Tony-OH

I know we're all "high" on the Orioles right now, but no, when McKenna dropped that ball and Bautista gave up the game winning home run, that was not a magical moment at all. But it does go to show that sometimes, awful games or events can be a harbinger of good fortune and should be a lesson to us all to not get too caught up in an awful play or game, especially early in a season.

That's hilarious and the best part is, I'm pretty sure Ben would say the same thing!

I really wish they would give the season numbers as whole like they do with the big league players, but I'll take what I can get. I'm hoping they expand from AAA down to A ball next year at a minimum.

Some more reactions: This morning on MLB Central, host Mark DeRosa revealed he named his son after Brooks Robinson: https://x.com/MLBNetwork/status/1707024964967137471?s=20. The conversation stemmed from last night's interview with Robinson's former Orioles teammate Ken Singleton on MLB Tonight: https://x.com/MLBNetwork/status/1706827291446198285?s=20. Singleton reflected on his time playing with Brooks, including going to his house and seeing his impressive sixteen Gold Glove Awards lined up on his staircase. Additionally, MLB Network’s Harold Reynolds, Adnan Virk and Yonder Alonso spoke more on Robinson's legacy throughout last night's MLB Tonight: https://x.com/MLBNetwork/status/1706813406722834925?s=20. In the clip, Reynolds shared his favorite memories of Robinson and went on to say, "He is the nicest gentleman I ever came across in the sport of baseball. …He did so many things for the retired players and his life in the game was untouchable. He was amazing. What an amazing gentleman."

He didn't even battle him for minor league player of the year this year. Either way, I have a hard time seeing that for two reasons. 1) Holliday will most likely be in AAA for most of next year unless there's a need 2) Hernaiz is not the kind of talent that comes up and battles for ROY honors.

I'm very content where the Orioles are right now myself, but I have zero confidence that JA won't screw it up somehow. I would never allow my contentment to interfere with the facts that JA is an awful owner, just like his father. The apple did not fall far from the tree, except when it came to being lawyer, then it bounced off and flew across the yard far away because at least Peter was a successful attorney that earned his money and success.

Good Lord, there are still Angelos apologists after all these years. I thought you guys finally all went away. The only good thing JA has done is hire Elias. He has his team as the 2nd lowest payroll. He threatens his fans with needing to pay more if they want to see a winner in the future. He refuses to sign the lease that everyone knows he has to sign. He can't keep his mouth shut when his team is having a great year but suddenly wants to start getting credit (which I guess works on you). He was the reason behind the Kevin Brown fiasco because of his shallowness. And every time the team gets in the national spotlight because of their success, he says some BS that puts the negativity back on the organization. The team has been successful because of Elias and his crew, not him. Basically Elias has figured out how to have success while being hamstrung with a ridiculously low payroll despite the fact that this team made money hand over foot during the rebuild because they wouldn't pay anyone. So no, I'm not going to give him any credit for this team being successful besides hiring Elias in the first place. That's about it!

I've always been a big proponent of changing eyes levels. It was one of the things I saw Zach Davies do so well in Frederick and why I thought he had a much better chance of pitching in the majors than the Orioles organization at the time did. I have noticed that they've been move up and down and in and out more. Always a good thing if the pitcher can execute.

After making 4 errors in his last 8 games at 3B going into the last series of the year, Mayo played 3 games at 1B and 3 at 3B in that last series. Starting at 1B in the playoffs certainly suggests they may be considering 1B as his long term position with the Orioles, most likely as soon as next season.

MLB would sue to remove Angelos as owner before he would be allowed to leave the city and Camden Yards. JA can pout and scream and do the things most spoiled-brats do even when they are adults, but the only thing he can do is to destroy the team from within by allowing Elias and his staff to leave. I have a bigger fear of that than I do of the team moving.

A wonderful story, thanks for sharing my friend!

Well written and from the heart. Thank you Roy for sharing your experiences with Brooks. He will truly be missed by all. A special person through and through.

The development of his sinker this year and the absolutely dominance of his slider (plus-plus pitch at this point) has transformed him from an ok starter to a #2 bordering on #1 TOR guy. Even his curveball has been more effective with him throwing it a 1.5 MPH harder than last year. I'll be honest, he very well may scrap the 4-seamer all together unless they feel it sets up other pitches. The sinker actually has below average movement, but I think it tunnels well with his slider and has late movement which confuses the batters. Bradish improved K%, significantly improved walk percentage, and improved ground ball percentage (thanks to the sinker), have all contributed to him having less runners on which led to 10 of his 14 home runs allowed this year to be solo shots. that keeps him away from those big innings that hurt him last year. And what may be the most important part of all of this, he's getting stronger as we get deeper into September. That is the mark of the ace. The guy a team counts on in the pennant race and playoffs is when you can make that jump to a TOR. Bradish has the pennant race down, so let's see how he performs in the playoffs. Either way, he's far out performed even the wildest dreams for him this year by probably pretty much everyone not name's Bradish. He's been one of the best stories of this year.

You keep saying this like it's a certainty but I see almost no chance of that being successful. You nd the Orioles need to concede that Hall's best role is in the one he's in right now. As for Bradish, he's an amazing scouting and development story which is a credit to the Orioles and Bradish himself. He's a completely different pitched than the one acquired in the Bundy deal.

I wrote this on my Facebook page, but thought some of you may enjoy it here as well: RIP to not only a legend of a ball player, but more importantly a legend of a human being. Brooks Robinson was the reason I wore #5. He was my first baseball hero, and I was lucky enough to meet him in person one day thanks to @Roy Firestone. That was the day Roy called me at work and asked me if I wanted to come to Little Italy and eat some dessert with him, Jim Palmer, and most importantly to me (Sorry Roy ) Brooks Robinson. Being in the media with credentials for over 20 years, I got the opportunity to meet many of my childhood heroes. Al Bumbry swore like a Vietnam Veteran in the Bowie manager's office and I loved every moment of it, and I once got to spend 4 hours at a function with Ken Singleton and found him to one of the nicest gentleman you will ever meet. But meeting Brooks Robinson was an experience I would never forget. The first thing you notice with Brooks is that he makes it seem like he's really thankful to meet you! I couldn't believe it. I'm sitting next to him and he's asking me questions about what I did, my family, and various others things. He acted in that moment, that I was the most important person he had met, yet here I am sitting next to Brooks Freakin' Robinson. Before and after that meeting, I heard similar stories from people and it was very clear that Brooks was just one of those genuinely nice people that you will meet in life. I've always said there are only two people that I've never heard a bad thing about, and that was my Grandfather John Pente and Brooks. So today is a sad day with his passing, but I'd like to focus on celebrating the man, even more than celebrating the Hall of Fame player. While Brooks very well earned his major league baseball Hall of Fame status and his title as Mr. Oriole (Sorry Cal but Brooks will always be Mr. Oriole to me), most importantly he belongs in the Hall of Fame of humanity. RIP Brooks, and thank you for all the good you brought to this world and for the ten of thousands of people like me that you made feel special for a few moments. You will be missed!

That's a pretty funny way of saying the Orioles have a lot of infield prospects. Though Norby may end up a better outfield prospect. He'd certainly look good taking aim for half his games in Houston or Cincinnati's stadiums. Obviously Houston does not need a 2B or left fielder but in Cincinnati, India was a bit of a disappointment this year and Benson was not a very good defensive outfielder (not saying that Norby is yet though there were signs he was starting to look more comfortable out there). Colorado might be the best fit and I'd consider moving him for Justin Lawrence plus maybe another low level lottery ticket like Angel Jimenez (literally picked him from stats so don't hold me to that) :D. Lawrence is downright filthy away from Colorado and would be a nice arm to add to the bullpen.

What do the numbers before his name mean. He's #16 of what?

I still think if you move him to LF and you have yourself a nice little Austin Hays type outfield prospect minus the plus arm. He is though a guy who has value because of the bat and if some team is willing to live with some head scratchingly bad errors on occasion at 2B, they could try to shove him in the lineup there at the major league level. Cowser is probably the LF of the future here so I still think Norby is probably a top trade candidate this offseason. But at the same time, Elias is not just going to move him because he's blocked here. The value has to come back but Elias has yet to make a top prospect for major league value trade yet. This offseason I think he almost has to target a shutdown reliever and Norby could be part of a package.

Well no one can decide what disappoints you besides you, but again, moving a depth prospect like Hernaiz for a guy who can help your major league ballclub, even in support role as Irvin has done so far, is a good move in my mind. I did not go watch video of Hernaiz, but the stats suggest he's the same guy as he was here. A tweener prospect who will probably settle in as a utility guy or second division starting 2B. I can very easily see him playing in Oakland next year, but there are about 8 position players alone who were at Norfolk this year that you could make the case they were better than players the A's were running out there. I think Hernaiz will end up a major league player in some role, and he was a great 5th round high school pick. But he is the exact kind of depth prospect the Orioles should move for major league talent because he's not the kind of guy that brings back impact major league talent and he's buried on the depth chart in this organization.

I don't agree. Hernaiz would have a hard time being a top 15 prospect in our system. He put up a high average in hitter environment, but a lack of pop and a lack of arm doesn't make him a SS prospect no matter how much he "wants it." I've always heard Hernaiz has plus makeup so nothing in that report from his manager is surprising, but he would be behind Henderson, Ortiz, and Holliday at SS and Holliday, Urias (who he may be similar too overall), Ortiz, Westburg, and Norby (if you are willing to live with his defense) at 2B at the major league level. He was the exact kind of depth prospect (Just like Prieto) that you move for a chance to better your major league team. Now Irvin did not become that 5th starter that they thought they were getting, but he was pitching very well out of the pen as a bulk reliever and if you take away his first three starts of the year that got him demoted, he's put up these numbers: This was part of the reason I was very surprised when he was demoted when the team was looking at a 17 games stretch without a day off.

I'm ok without knowing.

Frobby was feisty on Friday!

Westburg will need improve against right-handed pitching next season. We've seen Hays have bad years against right-handed pitching then come back and hit them well, and he's never really had big splits in the minors, so I think they will.

Gibson has really come through in this start. With the day off tomorrow, between him and Means, they really saved the bullpen.