AnythingO's

I guess the question to my mind is how do you determine the 40% chance or who makes that determination? After Hou, Cle, NYY, Tor you have maybe 8 teams fighting for 2 spots. We might be better than 4 of them and still fall short. Is that better than 40% chance?

I agree with this take but I think Interloper has it right, half of the time Urias plays will be at 3B. Gunnar plays fulltime. I expect Frazier, Urias and Mateo each to play about 2/3 time. Urias get 1/3 at 2B and 1/3 at 3B. Gunnar gets 2/3 at 3B and 1/3 at SS. Frazier 2/3 at 2B and Mateo 2/3 at SS. Unless someone goes off (Mateo's bat) or someone craps the bed.

1) Took Lyles from 5.15 to 4.43 ERA so the "Holt effect" is -0.72 ERA improvement so Gibson from 5.05 to 4.33 ERA and Irvin from 3.98 to 3.26 ERA 2) Wells won't be in the rotation all season baring injury, would be happy for him to repeat. 3) Kremer and Bradish will be lucky to have 4.0 ERA, GRod maybe a little better 3.75 ERA, anything from Means will be gravy. With just the minor improvements above, fewer starts by cannon fodder, and the BP holding form you should get to 3.75 ERA fro, 3.p7 last year.

Gibson gets the #1 spot based on veteran-osity, Irwin gets #3 as the only lefty to break things up, the other 3 can be in any spot except GRod gets skipped around off days as much as possible to manage innings.

DD took the cutter from Bundy in the minors because it was too advanced, wanted him to develop his other pitches.

OK, now you have gone Toooooooooo far, lol.

I will let Frobby weigh in on Frank's impact but from my perspective the O's were already a very good team. Frank taught them how to win. I agree with you about Adley's impact but catchers generally don't age well re: extending.

They have 3, 4-Star players so far and are in the running for a 4-5 Star center (6-10, 245) with a 50-50 shot last I read. While the PG is a senior he could come back for another year per COVID rules, Hart as well I believe but who knows. They are more fun to watch play.

I think the plan is to get him thru the whole season healthy without having to shut him down and that he gets enough innings this year so there are no restrictions on innings next year. Whether that number is 120 or 140 is irrelevant because either is enough so that he won't be restricted next year.

Was that supposed to be in green font? If not we have very different definitions of cool. If you are implying that the "saved innings" might have been enough to make the playoffs but he would be shutdown, then I would prefer that outcome as well.

I guess it depends on what is long term? If it's say the next 5 years I would say does Mateo revisit his discipline of 6 weeks last summer and maintain his defense in 2023. If yes then Ortiz can displace Frazier and we have 3 GGs in the infield even with Holiday eventually displacing Mateo., and GGs at C and CF. If no, then Ortiz to SS and Westburg/Norby fight it out until Holiday displaces Ortiz. All the rest will work itself out (Hays, Cowser, Stowers, Santander, Kjerstead, Beavers, Fabian). Someone will be converted to 1B. I would extend Gunnar above all else, given age and talent, he is a generational talent.

For me it comes down to how do they manage his innings, do they plan for him to be available in playoffs. I think they do limit him early to have him late and hope he is a difference maker. So 10 starts @ 3 innings, 10 @ 4 innings, 10 @ 5 innings gets you around 120 innings. I think he could go maybe 140 innings so he is available end of season. That also means he could air it out early knowing he won't be going long and could dominate. I hope for 3.75 ERA boosted by early success before settling in at league average late.

Gotta be Gunnar. His first 114 ABs and he had 788 OPS. I don't subscribe to stat sources but I'm pretty sure that might be better than Adley's first 114 ABs. Assuming he is 3B then to fall back to Urias loses 70 points of OPS and 45 points of OBP.

But one who has shown he is a team player!

Actually, I was at the bar when this happened and he was right in front of me. When one of the managers told him what he was doing wrong, Sid suggested going around with a tray to pick up empty glasses. He realized his limitations and found his own new job. lol

You are talking some serious 1966 stuff here: Kofax vs Palmer

This from the Toronto Star Rumours of the Blue Jays’ pursuit of Baltimore Orioles GM Dan Duquette as a replacement for team president and CEO Paul Beeston re-emerged Wednesday with a series of conflicting reports from a variety of sources. Angelos admitted to the paper that Jays’ ownership, Rogers Communications, has expressed interest in Duquette. An accountant who was the first employee ever hired by the Blue Jays in 1976, Beeston rose to become team president in 1989, staying on until 1997, when he was tapped by outgoing MLB commissioner Bud Selig to serve a five-year term as MLB president. He returned to the role of Jays president in 2008 and hired Anthopoulos a year later. His contract technically expired at the end of October but Beeston — who turns 70 in June — has said on multiple occasions he has often worked without a contract and will stay on for as long as Rogers wants him. The persistent rumours suggest either that a faction within Rogers is looking to nudge Beeston out, or that the company is simply preparing for life after the long-time president and its early recruiting efforts were clumsy rather than spiteful. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in between.

This from the Toronto Sun and correction it was Eddie Rogers, I said Mike (going from memory) Eddie Rogers, deputy chairman of Rogers Communications, with his sports consultant Roger Rai, have been head-over-heels, in full bloom with Duquette since early November. Rogers and Rai want to bring Duquette to town to replace president Paul Beeston. ESPN broke the news on Dec. 7 about Rogers having interest in Duquette as the winter meetings began in San Diego.

I have no idea what DD knew or not. What I said about Mike Rogers is true and out there on the web because that's where I found it. Someone associated with the NYY recommended that Mike Rogers talk to DD. Why would DD do it, well it was a huge promotion both in authority and 2-3X more money. Until this situation no MLB team has stood in the way of an executive getting a promotion to go to another organization. DD was not approached by the BJs, he was approached by Mike Rogers.

Why not keep Al and NL just make each have East and West Divisions. Al East is our current group plus Chicago WS and Cleveland plus an expansion in Charlotte-Nashville. AL west gets the rest NL east is that current group plus Chicago Cubs, Pittsburg, and Cincinnati. the west gets the rest plus an expansion in Vegas or wherever. You play your division 15 times (105 games) and the other division say 6 times (48 games). That gets you to 153, add a 3 game inter league to a close geographic rival (Gnats) you are at 156. Expand Playoffs so top 4 in each Division in. the top 2 advance to face the other geographic Division. league winners in WS

The bolded statement gets repeated here frequently but it is wrong. Mike Rogers, the deposed head of Rogers Communication, approached DD about being head of baseball operations which includes managing the Rogers Center. DD had just been named GM or Exec of the year and an executive VP of the NYY (friend of Rogers) recommended that Mike R contact DD (collusion). The job was a huge promotion. Rogers had just been deposed by his family from running Rogers Comm. so it was a power play to get "his guy" over MLB operations even though the position wasn't going to be vacant for another year. DD told PA about it, as he should have, and PA turned it into a circus. DD was done as an effective GM after that

Cute . Is there a way that this MASN lawsuit "resolution" could only be directed toward MASN itself and its separate ownership group? Could such "resolution" perhaps lead to the dissolution of the O's-Nats partnership? In my non-lawyer brain I'm imagining a bill coming due that JA hasn't adequately prepared to pay so he might be forced to "sell" half of the RSN to the Nats. I get they already own probably 25% but Frobby would know exactly. Also, I realize PA is a large part of both ownership groups so indirect cost to the Angelos family fortunes.

It was SRO at 2:30 when I got there, like 15 min to get a beer. I had to stand at the bar so they would know whereto bring the pizza lol. Ended up being in the right place by accident

I’m sure if I looked at a five-year window, I’d find that individual teams’ operating incomes fluctuate a lot. But based on this look, I personally don’t think it would be reasonable at all for the O’s to be taking operating income of $75 mm+ on an annual basis. If that’s the plan, I’d say the owners are being extremely greedy. They haven’t done it in the pre-2018 period, and in my opinion they shouldn’t be doing it now. I was okay with them doing it during the rebuilding phase, but now that they’re in position to compete, I expect them to spend what’s necessary to do it, and if they don’t, that’s on the owners. I don't disagree at all with your take. My only point was if Revenue stays about $250 M then there is about $75 M to cover profit and increased salaries. If JA is good with a $25 M profit then there will be about $50 M to add to the salary pool. If he wants $50 M in Operating Income then there is only $25 M additional for salaries over the $55 I estimated.

No such drama at Crooked Crab in Odenton. Sig, Means, Bautista, Mullins, and I think Tate at front bar. Krieble and Hays at the back bar, Mullins joined them later. Sig tried to serve but kept putting the beer in the wrong size glasses like double nitro IPA in 16 oz glasses vs 6 oz so they had him walking around collecting empty glasses. The players mostly just smiled for pics. I tried to load a video but the mp4 format isn't supported