NCRaven

Is poor Ryan going to get his feelings hurt and start crying because Buck told us what he said? Well, there's no crying in baseball! Rogers Hornsby was my manager, and he called me a talking pile of pigs--t, and that was when my parents drove all the way down from Michigan to see me play the game! And did I cry? No! No! And do you know why?... Because there's no crying in baseball! There's no crying in baseball, no crying! I think Mountcastle will be able to handle this just fine. And might even turn into a better ball player for it.

Would he have been protected if healthy last year? Seems like he could easily have been a guy that the Indians might have added to the 40 man, but took a risk that no one would draft him due to his health. This would mean he's not the typical Rule 5 pick that wasn't quite good enough for his team to put him on the ML roster. IOW, he's not Joey Rickard or Ryan Flaherty.

Mike Friers accepted a one-year offer from another team over a 2-year offer from the Orioles just a couple of months ago.

Or, Garcia preferred to sign with Toronto and not pitch in Camden Yards. A lot of factors play into and it may not be as simple as you paint it.

No it's not. It's only two letters. I and F. A pretty small word, actually.

Recommended supplemental reading: mlbtraderumors.com Anyone will quickly see that the first moves of the off season for nearly every team in baseball are the Ryan O'Rourke types of signing. They are routine. And, I'm sure the fan forums for every team have the same type of complaints!

At this point Hays, Santander, and Sisco, along with Mancini should get regular starting time.

Well he pitched twice in the Gulf Coast League, twice in the NY-Penn League (Aberdeen, A-SS), and once in the South Atlantic League (Delmarva, A). With the minor league season wrapping up over the next two weeks, he's like to pitch one or two more times, at most. I wouldn't be surprised to see him pitch again for Delmarva, but he's never pitched above that level before, even when healthy, so I wonder if they would bump him up over that now while he's still essentially rehabbing. Could they have him pitch one last game for Frederick? Maybe. Bowie? I highly doubt it. AFL? I think it's a possibility, but they might prefer to shut him down for the off season.

Thanks. From that angle I can see exactly what you mean.

On a side note, if you flip the W sideways, it's still a W. If you flip it over, it's an M. If you turn it on its side, its an E. And, if you flip that around sideways, it's a 3. So is an inverted W still a W, or an M, or an E or a 3. I'm confused!

I have to admit that I have know idea what you mean by an "inverted W delivery." What is it and why is it a potential problem?

Damn, you're on a snide roll!

Disagree on Gentry. He has value as a defensive replacement and pinch runner. Agree on Hardy. But, it doesn't matter. Buck not only assured Hardy that he'd have a roster spot, but that he would remain the starting shortstop. Madness!

Not sure what more Hays could do unless you want him to swing less and walk more. Mullins has missed time with leg issues so that counts against him. Similar issue with Santander, but he'll be on the big club in two weeks, max.

I'd rather cut Flaherty and find a way to keep Tejada as our utility player. He can actually hit. Flats just closes his eyes, swings hard, and hopes to connect.

Did a quick Google search and couldn't find anything after Jul 17th when he had "a deal in place with the Giants, pending a physical. Nothing since. This is interesting.

It'll be interesting to see what the terms are, when they come out.

Showers during game time, but it looks like they'll either play through it or possibly have a short delay. Don't think the whole game is in jeopardy.

I understand your point, but I don't think anything that we do or fail to do going forward makes that a good deal for the team.

The bullpen as a group may have overperformed. But, very few hitters did with the possible exception of McLouth in his short time in the bigs. None of the starters scream overperformance (and that's with Bundy and Gausman still waiting in the wings). In fact, a number of players could reasonably be expected to improve on last season. Wieters, Reynolds, Machado, Markakis and Reimold all come to mind.

While the O's revenues are improved, they are not a team that can afford to make a big money mistake on a high risk player. If they Yanks misjudge a player, they can eat his salary and try again with someone else. We can not afford to do that in the same way that teams in NY, Boston and LA can. Hamilton is an extremely high risk acquisition due to age, injury history and past personal issues. I really think adding a young player that is major league ready or has several years of team control remaining through a trade is the way to go for this team.