Tony-OH

You have to like the athleticism, soft hands and the quickness of the arm. Can't tell much about the bat from these videos, but I like the way he flows there at SS.

It was incorrect. Not sure why he didn't have Mejia and Amparo's bonuses but they were higher.

1330 is what I heard on the way in. 1:30 PM for you civilians. lol

They could attempt to blackball him or make up some kind of rule that would prohibit him (like they did with me), but he does work for a legitimate press organization in THE Athletic and to ban him would make the organization look very, very petty. Good on Dan for standing up for himself. He's going to be on Bob and Vinnie (105.7) today if anyone is interested.

The hypocrisy is real with this John Angelos. I'm sure his propagandist is working hard though to try and spin this away from his train wreck of a press conference. Then again, the entire press conference was called to pat himself on the back for his work instead of just releasing a press statement. He got on his high horse claiming how inappropriate a question was from Connolly (who was doing his job by asking a question to the ownership representative about more important things after being told he could ask questions) and then proceeds to talk about his propagandists hiring like they signed Bassitt. Can't make this stuff up. Well at least not yet! Perry as Toto pulls the curtain back, "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"

100%. The sooner this family sells the team the better it will be. I'm going to go focus on the baseball aspects because the silliness of everything that comes out of this ownership just gets worse and worse the more they open their mouths.

I have no doubt that John Angelos is thrilled with the hiring of a guy with Perry's background. I'm sure he's already spinning this for Angelos. Seems strange to me that the owner would make this comment about a hire like Perry. It's almost like Perry himself wrote that part about this being such a great hire.

@Pickles and @Sports Guy. Drop it and take it offline or ignore each other. No personal attacks.

Yep, and no need to carry a 3rd catcher for that money. I mean, not every organization has the luxury of carrying a AAA 1B for $1.3 million! lol

Pretty obvious this was a salary dump by the Mets. Now let's hope McCann can bounce back.

Updated with all 200K bonus signings and higher plus some bonus guys.

It is always very hard to put these guys in without DSL stats, but we do have some more information on Almeyda performing well here in the states against older competition. I have to look at closer but probably somewhere around Basallo.

If we are not getting a #1 or #1 2 type I'd rather they go with what they have in house.

Definitely something weird with that situation. No idea what, but just something is weird with how Elias and Koby try to avoid that question.

No, they are not related.

Nice to get info you don't hear anywhere else now isn't it? I still have my contacts.

I will ultimately merge this with the tracker but I know more people see this forum. There is already a big thread on Almeyda. You can find that at

The Orioles 2023 J2 singing class was highlighted by SS Luis Almeyda who signed for an Orioles record $2.3 million bonus. Almeyda was considered the #20 prospect by MLB.com and the only top 50 prospect signed by the Orioles. The Orioles next highest bonus was $500,000 shortstop/third baseman Joshua Liranzo. The Orioles 2023 J2 signing class: Luis Ayden Almeyda - SS: 6-3, 180 athletic shortstop with pop signed for $2.3 million, the largest ever bonus given to an international amateur by the Orioles. He becomes the club’s first international signee with a bonus exceeding $2 million. Almeyda was considered the #20 international prospect by MLB.com. English speaker who born and raised from New Jersey. “Off the bat, I knew the Orioles were the organization for me,” Almeyda said. “My decision is how I want to develop as a player, and I know the Baltimore Orioles have the best farm system. I know, me as a person, I would like to develop as a baseball player with this organization. I’m just very happy right now. I can’t wait for my journey to start.” Joshua Liranzo - SS/3B - 6-2, 170 athletic SS/3B with big bat speed signed for $500,000. Trainer is Fernado Tatis Sr. Very young for the class. EV well over 100 MPH at 16-years old. Plenty of Power to move to third. 90 MPH across diamnons. Jordan Sanchez - OF: December signee with left money signed for $450K. He's an 18-year old kid with power potential but with some length in his swing. Defensively he's probably heading to corner outfield. Similar to Kyle Stowers. Jose Mejia - 2B/SS: Polished bat for age who most likely profiles at 2B defensively. Comes from a different background. Parent are doctors and is bilingual. Very educated young man. 5-11, 170 guy. Physically looks like a 2B. $410. Felix Amparo - SS: At just 5-10, 140 pounds, he impacts fastballs and reportedly has soft hands and a plus arm to stick at SS. Defensively is plus. Wiry strong and plus runner. Should stick at SS. $350K singing bonus. Keeler Morfe - RHP: 16-yr old, 5-11 Venezuelan with "lightning quick" arm up to 95 MPH. Solid slider already and pitchability is good. $210K.. Anderson Espinosa (big bonus guy). Luis Guavera - SS: Late -blooming switch-hitting shortstop from Venezuela. He is said to be a leadoff type with excellent bat to ball skill and gap power potential. He is considered one of the better hitters from Venezuela. Reportedly has plus arm strength and should be able to stay up the middle. Should stick at SS. Could move quick. $200K. Could be this year's Estrada. Francisco Morao- LHP: 17, was signed out Venezuela. His fastball is up to 92 mph and he has a12-to-6 curveball with good rotation that misses bats. His changeup flashes average as well. Good pitchability. 200K Abrahman Coen- OF : Left-handed hitting outfielder with a chance to hit. $140K Sabastian Del Los Santos- SS: Small projection guy. May need two years in DSL. Xavier Alvaro - RHP: Cuban up to 93MPH. 80K Omar Urbina - C : Potential to hit for power and stolid defender. 80K Raymond Sosa- RHP: Big body kid who may throw harder in the future. Luis Vicioso - C : 19-year old catcher who is the half brother of Jorge Mateo. O's like the bat a bit. Signees after the initial deadline. Jan 21 - Eccel Correa, RHP, 6-0, 170, 2/1/2003, Cuba April 27 - Ledwin Gonzalez, LHP, 5-11, 160, 6/22/2006, Dominican Republic May 25 - Jose Perez, SS, 5-10, 150, 5/15/2005, Dominican Republic May 26 - Alberto Leandro, RHP, 6-3, 171, 4/24/2002, Venezuela (twin brother of Jose Leandro) May 31 - Eriner Bautista, RHP, 5-10, 180, 1/30/2004, Dominican Republic June 19 - Juan Duran, RHP , 6-0, 160, 11/25/2003, Dominican Republic June 23 - Angel Bolivar, RHP, 6-1, 175, 10/1/2005, Venezuela July 1 - Wander Frias, SS, 5-10, 155, 9/05/2005, Dominican Republic July 11 - Carlos Brito, RHP, 5-11, 160, 8/22/2002, Dominican Republic August 4 - Jeyderson Mora, RHP, 6-0, 145, 3/13/2005, Venezuela October 13 - Guachi Jelus, RHP, 6-2, 180, 11/24/2003, Dominican Republic November 10 - Andy Tena, LHP (likely on older side); hit 91 mph in social media clips from Driveline-like training facilities December 2 - Jordan Sanchez, 18-year-old lefty outfielder with power from Cuba; $450k bonus December 2 - Andy Fabian, 20 year-old LHP who was with Hiroshima Carp Dominican Academy for a while December 2 - Salvador Casado RHP, tall pitcher from Luven Academy 2022 Class Tracker

Now this I'm not so sure about. At this point maybe, but going into the offseason, I really would have preferred a Bassitt-Gibson/Cueto combo more than a Gibson/Cuerto combo. Who would you bump out of the rotation for Cuerto now? I would have been really excited going into spring training with a Rotation that would have included: 1. Bassitt 2. Grayson Rodriguez 3. Dean Kremer 4. Kyle Bradish 5. Gibson With Wells (in bullpen), Watkins, Voth, Hall as depth. I've been meaning to do a piece in the current rotation options so I won't get into more. I do still think the rotation has a chance to be solid if they all pitch like they did in the second half last year (Grayson pre injury), but I don't know if that's realistic or not.

True, but sometimes you have to take on risk for a better upside. At this point, I would.

I would have taken Cueto on that deal over the Gibson deal.

No one is going to convince me it was a smart idea to claim a guy with a $1.4 million salary to play in AAA for "depth". The only thing this move has for it that doesn't make it the most head scratching move of the offseason is the whole Anthony Bemboom move at the end of last year. Oh, and giving a 31-year old slow slap hitter a $8 million contract while blocking one of your top prospects after a full successful AAA season is a head scratcher too, but we've beaten that to death. Now, is he a "step up" over Nevin? Sure, but that is a pretty low bar to get over and I'm betting they could of just signed O'hearn to a split minor league/major league contract once he passed through waivers (which he was, because we were the only organization that claimed since he went through the next time). While Elias has done a great job building this franchise from a draft, development and use of analytics, this offseason has me questioning his ability to take a team to the next step. Not saying he can't do it, just saying these questionable decisions where he seems to be overly aggressive with players like Gibson, Frazier and O'Hearn, while getting beaten out on potential impact FAs like Bassitt and has yet to trade from his stable of prospects, does make me wonder. It appears to me that he plans on "hoping" this team over achieves once again while "hoping" all of his bounceback guys bounceback while "hoping" all his young players take step forwards. That's a lot of hope.

Such a weird, weird claim and then to DFA him knowing no one is picking up his $1.4 million contract is really a head scratcher.

"Bats, they are sick. I cannot hit curveball. Straightball I hit it very much. Curveball, bats are afraid."