Tony-OH

I'm a believer in Holt now with the improvements of Kremer, Bradish, and yes, Watkins and even Voth. Holt was ask to go into the minor leagues and be all over the place in 2021, so it's not surprising when he was able to focus on the big league pitchers he was able to get improvements out of them.

Watkins: “Yes, and I actually got a call from [Orioles pitching coach] Chris Holt right after I signed. He already knew my arsenal, what we were going to be working on, and what our plan of attack was going to be. That was pretty cool, to have a big league pitching coach give me a call and show that he’d already put in the work to learn about me. I haven’t even met the guy. He’s a huge piece of why we’ve been so successful, his proactiveness for all of us.” This is a huge part of what Holt brings to the table. It's not a surprise that when he was allowed to focus just on the major league pitchers how much better they got for the most part. Hopefully he was able to impart that knowledge on the minor league pitching coaches.

Yeah, this is the sweet spot for Elias waiver claims. He's had good success in these kinds of arms and honestly, this was a good move as he's got more upside than Diaz or really several other pitchers on the 40-man still. While it's not the move we want to hear them make, this is a fine low risk move to improve the relief options and provide some depth at left-handed reliever with Vespi recovering from surgery.

Saw this on twitter, lol.

I don't have time to research. Was he hurt last year?

I wanna see a full season of him at 2B before making that claim, but yeah, he was a bit of a disaster at times on the left side, especially with his throws. He just looks like a guy with tools who is very inexperienced when it comes to the glove. Now hit tool, that's another thing. If he can grow into his power a bit they'll find a place for him to play on the diamond.

DeJohn seems to have a good feel for the players without overstating them, I like that. He has a great way of putting Bencosme. "Natural ability but unrefined." That's pretty accurate. That guy made some nice plays, but also some of the goofiest errors I saw last season. He'll need to tighten up or they'll have to give him a look in the outfield. Personally, I'd stick him on second base for at least 80% of his PAs next year.

As we know this process is the biggest crap shoot of them all, but saying that, it never hurts to see the Orioles in on the top talent available. I'd love to see them get a few arms at the higher money levels even though the risks are high. Playing time at the FCL Orioles this year will be at a premium with a good amount of guys who need playing time so that shows the maturity of the international program under Koby Perez.

Interesting. That's not much of a return. I wonder if there is more to this story on why Thompson was DFA'd. Honestly I would have traded for him and given up something more than Young. for a possible 5th starter, depth guy who might even be a decent long guy. I liked the stuff minus that sinker that he leaves in the middle of the plate too much.

The issue is the Orioles may not believe he is a legitimate 3B/2B. In fact, paying $8 million to play 2B tells me they don't like him there defensively and I've heard they don't like Westburg's throwing going away from his target and worry it will be limitation for him at 3B, especially going to his right. He made some bad errors at 2B like just not catching the ball on plays so I wonder if that worries them. Me, I think his bat will make up for his potential underwhelming defense at 2B. So while I agree with your premise of keeping a guy at positions of more defensive value if he can play them effectively, I wonder if 1B will be his most effective position though he moves well enough to give OF a look.

Absolutely he does. He has some big boy power. I'd say he has similar power as Mountcastle but it just depends on whether the wall messes with his head as much as it did Mountcastle.

I don't think Westburg has any chance of removing Mountcastle off 1B at the start of the year, but he's not a bad backup plan if the Orioles need to move Mountcastle for a starting pitcher. I agree with you that Mountcastle has a good chance of rebounding last year and we know he can be an impact hitter when he's hot, the problem with Mountcastle is his low OBP and his long slumps where he's an absolute zero at the plate because of his inability to draw walks. Westburg has more of the ability to add value even when he's slumping (Westburg has been streaky himself in the minors) because he can work works and can have good PAs, even when slumping.

That was one of the worse thought processes I've heard and it was all on Duquette. There wasn't a player personnel person that I talked with one on one that thought Mountcastle was a SS, a few if any thought he could even stick at 3B. I remember being told it came from Duquette himself that Mountcastle had to be played at SS to keep his positions value high. But as you know, if no one else thinks he's a SS, playing him there doesn't improve his value. Mountcastle should have been moved to the outfield after being drafted and if that didn't wok then onto 1B. They wasted a lot of developmental time. The Elias regime believes in moving middle infielders around, even top prospects, but have not moved guys who have kinda proven they are not going to stick up the middle or at least won't be a plus defender there. In my mind, Stowers should have started some reps last year as well as Kjerstad. Westburg and Vavra should have been given some 1B time as well. Heck, if you are going to give Henderson some time there, why you would not give Westburg some rep there in AAA made no sense.

By the way, I do think not playing Westburg or Vavra at first base some was a developmental misstep.

He will need a little time I'm sure, but I agree, Westburg would ultimately be better defensively than Mountcastle at 1B MOST LIKELY. Scooping and making that throw to first base as a right-hander are the two that are most tricky.

Exactly. It's not that Harbaugh is/was a bad coach, he's just stale at this point. And as you stated, he's Bisciotti's guy which is why I want Bisciotti gone.

Not sure I understand your 1st question. As for who would replace him, that's not my job to know or understand. Sometimes you have to say, this is not working, let's give someone else is a chance. The Ravens will be one and done again this year. They lost 5 games where they had double digit leads in the 4th quarter, that alone is a fireable offense to me. This is the worse 10-7 team you will ever see, but folks that don't follow the team don't understand that. Look, if the Ravens were the Redskins, I'd be jelly of just being a team that makes the playoffs more times than not too. Call it what you want, but I'm sick and tired of going into the playoffs every year knowing we are getting knocked out. Knowing the team is not nearly as good as it's record. Knowing your knucklehead coaching staff is going to do something to cost the team because they think they are smarter than everyone else.

Perhaps, I really don't have a good feel for the power structure within the Ravens organization. If what you're saying is right, then that's one more reason why I think Bisciotti needs to go. The organization is way too comfortable.

If he doesn't, that's one more thing against Bisciotti.

Reimold was never the most graceful athlete, but he was effective at all areas of the game. Obviously injuries took their toll over time and he never fulfilled his promise, but he was a good player and a really good draft pick who significantly outproduced the two players picked ahead of him by the Orioles (Brandon Snyder, 13th overall, and Garrett Olson, 48th overall).

"Good looking young man, will look good on posters!"

I'm not really as strong of a "fire DeCosta" guy as I am the the other two, but there are two main reasons why I would not "shed any tears" if he was let go too. 1) He won't hold Harbaugh accountable and keep giving him contracts 2) He can't draft impact offensive talent that can stay healthy. Basically, he's wasted two very high draft picks on Hollywood and Glass Man Bateman. Now, both Hamilton (who looks like a stud) and Linderbaum have been hits so far, but when you look at the Ravens wide receiving corps right now you have to be embarrassed that any GM would run them out there. that's on DeCosta. At the end of the day, if DeCosta would just fire Harbaugh I'd probably be happier with him. I don't think he's terrible at anything but drafting WRs and that's partially on his scouting staff which needs to add a WR expert because they clearly can't judge NFL WR talent.

That is a typical take by an outsider and particularly a Redskin fan. I get it, Snyder is awful and has run the Redskins into an after thought in the NFL. We have higher standards as Ravens fans. I could give two rats ass about getting to the playoffs only to be wiped out in the first round which is what has happened a lot. DeCosta can't draft impact players and Harbaugh is the most over rated coach in football who always has a bad OC in his back pocket so he doesn't get fired. All of this is on Bisciotti's watch. They have won one Super Bowl that was aided by the Mile High miracle and then Joe Flacco playing like Joe Montana throughout the rest of the playoffs. Since 2013, two playoff wins. Not acceptable. He no longer shows up and is accountable to the media though the local media is scared so they won't ask tough questions anyways. Sound familiar? I get it, we look like a rock star organization compared to the Redskins, and we are in comparison, but it's time for someone who cares and someone who won't make the team leadership his buddies and hold them accountable.

I agree 100% on all. I used to be a huge fan of Bisciotti until I've seen him just disappear and allow DeCosta and Harbaugh to run this franchise into mediocrity because at the end of the day, he's making a ton of cash so why change?

Never said I would trade for Snyder, nor did I say Bisciotti is anywhere near as bad as Snyder, just said I'd be praying he sells after Snyder. Bisciotti no longer cares about anything other than taking money baths that he gets from owning a NFL team. He's given Harbaugh a lifetime contract despite winning just two playoff games since 2013. He's about the old boys club and not keeping up with the new youth of the NFL. Bisciotti is certainly 3rd on the lists of bad owners in the area behind Snyder and the Angelos family, but he needs to go as well.