The Goob

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?

If they are taking at bats away from Fazier, Mateo and McKenna I think that would make a ton of sense. It would put a big burden on rookies to carry 3-4 spots in the lineup every night.

I agree with this and it is why I think any thought of the Orioles having Henderson, Cowser, Ortiz and Westburg all in the lineup regularly rigth now is just not realistic. Having 4 rookies in your regular lineup does not really have sense. Given the time it takes for them to adjust adding all three of those guys to Henderson right now would likely be difficult. It is why waiting so long to bring up one of Westburg / Cowser is so frustrating. If one had come up a month or so ago and had time to adjust you could bring up the other now and give him time to adjust. When Mullins is back I would go with the following: CF - Mullins 3B - Henderson C- Rutschman DH - Santander LF - Hays 2B - Urias 1B - Mountcastle / O'Hearn - based on starting pitcher RF - Cowser / Hicks - have them split time to ease Cowser on board and ride Hick while he is hot SS - Mateo I really want to add Westburg in the near term but the trouble I had is I don't think you should move Henderson from 3B. I would not do anything to disrupt his hot streak right now and Urias or Westburg at SS is not a long term defensive option. I really wish the Orioles had put Westburg at 1B in AAA all season and got him ready because that is where I think he fits best. By the end of the year I would love to see this lineup. CF - Mullins 3B - Henderson C - Rutschman DH - Santander LF - Hays RF - Cowser 1B - Westburg / Mountcastle - with both also getting some time at DH when Santander is in RF or off 2B - Urias / Westburg SS - Ortiz

Looking at MLB's list of top 30 prospects for the team they have 12 positional players in the top 15. The performance of these player has been well beyond what I would have ever expected. The good thing is that the top of the top are overperforming including Holliday, Cowser, Westburg and Kjerstad each with an OPS above .959. Holliday and Cowser have been other worldly at 1.073 and 1.074. But really impress me is further down the list. Guys like Mayo (.899), Basallo (.821), Haskins (1.024) and Fabian (.800) have all been outstanding. Really only Beaver (.664) has struggled. Overall these 12 players have a .292/.367/.498/.865 slash line, 11.8% walk rate and 22.3% strikeout rate. Pretty impressive stuff. As good as the team has been in the big leagues what is going on in the minor is in a lot of ways even more exciting. Now just figuring when and where to promote or even trade these guys is a tall task for Mike Elias and is staff. I don't envy them and the difficult decisions they have to make in the next year or so. Rk Player Age L PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO HR% BB% K% AVG OBP SLG OPS 1 Jackson Holliday 19 ALL (2) 209 168 44 59 13 5 6 37 40 43 2.9 19.1 20.6 0.351 0.478 0.595 1.073 2 Colton Cowser 23 AAA 186 144 45 50 9 1 8 31 37 41 4.3 19.9 22.0 0.347 0.484 0.590 1.074 3 Jordan Westburg 24 AAA 235 208 51 64 14 1 15 48 24 50 6.4 10.2 21.3 0.308 0.387 0.601 0.988 4 Heston Kjerstad 24 AA 206 184 30 57 10 3 11 23 15 31 5.3 7.3 15.0 0.310 0.383 0.576 0.959 6 Joey Ortiz 24 ALL (2) 144 130 20 40 9 2 3 20 9 27 2.1 6.3 18.8 0.308 0.347 0.477 0.824 7 Connor Norby 22 AAA 255 235 49 69 17 0 6 36 16 50 2.4 6.3 19.6 0.294 0.345 0.443 0.788 8 Coby Mayo 21 AA 210 175 24 48 18 1 7 25 28 54 3.3 13.3 25.7 0.274 0.390 0.509 0.899 9 Dylan Beavers 21 A+ 193 168 16 36 12 2 3 18 21 51 1.6 10.9 26.4 0.214 0.301 0.363 0.664 10 Samuel Basallo 18 A 191 177 27 53 12 2 5 41 12 43 2.6 6.3 22.5 0.299 0.346 0.475 0.821 12 Max Wagner 21 A+ 200 160 36 33 3 2 7 18 32 51 3.5 16.0 25.5 0.206 0.355 0.381 0.736 13 Hudson Haskin 24 ALL (3) 98 79 17 29 6 1 2 18 10 28 2.0 10.2 28.6 0.367 0.480 0.544 1.024 15 Jud Fabian 22 A+ 187 153 25 40 8 0 6 32 28 46 3.2 15.0 24.6 0.261 0.369 0.431 0.800 Totals 2314 1981 384 # 131 20 79 347 272 515 3.4% 11.8% 22.3% 0.292 0.367 0.498 0.865 I pulled these state from MLB prospects webpage. https://www.mlb.com/prospects/stats?teamId=110&dateRange=Year2021&minPA=1

I would not even think about switching their role now or in the future. Cano may be a great closer but like others have said I prefer him coming in the 7th or 8th especially if their are runners on base. I want Felix to have his outing at the start of an inning whenever possible. But I think more than anything else we know Felix loves the responsibility of being the closer and has the right mindset to finish games. I'm not saying Cano doesn't I am saying we don't know. I feel like we have Armando Benetiz setting up for Randy Myers again when they were completely dominant. For those who have been fans long enough we remember what happened when Armando became the closer. Not everyone can perform the same when its the 9th.

In his last 35+ innings the only run Erod has given up was a solo HR to McCann in Camden. That is who I would target. He would cost less in prospects because he is a rental. I love the idea of a former top prospect coming back home. I love the lefty in Camden. I love that his last 5 starts has been 8, 7, 5.2, 8 & 7 innings. I would be willing to trade one of Westburg, Norby or Ortiz plus another 20-30 prospect from our system. I just don't know if that would be enough. A rotation of Erod, Grayson, Wells, Means and Gibson in the second half would be really intriguing and has a lot of upside.

I bet he DHs today catches tomorrow and gets his first full off day on Wednesday before catching the home opener.

I love how much Stowers is playing this spring. The results so far have been very good. He could a big bonus for this team that most people don't expect much from.

I would generally agree with this. I think C, 3B and SS are set with Adley, Henderson and Holiday by 2025. I think Ortiz is the SS by midseason after he "graduates" from AAA and then move to 2B when Holiday is ready. I would trade Mateo today or as soon as I was offered something that I valued in return. I am not worried about 1B because I believe someone between Westburg, Mayo, Norby and even Stowers will end up there based on their bats with DH also likely being filled from one of these guys. If the goal is to go deep in the playoffs in 2024 & 2025 (which is what I believe it should be) I would give Mountcastle two to three months to bounce back and then trade him as well. That sets the infield and DH. For the OF I think by 2024 Cowser & Kjerstad will be ready. I have a strong feeling Kjerstad is going to blow everyone away this year and make a huge leap. With those two coming I think you can look to trade Hays and Santander. I would keep Mullins because I value his defense in CF and allowing Cowser, Kjerstad, and Stowers, to play the corners will provide overall outstanding defense. For 2024 CF - Mullins C- Rautschman 3B - Henderson 1B - Mayo 2B - Westburg DH - Stowers SS - Ortiz LF - Cowser RF - Kjerstad Then in 2025 Holiday is added to he mix and SS, 2B, DH is handled between him, Ortiz, Westburg and Stowers Obviously some of these guys will not reach their ceilings which could open a spot for someone like Norby, Basallo or you add a specific free agent if you have a hole. While the playoff in 2023 would be great for me it is about figuring out which pieces fit and getting value for guys like Mouncastle, Hays, Mateo, Urias and Santander that I believe can be replaced with similar production by the middle of the year.

Maybe that is why Wells is starting. Let him be prepared to throw at someone if necessary and then Kremer is ready to step in behind him

This is a great question. I have also looked and not found anything. I miss the podcast LaCanfora and Coleman used to do. I would love a podcast from Meoli. I think his newsletter is really good.

You are right. I goofed with LF and RF for Stewart and Santander. I do think Stewart is a better defender in LF long term than Mountcastle. If Mancini is not playing then Nunez or Mountcastle shift to 1B and the other to DH. Reality is all of these guys will likely move around a good bit. Then when you can add Rutschman at some point next year it hopefully improves the offense another level and absolutely enhances the defense.

Lineup for 2021: Hays - CF Stewart - RF Mountcastle - DH Santander - LF Mancini - 1B Sisco - C Alberto - 2B Iglesias - SS Ruiz - 3B Bench - Diaz, Severino, Valaika, Nunez That is the makings of a fairly decent offense. I think the bullpen for 2021 has a lot of options. And then there is the rotation that will take some time probably 1-2 more years.

I think this lineup could be a little better than league average and above average defensively: Villar - 2B (806 OPS in 2019) Mancini - 1B (892 OPS in 2019) Santander - RF (796 OPS in 2019) Nunez - DH (772 OPS in 2019) Sisco / Severino - C (Both over 730 OPS in 2019) Ruiz - 3B (827 OPS post All Star break) Stewart - LF (OPS just under 700 for August-September) Hays - CF (I think he could put up a 700 OPS, was 758 at AAA in 2019) Iglesias - SS (Lifetime 685 OPS) Adding in Mountcastle to play in May will also help to some extent. Overall this team could out up a 760 OPS in 2020 and be league average. Now about the pitching.......

Most of this article is stuff we already know. I had not seen this part before though: " John Vidalin, whom the team named as chief operating officer to lead its business operation in July 2018, recently left to return to the NBA’s Miami Heat."

This is hard to believe but Davis' stats for the last 30 days .290/.371/.581/.952 in 62 AB with 19 strikeouts and 6 walks. SSS but in April I would have thought this was impossible.