Tony-OH

Hays will play over Rickard making Rickard the Gentry role. I think last night was just his get acclimated night. The real question is whether Buck will play him over Trumbo or Smith? Maybe the Orioles are about to face a series of lefties? Hays was mashing them so at worse he makes this team better against lefties. If Rickard gets playing time over Hays then we'll know two things, one, this was a Duquette move and Buck didn't agree with it. Two, Buck literally hates rookies. Just kidding on the last part, but Hays is getting his playoff type experience with a playoff run in Baltimore. That means more than a "playoffs" in Bowie.

He has improved in left field but is nothing more than adequate. His arm is slightly below average but shouldn't kill a team from left.

This is honestly the best fit for Trumbo. The Orioles are going to need 2 to 3 starters next season so if they can move Trumbo to an AL team that wants to get rid of SP contract then maybe we have something. Maybe someone can do some research to see potential options.

I'd love to see Davis or Trumbo gone, but that's not going to happen with their unfortunate contracts. For some God awful reason Duquette bought high on Trumbo last offseason. I know no one expected Mancini to be this good in the major leagues, but there's a road block now for a few years and the team is really RH batter heavy. This is what makes Santander so intriguing. His ability to switch hit would be a real boon to the lineup if he can stick. If Mancini is in left again next year and let's say Hays is now in RF, the Orioles will need a left-handed hitting 4th outfielder. Now perhaps that could be Mullins eventually, but he's really struggled down the stretch and probably needs some more seasoning. Santander could be that guy since Hays has the ability to play CF if needed, but unless he's getting pretty regular at bats, it's probably best to send him back down once his service time has been accumulated because he's not going to develop playing once a week.

Santander time on the roster next year?

With Buck you are probably right, but I'd rather have Smith Dhing than Trumbo against righties at this point. It would be silly for the Orioles to bring Hays up and sit him on the bench. Saying all that, I'd never put anything past Buck when it comes to playing a veteran over a rookie.

Andrew Faulkner and Yefri Ramirez would go before Rickard since Rickard gives them some speed late in games. This offseason? Perhaps.

No, you don't bring up Hays to sit him on the bench. Smith would be a good bat off the bench and could give the Orioles a nice matchup late in games.

Hays is a slightly above average runner. He's not a base stealer, but he can go get it in the outfield and can move on the bases.

It makes sense now that they are in the hunt. He's better than both of their current options and gives Buck some flexibility on the bench with Smith (LH bat) and Rickard (speed/defense).

Could be. It does seem surprising that they would pull him while the Baysox are in the playoffs unless they plan to play him everyday. Honestly, he's better than both Rickard and Smith so maybe they are ready to turn over RF to him.

Guess they figure he's better than Rickard, they have a lot of chaff already on the 40-man roster so using an unnecessary one is not a big deal, and they think he's going to be the right fielder next year. Heck, they might think he's the right fielder right now and they may not be wrong.

Here's to hoping the kid can stay healthy and overcome the physical issues. As a father of a young DIV-I athlete who's career was cut short by injury, I understand the disappointment he must be going through. Hopefully he'll get whatever he has fixed have a few good seasons and get redrafted in three years.

I don't see the first step quickness or the arm strength to remain as an upper Division shortstop. Saying that, I'd like to see more of him as he moves up. I do like the early returns on the stick although as 22-year old, he'll need to jump to Frederick next year and put up some numbers to get me too interested.

I don't believe September games count but let me check on that.

My guess is that this is the plan. This means they'll have to carry him for around 75 days next year to keep him.

Toilet seated a bit and a step out. That's getting fooled by a pretty good breaking ball.

We also might not of had Trumbo last year....which of course led to Trumbo for three more years which makes your case even more.

I actually didn't think Jordan was that bad once he got going. He missed badly with several 1st rounders like Snyder, Rowell, and Hobgood, but he also hit with Wieters and Machado. He also drafted Davies when everyone saw him as a short skinny right-hander and got Zach Britton in the 3rd round. Drafting is hard, and I'm well aware of the average value of picks through the draft, but at the end of the day, if you have six drafts and you can't find one impact player in your system that is ready to help out the major league team you haven't done your job well IMHO. Now I'm not blaming Rajsich totally for the Orioles poor system, nor do I think he's terrible at everything. Honestly, he's found some value outside of the first round in guys like Mancini and Hart, but I'll never understand his aversion to drafting shortstops (who are normally the best athletes on their teams) and true center fielders and he's struggled to find legitimate starting pitching candidates or even power relievers who can come up and help out quickly.

You sound like you should be his agent. Hey, by all means, have any opinion you want. I see a terrible system and lack of real athletes and dearth of starting pitching prospects. The Orioles aversion to signing international players is certainly part of the issue, but not part of this discussion so we won't get into it, but even the guys you point out have done what for the Orioles? Mancini was a nice pick, but he made major adjustments with the development staff after his Delmarva signing. Gausman was a miss for the 4th overall pick. Hader was a flier on a local kid on the behast of local scout Dean Albany, so let's not act like their was some amazing plan there. Even Albany will tell you he never saw him becoming this good and besides, Albany has basically been set aside by Rajsich so if you wanna give credit to the O's scouting for Hader, realize the scout that found him is no longer has much if any say in amateur scouting now. Mullins, most people still think he;s a 4th outfielder, Sisco? If you like platoon catchers who can't control the running game and without much power then he's your guy. Sure, Hays and Mountcastle look good so far, but both are nothing more than prospects who have some holes in their games, not guaranteed impact players. Where are the shortstop prospects? Who are the pitchers that he's drafted that are legitimate starting pitching prospects? He's had six years and the system doesn't have one sure fire legitimate starting pitching prospect. Even Akin, who I like a bit is seen as a reliever by some scouts. Look, as an Orioles fan, I want to be positive and I want the players to become solid major leaguers, but as an evaluator and guy who talks to many people in the industry, this system is not very good and Rajsich's drafting is part of the problem. It's nothing personal. I don't really know Rajsich. I talked to him after his first and 2nd drafts and after he basically told me every pitcher were three and four pitch guys with plus pitches, I realized he was either throwing my fluff or over evaluates guys terribly. I realized it wasn't really worth my time to dicuss the players anymore so I wait until I see them or guys I know and trust see them before evaluating them.

You can have any opinion you like, but go ahead and tell us about all the impact major league talent Rajsich has drafted. Tell me about all the major league ready starters in the system? Tell me about one everyday shortstop prospect in the system. Out of the three best position prospects in the system, two have unknown positions at the major league level. So besides the lack of legitimate major league starting prospects, any infield prospects, and lack of legitimate impact talent, please let us know why you think Rajsich has done such a great job? As for signing guys, he's done a good job up until this year and I don't have the whole story so I'm not blaming him for the Conlon thing at all. What I am saying is he's had 6 drafts and the system is one of the worse in baseball. His best draft pick so far has been Trey Mancini, and he's a development success story after making adjustments after a terrible Delmarva year.

So much strangeness about all of this. I'd like to give the Orioles the benefit of the doubts but hard to with the way they've been going about things of late.

It's like one of those last drafts a scouting director has before he's let go. The drafting has not been good for years and Rajsich has now had six drafts and the system is one of the worse in baseball. Grant it part of it is the organization's aversion to the international market, but let's face it, the system is not exactly drafting a developing many impact big leaguers.

Something can't be right.

I doubt it. With the new rules, almost everyone knows what they will get and whether they will sign for that number. Since MLB put the new system in place very few 1st round picks haven't signed.