Ruzious

Batman - at least if he's the DH. I hope they consider Diaz in the MLB lineup if he has an impressive Spring.

Good choice. Merv was a pure hitter - though not much of an OFer. Clemente blew me away as a RFer in that WS when I was 10. Here's a clip of the best way to run the bases against Roberto: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Roberto+Clemente+Greatest+Plays&&view=detail&mid=A14ACCF8E842A4606D25A14ACCF8E842A4606D25&rvsmid=13F38E1CB16C586FDD8013F38E1CB16C586FDD80&FORM=VDQVAP Don't ever test his arm. He was simply the best.

Alrighty, so what works on other message boards doesn't work here. Anyway, some good Terps offseason news: Wiggins has added 10 plus pounds of muscle and is ready to take a major step up this season. (I think he's the 2nd most talented player on the roster). Ayala has lost 10 lbs and looks a lot quicker and fitter. Scott is looking every bit the tough physical wing player they envisioned. They're liking Morsell as a small-ball 4 (though I think that's Scott's role).

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You beat me to it. I hope it's him rather than Watson or Stowers..

Look at their roster. Their catchers are on their last legs - Flowers has nothing left, and McCann's older at 35. They have a power-hitting catcher in AAA, but he's a converted OFer who I doubt they want to go with. They have 2 other catching prospects who aren't close to making it. The Braves bullpen has improved but still needs more talent. Givens needs to get away from Baltimore - look at his splits. Batters hit .186 against him on the road - in 28.1 innings, he had 46 K's, 11 walks, and 19 hits off him.

Everyone could be traded, but the player who I could easily see getting traded that I'd hate to see get traded is Mountcastle. I think he's the most likely asset the o's have of being a quality middle of the lineup hitter - with Mancini.

I've said it before (to no reaction) - a player I would try to trade for is Johan Camargo (age 25) of the Braves. He came up as a solid defensive SS right behind studs Dansby Swanson and Ozzie Albies, so he got moved to 3B. He had a helluva year there in 2018 - only to see the Braves trade for Donaldson and that they had a stud 3rd base prospect (Riley) ready. So, he got stuck on the bench this year, was probably very unhappy about it, and stunk when he got to play. He even got sent down to AAA for a stretch - where he destroyed AAA pitching (in albeit small sample size theater). But since then, it looks like he might have lost his post-season roster spot to Hechavarria. I think he would love a chance to play every day for the Orioles - particularly at SS. Braves will try to re-sign Donaldson in the offseason - Camargo is blocked everywhere. Braves aren't going to give him away, but I'm thinking Givens and either Severino or Sisco might git er done.

Yup, the key to using him most effectively is getting him in the double word score tile.

Nice season. Still, just a 102 OPS+. A good DH to have against lefties; meh against righties.

I think it said something about him refusing to play when he wasn't 100%. It's a bit of a conundrum with Lynn, because that goes against his toughness, but he was the most fearless player in the game - both in running into walls and running the bases - he did things that most players today wouldn't consider doing. I think by the time he got to the O's, he was damaged goods physically, and he simply couldn't play effectively every day. There were stories that he couldn't even sit in airplanes - had to lie down in the aisles.

Lynn hasn't gottern as much support as Jim Rice, but I think he was the best all-around player of that Red Sox OF that also included GG RFer Dewey Evans. Lynn ran into a few too many walls. Otherwise... wow he was great.

If he turns out to be the next Fred Lynn, we'll just have to deal with it.

But just like Ted Williams when he was hitting .400 near the end of the season, Mancini will keep on playing.

Once we inevitably re-sign Trumbo, he and Davis will block Mountcastle and Stewart. It's all part of the rebuilding process.

The important thing is that Bowie makes the playoffs again. Get some perspective man.

I agree with you about the greats, but I'm referring to the average catchers - hence Severino reaching averagedom. There's generally a dearth of good catchers, and I think that's the position where teams will take a big "hit" on offense to bring up a good defensive catcher who's not ready offensively. Someone like James McCann is an example of that - finally becoming a better than average hitter at age 29. He was always regarded as a good defensive catcher.

Too bad they don't have the Rookie Pitcher of the Year award anymore. In the NL, pitcher Mike Soroka's probably going to lose out to phenoms Pete Alonzo and Fernando Tatis, Jr.

But if something like that was going to happen, it's predictable it would be with a catcher, because catchers are often developed with an emphasis on defense, so they're more likely to get brought up to the majors before they're offensively ready. They're more likely to be late bloomers than players at other positions. .

That's why I said I don't know whether or not Elias should have handled things better. I don't think anything I said was particularly controversial.

While I agree with most of what you say, I do take exception to using the word humorous there. It's never humorous to see someone of Surhoff's stature to get fired and feel disrespected in the process. I don't know whether or not Elias should have handled things better, but things like that can and should be done with some apathy for the people getting the axe. I'm also seeing things from a different lense than you - seeing that I remember fondly the O's teams going back to the late 60's. Surhoff isn't the distant past form my pov.

There's a lot of positives, yet it bugs the bleep out of me that we're watching Trumbo play now and not Mountcastle.

Realistically, for a winning team, he's a 2nd baseman who can back up the SS. Is there a winning team that needs a second baseman?

And something I think they need to do - hit big on at least 2 international prospects like the Nats and Braves did (of course not breaking rules like the Braves did). Neither of those teams would be where they are if they hadn't.