Tony-OH

Ripken: .243/.282/.333/.615 in 1480 minor league PAs Yaz: .263/.341/.441/.782 in 2952 minor league PAs

Nice use case of severe nepotism. I've seen the Orioles do it with late draft picks, but using a 2nd round pick on a guy that could not hit, then bringing him up to the major when he never had sustained success hitting in the minors was pretty much the definition of Nepotism. As for Ripken, he's hit the ball well this spring and now through the beginning part of the season. He's never been a prospect, doesn't have power, and is not a great defender at 1B. Saying that, from what I've heard he's a hard worker and a good guy so nice to see him have a little success i through 15 PAs. He's not an answer to any Orioles problem or question unless that question is, "Who is the son of Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr.?"

Even if all that was true, he needs to go pitch in an independent league and show what he's got left in the tank. While the AAA rotation in Norfolk has some journeymen AAA type guys pitching, I still don't think it's worth looking at him until he can prove some success somewhere. Now if the Orioles want to work him out and put him up against the Rapsodo and see what his metrics look like and then they they think he's worth a shot, ok, why not? Like you said though, team's are not going to hold his hand so if he goes to an independent league team and makes 4-5 starts and does well, then maybe he's worth a shot? I'd say the chances are extremely slim that he can rebound, but not zero, especially with all the technology available to make guys the best they can be.

Thanks, I missed the beginning of the game and have not have an opportunity to go back and watch it yet. Please feel free to continue to put this kind of stuff out when you watch games. The more eyes and ears the better! Appreciate it.

Cristopher Cespedes makes his Orioles organization debut. He's 6-3, 200 pounds and soon to be 23 years old. Was in the Indians systems, never making it past their AZL team despite slashing .326/.386/.543/.930 in 207 PAs as a 21-year old in 2019.

Were you at the game or did you get this from the MiLB broadcast?

Makes sense to me.

This is from MLB. I don't see anything about designating AAA as the rehab. https://www.mlb.com/news/health-and-safety-protocols-for-2021-mlb-season

I guess I don't understand the difference in COVID protocols between going to Bowie or Norfolk. Why would he not have less protocols if he travels (by Air) to Charlotte vs driving to Bowie for games?

Tides are away in Charlotte this week while Bowie is home. I imagine that rehabbing players will play with the closest home team.

I'll see if I can find out. He could be on the taxi squad.

Yeah, I don't really have a strong opinion here one way or the other. I'd still probably want to give Franco two months to see if he can right the ship, but if they released him tomorrow I wouldn't really care. I'd like to see Jones have at least two months in the minors at second base unless he just starts dominating with the bat in AAA. Honestly, I wouldn't be the worse thing in the world to give Cumberland a chance and send Sisco back to the minors. Cumberland is not much better defensively but maybe he can give a little bit of offense.

I'd wait until at least Memorial Day. Bannon is playing ok at AAA but I'm not convinced he's an everyday guy. Saying that, Franco has been pretty awful overall so I'm not against them going in a different direction, but I'd give Franco at least two months before cutting him. Jones is pretty questionable defensively at 2B so be careful what you wish for here. He's hit the ball ok, but he looks a little stiff over at 2B and doesn't have great hands or arm. I kinda think they ought to just play either Valaika or Urias every day at 2B for two weeks and see what happens. Ruiz is not the answer to anything.

I think we will see some more movement this year by prospects because of the lost year last year. Elias was pretty cautious on his placements this year besides the surprising jump of Jaylen Ferguson and Nick Vespi to AA to start the year, but I think he'll see how guys are doing and make some early adjustments. Some positions are stacked up a bit so if you move a guy up, you have to figure out who either goes back or gets less playing time. It's pretty clear that the Orioles want to see Ortiz at SS pretty much full time so if you move Gunnar up, then what do you do with Ortiz? Welk and Martinez are splitting duties at 3B in Aberdeen and are 24-year old. Do they move to AA or does the organization just give up on them and move Henderson up so he splits time between 3B and SS. For now, everyone has a place to play and if Henderson plays the second half at Aberdeen and does well, he could be starting AA at 20-years old next year and is well ahead of the curve still.

Gunnar will go to Aberdeen (A+) before he heads to AA Bowie.

Cannon is off to great start with the bat, no doubt. Is defense though is a bit questionable, particularly his throwing which is not good. Handley has looked good in both aspects.

Agreed, it's way too early to think Rutschman is anything other than a guy struggling a bit at the start of his minor league career that is highlighted by the fact he was such a highly rated 1-1 pick. The good news is the defense is as advertised outside of the throwing which has not been great this year in Bowie. His throws have been pretty high, even on some pick off attempts. i think that will be fine though as the arm strength is definitely there. His receiving and blocking are fantastic though.

He's been pretty deep in a lot of counts. He really doesn't chase many bad pitches, which is a good sign. He just needs to barrel up and turn on some good inside pitches.

Never heard anything bad about Tillman as a teammate or his work ethic. Saying that, I don't think the Orioles have a place for him to pitch right now in the minor leagues. He probably should sign with an independent team and show what he's got left.

I think it's a valid take that this could be what's happening. We really don't know. We do know the Orioles have spend most of their international and drafting money last year and they just invested a pretty good amount of money to build a state of the art Dominican complex. No matter what the team would have spent this offseason, they were not going to be contenders this year so why spend a bunch of money to try and be a .500 team if you can acquire potential help and give playing time to guys who may be part of the future or used to acquire players for a winning future. I see the sons as being pretty hands off when it comes to baseball operations so far, at least to the extend of forcing Elias to sign players or resign players like their father did often. While it's understandable that some people do not give anyone in the Angelos family the benefit of the doubt after they ran this organization into a laughingstock of baseball, the hiring of Elias at least has given me some ray of hope that they are trying to do things right. I guess I fall into the category of "Actions speak louder than words" and until I have more actions to go off of, I don't have a strong opinion one way of the other. I will say the absolute travesty of the MASN barebones approach does leave me with a bad taste in my mouth. Also, when I see MiLB broadcasts in low-A ball with HD cameras and center field cameras for their broadcasts, then I watch Bowie and Delmarva (AA) and see a low def behind the plate cameras, its kind of embarrassing for the organization. Bowie has to have the absolute worse AA broadcast when it comes to cameras. It's like they did the absolute minimum and it speaks poorly of the organization that they do not do something about this.

He was placed on the IL. Haven't heard the reason yet.

Haha, damn.. First time I did that. It's going to take some time after so many years! He would do well in that league though!

Updated as of 13 May: Moves: OF - JC Encarnacion promoted to Aberdeen OF- Mason Janvrin activated off IL at Delmarva SP: Brenan Hanifee to 7-day IL at Bowie RP: Reed Hayes to 7=-day IL at Bowie

I meant by tic more like his motivation and desire to play the game. My assumption is they did the best they could under the COVID situation. It had nothing to do with his heart.

Crushed a 3-2 curveball to right center. Did not miss that one. Long homer.