Tony-OH

Yes, but agents do when they want more teams involved.

Bassitt 2022 Highlights

I know he's been talked about in some other threads but thought I'd make it easy to discuss and share info about him. "His arsenal is diverse As noted, Bassitt doesn’t bring a big-time fastball or wipeout breaking stuff to the table. Instead, he attacks hitters with a variety of different pitches. In 2022, he used five offerings more than 10% of the time: sinker (33.4%), cutter (17.2%), slider (16.3%), curveball (13.9%) and four-seamer (13.1%). He also threw an occasional changeup (6.1%). The sinker yielded a 62.2% ground ball rate in 2022, while Bassitt can generate swings and misses with each of his other four primary pitches." https://www.mlb.com/news/chris-bassitt-free-agent-profile My take: I like the fact that he pitched over 180 innings last year and might be a real good innings eater. He's not the TOR the Orioles need, but I'd feel a lot better about the rotation if I could pencil him in as a #2 next spring.

His baseball savant numbers are very, very replacement level and for 1B/DH type, not sure that's where you want to spend your 40-man roster spots. Big and slow with a terrible arm, he doesn't bring the plate discipline either. Oh, and he's can't hit offspeed and has almost no chance at left-handed pitching. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/lewin-diaz-650331?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=diaz--000lew

Agreed. I do think Elias knows this though. Now that I'm done with most of my prospects stuff, I can focus a bit more on doing some analysis of Kremer, Wells, Bradish and Voth.

Grayson's limitations is a concern for next season. Realistically was should not expect over 120. Obviously we know the need for a TOR, but we do need a solid innings eater too. While I like Wells, Kremer and Bradish/Voth to an extent, I'm not sure they can be counted on for getting us those yeoman's innings more time than not.

Definitely would need to sell him on the analytics side, the park effects now, and the fact they are going to put a good defense around him. Honestly, for the first time in a long time, outside of our sales tax and having to pitch in the AL East, Baltimore is a good place to come for pitchers now.

There are like 8 different threads going on on this one. PLEASE make new threads to talk about separate issues so it's easier to follow. This one is focused on "big name" shopping focusing on rotation pieces. Let's keep it to that. Thanks.

I'm not some people understand how important these state income taxes are when players decide. Texas and Florida teams always start with that advantage. If the Astros want a player, the Orioles better be ready to well overspend to get them away.

Except for contracts because he is the mouthpiece for the Boros corporation.

He reportedly has good tools, but his hit tool, which is the one tool they really don't know about until he gets into professional competition, is pretty terrible. Very high swinginstrike%, and two years now of terrible offensive output. With the money invested he will probably still get some playing time next year, but with Amparo and Arias coming up, I would not be surprised if he's a throw in into a trade this winter.

I agree with RZNJ for the most part, but some it will depend on their performance in extended spring training. Estrada obviously has the most advanced bat and he could be given the Bencosme experience, so he could find himself in Delmarva earlier, especially when/if Holliday is promoted to Aberdeen. Right now you have to imagine that Holliday is the starting Delmarva SS and Angel Tejada is the 2B to start the year. If he looks ready, Estrada could skip the FCL and go straight to Delmarva and play 2B with Tejada being more of a super utility between 2B, 3B, and SS on occasion. De Los Santos will be the 3B. Now when/if Holliday is promoted, who plays SS at Delmarva? Adam Crampton could be there to play for a bit, but they may already have him backing up in Aberdeen. A healty Anthon Servideo cold also be a choice to hold it down for a bit. I don't see them pushing Hernandez to Delmarva after his awful FCL season, so that could in theory open up a spot for Amparo or Arias to go up and play there as the SS but i really think the orioles would prefer to ease them in through the FCL.

Lowther is the only guy that I would say has little chance to rebound back onto the list unless he shows back up a new pitcher next spring. All of the guys that dropped off are still interesting and worth following, but they have things they need to improve on and prove next year. I'll probably end up going out to 75 again so you'll see some of these guys in that 31-50 range.

Pinto was real close to being at the end of the list along with Rhodes and Armbruester. Pinto's size, his mediocre fastball (91-93), and the fact a lot of his swing and miss were on chases on the slider or split change makes me want to see him prove it against Double-A pitching. I was too aggressive with his ranking last year for sure. Rhodes almost made it, but I just don't see the carrying tool that will allow him to be a starter. He's similar to Haskin and I just prefer Haskin a bit more because he's started to get to his game power a bit while Rhodes has never really shown game power. Rhodes does have better plate discipline and is a good defender on the corners with better speed than Haskin, but Haskin has performed ok at a higher level so he gets the nod for me. Saying that, they are very similar profile guys.

Leandro Arias Pos: SS Bats: S Throws: R Age (as of Jun 30th) : 17 2022 Level: DSL Bio: A switch-hitting shortstop with some speed who signed for $600K had an up and down professional debut in the DSL. Others down in the Dominican put up better numbers offensively, but when you look across the board at the tools, it’s hard not to like this young player. More tools than output at this point, Arias has room to put on lots of muscle and with a good strength and conditioning program, he should be able to bring some of that raw power into games. This is all about projection as neither his offensive or defensive stats were that great in his debut season. While he has the quickness and arm strength to be a shortstop, he’d got a long way to go to find consistency in the field. He’s also a plus runner so that does give him five tolls that could all end up major league average or better when it’s all said and done.

Edwin Amparo Pos: SS Bats: S Throws: R Age (as of Jun 30th) : 17 2022 Level: DSL Bio: Almost a mirror image of Leandro Arias (#30), Amparo actually out performed his counterpart both offensively and defensively in their debut seasons. Up and down to start the season, the 17-year old ended the season with a great August slashing .373/.424/.593/1.017 in 66 PAs over 17 games. He doesn’t have the footspeed that Arias has, he showed better power though hit hits the ball on the ground more and has less of a line drive rate. Defensively he’s considered to have good tools for sticking at shortstop with the arm to stay there.

Hudson Haskin Pos: OF Bats: R Throws: R Age (as of Jun 30th) : 23 2022 Level: AA Bio: After two full seasons in the minor leagues, it still hard to really know what to make of this outfield prospect. Drafted out of Tulane University in the 2nd round of the COVID shortened 2020 draft, Haskin has made a steady rise through the system after spending all of 2022 in AA at Bowie. His overall numbers looked decent with him slashing .264/.367/.455/.821 in 466 PAs, but if take away a white-hot first seven games of the season that included a three HR game, he slashed a mediocre .243/.353/.406/.759 with 11 HR and a 42-93 BB-K ratio in 439 PAs the rest of the way. He didn’t pull the ball as much in 2022, but his power still his mostly to his pull side. His line drive rate fell to a career low 18% and while he can impact the baseball at times, he doesn’t appear to have high exit velocities. While he doesn’t walk much (9.2%), he also doesn’t swing and miss a ton and does a decent job of cutting down the swing on two-strikes. He struggles at times against good offspeed pitches and upper level velocity in the upper part of the zone suggesting he might be a bit of a guess hitter. Defensively Haskin can play all three outfield positions but he’s better in left due to just average footspeed, marginal instincts, and a below average arm. While Haskin does not have a major weakness in his skill set, he also doesn’t have a carrying tool to make him a major league regular unless it’s for a second division team. He’s probably more suited as the right-handed portion of a left field platoon or as a 4th/5th outfielder.

Chayce McDermott Throws: RHP Age (as of Jun 30th): 23 2022 Level: A+/AA Bio: Acquired in the Trey Mancini deal from Houston, this 23-year old right-hander can miss bats, but his command has a long way to go. The Ball State product brings a 92-96 MPH fastball that has good life and carry in the zone and he gets his fair share of swing and miss on it up in the zone. He offsets that with two different breaking ball, a 76-80 MPH curveball and a 84-87 MPH slider. Of the two, the slider is the better pitch but he struggles to command the pitch and it has inconsistent break. When it’s on, it’s a true strike out pitch. The change is his 4th offering and can flash average movement at times, but it’s a very inconsistent pitch as well. McDermott gets above average swinging strike percentage (17.1%) and K/9 (13.1/9) but those numbers have come down as he’s gone up the ladder as the more mature hitters don’t chase at much. Due to the arm strength and repertoire, he’s been developed as a starter, but he doesn’t throw nearly enough strikes and it takes him a lot of pitches to get through four and five inning stints against minor leaguers. This all suggests a move to the bullpen should be in his future, and at 24-years old next season, it might be best to make that conversation sooner than later. McDermott’s stuff could play up in a relief role where his lack of command won’t be as big of a factor. The 6-3 right-hander could potentially move quickly in a relief role and has the stuff to be a high leverage reliever if he can get his stuff over more consistently. He’ll most likely start the year in Bowie (AA) but it will be interesting to see what role they try and develop him at this stage of his career and age.

Trace Bright Throws: RHP Age (as of Jun 30th): 21 2022 Level: FCL/A Bio: This 6-foot-4 right-hander is all about projection after an inconsistent year at Auburn, but there is some upside here. A fast riser during his junior campaign at Auburn University, Bright sat 90-93 early in the season but ended up sitting 93-96, touching 97 by year’s end. The lanky righthander offsets that good fastball with a 79-81mph curveball, a hard breaking mid-80’s slider, and a well below average change. He was a workhorse in college making every start this past spring. He’s built like a starter with a nice easy fluid motion and his 95-96 looks effortless. For Bright, his future is all about two things. Will the command come around and can he develop a usable change to defend against lefties? Can’t take too much out of his taste of pro ball at the end of last season, but hitters didn’t seem too comfortable against him, and there was very little loud contact off him. Bright will be developed as a starter and he could very well be much higher on this list next year after his first full pro season. He may be the biggest sleeper in the 21-30 range on this list.

And that is where we come in! lol

I'll be honest, I'm just digging me way out of the prospects stuff and will start looking into the potential acquisition side soon. My list and grades though should tell you how I value the prospects which in turn should give you a general idea of what it will take to get a guy.

I think everyone besides Adley, Gunnar and maybe Grayson are available in the right deal.

The Orioles have the depth in the farm system to acquire one of these top pitchers that could be available, especially infield depth.

He's definitely much heavier than 170. I don't know why these heights and weights aren't updated on players each year. Rom definitely is a bit thick in his lower half and that's one of the reasons why I'm not sure there's a lot more to come velocity wise. Now some pitchers have been able to increase velocity or late, so I would never say never, but Rom looks like he filled out a bit, but only had marginal velocity gains.

Yes, read that, but he did not pitch well at all down the stretch so take all of that with a grain of salt. Rom has been trying to develop this change for years. He knows that he needs to add that pitch. Until we see it consistently in successful outings, it's nothing more than talk.