AnythingO's

My memory is that only 15-20 voted against the Davis contract but there were likely several polls.

Something like that happened in 2019 where Payroll + Expenses were up an extra $20M. I guessed that was related to the Davis restructure. I suppose the wall cost could roll into Operating Costs but the reimbursement would show up somewhere.

All other things staying constant I expected higher Operating Income in 2022 than this, they were at $83M in 2021. Salaries, payroll plus expenses were basically flat year on year so either Revenue dropped or Operating Cost was up significantly. With the last BAMtech payment I doubt Revenue dropped so Operating Costs had to rise about $20M for the math to work. Op Cost has risen some under ME but only $7M in 2021 over prior year. Something not right here.

Nope, I am NOT trying to pass Irvin off as anything, FWIW he isn't a #3 IMO either. However he was #61 ranked SP last year (by WAR, per ESPN) whether you like it or not. I only engaged because you dropped the "top of the rotation" comment which perpetuated disinformation.

While I agree the Forbes data are flawed, they are all we have. I don't believe PA ever really lost money but the Forbes data does give us a way to compare year to year on the same (flawed or incomplete) basis. Those data show that for 2016 to 2018 with Revenues of $251-253M and Salaries of $143-164M the team lost from $2.1 to 26M.

Yes you did put #1-3 in your comment, right after you said "that top of the rotation pitcher (#1-3), hence my response. As for "any of the off-season acquisitions a #1-3 starter in this league" I would submit that Irvin was the #82 pitcher in all of MLB in 2022 as ranked by WAR and there were about 20 RPs ahead of him so he was about the #60 SP in 2022 by WAR. So that should solidly make him at least a #3 SP in this league, by WAR. I don't think ME EVER says anything concrete.

Elias never said "top of the rotation" that was a construct of some on OH. He did say 1-3, but in GM-speak that "could" be someone to slot ahead of Kremer and Bradish. But I think you already know this.

Yes they did, under PA, while he had income from the law firm. The Forbes data shows that they lost money those years as well. JA doesn't have any other income stream.

No, I'm a Plus member and I still keep getting the 403 error.

I know you honestly believe that they can afford 130-150M payroll but the Forbes data doesn't support that if they make any profit. Maybe 125-130M payroll as a break even but payroll includes 15-20M of expenses over salaries so that caps salaries at about $110M. Of course greater revenue would be likely with Ohtani but how much does attendance add to revenue, I really don't know how to forecast that. Absent increased revenue, expecting JA to reach into his own pocket is folly.

I believe the FO (ME) is competent but Davis was a sunk cost who got way too many opportunities, Odor was a ML minimum and got way too many opportunities. Now we have the $8 M man and I'm sure he will get too many opportunities. Why? I have no idea. The thought process has repeated itself though. The left hand fascination is probably ME but Hyde fills out the lineup card. Stowers hits lefties well but wasn't used against them much last year, again probably a Hyde decision. I am pretty sure that Frazier will get many more chances than the majority of folks here would like.

If you change that from Cowser to Stowers to start the season I think the statement or conclusion is still true. I really want Stowers to get a legit shot before the next wave of OFs arrives. Cowser and Kjerstad are not far off.

Didn't Bauman have an injury a few years back and he wasn't the same guy afterward or am I confusing him with someone else like Zim??

Nah, 2-3 innings as a piggy-back SP, lol.

Guys like Hart and Scott remember getting run outta the building 2 years ago by AL, I hope they come ready to play.

The first 4 all got hits, all 4 are on the BJ 40-man. The SS Barger went all Gunnar last year, A+ to AAA, hit over .300 with power and OPS>.900. He is expected in MLB this season. The LF Lukes had a solid AAA season in 2022. Nobodies with some talent. The other 2 are lower in MiL ball

I thought the same thing lol, so I bought a .40 cal, screw the Metric system.

When does Kremer come back as Israel is eliminated?

Ok, I can see that but how do you keep Hall on a SP schedule that way? I don't see Hyde using him regularly, he would use Akin instead, then Voth or Wells depending on if Bautista is the closer. I don't care that Hall is tied to GRod, just that he goes every 4-6 days for his 3 innings to show he can physically handle it and is effective. Then reevaluate and decide the next steps.

Yeah, I do think the idea is NEAT and I'm old enough to say that from a historical perspective lol. I don't see where anyone but me has proposed this so nobody has glommed onto it. The benefit to Hall's career is evaluating his progression at the MLB level vs AAA where his stuff can overcome deficiencies. If he is going to succeed at MLB level as a SP the time to figure that out is getting short given his age and injury history. Building up from 1-2 last summer to 2-3 innings for the first 2 months will challenge his control and command of more pitches over a longer sampling. I maintain that it won't burnout the BP with reserves in AAA and Tate/Means coming back and 3 long guys in the BP. If he is good at 2-3 innings then go to 3-4. If he isn't send him to AAA or convert to RP. I just want to expedite the process now, not push the decision off to 2024 based on less data.

He also had a great AFL although his cumulative SO numbers give you pause. However, after the first 2 weeks his SOs were 35%, by end of month they were down to 31% overall. The last 2 weeks he was in the low 20's% SOs. He adjusted. he is also a much bigger, stronger guy than he was when drafted, just look at his legs. I don't expect full on Gunnar, but more a Norby-like bat explosion would get him to AAA mid-year to backfill Cowser.

OK, at the risk of inserting myself into a fight, I do so because I think I precipitated it. For the record I'm not advocating making Hall a 1 inning RP, I am trying to keep him on a SP schedule at the MLB level, pitching 2-3 innings, ahead of or behind GRod. Why? Because in a SSS at the end of last season he was effective for 10 appearances of 1-2 innings. He can focus on fewer pitches and air it out. Try for 2 months, if it doesn't work change it up. We have 3 long men in the BP (Akin, Wells, Voth). If the tandem melts down they can cover. We have Tate coming back to be a back end guy and Means coming back also. We can try an experiment at MLB level using 2 guys to do the job of one for 2 months. Technically it's probably 2 guys for the jobs of 1.4 guys but I'll wait for FRobby to weigh in with stats supporting it being 1.375 guys . Limiting GROD to 3-4 early will leave him with innings at the end when we are in playoffs, not shutdown at 140 innings or whatever. Hall can do 2-3 innings every 5 days, early in season and if it works slowly increase the number. He should be focused on getting to 140 innings also. If those 2 guys get you to 260 when the average starter gets to 150 I guess they would be doing the job of 1.6 guys lol , sorry Frobby. It also would mean we have 2 SPs with TOR stuff going fwd. Fire away.

Given the way our other bats have performed in Bowie and how focused he seems right now, that might be worth a few trips to see the fireworks.

It has ben stated that it would stress the BP and I have disagreed with that. With the depth and flexibility we have on hand, I can't see that really being a problem early in the year. If it doesn't work out send Hall to AAA to start or let him convert to a RP up here. All I am trying to do keep him on a SP rotation in the MLB until we decide he needs to switch to RP. I really believe we have the luxury to do that early in the year and the flexibility to change course if it doesn't work, long before the BP gets stressed.

The New "Oriole Way", we just need to come up with a NEW descriptor.