Tony-OH

Interestingly Flaherty did have decent OBP in the minors, but not as good as Vavra in AAA. Now Flaherty did have 713 AAA PAs vs Vavra's 208. AAA Slash lines Vavra - .324/.435/.451/.886 Flaherty - .261/.342/.443/.785 AA Slash Lines Vavra - .248/.388/.430/.818 Flaherty - .293/.382/.492/.873

Baumler was a pure lottery ticket who was a product of that weird 2020 five round draft. There's talent but all he's really done is show Elias why it's so risky giving young pitcher big bonuses. Unfortunately the young man can't stay healthy. At this point, anything he does professionally will be a bonus.

Makes sense. His velocity was down over two MPH but yet was using all of his pitches to get weak contact. Might as well stretch him out and see what happens as a starting depth. I still think he'll end up a reliever, but it limited spots and a late start, might as well make this move.

I think you should go back and re-read the many threads that turned into Frazier threads. There are absolutely people here who not only agree with it, applauded the move. Either way, I don't want this to turn into another Frazier thread. I certainly agree with your last part of that sentence though. He's going to play, but if there is a day where Frazier is for some reason starting at a corner outfield position while Stowers sits the bench and Stowers isn't dinged up, it will compound the head scratching.

I guess it's fair to say I have concerns over some portion of their evaluations especially after the absolutely head scratching signing of Frazier, but it did start with the Odor signing and playing long after he should have last year. Saying that, having concerns and thinking Elias and his staff are bad at something are two different things. Now, I will conceded that they have additional information about players that we don't (something some people held firm onto during the Frazier signing discussion this offseason), but how did that "additional secret sauce" work out with Odor, Chirinos and Aguilar? Now no matter what data you have players are humans and some will out perform or under perform expectations for various reasons, but when you sign Frazier to be your second highest paid player ($8 million) coming off a year and half of poor play, with bad metrics like EV, Hard hit %, etc, and then he happens to play a position that one of your top prospects who has over 400 successful PAs in AAA plays, and it's very hard to justify the contract or player. Now, that statement will trigger some folks who are all about this acquisition. Even though I don't really want to rehash the Frazier signing for the 1000th time, it's fair to say some of his moves, particularly the Frazier move this offseason, does leave him open to criticism on his ability to put together a playoff caliber team. Particularly on the heals of his playing time for Odor last year and the head scratching Aguilar move down the stretch. At the end of the day though, if Westburg goes down to the minors, tears it up while playing a decent defensive 2B, regardless of what Frazier does the move will still look unneeded. And if anyone uses the argument that Elias is doing this for service time, on a 24-year old, I'm going to just have violently disagree. lol Back to Stowers. I really hope he is given the everyday playing time, including against lefties that he deserves. Now what he does with that regular playing time will determine whether he can fend off Cowser or perhaps Kjerstad later in the year, but as long as he gets a fair shake, then things fall how they fall and may the best player get the playing time.

I'm not going to get too upset over a spring training lineup, but if Frazier is patrolling a corner outfield spot while Stowers is on the bench in a regular season game I will begin to have MAJOR concerns. Last season was strike one and two with the playing of Odor long after he should have still been playing every day, and the acquisition and playing of Aguilar last year over Stowers. All Stowers has done in the minor leagues is produced over the last two years. He's 25 years old. It's time to run him out there everyday and a light-hitting left handed hitter like Frazier should not be replacing him in any regular season lineup unless Stowers is dinged up or needs a day off for whatever reason.

Stowers has 47 PAs this spring, more than any other outfielder and 3rd most on the team. He's slashed a respectable .286/.362/.405/.766. Although he hasn't shown the pop that we all know he's capable of, I think it shows they are prepping him to be mostly an everyday guy this year. Now long term, could Cowser or Kjerstad replace him, perhaps, but Kjerstad is going to get his everyday shot this year. What he does with it will determine his long term role. I would be very surprised if he doesn't make the team or is a 26th man 5th outfielder type. He's going to get a lot of opportunities but his performance will dictate how long that opportunity lasts. If he struggling in May and Cowser is killing it AAA, he could certainly lose his roster spot, but I don't see him needing to be concerned about that until probably mid-May at the earliest, and that's only if he's struggling.

Why do you think Stowers is not going to play often? He's going to most likely be the starting RF with Santander DHing a lot.

Yeah, I was going to say I watched the Super Bowl in 4K and it was fantastic. Not sure why all gams are not broadcasted that way now.

Did they use different camera's or was this just a graphics thing?

I'm interested to see if this hot spring translates to the cold weather in the Eastern League once the season starts. Kjerstad's .381/.409/.810/1.219 slash line in 44 PAs, including the 4 bombs certainly is fun to watch, but the 11 K to 2 BB ratio is something to keep an eye on as the season starts up. Is he going to be a left-handed version of Ryan Mountcastle or will he settle in more once the season starts. Going to be fun to follow and watch for sure though.

Personally, I'm fine with going into the season with McCann a a backup. If he's heathy, he's shown he can hit and hold his own defensively. He's a much better option to be a starter than the other candidates in camp if something God forbid should happen to Adley.

I think Vavra having a nice spring is worth a little discussion. Here's another 2B/UTL guy having a nice spring and yesterday went yard on a deep shot to CF. He's slashing .351/.390/.622/1.012 on the spring with two HRs and 2 doubles in 41 PAs. Now, it's tough to say how he's looked defensively since we haven't had many games on TV, but it's nice to see him playing some 3B. Interestingly, despite the fact that it seemed like the Orioles did not like his defense at 2B last year as they played Odor over him, he's played 2B seven times this year. He's played 3B four times, LF just once, and even has a game at 1B (though must have missed that). The Orioles have given him the 3rd most PAs this spring of any infielder so it's clear they are giving him every opportunity to win a job. Now without rehashing the Frazier conversation like the Westburg thread, he's another option that I would have felt was fine starting the year platooning with Urias at 2B if they were intent on sending Westburg back to AAA for some reason. By the way, he's out homered Westburg this spring in 7 less PAs. Yes, it's probably a statistical anomaly, but it's a fat non the less. Now, the Orioles have given Josh Lester a lot of PAs (49) and he's played a games at 3B-9, 1B-8, LF-2, and RF-1. He's slashed a decent .298/.327/.468/.795 but he's very slow and there are questions about his range at 3B. If it does come down to Vavra vs Lester, I think Vavra wins hands down to be the 26th man. Now Franchy Cordero and Ryan O'Hearn ($1.4 million contract) have hit well this spring and if the Orioles are looking just for the left-handed hitting 1B/DH type they could be in the running, but I think Elias/Hyde will want more defensive versatility which gives Vavra a leg up on all. While we still have a few more spring training games left, I think Vavra has made his case to be part of the 26-man roster heading north for opening day.

This is the reason for sure. Its not just the Orioles, it's most non warm weather cities.

I'll be honest, I like the one and done games once they get out of the pool play. It kinda evens up the odds because any team can beat any team on a given night. Plus, the "tournament style" of one and done is fun to watch.

Wow, that's pretty crazy.

Even my cold WBC heart was warmed watching the end of the USA-Japan game culminating with Ohtani vs Trout. 3-2, two out, and Ohtani throws the perfect slider for strike 3. Damn. That was fun.

If we had the ability to stop it for anyone we would.

This is where I am. Politi may have the leg up because Krehbiel has an option.

More veteranosity BS to me. You don't spend $8 million on veteranosity.

Typically guys are playing one level higher early in the spring but as players get cut, they start trickling down to the teams they are going to start with. The Delmarva guys are trying to make that team, anyone higher is most likely starting at a full season club.

The Orioles missed the playoffs last year by three games. How many games did playing a below average second baseman cost? How many games did they cost by keeping a well below average back up catcher all year in Chirinos cost? That's two players they spent less than $2 million on but were kept on the roster all year. The Orioles gave 870 PAs to Odor, Chirinos, Aguilar, Owings and Bemboom last year. They only released Owings and actually resigned Bemboom this offseason as their first priority. So while they Orioles have shown the ability to draft and develop players, their evaluation process and decisions to keep running guys out there who aren't performing is not infallible. ANYWAYS. At the end of the day, I believe Westburg will prove Elias to be a genius (he drafted him) and silly (for blocking him with Frazier). Let's hope he's on the team and playing everyday sooner than later.

It would be surprising since we don't typically see "major" trades at the end of spring training, especially from the Orioles. I think Elias is going to ride with what he's got, send the prospects back to AAA, and hope like hell his moves work out. The scary part in all of this is just his line of thinking of blocking young players with expensive "rebound needed players." Either way, it's nice to see Westburg put up those good EVs this spring consistently. Hopefully he will see a lot of playing time at 2B, 3B and maybe even some corner outfield and 1B. If his defense becomes a question or if there is a better option, it would not be too bad to have him become a super utility type who still ends up with 500 PAs each year. Let's hope he ends up with an opportunity this year and doesn't have to wallow in AAA while an inferior player is playing every day in the big leagues due to his salary.

10 swings and misses by Hall. Most of any pitcher.

I think the most impressive thing is how consistently hard he's hitting major league caliber pitching. We knew he had good EVs, and it was clear that he hits the ball hard, but it's impressive to see the results in almost every game. I know I personally would be thrilled to know he was going to be the everyday 2B this year. Since there is no time machine, we will most likely have to wait and see. Hopefully he gets off to a good start in AAA and forces his way onto the big league roster. Like Frobby though, I have this fear that Elias won't cut bait with his $8 million investment regardless of Westburg and Ortiz's stats in AAA. Westburg is 24 years old and showing that he's ready for the major leagues. It's ashamed that poor offseason moves have blocked his everyday job opportunity to start the year.