MurphDogg

I'm not worried about me. I fell in love with baseball a long time ago and will continue to watch it. I just think it is bad for the long term health of the sport when only a third of the teams are actively trying to win at any given time, and in the periods when they aren't trying to win, don't want to have any players that make more than the minimum salary. I think that is not a good way to grow the game and build future fans

Perhaps. I don't necessarily believe that, but it would be an understandable explanation.

My conclusion is based on him getting traded for nothing. If he is traded for something between now and Monday, the conclusion could be different, although I don't see how given the complete lack of leverage. It is based on what was stated at the time, that they were offered something at the deadline, but the offer didn't meet the Orioles standard. If that is incorrect, then the conclusion could be different.

Except Villar didn't do anything between the trade deadline and the end of the season to hurt his value, so if two 17 year-old Dominicans was the offer, and he thought he could get more then he misread the market and for that it is fair to fault him. Right?

The information we have states that the Orioles tried to trade Villar at the deadline but weren't satisfied with the return. Not that nobody offered anything. So they could have gotten something. And instead they got nothing. So yeah, I think it is fair to fault Elias.

Maybe he values the $560K more that they are saving by having Davis take up a roster spot.

You can quibble about the number of years that they will compete, it likely is more than 2-3, it depends on the market size, but the strategy is dependent on hitting rock bottom for multiple years which is what the Astros did. It is dependent on insulting your paying fans in the non-competing years.

You have done a poll since they put Villar on waivers? I think the team is headed the right direction, but this is a foolish and short sighted way to go about things. And it is bad for the sport of baseball.

Agree to disagree on how much attention I pay. If the team is forced to make a profit of $40 million instead of $31 million, I disagree with the strength of that force.

Pretty disappointing they don't want to put a watchable team on the field with players that fans know and like. I don't really care for the plan of cutting and burning the MLB roster to make a 2-3 year run every ten years. I would rather be a fan year in and year out and feel a connection with the players than be encouraged to ignore full seasons of Major League Baseball and jump back in when the team is good. This model may be efficient in terms of maximizing championships but it isn't good for the long term growth of the sport. I would rather watch a decent team year in and year out that ebbs and flows between winning and losing than a team that craters regularly but has a 10 percent better chance of winning a championship in the good years because of the craters.

Maybe, but he only averaged 12 starts a month from July-September. He wasn't really the starting shortstop, he was basically in a platoon.

Would be quite a downgrade unless Sanchez could play a passable shortstop.

Haha, he then immediately craps on my point by breaking the Villar waivers news.

I will be pretty disappointed if the Orioles can't get anything for him. He is a quality player and the team is worse off without him. Guess they will go with an Alberto/Wilkerson platoon at second and ?????? at shortstop. The team is profitable, they shouldn't let 4 WAR players walk away for nothing.

We'll see. Based on their DFA-ing, Sanchez it looks like they may hand the job to Madrigal. A little surprised they wouldn't play the service time games with Madrigal as he only has 29 AAA starts. Trading for Villar and having him start for two months and then trading him (or keeping him as a quality backup for Madrigal and Anderson) does make some sense. Then again, they could sign someone for second base for cheaper without giving anybody up and do the same thing.

Based on pro-rating Steamer and Depth Charts out to 162 games, or based on another projection? Because I think they are light on Villar at 1.9 and 1.8 following seasons of 4.0, 2.0, -0.4 and 3.0. I also don't think pro-rating is necessarily fair since Madrigal just had his first "full" 120 game season. 162 is a grind and Villar has proven he can do it.

Roch is on it!

People pay for tickets and to watch the games. Those people would rather watch Major League players. I am not broken up over the Orioles failure to get the #1 pick last year. They were actually watchable the last 6 weeks of the season with Hays and Harvey up and playing well. I enjoyed the 15-22 finish, they didn't get blown out once, losing by 6 twice and 5 once while having a 12-run win and two 7-run wins.

Zach Brown couldn't be any more than a throw-in, as he is eligible to be picked in the Rule 5 draft and can't be added to the 40-man roster beforehand.

You're right. My quick-edit was incorrect!

Fangraphs published their first team top prospect lists of the off-season this week (the Giants and Arizona). The Orioles list will likely be out before the end of January, potentially the end of December if they release one-a-day, or a week or two later if they post one-a-day only on weekdays and non-holidays. Their full 2020 list will continue to populate on The Board as they publish each list (it currently lists only Giants and D'Backs prospects).

Harvey's issue is that he couldn't stay healthy. Sheffield's issue is that he can't consistently throw strikes. The hope in moving Sheffield to the pen was that his stuff would play up and he wouldn't have to worry about locating 4 different pitches and his control and consistency would improve. His strikeout rate increased on the move to the pen, but his walk rate did too. With his pedigree, my guess is he is selected, he is potentially worth an off-season 40-man roster spot and a long look in the spring by coaches with fresh eyes, but I suspect Orioles might prefer other players.

Or to notify other teams that the Orioles have found a deal that they are willing to accept and if any other teams are interested in topping it, they should come forward now with a better offer.

I have season tickets and prefer to watch Major League quality pitchers. Last year, Bundy and Means were the only starters that cleared that low bar (and Cashner before he was traded). If they get decent prospects in return and we end up giving guys like Akin, Wells and Kramer a chance in the rotation, I will be grudgingly ok with it. If it is a glorified salary dump I will not be pleased.

Rojas also played at one of the more hitter friendly stadiums in both the PCL and the Southern League, so you should probably discount his stats a little bit further from their league-wide level. Although his numbers were still good at both levels, they were markedly better at home than on the road.