Jagwar

How does one "take a squirt" exactly?

I can never ever ever ever ever root for the Yankees

Hey you blokes! Happy Friday!

If Elias won't draft pitching, and he won't trade prospects for TOR starters, how will the O's ever have a WS caliber rotation?

Maybe I was mistaken about his splitter effectiveness. He threw one 50-footer that looked like a blocking drill for a catcher. He has not been sharp in many of his outings so far. This one stood out to me because it was a 32 pitch mess with pitches all over the zone. He and the coaches needs to figure out what is going on mechanically and fix it, or the better lineups in the league are going to hang blown saves on him.

I have this sinking feeling that Westburg is going to headline a trade for pitching help at the deadline.

Perhaps. But unless he fixes his fastball command and rediscovers his splitter, hitters are going to figure out he's prone to high pitch counts and walking batters. I'd be interested in a spray chart for his pitches, especially on his fastball.

Bautista is not throwing strikes, and it wasn't just this game. He is either missing high or yanking it wide. He threw 32 pitches today, only 17 were strikes. It's May and he's the closer on a team with playoff aspirations. He needs to fix this and fast or he may be moved out of the role. Elias did it last year with Lopez who was actually pitching well. Why wouldn't he do it with a pitcher who struggles to throw strikes?

My prediction. By end of June Cano will be closing games

You just looked so lonely at the top of the poll graphic Like I said, it wouldn't be impossible to see a collapse. Maybe he reverts to old habits, maybe pitchers adjust and he doesn't adjust, maybe there's a nagging injury.

@Sports Guy with the sub .700 OPS vote. If my math is correct, Mateo would have to OPS 627 over the next 5 months to average sub 700. Not impossible for sure. But it would be a dramatic drop from April.

I hate Monday off days. With no games on MiLB there is no baseball to follow

If Westburg could learn 1B, it would certainly solve the middle infielder surplus until Holliday is ready. Would mean moving on from Mountcastle but I'm ok with that. Gunnar (3B)... Mateo (SS)... Ortiz (2B)... Westburg (1B)

Tell you what... if the O's had traded Mateo last offseason, and he was putting up a OPS for another team, this place would be totally hacked off.

After his hot April, Mateo would basically have to average a 748 OPS over the next 5 months to finish at 800 OPS. (Someone check my math) If you had suggested in March that he could OPS 748 this year with the same level of defense, I would have taken that all day and every day.

Oh I'm agreeing with you. There are games and ABs to be shared if the O's end up making some tough decisions about the roster as currently constructed. I'm personally hoping that the O's move on from McKenna and eventually cut bait with Frazier.

The bottom-er bottom line is... this year is about wins and getting to the playoffs.

This home plate ump is going to piss off both dugouts today

Thank you Joey Ortiz for your 4 RBIs. Now, will they give Stowers ABs?

I remember in 1984 (the season following the O's WS win) when the Tigers shot out to a 35-5 start, finished May at 37-9. The O's were out 9.5 games on April 30 and 10.5 games on May 31. In the pre-wild card era you had the sense that there was no coming back from that.

No they don't, but GMs are going to have to be confident that Mateo version they are getting is the GG level SS and not the .600 OPS version

I agree, but I think some are overestimating what that value will actually be.

In terms of overall impact I feel the same way about McKenna and his value in covering all 3 outfield positions. If you replace McKenna with someone like Cowser, you may give up defensive flexibility but you could gain more aggregate value if Cowser actually produces.

Who does have Mateo's range at short? In my estimation it is all about aggregate value and wins. If Elias trades Mateo, you're giving up a player offering significant production. But can you exceed the overall value/wins by inserting Ortiz and acquiring players (especially pitching)?

I could be wrong but I think many in this thread are overestimating the type of return Mateo might deliver in a trade, because I'm not sure about how other GM's would value his body of work. Yes, a gold glove, 800 OPS, 5 WAR lightning bolt is highly coveted. But Mateo has yet to show that he is that player for the long run. I personally would try to trade him at the deadline if Ortiz shows that he can hit ML pitching, but I wouldn't be shocked if the return is underwhelming. (Unless there is a GM out there who overpays)