DrungoHazewood

I think we should recognize that he is meeting fairly high expectations in a difficult situation. He's managing most of the aspects of a $1B company with $250M in annual revenues that was a train wreck when he took over, and with a fanbase that mostly measures everything in today's wins and losses. He's not running a lemonade stand on the sidewalk. I run a reasonably large division at work, and I'm quite happy that my boss and my employees seem to understand that meeting difficult expectations is a very good thing.

Sure? Maybe? Does it matter? I couldn't really care less if they signed a bunch of 29-year-old warm bodies to try and win 76 games this year, unless it impacts the background work. And I'm pretty sure it would impact the background work. I think in broad terms Elias is given a pot of money and he can do with it as he sees fit. And he sees fit to spend as little as possible on 2021 payroll so he has as much as possible for other things. Yes, that pot of money is pretty small given the Orioles' recent performances, the owners' tolerance for going into the red, and the COVID situation.

And fourth out of 30 in one snapshot by one opinion piece is a fine result. It feels like your stance here is if they're not handily beating every other MLB organization (that, by the way, are trying to do much the same thing, perhaps not all with the same emphasis) then they're miserable failures.

It's not just one reason. Well, it's the reason they're not actively pursuing wins. But not spending money in a quest to get wins 60-75 frees up resources to do other things in the organization. To me it's pretty clear that the 1994-2017 Orioles were willing to spend some decent amount on MLB payroll and very little on all the infrastructure necessary for a self-sustaining organization. While the 2018-present team looks a lot like the GM is being given a budget to spend as he sees fit, and he's very much concentrating on the background stuff instead of the MLB team.

There is value in drafting high every round, not just the first.

Realistic expectations not driven mostly by cynicism?

That's about 7th or 11th or something on the list of reasons they draw poorly. Actually, they have a tiny payroll because they draw poorly mainly for other reasons.

I don't understand why he's fairly highly rated, either. Must be someone the scouts love, otherwise he's 26 and his numbers haven't looked good since he was in A ball.

My first thought was that maybe with the NPB having fans in the stands last year that created more revenues relative to MLB. Combine that with analytics crushing the over-30 free agent market, and perhaps Japan is becoming a more competitive bidder for major league talent. But then I noticed that Adeiny Hechavarria is over 30, not very good, and fits the longstanding mold of so-so major leaguer wanting one last decent payday by going to Japan.

To summarize: We don't know how long Hyde's or Elias' contracts really are, but if this is the last guaranteed year for one or both of them then all kinds of stuff could happen and that's as exciting as baseball news gets on December 26th.

Ah, but game theory. Are they his best pitches at least in part because he has other pitches that hitters wait for? And if he ditches the other pitches then the "best" pitches become less effective?

You say this all the time, but here's the records of the Angelos-era Orioles compared to the last four expansion teams: Orioles: Five playoff appearances, eight winning records (Angelos bought team prior to 1994 season) Rays: Six playoff appearances, nine winning records (started 1998) D'Backs: Six playoff apperances (last win '01), 13 winning records (1998) Rockies: Five playoff appearances (zero wins), nine winning records (1993) Marlins: Three playoff appearances (last win '03), seven winning records (1993) Basically its a coin flip as to who is better, and that's assuming the next 25 years are exactly like the last 25 under Peter Angelos.

The Angeloses cannot sell the team or move them unless they get the concurrence of Major League Baseball. MLB has signed off on one franchise move since 1971. When is the last time a MLB team abandoned a top-tier stadium?

A run saved is roughly equal to a run scored, so I'm not seeing the fatal flaw in the argument. But I'll admit to not knowing everything. Certainly recent history has tended towards defense-first backup catchers. But I think that's because if you can hit and catch you're a starter. If you can hit but can't really catch you're usually a first baseman or a DH or a third baseman or something because they want your bat in the lineup and not stunted by constantly taking foul balls off your head. So that leaves the defense-first guys who OPS .612 as your typical backup catcher. But if Chance Sisco can OPS .750 or .775 while playing a passable catcher I'd take that as Rutchman's backup over some generic .600 OPS Paul Bako.

So you are going to carry both a left-handed and a right-handed backup catcher for those times when Rutschman or whomever has taken a foul ball off his hand and is out for three days? The truth is they'll just play him against whatever pitcher is on the mound because you can't be too choosy about your backup catcher when the main guy takes a knock. Which happens about four times a year, if you're lucky.

Yes, of course. It's wildcard making sweeping declarations about a bit player based on little fragments of half-evidence. I think that Cuiffo's likely career path is somewhere between Raul Chavez, Jeff Tackett and Paul Bako. Who knows which.

Since 2015 the Orioles have had five pitchers qualify for the ERA title with an ERA under 4.50.

The Mets cost themselves about 13 runs by being that poor against base stealers. Or about a win and a half. The spread between best and worst teams in allowing stolen bases in '19 was less than 20 runs.

Obviously you're exaggerating for effect, but there is a continnuum of defensive and offensive skills. If you have enough of both or either you're a starter. If you don't, you're a backup or a minor leaguer. I see no reason to think that a good defensive catcher who can't hit a lick is more valuable than a good offensive catcher with suspect defense. A flaw in your exaggeration is that a utility infielder or a DH would be about as good a defender as a career catcher with mediocre defense. That's like assuming if you have Jonathan Schoop playing below-average defense at short you might as well play Renato Nunez there. Schoop was a -5 shortstop or whatever, Nunez would be a -30 or -40. Same with Ryan Flaherty catching vs. Chance Sisco or whomever.

There's no harm. But it's also no big deal. I think most of us (I know I am) are reacting to this over-wrought story of the guy being the backup catcher for the foreseeable future because Earl Weaver eked value out of John Lowenstein and Benny Ayala. It's nice that they signed Nick Ciuffo, but there are a lot of Nick Ciuffos floating around the minors. The Rays didn't let him go because they thought he was a key piece of their 2026 pennant winners, he's a guy likely to post a .600 OPS with good defense.

In 2012 Taylor Teagarden was 6th on the team in WPA (among position players) despite hitting .158 in just 64 PAs. Essentially all of his hits came in the key moments of close games. No, it's not predictive of anything, he isn't magic. But it did happen.

Alstertor Dusseldorf Style in the little glass barrel. First two are Händlmaier Hausmacher Senf, and Händlmaier Bayerischer Süßer Senf.

Elrod doesn't bother me one bit. He's in for being a good guy on the team for a long time. Wild Bill doesn't bother me, just don't look too closely at his personal life. But here's the quote from Rick: He's basically arguing that anyone can go in the O's Hall. It's all a feel good thing, why not? Of course when you put Gene Woodling and Billy Hunter in they feel good, but the other 50 guys who were just as qualified who aren't in might not.

If we're arguing for a Hall with no standards I don't see why not.

With rational and reasonable standards there's no way that Robbie Somerville will get into the O's Hall, and that's just ridiculous, he obviously needs to be in. The best honors are those with no standards whatsoever, where they basically pick the winners out of hat.