Tony-OH

Well obviously skipping a level can be tough since there's a reason you typically move a guy a level at a time because there are lessons to be learned by each level of talent. Age vs level is going to be weird this year because of the missed 2020. It will be interesting to see how Elias ends up placing his players this year after the missed 2020 campaign. Does Henderson get pushed aggressively to Frederick after his good showing in the alternate camp last year or does he go to his natural next level in Bowie? The Orioles have a lot of shortstops that will need playing time between Delmarva and Frederick. Henderson, Westburg, Hernaiz, Servideo, and Ortiz all are current shortstops that need playing time there to decide where their future will be. But, back to Fenter. I think they should move him to the pen and put him at Bowie and see how he looks. Of course I'm saying this based off my looks at him from 2019 and not what he could look like now. For all I know he picked up a pitch. Where players start 2021 in the minors is going to be fascinating.

I was surprised he spent the whole season in Low-A ball in 2019. He was healthy and pitching well and was already long in the tooth for that level and probably could have been pushed to Frederick halfway through the season. One thought was the Orioles were trying to keep him out of the eyes of teams for the Rule pick and then they could be more aggressive with him in 2020. The fact that he was taken (and returned) this year showed that may not have been the best idea but nobody knew the season would be wiped out in 2020. As smart as Elias is, I'm sure he's learning about this 40-man roster and rule 5 protection processes as he moves along. This was a weird year because no one saw much of anyone in 2020, so I think that's why you saw so many Rule 5 draft picks this year and why more than usual number amounts may stick. Either way, I'm not sure I would have traded Pop for Sceroler or Wells, even though I like Wells a bit and basically that's what he's done if he loses Pop.

Nice to see Pop back on the mound. In his first outing he was 94-97 with 95 MPH avg with his sinker and 84-85 with his sinker. It took him 21 pitches to get through that first inning. No data on his outing on the 15th, but I'd say with the way he's throwing, he could very well stick with Florida. Now, I don't know why Pop was not protected and perhaps it was a gamble by Elias that no teams would take a chance on him because of the lack of anyone seeing him since early 2019. Personally I would have protected Pop over Sulser or Lakins in a heart beat, but again, I don't know all the reasoning. If Pop's stays healthy, and his velocity numbers would indicate he is now, he has a much better chance of being a cheap good relief piece who can get groundballs and miss occasional bats in the future than multiple players who were protected by Elias. If so, then yes, I would agree, this is one of Elias's first roster mistakes when looking at the future. The only good news in this is that Fangraph's roster resource doesn't have him on their depth chart in the bullpen yet and they're pretty good overall about guessing the depth charts. Saying that, roster resource has Sceroler in the Orioles pen and I'm not buying that. I hope he finds his way back into the organization, but this does look like an unnecessary risk taken by Elias.

He was just off our list though we like the upside of him a bit as a reliever. The question was command of his fastball, curveball combo against upper level hitters and his age was becoming a factor. I could see the Orioles being a little aggressive with him and maybe even see how he does against AA hitters this year in a relief role.

Yeah, I guess I missed the change back in 2018. "Phillies third basman Maikel Franco has switched agencies and is now a client of Octagon Sports, Jon Heyman of FanRag reports "

Is there a 162 day IL?

I agree that people do that and it's why a lot of people were discounting Zimmermann before this spring saying he should go back to AAA or will be in the mix for a long relieve spot. I was told Zimmermann wasn't even that good at the alternate camp when he was promoted because he was still getting himself into shape after COVID. I believe I mentioned it when he made his first poor start. I didn't see his second outing but looked at the statcast numbers and they were similar. This spring his numbers looks great (minus the changeup). If he can refind that changeup, he's going to be pretty good this year.

I think with the innings concerns they have this season after last season, I would not be surprised to see a lot of teams going to 14 pitchers

I don't think anything is dragging right now. Elias said just a few days ago nothing was on the horizon which meant he hadn't heard back most likely from Boros on their offer. After he said that, Franco probably was like, "I need to make a decision" and decided to go with the Orioles offer due to the fact it gives him the chance to play everyday and rebuild his value. Boros then probably was working some performance bonuses in games played into the mix because he's Boros. Now we're probably waiting on the medicals to get done before announcing. In this COVID world, that's not as fast as it's been in the past. I'm confident Franco will be the starting 3B come opening day, but may be a little rusty with his late start.

When it comes to Boros clients, Heyman is the best source of news because it's like hearing directly from Boros.

Yes.. And you are right. Mullins then would be the extra player with Sisco and Valaika. Good catch. I even thought that through and missed that.

I understand that line of thinking, and the purest in me agrees with you, but I started thinking, would I like to see games finished in 2:30 hours vs 3+? Do I like to see action vs all of these deep counts and foul ball at bats? Yep. Maybe even something more crazier where it's s 1-1 count for six innings then 0-0 for 7th inning on? I don't know, but I know it would speed up the games.

I think that's honestly the most important. Think about it, a lot of action happens on 1-1 because batters don't want to go 1-2. I think this also would allow pitch counts to drop and allow starters to go 7 innings of more more often.

You want to speed up games? - Start batters with a 1-1 count. - Once a batters get two strikes, they get two foul balls. On the third the batter is out (counts as a strike out). - Keep the "runner starts on second base" in extra innings. (I hated that originally but like it now) - With no one on base, batters must keep one foot in the batters box at all times and have a 7 second window to be in the batters box and ready from the time the previous pitch is called by umpire. Pitchers have a 10 second pitch count by the time the batters is set. - With runners on, batters get 10 seconds to get signs and get set and must still always have one foot in box. Pitchers get 3 pickoff attempts per inning but can step off unlimited amount of times. (25 second pitch clock total that is halted when a pickoff attempt is made)

One thing to remember is that Martin's OPS rose when Hyde basically only played him against lefties. he has yet to show he can hit right-handers effectively enough to play everyday.

Neither Valiaka or Urias are shortstops really, but utility guys who can play all three positions to someone what effectiveness. They are both probably best at 2B. Having them both allows for the most flexibility and ability to give guys a day off. I don't see a need for Ruiz because Valiaka can back up 3B and 1b and Mountcastle could come in and play 1B if needed which then gives the Orioles their best defensive outfield of Hays, Mullins, Santander. Of course the other thing is to give Sisco a 1st base glove and give him some experience there and then carry a third catcher, but don't think he hits enough consistently to do that.

I don't see Ruiz sticking on this team when Franco is signed. The Orioles are probably going to go with 14 pitchers which means only three subs outside of the starting 9. Those three should be: Backup catcher: Sisco Utility infielder: Valaika (who can also fill in in corner outfield in a pinch) Utility player 2: I'm going to go with Urias for now. If Rio had more versatility I could see him sticking around, but he doesn't. Thankfully they don't have to waste a spot on Davis. Since Davis stepped in the Ubaldo pot hole and hurt his back.

I like the stuff and he might be a classic case of reliever being the better role for him. I'm surprised he was given a longer look as a reliever before being allowed to become a free agent. Saying that, we don't know how fast he can recover. That's still an open issue but even so, he could provide a little length as a 2-3 inning reliever.

Yep, I understand why the Orioles wanted to take a look I guess, but it's probably time to offer him back since they have guys with better stuff that are more ready. I honestly really like what I've seen from Conner Greene. If he has found his command, he could be a keeper.

Yes, they will take him back. He's not a bad looking pitcher overall, but probably more of a 5th starter kind of guy if it ends up working out for him, but he's a ways a way.

I would not be surprised if Sceroler is returned to make room.

There is no way the Orioles are picking that contract up. If Odor passes through waivers and is available I could see them potentially kicking the tires if something happened to Sanchez, but no way are the Orioles picking any big contract up. If Franco signs for more than $1.5 million I'll be surprised. I don't see the Orioles signing anymore free agents no that 3B is filled, but could still find someone interesting off DFA.

FRanco's defense at 3B is better than Nunez by a longshot. Nunez really regressed defensively at 3B and he wasn't very good to start off with outside his plus arm strength (but accuracy issues).

Stuff wise Frobby, stuff wise. C'mon man, you really have been trying to nitpick me often lately and I'm not sure why. I think you know I just don't pull stuff out of my butt when I post. I don't judge a guy off results in two outings, I judge him by the stuff that I saw or can now view in statcast information. Zimmermann's velocity is back to where it was last spring and the sharpness of his slider is back. His velocity was about 2 MPH slower last September when he was recalled and his off-speed wasn't where I'd seen it in the past. Zimmermann though had not been in camp that long sue to having COVID and I don't think he was nearly 100% when recalled out of need. He looks a lot like the guy I started to get excited about last spring before the shutdown, but the command is better than it was last spring.

I don't think it's service time manipulation this year but just guys that need more experience. All of the pitchers that were sent back have never pitched above AA except for Matson and honestly, I'm not sure he's a future piece anyways. Even Rutschman needs experience against professional pitching as his approach needs some adjustment. Is Rutschman better than Sisco in every way right now, probably, but I'd rather see Rutschman catch every day this year in AA/AAA and be ready for next year when this team might be at least interesting.