deward

The comment about throwing accuracy coming last reminds me of all the fretting over Gunnar's throwing errors early last season.

All a joke (the link in the first post takes you to an April Fools card). I was just playing along with the Mayo comment.

Mayo seems like a steep price, but hey, in Elias we trust.

Baseball is hard. I like it when guys have fun and celebrate their successes (within reason).

His avg exit velocity and hard hit % were both above MLB average last year, per Statcast.

If he does, it won't be because Westburg can't hit.

Not directly, of course, but it could have come through in his tone or body language. He's either got a good poker face, or he really didn't care. It's just an observation.

Gunnar didn't come across as bothered by it during the post game interview.

Fine here

There were too many to track. That ball not being a home run is still ridiculous though.

Who is losing ABs to make room for Cowser? Mounty? Hays? O'Hearn is starting vs RHP unless he falls on his face for a few weeks.

Didn't realize the org was now beyond all criticism.

I don't see Norby ever getting much of an opportunity in Baltimore. He's trade bait.

I hope so too, but I'm mentally preparing myself for Cowser to play once or twice a week, struggle with it, then get sent down by May 1.

And off a lefty.

Also, Stowers is already on the 40-man roster, so he isn't Rule 5 eligible. If he isn't traded, then he can't become a minor league free agent until after the 2025 season, by which point he'd be 28 years old and have lost a significant chunk of his prime. I don't know exactly how much value he'd have in a trade, but I do know that his value will continue to depreciate from this point, if he stays buried at Norfolk.

This Holliday kid might be all right.

He's already performed well in AAA, he really has no other way to prove it other than getting another opportunity in the bigs, and he's just in the wrong org for that (barring injury). If his ST performance isn't going to get him consideration over guys like Cowser or Kjerstad to break camp on the big league roster, then what else exactly is he supposed to do? I'd prefer that Elias get the best of both worlds by maximizing the value of the asset by trading him for another asset that better fits the needs of the org, while also be doing right by the player by giving him the opportunity he deserves.

Stowers is 26 now; he's not young for a prospect anymore. I'm sure he's feeling that time is getting burned that he can't get back.

We'll see. I expect they'll conclude that the most effective defensive alignment doesn't involve playing Mayo at third more than occasionally, even if he proves that he'd be a reasonable option there for most other teams.

I don't know if that's probable. Holliday doesn't have to turn into a better defender than Gunnar for that alignment to make the most sense for the team.

I think it's more likely than Holliday eventually moves to SS, with Gunnar moving to 3b, Westburg at 2b, and Mayo shifting to another position.