Tony-OH

60 games is not a small sample size.

Now this makes some sense. I do wonder how they know he's in better shape, but either way, the weird year certainly could have thrown some guys off and adding pounds for a SS when you're 5-10 and 30 years old is never good. This makes me feel better that he can get back to his former defensive self.

It's a valid point. I do expect solid defense, but I think we could have gotten that elsewhere. In the end, this really doesn't matter all that much, but since we have nothing else to discuss, why not?

I believe much more in the statcast numbers because they are based off a system that judges typical success of a typical MLB player in the same situation, not math or the eye of a person. Either way, I'm not upset over this move, I just don't think it helps anything for the future or winning now. Maybe he'll be great defensively again and then he has value in the development of the young starters. Other than that, he brings very little to the table and this is a team that has found every way to cut money from supposedly getting ride of coaches, to releasing or trading players over MLB-wise small salaries, to furloughing employees making barely livable wages. I agree with you that Sanchez is almost assuredly going to be better defensively at 2B vs SS, but he's also a guy who has played a lot of 2B because a better shortstop was on the team so it makes you wonder whether he could be effective over there if given a chance. Saying that, Sanchez doesn't exactly excite me either. I guess I just kind of see this as a Meh signing. Then again, the other options were Meh as well, but at least in that situation they are young enough where they could show enough improvement to possibly have value if given that playing time. I do believe the Orioles future SS is in the system, but it's not ready for this year and most likely not next.

Sure. Again I don't think any of the current options moves a needle one way or the other, and I guess if the orioles know the reason why Galvis' defense slipped so much last year and they think he can get back to where he was, then sure, why not on the defensive side alone? I doubt any of the guys you mentioned are starters during a playoff caliber orioles team and I doubt any of them can be traded to being one in, even in a package. I guess for a team that seems to be cutting corners financially, why dump money into a guy that's not going to move the needle or really win you more ball games. the only way this makes sense is if gold glove caliber defense shows back up and it's helps a young pitching staff. I guess we'll see what Galvis shows up defensively this year.

Me either, but apparently they believe Galvis is a significantly better player then he's been over the last few years offensively and the major drop off last year defensively was apparently an aberration, because players normally get better at 31. I don't hate this move, I just don't see what it does all that much. I think they could have player Sanchez at SS and probably gotten the same defense and allowed Valaika or Urias to play 2B every day to see what they have. But hey, why not bring in a 31-year old with bad defensive numbers last year and well below average stick?

I didn't watch him last year but he had a serious decline in defensive value last year after being one of the best the years before. Now again, maybe something was bothering him or maybe he put on some weight and has it off now, i don't know. I'm not necessarily against this move, and I don't really think Martin or Urias are every day SS at the big league level, but I guess I also don't see him as being a big help. But, as it's been pointed out, it's pretty clear that winning ball games is not a huge priority for Elias yet.

How is he the same as Iglesias defensively? Galvis had a -3 OAA and -4% success added at SS last year compared to Igelisas at 3 OAA and 5% SA. That's a 6 OAA difference and 9% success added difference. If you wanted those numbers defensively I think Sanchez or Martin could have done that. Heck, maybe even Urias. Now, he was much better in 2019 and 2018, so why the big drop off? I worry when players entering the season at 31 and coming off a big drop in defensive ability. Now maybe something was bothering him, I don't know, and I guess he's cheap enough, but those statcast offensive numbers are pretty putrid and if he's not going to bring a great glove, then why not give those PAs to Martin or even Urias? I guess in a year where it probably doesn't matter, I just don't see how this upgrades us all that much.

Haha, beat me to it. I was going to say, "And now we see where Thorne's money went"

Wow, what a shame. Just awful and way too young.

"He's got a modest two game hitting streak"

Lol, you gotta wait until spring training for those gems.

Yeah, let me know what your fees and taxes are if you want. I'd like to compare since we both are in Howard County and both have FIOS.

Just officially announcing the new announcing team: Arnold, Brown, Garceau, Hollander, Long, McDonald, Newman, Palmer

Take a look. It was the difference between December and January. they had charged me for a box that I had returned so i went and compared my bills and I was like WTF? Plus MD raised their taxes $20 a month as well.

They have a sweet deal because they push that charge onto all subscribers, even if the subscriber could care less about baseball or the Orioles. But then again, Verizon FIOS just changed our video franchise fee from $9.95 to $29.95 with no heads up and explanation, so cable companies continue to add charges onto your "rates" while their service becomes worse and worse.

I like Scott, and I'm sure he was cheaper than Gary, but Gary was like having a national announcer call your games. Even with his quirks, his humor and his chemistry with Palmer was a good listen most of the time, even during hard to watch games.

Right, that's what gets me, if all but the Orioles and I think the Dodgers have a way to make money streaming, why do the Orioles think they will lose money?

When I've been in Florida, Texas and Colorado, I used my MLBTV subscription and watched the games on my phone. I wanted to use it in an around Md when I've been out and not near a TV, but I couldn't because of the Orioles decision to keep them blackout locally. I assume this is the first step in allowing us to at least stream the games in an around MD if you already have MASN through a cable subscription. After MD taxes and hidden Verizon fees jumped my bill $40 a month, I'm looking to cut the cord but can't until I have a sustainable ability to watch the Orioles games on my TV. I've heard that IPTV.com is an option, but haven't really looked into too much but I have a friend that swears by it and he lives in Tampa.

Yikes, the comments under that post are brutal. Seems people are not surprisingly not happy with letting Thorne go.

I'll wait to get excited until I see what it will cost and if they intend to stream all their games. All they need to do is drop the local blackouts and we could use the MLB app and get all games. If they want to use this for additional content like pre and post game show or maybe a weekly summary show that includes minor league video , interviews and information then great. I will remain skeptical until I see what it will include.

There is an interesting article up about a new visualization tool in baseball savant around spin axis. https://www.mlb.com/news/new-statcast-tool-measures-pitch-spin-direction I'm still trying to take it all in, but they do mention Cesar Valdez's "dead fish" pitch that is unlike any other. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/spin-direction-pitches?year=2020&min=75&sort=8&sortDir=desc&pitch_type=ALL&throws=R&playerName=valdez, c&team=

Forget what he looks like, just go by his statcast metrics: Percentile: 38th in sprint speed 36th in Outs above average 28th in OF jump Now he did come out average catch % added overall which means he's not awful out there, but his metrics tell us it's more than he's an awkward looking chubby guy out there with an inconsistent arm. In my mind he's a DH that you can play in the corners on occasion but it will be hit or miss whether he will do something to hurt you out there.

I could see Stewart around there though I could also see his average stay lower. I agree on the floor because I'm a little concerned over the fact he didn't hit at all outside of that 9-game Barry Bonds-like streak. Stewart though is one of the guys I'm going to see what I got in 2021. There is a chance he's a .340 WOBA/.800 OPS guy and like you said, while he's cheap, there's value in that at DH.

What would make any sane person think Shaw would produce as well as Nunez? Shaw couldn't hit water falling out of a boat against major league pitching while Nunez was on pace to hit 30+ homers for the second straight year at the major league level. Not to mention that Nunez is actually younger than Shaw. If Nunez is able to be brought back on a minor league contract, I think the Orioles would do so because at worse, he's some depth at AAA, but I think Nunez is going to get a major league contract somewhere.