Ruzious

There's a 3 year age difference. Yes, there's obviously an injury issue with Hays, but it's never been anywhere near what it is with Harvey.

There is no comp - period.

Hammonds appears to be a great comp to Hays. He could have been an outstanding player.

There's really no comparison between Hays and Harvey. Hays topped 500 plate appearances in the majors in his age 25 season. Harvey's approaching his age 27 season and has never had more than 8.2 innings in a season in the majors.

This is a complete guess on my part, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's truth to it. They dumped him because of HHF - Hunter Harvey Fatigue. After years and years of holding out hope for this dude and his ridiculously outdated mullet, that last interview with Roch was the tipping point - when he had the nerve to publicly blame their people for his 759th injury. Enough was enough, and with him no longer looking like he had the significant upside to put up with him anymore, the O's said bye.

I'm pretty sure that answers any question about whether or not the O's will make any effort to try to get him.

It's possible we could return the favor to SF and get 27 year old injury-prone Joe McCarthy from them. He OPS'd .926 in AAA this year in 74 games. He wouldn't be a major acquisition - but maybe a nice cheap one. https://www.talkingchop.com/2021/11/4/22763466/2021-2022-minor-league-free-agents-of-interest

Great kid - he kept everything positive, how this sharpened his mental side, and said good things about how he was treated and about the medical staff. And he obviously loves baseball.

I wouldn't be surprised if Rocker's there for the O's in round 2.

Rom/Basallo was also my vote. I'm surprised the Bradish/Bowman combo is in the lead - I don't think it has a chance.

Hey, buying an engagement ring is something one does only 3 or 4 times.

Westburg also figures in. I hope Jones is a Use only in the case of an emergency option.

How a team that was under .500 at July 31st won the World Series (and without their best player and best young pitcher): https://www.theringer.com/2021/11/3/22760721/atlanta-braves-world-series-champions-game-six-houston-astros

I just got through saying I have Rom here, so...

Thanks for the correction to the correction!

Thanks for the correction - assuming he kept that up. The scouting reports I read said that his fastball was around 92.

One thing i wanted to mention about the 2021 World Series... BRAVES WIN!!!

I'll be honest - I think people are rating Pinto too high, because he's only pitched at the low levels - and really doesn't even have many innings there - and was never highly regarded before this season. And it's not like he has an upper 90's fastball. I agree that he's an interesting prospect, but I don't see him being rated this highly.

Definitely, we'd get some good mileage out of that battery.

So you're saying there's a chance.

Okay, so we're not talking about Ford automobiles? We do have a fine Expedition of prospects. At 5'11 175, Pinto is certainly a compact pitcher.

Marwin's been really bad the last 2 seasons and is a 32/33 year old utility man... he's an F level player at this point.

With Rom, I guess the question is his fastball. Is it going to be the same issue with him as it is with Alex Wells? I think there's some projection left - with his lean frame and still just 21. He stands out as far as production, level, and age. It's also a plus being a lefty. Succeeding at 21 at Bowie - and everywhere else - with a tremendous K/W ratio. Melewski had an interesting aritcle in May on some of the O's pitching prospects - this was a quote he got from Kyle Moore - who coached Rom in at least one level. So, when he says his velocity is "92, 94" - he probably means his max velocity. If he can get his average velocity to 93, he's the O's #10 prospect, imo - like a poor man's Max Fried.

Assuming Westburg and Ortiz both start out the season at Bowie looking good. Who plays SS? Then assume Henderson also starts out in Bowie. Is that even workable? The idea of alternating them at different positions doesn't seem like a good one, imo.

Yeah, this is where Heston belongs on the O's list - right behind Westburg - though personally, I have him just above Stowers.