The Goob

I am not sure I agree we will get anything for Mateo. I think if he held any real value to other teams he would already be gone. I also don't think that continuing to not field your best 26 hoping to get something of value for Mateo or Urias makes sense anymore. We a clearly a bat short against LH starters. I guess you can continue to DH Adley and let McCann catch or DH Westburg and have Mateo play 2nd. I just don't think that is good roster construction when you have a player with 647 AAA at bats who had an OPS of .842 last year and is at 1.205 this year, is righthanded and would help fill a need blocked by a player who has clearly been a placeholder for two years. The question is who is the best DH against a LH starter and to me that is Norby.

I am assuming that Kemp will go for Holliday soon so he and Mateo would both be gone

I actually think it is Connor Norby. If you have to sacrifice Mateo to bring him up so be it.

This is an incredible idea. I love the layout and the extension of the rooftop bar. It really gives an even more intimate feel to Camden. I am so glad that we have a new smart ownership group that will oversee this renovation and these type of decisions.

Fair. But we don't want Mullins doing it either. So Rutschman is the leadoff hitter and you move Gunnar to 2 or 3. Still the same 1-7 guys IMO. I also think just based on talent Henderson will be much better against LHP this year than he was last year.

I think Redbeard has the roster pretty spot on. The interesting discussion without Mayo on the team to start the year is what does the lineup look like versus a LHP. The roster is LHH heavy with Mullins, Henderson, Jackson, Cowser and O'Hearn getting heavy playing time. Additionally, Santander only had 5 of his 28 HRs last year versus LHP. I really think the Orioles will need to find room for Mayo very soon to be the 3B / DH versus lefties or we will be left with Mateo and Urias playing a lot versus lefties especially if Mullins and Jackson struggle against them. I think by the middle of May we should have a lineup that is Henderson - Rutschman - Santander - Mountcastle - Hayes - Mayo - Westburg 1-7 versus a lefty starter.

Mayo's size and foot speed would seem to indicate that long term his best fit may be at first. Given that Henderson, Holliday, Westburg and even Norby will likely hold down short, second and third this is for the best. Mayo real value is his bat and his power and it plays best at first. Out of all our prospect he and Basallo best fit the profile of the typical 1B/ DH type.

We have made it through about half of spring training and are now three weeks away from real baseball. I spend more of my mental energy than I care to admit thinking about the Orioles lineup, playing time, positional alignment, etc. Two questions for the Hangout. What is your prediction for the Opening Day lineup? If you were the manager and GM and got to write the lineup card with anyone in the organization what would it be? The expected Opening Day starter for the Angels is either LHP Patrick Sandoval or Tyler Anderson so that will likely have a big impact on the order. Predicted Opening Day Lineup Rutschman - C Henderson - SS Santander - RF Mountcastle - 1B Hays - LF Westburg - 3B Urias - DH Mullins - CF Holliday - 2B The lineup if they let me write it Holliday - 2B Rutschman - C Henderson - SS Santander - RF Mountcastle - 1B Mayo - DH Hays - LF Westburg - 3B Mullins - CF Doing this exercise indicated to me that they need to find a way to keep Mayo. They just seem a RHH short against LHP without him. I strongly considered Cowser in RF with Santander at DH and Mayo at 3B but having Henderson, Holliday, Cowser and Mullins all LHH in the lineup is tough. I don't think ultimately Mayo will make the team out of Spring Training but I hope he is up soon his bat is a huge X-Factor for this team and I believe will be needed against LHP all year. If Holliday struggles against LHH I can see Westburg at 2B some with Mayo / Urias at 3B / DH.

I have dreamed about a lineup like this for 30 years: CF - Mullins 2B - Holliday C - Rutschmen SS - Henderson RF - Santander 1B - Mountcastle LF - Hays DH - Kjersatd 3B - Westburg Bench - O'Hearn, Mateo, Urias, McCann

It is amazing how little I care about this. Not because it doesn't matter but because I trust whoever Elias and his staff put into position will be successful with Holt and the infrastructure built around them. Prior to Elias this would have been a huge deal because I would have been holding out hope that a Ray Miller or Leo Mazzone could come in, bring their tools and philosophy and fix the problems our pitching had. A small thing but speaks volumes to me about how far this organization has come in the last several years. Man what I would give to see what this organization structure could have done with pitchers like Jake Arrieta, Eric Bedard, Dylan Bundy, Adam Loewen, Brian Matusz, Zack Britton, Zach Davies. So much talent was wasted largely through ineptitude of the organization.

1. Holliday - SS 2. Rautschman - C/DH 3. Henderson - 3B 4. Mayo - 1B/DH 5. Kjerstad - RF 6. Cowser - LF 7. Basallo - DH/1B/C 8. Westburg - 2B 9. Bradfield - CF Bench - Catcher, Ortiz, The depth and athleticism of this lineup is phenomenal. Minus Bradfield and Basallo, adding Santander/Hays, Mullins and Mountcastle I would not be surprised that this is the lineup by the end of this year.

Of the guys listed I would prefer ERod over anyone especially if you could get him for 4 not 5 years. Will be 31 next year has a decent strikeout rate, gives up less than 1 HR per 9 and is lefthanded and has at least pitched in the postseason although the results were not very good. Was dominate early in the season before he got hurt. If the Orioles see something from before the injury that they think can be repeated and sustained I would love to have him in the rotation.

I would hope that by opening day some of this is settled via trades. One thing that is striking to me (and it is not a one year fluke) is that the team that out homers their opponent in the postseason this year is 17-2. While we need to play well in the regular season I would want to build a team that has the best chance to be successful in the postseason. In Camden I think that means an emphasis on power and preferably left handed power and pitching that limits homers. I think we have a good start on the pitching with Grayson and Bradish. Bradish was especailly good giving up 0.7 HR/9. Third in all of baseball. Build a pen that limits homers, add one more starter that fits this profile and I would feel good about the staff. With this goal in mind the locks to me for position players would be Henderson 3B, Holliday SS, Mayo 1B/DH, Santander RF/DH, Kjerstad RF, Rautschman C, Mullins CF That leaves Westburg and Ortiz for 2B, Hays and Cowser for LF, O'Hearn and Mountcastle for 1B/DH. I would prefer Westburg, Cowser and O'Hearn and would look to trade Hays, Mountcastle and Ortiz. The lineup could look like this: Mullins - CF Holliday - SS Rautschman - C Henderson - 3B Santander - DH Mayo - 1B Kjerstad - RF Cowser - LF Westburg - 2B Bench - McCann, O'Hearn, Urias, 5th Outfielder

My opinion for a while has been that it is 3B Henderson, SS Holliday, 2B Westburg and 1B Mayo with Ortiz as the utility guy pushing Mateo, Urias and Mountcastle off the roster as early as this offseason.

Agree the question was best Orioles. Put aside questions about how he did it but it is hard to argue that Anderson wasn't as good or likely better than Jones Jones - .277/.317/.454/.771, 106 OPS+, 97 SB, 32.6 WAR Anderson - .256/.362/.425/.787, 109 OPS+, 315 SB, 35 WAR

Great Topic - Simple Answer is Yes 1. Ripken 2. B. Robinson 3. Palmer 4. F. Robinson 5. Murray 6. Weaver 7. Mussina 8. Powell 9. Blair 10. Grich 11. Anderson 12. Jones 13. Belanger 14. McNally 15. Singleton 16. Machado 17. Markakis 18. Roberts 19. Mora 20. Bumbry

This is a really interesting topic. I would say within the organization based on their talent today I think the follow are potential future All-Stars: Rutschman, Bautista, Mullins, Henderson, Rodriguez and Cowser from the major league roster From the minors I would say Holliday, Kjerstad and Mayo are that type of talent to be future and hopefully multiple time All Stars.

I agree with this. I think Gunnar is the most likely of the two to be the SS. But don't completely discount Ortiz actually being the long term SS. He is the best defensively by all accounts and now has a .337/.399/.549 slash line in nearly 200 AB in AAA. I could see Gunnar outgrowing SS and it being Gunnar at 3B, Ortiz at SS, Holiday at 2B and Westburg/Kjerstad at 1B. Holiday said on the Adam Jones Podcast a week or so ago that he grew up as a second baseman. I sure he was switched to SS because of draft status and rankings always favoring a SS over a 2B

Actual lineup for tonight LF - Hays C - Rautschman DH - Santander 3B - Henderson CF - Hicks 1B - Urias 2B - Westburg RF - McKenna SS - Mateo I prefer Mullins playing and just don't understand what McKenna is even doing on the team at this point.

I bet Gunnar is higher. I would go with this lineup: CF - Mullins C - Rautschman 1B - Santander LF - Hays RF - Hicks 3B - Henderson DH - Urias 2B - Westburg SS - Mateo I didn't realize until I went through this exercise that we are really a RH bat short against a lefty. Mountcastle (1.017 versus LHP this year) if he is right would actually help this team. It would push Santander to DH, Henderson to SS and Mateo out of the lineup.

Versus LHP - 1B - Santander, 2B - Westburg, SS - Henderson, 3B - Urias Versus RHP - 1B - O'Hearn, 2B - Westburg, SS - Henderson, 3B - Urias To me Frazier, Mateo are bench players at this point and nothing more

No I was not saying that we should remove Hicks. I would ride him as long as he is productive. I was just pointing out that if you want to add Westburg and Cowser after Mullins and Mountcastle are back there are only a few guys that can go. If the outfield is Hays, Mullins and Hicks with Santander as the 4th OF and also playing at DH and 1B then there is not timeline for Cowser. Injury or lack of production from Hicks would be the only thing to get him promoted. If Westburg comes up it has to be one of Urias, Mateo or Ortiz to go. The point is that it is not as simple as saying call up Cowser and Westburg and let them play.

Agreed. Which means to then add Westburg and Cowser you would need to remove two of Urias, Mateo, Ortiz and Hicks.

I agree with you. I think Elias has no interest in a lineup that includes Henderson, Ortiz, Westburg and Cowser or we would have already seen it. The post was more to show that is all of those guys are up and playing it pushes Urias and Frazier to the bench most days and likely Mateo off the roster. Elias for whatever reason has no interest in any of those things happening. The fact that Cowser is not up and you have O'Hearn, Frazier and McKenna getting time in RF speaks volumes on what is going on. Adding Mullins back hopefully soon makes it even more likely we don't see anyone significant from AAA anytime soon. I don't understand it or agree with it but the Orioles appear to be very stubborn about certain decisions (Odor for all of last year) and they can point to the standing with authority to say they know what they are doing. Cowser and WEstburg for Lester and McKeena makes perfect sense as long as you are going to play them. I think the Orioles have made the decision they are going to ride Frazier and others as long as they continue to play well.

In theory calling up Cowser and Westburg while keeping Ortiz on the roster after Mullins returns would look something like this: CF - Mullins 3B - Henderson C - Rautschman DH - Santander LF - Hays 1B - Mountcastle / O'Hearn RF - Cowser 2B - Westburg SS - Ortiz Bench - McCann, Frazier, O'Hearn, Urias It will make for some very difficult decisions. What do you do with Mateo? Do you go to five man bench? Are Frazier and O'Hearn your backup outfielders? Can you trade one of Mateo, Frazier, Urias?