some of you are looking at this as a Mateo vs McKenna thing and that's not correct in my mind. Mateo is the backup SS right now. The fact that he can play OF as well make McKenna redundant. Now could they both make it, potentially. Right now the team is missing a legitimate right-handed DH besides using Rutschman or McCann in that role. Nevin is literally the only guy on the 40-man roster that even remotely fits that bill, but I don't think he brings enough value with the bat or versatility defensively (he's not good anywhere but 1B defensively) . Could he slip into that role? Potentially, but I'd rather see Kjerstad in that role, especially since he slashed .302/.358/.522/.880 against them in AAA. But we have seen the Orioles show reluctance to bat lefties (outside of Gunnar) against left-handers even when they have good numbers against southpaws.

Mateo is a versatile backup, not a guy you are trying to get in the lineup against every left-hander. No one is claiming he should be playing every game against lefties. Neither Mullins or Gunnar need to be platooned. BTW, he played one ball badly in the outfield. One. Not several, not a a bunch, not a few, one. You guys (Not just you) should consider using baseball savant to really back up your claims here. The data is there. No reason to exaggerate something and allow your own eyes bias to affect your judgements.

McKenna is probably a better outfielder right now range wise and he did cover 35.2 ft/sec last year which was the best of his career. We have very little data on Mateo in the outfield (from 2021) so it's tough to say, but he did make this catch in his limited play https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=b6505525-d99e-47a4-9ae7-e507917a8bdf which at least was a 2-star catch. Mateo does have 30.1 ft/sec sprint speed to McKenna's still very good 28.7 ft/sec. The issue here though is not really whether Mateo is a better defensive outfielder than McKenna, its the fact that the Orioles don't need to carry McKenna because Mateo and Hilliard/Cowser can cover down on CF. If Mateo did not play SS, McKenna would probably be the better outfielder to keep.

I would not let one bad play at the wall dictate whether Mateo can play CF effectively or not. He looked very comfortable out there outside of that one play. For a guy who hadn't played there much, I'm not too concerned. He can track flyballs pretty well and we all know he has the speed to make up for any jump or route issues he may have. As for the bat, I don't think anyone thinks he's going to bring a lot of value from the bat stand point, but he showed some glimmer of hope last year vs lefties at least. I'm comfortable with him starting in CF when Mullins needs a day off against a tough lefty or spelling Gunnar on occasion at SS. I'd rather have him than McKenna for sure.

I don't think it will necessarily be only about defense, just someone that can play in the expansive left field in Camden Yards. The guys who can do that on the roster currently are Hays, Cowser, Hilliard, McKenna and probably Mateo though he's only played 9 games (52 innings) out there at the major league level. Hilliard graded out very well in statcast defensively and covers good ground for a guy his size so I imagine he may be the best fit though with Mateo's speed, you have to imagine with experience out there he will be good. Cowser needs experience out there and if they send him back to AAA, they need to give him a lot of looks in LF, though that's also what I would do with Norby too. Norby is a wildcard in this. If he can show to be competent left fielder, he might be the Hays replacement, with Cowser moving to RF, Kjerstad to DH mostly.

Let's take a look at a few of the "battles" for roster spots going into 2024 spring training. Let's start with the 4th outfielder who can spell Hays in LF more often. I believe Mateo is going to be the guy to spell Mullins in CF against tough lefties so I don't think this 4th/5th outfielder needs to be able to do that per se, but the two choices could anyways. I feel Hays would be better off around 450 PAs vs the full time load he gets now. He's just a better playing when he's healthy and fresh. The issue in the past is the roster rarely had a good option to spell him against a tough righty because McKenna was also right-handed. Defensively in left, neither Santander or Kjerstad can really spell Hays defensively in left field, but I know Colton Cowser and Sam Hilliard could. I know some were less than thrilled with Cowser's defense, especially in left field, but I think a lot of that was a lack of reps in LF in the minors and playing with upper decks. I've seen enough of Cowser to know that he will be fine defensively and probably will end up above average in LF and RF. Saying that, I would not be surprised if Hilliard makes the team as a 4th outfielder enabling them to rest Hays more against tough righties. Hilliard has the ability to be a good left fielder and has a plus arm similar to Hays. Now, Cowser also could be the right fit defensively in left field and could also be in that role, so it will be interesting to see them battle it out. However, I think they will prefer Cowser to get everyday PAs in Norfolk instead of occasional PAs so Hilliard may be better for that role. I don't see McKenna making this team this year. While he can spell Mullins, so can Mateo who actually will have more range than McKenna. If Hillard makes the team, he also can spell Mullins though being left-handed it might not make the best fit. If Mullins stays healthy, it's not like he needs to be spelled that often anyways though. So what does that mean for Kjerstad and O'Hearn in that DH/RF role? Since both fill the same offensive role and similar positions, only one of them makes the team if Hillard/Cowser make the team. Personally, I think it's time for Kjerstad to be DH/RF and get his 450 PAs or more. I think Orioles got the best of O'Hearn in the the first half of last year then he settled back into who he really was as a hitter in the 2nd half when he slashed .280/.302/.454/.756. So going into spring training, I see the following battles for roster spots: Hilliard vs Cowser for the backup left-handed 4th OF role (I doubt they want Cowser in this role so I think Hilliard wins) Kjerstad vs O'Hearn (Kjerstad can DH and RF, moving Santander to back up 1B). O'Hearn can be added to a trade for a RP. I think he ends up in that role meaning O'Hearn needs to be traded. He's cheap enough and had enough success to garner something coming back. So I see the bench: McCann Mateo Hilliard The last spot becomes interesting because it depends on whether Mayo or Holliday make the team. If they do, that moves Urias to the bench. If not, then it could open up a spot for O'Hearn to not be traded or moved and also make the team. It could potentially open the door for McKenna again. Nick Maton just became an option as a left-handed option to rest Urias or Westburg at 2B or 3B, but he was not very good at all last year so I guess they are hoping for a comeback from him. So that final spot right now will depend on a lot of things, but these are the candidates that I see: Maton if they want a left-handed option for Westburg or Urias occasionally McKenna if they think Mateo will be occasional backup at SS against tough lefties and want to backup Mullins in the same game. O'Hearn if they want that good left-handed stick and backup to Mountcastle and able to give Santander more time off. Ok, what are your thoughts?

I don't disagree.

It's not optimal and by most accounts is something that saps power. I imagine it's something he's still working on.

Glad to see Buck Britton return. He seems to be a really good manager and evaluator of talent. I would not be surprised if he's not eventually given a shot at a big league job by either the orioles or somebody one day.

Going to lock this since all of the coaching staff were announced and better to discuss in one thread.

https://www.masnsports.com/blog/orioles-announce-2024-minor-league-and-player-development-staff Kyle Moore seems to be the only manager let go.