Tony-OH

Haha. In my head Jon Miller is doing all the announcing!

Thanks. I filtered the stats differently and updated so both he and Santander are on there. Both have been pretty miserable but both are coming off good games.

Yeah, I'm not sure I put too much into their calculations for WAR, particularly pitchers WAR.

He's on the trading block. So far no offers.

Yes, OOTP21.

Nice job Chuck!

http://www.orioleshangout.com/2020/04/13/bats-break-out-in-11-4-win-over-pirates-2-2-2/

Well Rutschman only has like two hits in his first three games in A-ball.

That's the key here. I'm not really running things if I had total control, I'm running it from the perspective if I were under the same limitations as Elias would be under. Elias made the comment about giving Davis this year and then evaluate so my plan is to keep him on the roster until there is a roster crunch that would dictate otherwise like say Mountcastle is ready and Mancini is able to come back. He did have a 3-hit + a homer game in this one so that will earn him another start.

Maybe send them to him and joke that it might have been a good thing you guys didn't go to these games from his perspective!

http://www.orioleshangout.com/2020/04/12/bats-break-out-in-11-4-win-over-pirates-2-2/

https://www.orioleshangout.com/2020/04/11/bats-break-out-in-11-4-win-over-pirates-2/ Down on the farm, nice night by Adley Rutschman.

http://www.orioleshangout.com/2020/04/10/bats-break-out-in-11-4-win-over-pirates/ Hanser Alberto hits two homers! Adley Rutschman hit his first homer of the season down in Frederick.

When I researched AAA starters in every organization that were two and half stars or better he was the best guy I found. I then used the, "what would it take to get him" and although most choices wanted top prospects, for some reason the simulation really likes Marcos Diplan. So off Diplan went to get Brubaker. According to the sim, Brubaker does have really good velocity but his movement numbers aren't great which usually suggests he'll give up homers. We'll see, but he was too good not to try and get. I've also been very happy with Wilmer Font who I claimed off waivers from Toronto. So far he's been money in the long reliever role.

Not too bad for 18 years ago. That article reminds me how much time I spent back then knowing personnel in the scouting and development areas and players. I wish they had done some of these things a little sooner!

http://www.orioleshangout.com/2020/04/09/orioles-comeback-for-4-3-win-over-yanks/ Plus Minor League highlights!

Boy, no kidding.

I thought it was interesting now that the orioles have hired Mike Elias to go back to my recommendations back in 2002. Here a list of ten steps the Orioles need to take to become the first-class organization that they once were, and (just as important) to get back to their traditionally winning ways. The first five items address the need to revamp the organization in ways critical to the team's performance on the field, though these changes must happen behind the scenes: 1. HIRE AN INNOVATIVE GM First things first: Syd Thrift must be let go and he must be replaced with an energetic, creative, visionary who's not afraid to try some new concepts and not afraid to step out of the norm. This organization needs a leader, a guy who can create a one-team attitude. He must be able to have full authority to run the franchise. Angelos should give him his budget, and let him shape the club as he sees fit. He must have full authority to hire and fire anyone in the system, or at least have the authority to delegate that responsibility to the Farm Director, who should be allowed to hand-pick the staff. Although Tony DeMacio has done an outstanding job, it should be up to the new GM to decide whether or not he stays on, since he has to be sure that all of his team members are on the same page and under the same philosophy. The same goes for Mike Hargrove and his staff. Finally, Angelos will be wise not to get caught in the trap of thinking that the GM needs to be a seasoned baseball man who has held every job in a professional baseball organization. The success of the Yankees' Brian Cashman and Oakland's Billy Beane is a better example and shows what can happen by giving young, smart guys a chance. 2. SAME TEAM, SAME PHILOSOPHY THROUGHOUT ORGANIZATION Without a doubt, the new GM must have a sound and coherent baseball philosophy and be prepared to institute that philosophy throughout the system. The major league and minor league pitching and hitting coaches should be working under the same philosophy, so that from the time a player arrives in the organization until the time he steps into Camden Yards, he's been taught the same thing year after year. This is why it's so important that the new GM be allowed to handpick his Farm Director and Scouting Director as well as hiring his assistants. Everyone must be on the same sheet of music, with no exceptions, and with no behind-the-scenes power struggles. 3. BECOME TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED The organization must think outside the box by using new technologies like collaboration software and servers, which allow multiple users to share ideas, documents, voice, and video across the Internet in a secure environment. Imagine a meeting each day with the farm director at Camden Yards, the GM on a laptop in a hotel in New York, minor league managers and scouts with laptops in their hotel rooms discussing last night's games and action. No more calling up for voice reports for the game, but an actual interactive conversation with the professionals who saw the plays happen live. Take that information and have it entered into an online scouting service which can be accessed by anyone in the system from scout, to manager, to coach, to front office. One such system is IBM's PROS ("Prospect Reporting and Organizational Solution"), a Web-based software application that allows scouts to quickly collect, store and access information on prospects and players. The Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Toronto Blue Jays, Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets already use this system. Also, the minor league system of analyzing players' performances could be much better if more information were charted and tracked. Instead of having minor league pitchers chart the velocity and type of pitch on a piece of paper, have each use a pocket pc with pitch/bat charting software like Chartmine/E-chart from Competitive Edge Decision systems or Pro Scout from Inside Edge, Inc. This data can be uploaded into databases which can then be viewed by people within the organization as well as being shared with the players during workout sessions and pre-game preparation. 4. MAKE EVERYONE FEEL THEY ARE PART OF SOMETHING SPECIAL Everyone wants to be part of something special. Young military men put themselves through excruciating tests of physical and mental duress to become part of the Army's Special Forces or Rangers, and Navy personnel go even further to become SEALs. Why? Because if they make it, they truly became part of a special team, a special group of individuals that have accomplished a great deal just to get where they are. That type of mentality should be instilled in every minor league player that comes into the system. On day one the new recruits should be shown a film of Brooks Robinson throwing out Lee May in the 1970s World Series or Cal Ripken catching the last out of the 1983 Series in Philadelphia. They should be shown Jim Palmer on the mound and Frank Robinson at the plate. These future Orioles should hear past and present Orioles talk about the things Cal Ripken Sr. stood for, about what a special honor it is to put on the uniform of the Baltimore Orioles. Class, hard work, hustle and dedication should be expected from each player in the system. The consequences of breaking a spelled-out code of conduct should include being benched, demoted or released, depending on the offense. In return, the coaching staff will be dedicated, hard-working men who believe in the philosophy of the organization and who want to work with the young men they are given. 5. TREAT PLAYERS AS INDIVIDUALS Each player that comes into the organization is different. They come from diverse backgrounds and education levels, with unique characteristics that differentiate each one from another regardless of skill level. When a player is signed, the minor league staff and scouts should assess him and an individual developmental plan (IDP) should be outlined to show a player his strengths and weaknesses. This IDP should follow the player from each level so that when the player is promoted, the new coaching staff knows what the player is working on and what he does well, along with other notes from the previous coaching staff and organizational scouts who have seen him. Just as importantly, at the end of the year, the player should be counseled on his season and his IDP should be discussed. The organization should develop an offseason program tailored to the player with such things as drills, fitness, and weight training included. Besides the quality of the baseball organization, the packaging of the baseball product to its fans is also important. The next five items address shortcomings in this area: 6. OFFER $5 FAMILY SECTIONS Offer one section in the stadium where seats are five bucks if they are bought with a child's ticket. Limit adult seating to two adults per child's ticket, and allow an unlimited number of children's tickets per adult. A child would be anyone under the age of 18 accompanying an adult. This arrangement will encourage families to come to the park. A family of four paying $20 to see a game is much more inclined to buy food and souvenirs then if they have already plunked down $80. 7. FANFEST CHANGES Drop the price of the annual FAN FEST to $5 and make it bigger. Bring back more ex-Orioles and offer up more fan forums, in more intimate settings like smaller conference rooms. Fans love the ability to interact with ex-players, even the Mark Williamsons of the world. Encourage more major and minor league players to attend and allow them to mingle with the crowd. At last year’s FAN FEST, players like John Parrish, Josh Towers and Matt Riley could be seen enjoying their time interacting with the fans with Parrish and Riley spending lots of time just standing in the crowd talking with whoever had something to say. The autograph sessions are fine for the people who like that kind of thing, but they allow little time for chit-chat. Also, add in more Orioles trivia with prizes, maybe even an Orioles jeopardy show with contestants picked at random. These changes will allow for the players and the fans to feel more like a community, and just might bring some of that old Orioles magic back. 8. TURN DOWN THE NOISE For God's sake, turn down the volume of the music between innings. Why in the world a fan should have to scream to the person next to them in order to have a conversation is beyond me. A lot of people have complained about this, but apparently it has gone on deaf ears. Perhaps the person in charge of music was sitting in the upper deck near one of the speakers? 9. MORE AUTOGRAPHS AFTER GAMES With Cal Ripken gone, it seems as though the players nowadays can't get into the dugouts fast enough after games. What's so wrong with hanging out a little while after games to sign some autographs for the fans? 10. SOMEHOW, HIRE JON MILLER BACK With all due respect to Jim Hunter and Fred Manfra, the firing of Jon Miller may have been the worst decision Peter Angelos ever made. Miller is the best in the business because he was still worth listening to in 10-1 routs (which would have come in handy the last few seasons). I'm sure Miller is happy in San Francisco, but maybe the lure of a big payday and a lifetime supply of Maryland Blue Crabs could bring him back.

Riley was one of the most mismanaged prospects ever. He had the unfortunate timing of coming up in an organization that was in disarray from the top on down. When you add in his lack of maturity at the time, it was a bomb just waiting to happen. From my article back in 2002 One of the worst cases has to be the mishandling of Matt Riley. Riley was a 19-year old left-hander who had made his way to Double-A thanks to a mid-90s fastball and a knee-buckling breaking ball. However, Riley was also a kid who had some very real maturity issues that required special handling. During one start in late June, Riley threw a pitch and then fell off the mound holding his elbow. The Orioles called it a strained elbow and put him on the seven-day disabled list. Riley missed two starts and was activated, but he was never the same pitcher again. After being activated, Riley posted a 5.20 ERA (26ER/45IP) in his last eight starts, including an 0-3 record with a 5.96 ERA (15ER/22.2IP) in his last four starts. His velocity had dropped off noticeably and by mid-August, he was topping out at only 89MPH. Despite the obvious signs of something wrong, it didn't stop the Orioles from rushing the first true left-handed pitching prospect that organization had seen since Arthur Rhodes to the major leagues. After meeting with Riley and his agent, Frank Wren decided to promote Riley to the major league for a September look. The results were predictable: Riley made three starts, posting a 7.36 ERA with 13 walks and just six strikeouts in 11 innings, before the Orioles mercifully shut him down. The Orioles didn't really monitor Riley that offseason, and he showed up in the major league camp out of shape, but with an attitude that could be summed up by his vanity license plate, "24kt arm." His frequent lateness and attitude rubbed the Orioles' established players the wrong way, and Riley was soon ostracized from the rest of the team. That didn't stop the Orioles from keeping him in the major league camp, where he saw one inning's work over three weeks of the exhibition season. Riley was eventually sent to the minor league camp across the state in Sarasota, from where he was later assigned to Rochester despite still being out of shape. With no legs under him, Riley was rocked at Rochester and eventually put on the DL with arm soreness. When he returned from the DL he was sent to Bowie where he was put into the bullpen until he regained his strength. He pitched poorly for most of the 2000 season before feeling a sharp pain in his elbow after throwing a pitch in a game at the end of August. Riley had torn a tendon in his left elbow and underwent Tommy John Surgery. He would miss the entire 2001 season. Despite missing that entire season, Riley wasn't brought back slowly the way the Cardinals handled Matt Morris, another young pitcher who missed a year with Tommy John surgery. No, Riley was placed into the Baysox rotation where he compiled 109 innings in 22 starts, posting a 4-10 record and a 6.34 ERA.

Well through 3 starts at least!

McDonald was certainly a product of college coaching not caring about arms. His usage was ridiculous, even for those days. Although not as hyped, Beau Hale was another Orioles 1st rounder than was basically bled dry in college. It's nice to know most college coaching has caught up to pro organizations in how they handle their pitchers.

Would just like to add, I pooped myself on this day as well.

OOTP has always been known for it's realistic outcomes though sometimes surprises can happen. When a team''s best players are only rated as three star players (out of five) you are not going to be very good. So far the pitching staff for the most part have out performed their norms, but the team is still 4-9. Maybe this whole virus thing is to make sure the Orioles don't lose 100 games for the 3rd straight year?

Cleveland was always ahead of the times.

I pooped myself that day... In my defense, I was 9 days old!