Jammer7

Carter Baumler is a guy that certainly has a shot to be a top 100 guy. He is healthy and I have seen video of him throwing in the high 90’s in a drill, pull downs, or whatever that trainer calls them. He is a stud athlete, and if he can show two solid or better secondaries, I think he’s in the conversation.

Yep, I remember you saying as much. A great adjustment like this gets me excited for the future of our PD group. They took a the #1 prospect, and made him better. Much better. I hope some folks understand now why they did not bring him up last June as many fans were clamoring for. It takes time. This is how winning organizations are built.

Thanks for sharing. I will go read the whole article in a bit. A great breakdown of the point of contact, in relation to the hitter’s load. I’ve felt it made sense to let the ball travel, as that kept your head more stationary. It allows the body to maintain balance and have the proper finish, which allows the ball to be elevated. It also allows for more barrel control, in my opinion. It’s harder to hit a moving object when your head is moving as well. Some schools of thought want the hitter “out in front.” They talk about gaining ground. I find that very difficult to stay in rhythm and timing, and it leads to imbalance and lunging. Obviously, it works for some. I remember looking at Adley’s swing in the Spring of 2021 and thinking it was a dramatic uppercut. I thought it was a terrible swing, honestly. I thought he would swing and miss a lot. But he changed things to be more on plane and the results speak for themselves. The elevation of the ball occurs at the finish when the hitter stays through the ball and finish high.

I agree. And I think that applies up and down the organization.

I agree. Gunnar and Westburg are still filling out. They are both SS’s until they are not. I would also mention Joey Ortiz being in the SS mix.

I think he will likely be picked. I am curious why they have not made him a reliever to this point. Do they believe his secondaries show enough promise to keep him as a starter? Or is it a matter of just accumulating more innings for the purpose of development before doing as you suggest?

The entire post was rude, yes. You often teeter on that, that's just who you are. It is the disbelief that anyone would dare disagree with you. You do realize that we agreed that we wanted to see improvement in the win column, maybe a 75 win team, right? The only thing I disagreed with was that you said Elias was lazy. I provided reasons that I disagreed. If this team is as it is today on opening day, then have at it and I will not argue. I find it silly to judge an off season at this point. From that, you say I am a speech writer to justify losing, and tired untrue cliche's are what I use to justify my belief in what Elias is doing. I don't see any cliche's in what I wrote, but whatever. In other words, you are right and anyone who believes differently is absolutely wrong. Carry on.

Ok, being rude doesn't make you right. It's a shame. Most here on this board can have an intelligent discussion and remain civil. I see this is still a problem for you. This is the same rehashed rant you spout every few weeks. I was sitting here, bored, at home getting over COVID. I thought I would engage you today, as we actually agree on many things. But you are back to the old SG, and it's too bad, Rob. You have solid knowledge and insight, as do several here. But when you get like this, the juice isn't worth the squeeze. I am not an Elias apologist. I happen to agree with what he is doing. I see the value in the process he has put into place, and it only works if you see it through. Abandoning that now will put us back in the same mediocre crap we had for 14 years prior to Buck. It may fail, sure, but that model has worked in other places. I will always call it how I see it. You disagree. Cool. Moving on...

So you want the Orioles to be a mediocre non-playoff contender? I agree. So, let the offseason play out. My standards have been low since 2018. I helps me deal with a terrible major league team playing in the AL East. I do maintain an eye toward the goal, but the reality is Elias has had a lot to do with creating a completely new organization. You say it is an excuse, I say it is the reality. Elias had an extremely daunting job when he arrived. I tend to look for bright spots and prospects that might be late bloomers and such. That is why guys like Gutierrez, Mateo, Jorge Lopez and Urias are very interesting to me. I am encouraged by the growth last year by Mullins, Mountcastle, Hays, Urias, McKenna and Tyler Wells. I was encouraged by the way Akin and Lowther finished the year. I was pleased to see Mancini make it through the year after cancer, though it was not the Mancini of previous years. I love the infusion of talent that has come with losing, but I am ready to see us draft in the high 20’s, sure. We have amassed some talent to make a run. That, along with getting the international talent flow going, will sustain us with value for trades and to fill holes. Adley, by himself, makes this team much better. I know you want Dejong, instead of Odor. That is a negligible difference to me, in the way that they fit here if the plan is to see what Mateo, Gutierrez and Urias can do until Westburg, Henderson and Ortiz come up. They believe in their development system. They will let these guys grow and develop. This team will be much better than 2021. The starting pitching has to improve for that to happen so the pen isn’t burnt by mid May. A 75 win team is very much within reach if a few starters come through.

It was some light humor, grumpy. Apparently lost on you. I was alluding to the Mets fans who want it NOW every year. I do enjoy watching young prospects grow, for now. I am hungry to see a playoff contender again, and I make zero excuses. I want a long term winner, not constant mediocrity or worse. There are reasons things happen. Your rant is well-noted and I will leave you to it, Rob.

So, let’s say they go out and sign Correa to a 10 year/$350 million deal. Are you willing to trade all top prospects not named Adley, Grayson and maybe DL? We’d have to make a ton of moves to acquire real MLB pitching and fill other holes. Why else spend the money in 2021? Unless maybe you waste a year of the Correa contract like SD did with it’s FA signings. And it hasn’t worked out so well for them.

As an Orioles fan, you would be a great Mets fan. lol

Sure, I’ll buy that. Caleb was a solid defender here, but I have no interest in him, as I said. The shot he took to his groin area still has me squirming. The vets I was thinking about were Kurt Suzuki or Jeff Mathis. Someone like that. And there are several available in the trade market, post-lockout. These guys are not a necessity, but I think there is value in them for the reasons stated.

Urias, Mateo and Gutierrez should get a day off every week. Maybe against certain pitching match ups, or maybe one of the three above are banged up. That would be my plan anyway. If he is a starting infielder over the three above consistently, then he had better have a career year. He’s a flier, a placeholder, a penny stock. He is an improvement over any of the other depth pieces and parts we had available, unless you would rather have Richie Martin, Jahmai Jones or Rylan Bannon? And only Martin offers any real versatility of that group. Odor adds a LH bat that Hyde talked about the Orioles needing repeatedly last year. As far as calling Elias lazy or whatever the rest of your morning rant is, I can’t follow you there. Judging an off season at this time is impossible, although I will admit I do not expect us to go sign Correa or any other star FA when the lockout concludes. We have not been competing, true. You are getting impatient, got it. It is a process he laid out, and it is working like he said it would. The long term health of this team is to build it right. This isn’t a normal “rebuild.” It is building something that was not here before in many instances, i.e. the analytics department and international scouting. Elias seems to have passed along some of his initial responsibilities to others as he has hired them. He was patient to make the “right” hires, according to him. He has not proven himself capable of building a winning major league team as a GM. Not yet. That much is true. It is difficult to judge the trades, but they appear to be mostly very good. Maybe not the Yaz trade, but the rest have been favorable so far. I will remain positive, for now. Elias has done a tremendous job to this point. He has two years to show me he can build a playoff caliber team. If not, pitchforks come out.

Gutierrez is my pick. The power he began to show late in the year was encouraging for me. The defense and athleticism are excellent. I think he will surprise a lot of people this year. A breakout for Mateo, for me, would be that he shows he can handle SS on a daily basis. I don’t know if he is a .750 OPS guy, consistently, but anything close would be just fine to me. Hays has more there, but I am not sure he’ll get to it. He was pulling off badly last year and still finished strong. My hope is that Santander finally stays healthy and bounces back strong.

I don’t know, probably. Nottingham, in particular, had a rough year being tossed around on taxi squads and waivers. Worth a shot to see, I guess. There are some other guys out there they may sign to a major league deal, but we’ll see.

Personally, I am not interested in Caleb Joseph these days. Great guy and all, and I wish him well. As far as veteran catchers being mentors, sure. I don’t think it has to be that way, but a vet can certainly help him adjust on a daily basis and prepare for each game. There are nuances to the game that a quality defender understands and can pass along on framing, game calling and just the general day to day handling of pitchers, their stuff, and their egos. Coaches can help with much of that, but there is some value to having a guy next to you who knows what you are going through.

The only thing I can come up with is they see an opportunity for him to make some moderate changes in approach or maybe mechanics. Perhaps they think the data shows the numbers will improve if he works on his swing decisions, or whatever they see. The defense is probably average at 2B and 3B. Rio is playing in Japan, I believe that was the rumor, but I get your point. For the minimum salary it would cost them if he is kept, it’s worth a shot to see what is there at 27 years old. I would have him in a role that gets him 350-400 plate appearances, ideally. I look at it as an improvement over what they had before he signed. But he does not excite me much.

If, at the end of Spring Training, that is the best lineup, so be it. I would rather see Mateo over Odor on an everyday basis, just from the evaluation of Mateo standpoint. To me, I like Odor as a guy to start 3-4 times a week, based on match ups to get rest for Urias, Mateo and Gutierrez. Maybe a late inning PH role for any of the above as well. Odor is not an everyday guy for me.

Yeah, #90 is pretty far down the board, but the area guy spoke with him once? Good Lord. Obviously they had more than one report on him, but he only pitched extensively for one year prior to the draft, according to Brian. So it wasn’t a long track record either. It isn’t the first time a draftee stated he was surprised the Orioles took him in that era. And the South Florida guys are very busy with all of the talent to cover. But once? Thank goodness for the current group.

Another draftee who had not really heard from the Orioles’ scouts much. At about the 53 minute mark, he mentioned how he found out he was drafted. He said he filled out a questionnaire and talked to an Oriole scout ONCE. He said his dad told him that he would be going to college at Miami if not taken the first day of the draft. He said Seattle was supposed to take him at pick #72 after a brief phone conversation. He said the Orioles took him on day 2 at #90 and he found out about from a text from his travel ball coach and then saw it on Twitter. The previous group did things that still make me scratch my head.

With Greinke, it has a lot to do with fit and feel. He has issues with anxiety. He’s an introvert, who has dealt with things in smaller markets better. He may like to finish in a situation with less stress and without expectation of winning a World Series. I doubt he would want to come to Baltimore, but he definitely isn’t going to Japan.

This is what I was thinking about his title. Good to see the organization building is continuing. To get an endorsement from Kevin Goldstein is huge to me.

I’m a hard pass on all of that. I am in on the concept, just not that player. Headcase, has to have his own hitting coach, ground ball machine, and wayyyy over-priced. If it was $30 million, then maybe and just DFA him immediately. I do not want that guy around my young players. And MacKenzie Gore has the yips from what I gather. No thanks on that either.

Agreed. Obviously the Padres would not have waived him if they could have gotten anything of value. I was referring to the year or two before that. As far as Dejong, I’m good with that name, in particular. Though I would rather Mateo get the chance to start everyday at SS. Something like that may be coming once the lockout ends. As long as the player they add has some positional flexibility. I do not think Westburg is far off. He may be ready by July. The acquisition of Odor makes me wonder if they will add another middle infielder.