Ruzious

Agreed. And really, it's like that in any business - not just sports.

And this seems to have gotten lost to some extent - understandably - in the discussion. The cold hard question is - Does his ability justify taking a chance on him - realizing there will be bad PR in giving him a chance - regardless of whether or not the bad PR is warranted. So far, he's been no more than a mediocre player. I'll be brutally honest - If I'm running a team, I'd be much more willing to give him a chance if he actually played well.

You're really dreaming big.

When he's talking about Mason McCoy as a possibility, you know there's a serious talent problem. If Addison Russell ends up in Baltimore (not that there's any rumors yet), that'll likely create pr problems in addition to talent problems.

Ok, let me word this correctly - I think it's safe to say that every non-O's baseball fan would say that Didi is clearly at a higher level as a SS than Villar is.

I'd cut him a lot of slack for that, but that's besides the point - being that it's clear that Didi is at a higher level as a SS than Villar is - I don't think anyone disagrees with that - and because of that - if he gets very little attention in free agency, that's an indication that Villar has very little trade value.

You might say it was a C minus free agent catcher group after Grandal. D'Arnaud was ranked #2 by some, and he was released by the Mets and I think the Dodgers early last season. I agree that the O's catchers could have more trade value than people here seem to think.

Let's see what Didi gets in free agency. If he gets very little attention, that will say a mouthful as to Villar's trade value. Didi's coming off a bad hitting season for him, but he had the best fielding % of his career - which was tops in the AL.

The Braves and Nats will continue to be among the best rivalries in baseball. Braves signed dominant reliever Will Smith - making their entire bullpen better - they can move Melanson and Green to 7th and 8th inning roles - not to mention several other good arms there. 3/39 - a good deal for both sides. Braves lose their 2nd round pick. Braves really need to get a catcher - they've re-signed Flowers, but he was bad last season.

This is big, because the O's got a guy who was essentially a non-prospect with the Braves, and on the O's watch - he's become a prospect. That gives me hope.

Ok, you're forgiven.

Plech, I dub thee unforgiven.

Fenter will be eligible to collect Social Security soon. Even if he makes it, what are we talking about - a middlin relief specialist? I was wrong with Bannon & McKenna at 15 & 16, so I might as well be wrong with them at 17 &18.

Glad to see people more knowledgeable than me haven't given up on Hanifee - though I would have probably put him a bit lower.

But he looked like a legit 2-way player - arguably the only 1 on the O's MLB roster. Reimold was a legit... DH.

And it's rare that a player doesn't hit their weight - especially when that weight's probably decreased by about 30 pounds from his prime. No red flag there. ?

I'll just go with the pair that I would choose - Ryan and Rylan.

For me, it's more spin rate dreams.

For me, I'm skeptical about a professional athlete who has a conditioning problem. So, if their stuff is close, I'll lean against the one with the conditioning problem. Having said that, I don't know how bad Akin's problem is.

Hmm, 2 of the options seem rather similar. I echo this being a tough one. I'm not ready to right off either Hanifee or McKenna. Stowers didn't show enough at Aberdeen to be there, but I'm not sure who else to eliminate. Wells being a lefty who gets the job done so consistently - I'm going to assume he's one of the 2. Maybe Wells and Hanifee or Hanifee and Wells? Neither, I'll go with Chuck's pick - Wells and Rom.

Gotta figure getting in good shape would help with his consistency, but if he hasn't done that so far - there's probably not much reason to expect him to change. Gotta agree with putting him behind Kremer.

Not at all, imo. He's a potential power hitting SS - that alone is exciting, and Weams pointed out his improvement in his batting average at his very young age. I could see him shooting up the prospect lists.

I take it as an especially good sign that both Bauman and Lowther are rated ahead of Harvey. I thought Harvey made some progress, but the O's are no longer in the situation that they're almost dependent on a miracle from him and can even make Harvey their closer of the future. And we still have a guy like Kremer who could pass Harvey. Maybe even Akin and a couple others but probably not.

The thing that really stands out - looking at the boxscore - is depth. Both of the Mitchell brothers look like they can play some, and they were 9th and 10th in minutes played. Once their 7'2 freshman is ready, that'll make 11 players that should get playing time. Actually, make that 12 - I saw some Hakim Hart footage, and he looks like a player - a 6'6 shooting guard.

With young pitchers that the O's will hopefully use next season, you generally want the pitchers to be able to rely on the catchers. Heck, even a guy like Scherzer was still working in partnership with Suzuki in their most recent playoff game. It's not just the call of what pitch, it's the location of that pitch. Yes, the pitcher is ultimately the boss, but the catcher's a part of the decision-making process.