MurphDogg

Right. Not sure how I forgot that.

He has made 43 starts over 2 seasons. A full season worth of starts is 32-33, so he has missed about 2/3rds of a season worth of starts due to injury.

Just to be completely thorough, it is also 1 over KC. If KC wins out and the O's lose out, KC can get to 88 wins.

He had to agree to be optioned, due to having 5+ years of service time, which to his credit he did. I hope he can get fully healthy this offseason and figure out how to hit the ball in the air. I wouldn't mind bringing him back on a minor league deal. He seems like a solid guy and he is still reasonably young so he should have more chances. Doubt he gets a Major League deal this offseason, but if so I would imagine it would be with a non-competitive team hoping for a bounceback and a trade deadline deal.

This was the correct choice, glad to see them make it.

I have a 29-game plan in the upper box and my plan price increased by exactly 20 percent for next season. Incidentally, the marked ticket price barely went up, but they raised the fees by $150. When fans noted this, they said that the fees were for the city and state amusement taxes, which have always existed, but had previously been built into the ticket price. So the ticket price itself is pretty much the same, but the cost to the customer increases 20 percent. This is how they are arguing that the aren't raising ticket prices, it is an extremely rudimentary sleight of hand.

Mountcastle too. Arizona went 32-39 over their last 71 games last year and made the World Series. The playoffs are a crapshoot and the O's have as good a chance as anybody.

I stand corrected. Akin's option was not used this year.

He will not have an option next year, nor will Bryan Baker or Burch Smith. Cano and Bautista are the only bullpen guys with options next year, so they will definitely need some more bullpen arms with options

Sunday was completely sold out, but they just opened up the left field upper reserve. Saturday is pretty close to sold out too, although they probably won't need to open left field upper reserve.

Kjerstad should also get some reps in at first so he can be an option there as well, although now is probably not the time, best for him to DH for the rest of the season. He had 8 starts at first at AAA this season and 37 starts there between AA and AAA in 2023.

They have been playing Cowser against lefties already, and as I said, Kjerstad is a better option than the other righties, despite lacking a platoon advantage.

As I said, I think it is potentially against lefties. Against righties we are pretty set.

Absolutely. O'Hearn is unplayable against lefties, and I would rather see Kjerstad lefty on lefty over Rivera, Jimenez and Mayo (at this point anyway), despite their platoon advantage. All three of those guys have just been black holes offensively.

Soto gave up a homer on Sunday, but he had only given up a run in one of his last 13 appearances before that, dating back to August 8th. Bowman has been good since joining the O's on 8/22, but Soto has arguably been better. Since 8/22 - Soto - 9 IP, 2 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 12 K, 2.95 FIP Bowman - 10.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 6 BB, 9 K, 3.17 FIP

Mateo could have that spot too, if they trusted him more as a baserunner than Wall and they don't want EBJ to take up a 40-man roster spot all of next season. No reason you can't carry someone as exclusively a pinch runner if you have a 5-man bench.

Huh? Kjerstad is 1-3 with a double (no walks). He was replaced defensively in the 8th inning.

He has had a slew of injuries, so I am not totally comfortable saying he is lazy. Not running out grounders could be a load management thing as a result of the injuries. That said, he certainly doesn't look like someone who should be handed a Major League contract next year.

I think the situation with the White Sox was so dire, the idea was that a shift to a contending team could provide a spark. He had a few groundball singles in his first few games that gave some hope, but at this point, he looks like the guy he has been all season. It is wild for a 27 year-old to have his SLG plummet from .504 (his average through 2022) to .345. I can't see him getting a Major League deal this offseason with the season he has put up in 2024. You gotta cut him loose and give Mayo his at-bats at this point.

Yep, and a 2.28 ERA with 1 or more days of rest. What is even more jarring is the 6 walks and 7 Ks in the 11.2 innings with 0 days of rest compared to 12 walks and 54 Ks in the 43.1 innings with at least a day of rest.

This is the first year that Perez has approached Adley in rWAR (2.8 vs. 2.7). Adley was worth 9.9 rWAR between 2022 and 2023, while Perez was worth 3.2. Witt is a year older and has played 126 more games than Gunnar, and Gunnar leads him in rWAR 14.8 to 14. I would be pretty floored if Perez and Witt were more valuable over the next three years while Adley is under team control. Not a lot of 35-37 year old catchers providing significant Major League value.

I agree that Bañuelos will be sent down tomorrow, but he will have to be replaced by a hitter, not a pitcher, as there is a 14 pitcher limit with expanded rostdrs.

Creed with two homers tonight in his second AA game.

He is far and away the betting favorite as well, at between -550 to -670. If I was a betting man, I would throw a little cash at Mason Miller, whose odds are as long as +5000. It has been an extremely weak year for rookies in the AL. I'm not sure Cowser would even be top 5 in the NL.

He spent over 30 years in the organization between his time as a player and his time as a coach.