Tony-OH

They've been piggy backing all year and every level? Why would this be different?

I hope they start doing this with their priority prospects. This jumping positions to position has been ridiculous. You don't develop a future starting SS or 3B by playing him half the time there.

Not a fan of Mullins bunting with runner on 2nd and 3rd and one out. He needs to try and drive them in. We ended up scoring just that one run after Hays and Mancini failed. This is part of the reason why this team stinks. Just dumb baseball even from there good players.

I feel like that may be so deep, that only a reincarnated Confucius would be able to decipher this one.

Mateo is the exact kind of guy the orioles should be trying out. He has the tools to be very good player and has never really been given a major league opportunity to play every day until now. He's going to be a low OBP guy for sure, but his speed, power, and ability to play several positions could make him a very good utility guy if he doesn't work out at SS or 2B. He's definitely got plenty of arm for SS.

Yeah, he's been conspicuously absent so far. Hopefully he'll get on the field soon.

Lowther made a rehab appearance in the FCL today, pitching 2.1 scoreless innings with 3 K.

Lots of good points here that i agree with, but I want to pull the string on this one a bit. I think what the national pundits are looking at is how bad this team really is at the moment. I think we all agree we knew this team was going to be bad for a while, but finding some cheap replacement level talent has not been a strength of Elias and company. I would argue that on the 2021 team, Urias and Sulser are the only two that would fit this category or cheap replacement level players that have performed adequately. Mateo, Watkins and Diplan are still too new to really say one way or the other, but that's not a lot. Here are the other guys that fit that category but failed: Franco Leyba Harvey Plutko Lopez Valaika Eshelman Anderson LeBlanc Greene Jannis Gutierrez Meanwhile there are the players they brought up from the minors this year for chances: Wilkerson Wynns Nevin Mattson It's just a lot of zeros from the Orioles talent evaluators.

We can hope it is, but I'm not sure we can be positive that it is completely. We won't know that for sure until players from the system that he acquired either make it to the major leagues or are traded for players that start impacting the major league club. Until wins start happening, all we can do is hope that they are laying the right foundation and have the right evaluators bringing talent into the system. I do see some good things, but have questions about others.

Agreed. I know it's easy for some to get defensive, but let's face it, no one is lying in these articles. The jury is out on Elias and his crew. Are there things that look promising when it comes to using the technologies to help our player develop, sure, but until we see a player make a breakthrough in the minors and then perform well at the major league level, it doesn't mean anything. We have no idea whether he's able to field a good major league team yet because he hasn't even tried. I don't know what his timeline is, but I can say this, this team is going to need a major, and mean major influx of free agency or trade talent to compete anytime in the next 3-years.

Not sure i call that media bashing, but more of a truth bomb. Eckersly has been around the game a long time. the question really comes down to is the organization too focused on spin rates and analytics and missing the fact that pitchers need to be able to command the ball first? Both Lopez and Akin are pitching in roles that they are not designed for. Is this out of need or does the organization think they can really turn them around? I watch the minors and I'm absolutely flabbergasted how they take priority guys and bring them in as relievers instead of allowing them to remain in a routine as a starter. I know they are piggybacking guys, but they should have priority starters and then piggyback guys who are lesser starting pitching prospects but who might be relievers. The pitching in the minors outside of Grayson Rodriguez and maybe Mike Baumann is really, really questionable especially with DL Hall on the IL. Could Rom and Bradish end up a starters? Sure. I feel better about Rom sticking despite his lesser stuff because he commands better, but they don't seem to be forcing Rom to his changeup much and that will limit him at AAA and the major leagues if he doesn't learn to use and command that pitch. When I watch the major league pitchers this year, particularly the guys we thought were prospects (Akin, Kremer, Lowther, Wells) I see guys that either can't make quality pitches consistently enough, or guys who have very marginal stuff (Wells and Lowther - though I'm convinced whatever should soreness that put Lowther on the IL has been around a all season because his stuff looked so much better in AA). The organization is playing its prospects in different positions every night and drafted a S-ton of outfielders after drafting an s-ton of SS in 2019. Meanwhile it's hard to find a pitcher that you really like as a starter at the major league level. Add in one of their top prospects has been exposed a bit in High-A both offensively and defensively (Henderson), their second best pitcher missed most of the season, and their 1-2 pick for 20202 may never being able to play again, and you have to ask ourselves, "Are we really on the cusp of being good again?"

There's a number of org outfielders that can go including those two. Also Harris, Janvrin, Cespedes and Yahn could all go. At Bowie, Turchin could go.

There's a number of org outfielders that can go including those two. Also Harris, Janvrin, Cespedes and Yahn could all go. At Bowie, Turchin could go.

My guess with Rodriguez is they want him to use less pitches. His pitch counts has been climbing into the 80s in his 5th inning of work against AA hitters and I'm guessing they like to see him get there needing less pitches. He does seem to get into deep counts, but I think it's more because he's been throwing all four of pitches and with that comes a little bit of command issues at times. He doesn't walk many because the thing is he can go to different pitches that he has a good feel for down in the count and is able to throw them for strikes. Saying that, I would like to see him use the major league ball in AAA so I'm hopeful they will move him for at least a few starts in AAA before the year is out. Honestly, he's going to start 2022 in AAA regardless, so it probably doesn't matter overall.

I haven't liked him a starter since his Bowie season and thought he would end up in relief. The problem is his inconsistent command. Batters hit .321 /.345/543/.888 off him 1-2 counts. That's almost unheard of and speaks to his inability to make quality pitches.

Keegan Akin is doing everything he can to get the Orioles the best pick as possible next year. Who says he's not helping for the future?

It's just one click and it helps!

It's been a long week! Thanks for the reminder.

Can someone start one of these threads about Keegan Akin and hope to get him going? lol

While Ben uses a lot of the same clichés over and over and is little too much of a "homer," he does have very good chemistry with Brown. Right now they are the best duo the team has.

He's a no-brainer for me. He actually doesn't throw a ton of non competitive pitches so although his walk rates are high, it's mostly from batters taking close pitches that they don't swing at because they know they can't hit him. If not for the potential work stoppage, he should be pitching in the major leagues now. I still would like to get him used to the major league all in AAA. Not sure what the hold up there is unless their algorithm is holding him back because of his strike percentage.

The thing that's different about baseball is it's a pastime event. In other words, unlike every other sport, baseball is played every day throughout the summer and it's just something that many of us like to watch, even if we're doing other things. Meaningful baseball is a great sport to watch, but one of the problems is that it's becoming less and less likely that your team is playing meaningful baseball in August and September anymore unless you are one of the few teams competing for a playoff spot. Heck, even teams with big leads in September can become boring because all everyone is waiting for is the playoffs. This is why in my mind a system that allows for more excitement throughout the year and longer playoffs is better. Perhaps going to two 71 or 75 game schedules that ends in mid-September is a good way to start. If the season starts over after a bad first half, teams might think they have a chance to compete in the second half if their teams get hot. MLB would have to increase to 16 playoff teams, but at least most teams would have some thing interesting going on most of the year. Maybe add two teams (Nashville and Las Vegas) and have four 4-team Divisions in each league and then have a balanced schedule across the league. Winner of each half would play each other in 5 game sets for 1st round. If same team wins, the team with best winning percentage in division would be second team. The Divisions would be set by market share over the previous three seasons. And every three years they would be adjusted.

Tampa's management is a in a class of their own. They are playing 3D chess while the rest of the league plays checkers. Can't judge by them.

Nah, still have about 9-10 years and that's retiring way under social security. I'm "only" 51.

Kids and now grand kid are the only reasons I still live up here. I know I will get out when I retire though or at least get a place down in Florida at some point.