now

From the ridiculous to the subli--(switches to radio feed) So uncanny how the on-field product echoes said dumpster fire in the broadcast booth. Just can't hack success, gotta inject a little drama, act out, just because... petty, petulant. Having just watched the excellent series "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty"--man, talk about drama. Most of it self-created, out of ego and its deficiencies. And of course fate (injuries to coach and star) conspires to compound the challenges. So to create drama out of nothing, for no reason? And see what happens... Well, heck, the Lakers did get their dynasty, despite it all. At least the owner was all in.

I chalk this one up to the Karma Police. (Additional data: all 4 minors teams lose: A, A+, AA, AAA; Bowie and Norfolk by a combined 21-4.)

Thanks for the exciting update, Tony. Have to pretty much agree with your rankings, from my crystal ball. Here's a breakdown by current team, to help with perusing daily boxscores from the minors. RK Name POS Team 3 Colton Cowser OF BAL 4 Jordan Westburg SS/3B BAL 2 Coby Mayo 3B/RF Nor (AAA) 5 Heston Kjerstad 1B Nor (AAA) 7 Joey Ortiz SS Nor (AAA) 15 Chayse McDermott RHP Nor (AAA) 17 D.L. Hall LHP Nor (AAA) 18 Connor Norby 2B Nor (AAA) 28 Hudson Haskin OF Nor (AAA) 29 Justin Armbruester RHP Nor (AAA) 35 Garrett Stallings RHP Nor (AAA) 38 Maverick Handley C Nor (AAA) 1 Jackson Holliday SS BOW (AA) 9 Jud Fabian OF BOW (AA) 11 Cade Povich LHP BOW (AA) 12 Dylan Beavers OF BOW (AA) 23 Carlos Tavera RHP BOW (AA) 31 Jean Pinto RHP BOW (AA) 34 John Rhodes OF BOW (AA) 36 Alex Pham RHP BOW (AA) 37 Kyle Brnovich RHP BOW (AA) 6 Samuel Basallo C ABN (A+) 10 Creed Willems C ABN (A+) 13 Max Wagner 3B ABN (A+) 22 Trace Bright RHP ABN (A+) 26 Brandon Young RHP ABN (A+) 32 Frederick Bencosme INF ABN (A+) 24 Luis DeLeon LHP DEL (A) 40 Juan De Los Santos RHP DEL (A) 8 Enrique Bradfield Jr. CF FCL O's 14 Mac Horvath OF/3B FCL O's 16 Braylin Tavera CF FCL O's 19 Jackson Baumeister RHP FCL O's 20 Keifer Lord RHP FCL O's 25 Levi Wells RHP FCL O's 27 Leandro Arias SS FCL O's 30 Carter Baumler RHP FCL O's 33 Aron Estrada 2B FCL O's 39 Thomas Sosa OF FCL O's 21 Luis Almeyda CF DSL O's

This. And because of it, the fixation on a World Series crown is kind of like beside the point, or an afterthought, or icing on the cake, after a great season like the Orioles are putting together this year. I'm just as disappointed as the next fan when a great season ('69, '71, '79, '82, '89, '96, '97, '12, '14, '16) ends with a loss. But it shouldn't ruin what is a great ride to get there. Especially these days with such slim odds for every team in the playoff pool.

Adding to your two... 3. He showed the ability/savvy/guts to get out of a critical jam in the first and more important, the sixth. All these qualities should serve well as an example and model for our younger starters to emulate and learn from. Hopefully Flaherty can show the way in the playoffs too.

Signing their top 16 picks, hard to argue with that.

As @Frobby pointed out recently, this is becoming a habit with Jorge. Critical last AB too. Ortiz 3-for-3 so far today, .344/.979. It's time. On that note, I wouldn't mind giving Cowser a breather at AAA and giving Heston his shot. It's a team effort, right?

There's a backhanded compliment for ya.

I dunno about the walkarounds, but you must be remembering 1996 (1.517 WHIP) not 1997 (1.156). That's like batting .304 one year and .230 the next. With that WHIP range Myers was similar to Olson, whose best year of the five was 1992 (1.141) and worst was 1991 (1.398). Now compare Stanhouse '78-'79 (1.500, 1.376) with the Mountain (0.929, 0.857). But of course the real difference maker is Bautista's K rate off the charts.

Olson and Eckersley?

I'm fond of the old Stu Miller (slow, slower, and slowest) but it's hard to top 1997 Randy Myers, at 1.51 ERA and 45/46 in saves, in a wire-to-wire season.

Smoke = Bautista; Mirrors = Cano. I'll take it! (But give them a little rest now and then.)

This (the crux of the biscuit). In the real world, give me odds each year (for a 5-6 year window) while playing those top prospects, versus a one and done. Expecially since the "one and done" is really just a single year of greater odds, at best.

That's a great reminder, and what a litany of misfortune to overcome! I had to go to Baseball-Reference to find out how they pulled it off, and this is what I found that helps explain it: Nelson Cruz (40 HR, 137 OPS+) Steve Pearce (157 OPS+) Delmon Young (117 OPS+) Starters ERA+: Tillman 118, Chen 111, Norris 108, Gonzalez 122, Gausman 110 Bullpen ERA+ Britton 240, O'Day 232, Hunter 133, Matusz 114, Brach 125, McFarland 143, Miller 297 I know reliever ERA isn't the best metric but that's a formidable cast of firemen.

The same could be said of Perez, Krehbiel and Tate, for effective 1-inning relief. Speaking of Krehbiel, looks like he's regained some success at AAA, may be time for another try.

wowzers. Randy Johnson 2.0?

Once again I'm starting to feel okay about the return for the Machado rental.

I think that select list of top 7 fastest teams reflects really well the comparative quality of the those teams. I would rank them roughly in that order (especially after playing lots of Sims to find the same basic rank order). So #8 there is pretty select company, all right. I would even venture to say, that whole list presents a fair ranking of relative quality of all those teams. Here they are in rank order, by your fastest games to +20: 1969 48 1997 50 1966 62 1979 64 1970 66 1971 66 1964 72 2023 90 1968 116 1980 116 1977 118 1960 124 1973 124 1983 124 2014 124 1961 130 1982 136 1965 138 2012 148 1975 152 1978 158 1974 162

Bonus: All of the above in-game stuff, PLUS nonstop bad commercials!

Have lately been wanting to see such a summary in one place, and you've added value with your own take. Thanks @Aristotelian!

Most pitchers are RHP. So draft LH bats. Most batters are RH. So draft RHP. Simple data advantage, says Sigbot!

I basically agree with you (without knowing how old you are) but the '70 O's (Buford, Rettenmund) and late 70's to early 80's teams (Murray, Singleton, Roenicke/Lowenstein) come to mind as good OBP teams too. (Good for those 3-run homers!)

MLB tools ranking had him as best speed AND best defender in the draft. https://www.mlb.com/news/best-tools-in-2023-mlb-draft?t=mlb-draft-coverage

Totally agree on the first point. As for Irvin, he looks better and is getting better results (thx Mullins!), but I can't help but see the shadow of Zac Lowther and Alex Wells. Wonder how @Tony-OH would compare their stuff.

So much for the eye test!