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It appears the White Sox and Padres are interested in a deal for Bundy. If memory is correct the White Sox have the best farm system. Any team with a larger park will help lower Bundy's ERA and reduce the number of HR's he gives up which will also hopefully increase his number of wins. I can see any of the larger park teams being interested in him. Seattle?

I don't think this appeared yet; Buster Olney - ESPN Jonathan Villar led all Orioles in WAR last season with a solid season - 24 Homers, 111 runs, 40 steals and according to this metric, he was the best baserunner in MLB by far....and he's put on waivers. Good for O's bottom line, a soulless baseball move.

The Astros originally acquired Villar — along with Anthony Gose and J.A. Happ — from the Phillies in exchange for Roy Oswalt in 2012. The Brewers acquired shortstop Jonathan Villar from the Astros in exchange for minor league right-hander Cy Sneed in 2015. Villar was reunited with former Astros assistant GM David Stearns, who is now the general manager in Milwaukee. "I had the opportunity to watch him play over the last three years in Houston," Stearns said. "A very talented guy, a guy who came up as one of the better shortstop prospects in baseball. As he's matured and gained additional skills, he's proven that he has the ability to move around the diamond." Stearns added: "He's a guy who opens up options for how we construct the roster in the remainder of the offseason." Nothing negative ! Releasing him doesn't keep him from talking to MLB and exposing the Astros if the cheating was going on when he was there from 2013 to 2015. Currently Manfred has expanded the investigation and it now includes 2017 through 2019.

We can all speculate the reasons why Elias has chosen to take this route but other sites and writers like Connolly are trying to figure out why you just let arguably your best all around player last season walk out the door with no return. As one announcer said yesterday trade him for a couple of single A players if necessary but don't just let him go. It's not like he has been charged with DUI's or domestic abuse in his past or something because he has always been a positive in the clubhouse and on and off the field. Nothing bad ! Does this really go back to Elias's Astro days? It appears he is holding a grudge against him for some reason. The Astros organization that is now under investigation for cheating basically for several years. Are the Astros the greatest thing if stripped of their cheating ways? The Yankees stepped up again yesterday and said they were cheating in the playoffs with blinking lights used. Is this a big deal ? YES !! Do all teams try to cheat? Probably but maybe not to the extent the Astros do. How their players and coaches can celebrate and smile saying they are number one in postgame shows is difficult to watch sometimes and is compounded with these revelations that continue to be revealed. I remember talking to Jim Palmer at his book signing a few years ago and telling him I thought teams were stealing our signs the way they were hitting home runs against us. I believe Mookie Betts had just had his 3 HR game at OP and everyone was shaking their heads and laughing as was most of the Red Sox dugout including Betts after his accomplishment. When a pitcher who throws in the upper 90's throws a changeup and the hitter is sitting and waiting for it you know the pitcher is either tipping his pitches or the other team is stealing our signs. Palmer looked at me when I said it and said it looks that way. We talked for a few minutes and I hated to walk away from him as he seemed to be enjoying our conversation but there was a line of people waiting behind me. Hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things to do in sports.as we all know. I remember when Tim Wakefield was in his prime watching him throw butterflies to us at OP and watching our hitters flail away and seeing him throw his lame low 80's fastball and striking out our hitters making them look really bad. They were sitting on his knuckleball almost every pitch trying to hit it. Finally teams figured him out and he left the game. Were the Astros cheating when Villar was there and they were losing? Does Elias worry he may expose them sometime? MLB is not happy about the Astros story with fines and punishment on the way. There could be more to this release than is being talked about. It may not be just about the money.

I think Elias thinks he is smarter than everyone else. Sorry to have to say this but I have been thinking this way for more than a few weeks. If he dumps Bundy and it looks like he is getting closer to dealing him it better be for something decent. If he cannot trade Villar it's because he lacks the skills to trade with another team. It's not Villar's fault. The Red Sox, Angels, Cubs and others will quickly line up to sign him next week. I would like to hear what Dempsey and Palmer think of this move. If Weaver was still managing this team he would be in Elias's office yelling at him at the top of his lungs. Maybe worse! The Winter Meetings are in San Diego December 8th -12th at the Hilton Bayfront Hotel. Maybe there will be a sell off. It's interesting the due date is December 6th for renewing season tickets. Two days before the meetings. .Don't renew and wait to see what happens in San Diego. They always give ticket renewal extensions. Do they have season ticket people they want to get rid of or want to fail so they don't have to pay them salary increases or bonuses based on ticket sales? I don't know why anyone would renew if this move becomes official. My ticket rep in todays email says they expect several younger players to have an impact in 2020 and names Hays, Mountcastle, Akin and more.

Now I know why my season ticket rep contacted me today.. Why would I renew after releasing one of our best players instead of trading him. If they are going to use the money to sign Mike Moustakas on a short term deal for a little more money (probably $11 million per year) I'm okay with it. Villar will be a Red Sox 2B before you can say No Playoffs for us for a few more years.

This sounds like a nice event. Anything at Oriole Park will have a more baseball feel to it than being in the Convention Center. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. The next few weeks are supposed to average in the 40's. We've had Decembers when it's in the 30's.

It would not be a sell off. It would be a lowering of our payroll and bringing in more younger prospects.

Look for Mancini, Villar and Givens with Bundy also a possibility to be traded, In every conversation I've heard with Elias when asked about Mancini he says he's a popular player and good with teammates and they like him but ? But? He always says they will listen to offers for their players. He's not an untouchable and it doesn't appear anyone is on this team. If he moves these players I would not call it a selloff.

I edited my last comment before you wrote your last comment. I do not want to give up draft picks and said so in my last post. You probably did not see it. My post 15 hours ago says I would stay away from pitchers wanting 3 years. No more than 2 years if we can't get one on a one year deal.

I brought this up because the Orioles have a corporate suite at M & T and I speak to one of their people once in awhile at games and know they enjoy winning and the crowd support they see at games. Does anyone like to lose out there? I doubt it ! I'll have to adjust the players I named because I don't want to lose draft picks. Adding a few short term players until our younger players are ready does not stunt or ruin the rebuild. As to signing Rendon? I never mentioned that and think he's a fool for not accepting the Nat's offer. He obviously has a very high opinion about himself. He wants more than 30 million per year. Moustakas played for 11 million last year. Is Rendon worth triple what MM played for over 6-8 years? Today San Diego withdrew from interest in Strasburg and Cole. Strasburg reportedly wants between 30 and 35 million per year for 6 years. I don't know what he's smoking. They say those numbers will be low for Cole. Come on ! I hope nobody signs them. Let them sit out the start of the season and longer. Not to dump on Chris Davis but they probably look at his contract and think 30 million is cheap.

Good replies but I did not say to sign any expensive free agents. I suggested filling in as Elias suggested on last weeks Hot Stove show the need for an experienced middle infielder (Iglesias), starting pitching (Wheeler or Odorizzi) and relief pitching Hudson and Harris. None of them will break the bank but will solve his needs. Most of these players will probably get 1 year or 2 year deals. The starters I named may push for 3 years but I would stay away from any requiring more than 2 years since we have a number of young starters moving up soon. 70 wins is obtainable with a few additions. How many games did our pen blow last season. Givens alone cost us probably 8 or more games and the rest of the pen others. I think most of us would be happy if we reached 70 in 2020.

As the Ravens continue to improve and add key players to their team they appear to be inching towards another Super Bowl run. They may be the best team in the NFL with only San Francisco, Houston and Seattle close to matching them. Should Elias and Orioles ownership speed their timeline and start adding some pieces that can turn their losing ways around. I'm not talking about expensive free agents but a few easy to sign to one or two year deal players like Mike Moustakas with 35 HR'S who played on another one year contract last year for I believe eleven million dollars. Sign him to a two year deal for twenty four million and add another big bat to the lineup and third baseman who won't embarrass us in the field. Add another starter like Zack Wheeler or Jake Odorizzi to our rotation. Both 29 and RHP. Add a middle infielder like Jose Iglesias for SS for probably $3 to 4 million per year and two middle relievers Daniel Hudson and Will Harris and things could improve considerably. Orioles fans are so use to losing that some key additions to go with our young players being added in 2020 could see us improve to possibly 70 wins that fans would be supportive of I believe. The Ravens are the talk of the town and everyone is on the Lamar bandwagon. Will he take us to another Super Bowl? The Orioles need to keep up and have the money. Will they start to add a few young veterans to their roster and established arms to their pen to start being competitive again?

I've wanted us to obtain Iglesias for several years and now is the time to sign him. Our pitching will improve this season and an excellent SS will help all of our pitchers. $3-4 million should be enough to get him under contract. Personally I though Martin was overrated defensively. I think I saw every one of his errors or bobbled balls last season. He probably is rated better than he plays when I've seen him because everyone it seems raves about his defense.

Another screw up by marketing. I was offered 4 tickets also and told seating was limited. I tried within minutes of the offer coming through at 7:15 PM last night to get my order of one ticket and could not get it to work. I spoke to my rep this morning and vented in a nice way to him and told him this was handled poorly. To offer some one 4 tickets and get none when you only wanted one is crazy. They offered a photo op with Elias as part of the deal and to get no tickets? Crazy is not the correct word. I also told him dropping FanFest is a big mistake unless they are going to surprise us and add a young free agent or two that can help us for a few years. I told him basically what Legend just said. Why buy season tickets when you can go online and pick your seat wherever you want. There is no advantage to buying season tickets any more.. They've cut payroll and appear to be cutting in other areas. I doubt all of the people let go by Elias will be replaced. He may need to re-think his approach especially since the woman in the BMW SUV fired her concealed carry gun the other day when the 6 squeegee boys surrounded her vehicle near OP. She said the gun went off accidentally. Did it? Two women now have been surrounded by squeegee boys not too far from OP. I told my rep the Orioes are going to need to hire their own armed security force to patrol outside the park and on their lot I park on. I've mentioned previously I have never seen an armed guard on their lots between Oriole Park and M & T. Let's hope the Mayor and ownership can sit down and come up with a plan. Maybe the kind gesture by Chris Davis and his wife can be extended and he will offer to pay Wolf Security or someone to make fans feel safer. As to the radio show? Are their problems doing it in a restaurant we don't know about?

I agree with Dipper9 only I have been a fan for 64 years. My addition to his comments would be the crime in the city has made people look at the team differently. Small crowds make it more unsafe walking out of OP at night late when you may walk out of there alone or with someone. I have complained to my season ticket reps for a few years about the lack of police visibility on the streets near OP and on the lots outside the park. Nobody armed and in sight.They need to get attendance up and sooner than later. Rebuild yes with spot additions from outside the team. I'm one of the few who thinks with a few key additions including some of our top prospects we can be an above.500 team again in a year or two. Start with the bullpen and get rid of Givens. How many games did they blow last season? The Nationals success has changed things as well and it really bothers me how they have spent money and are now going to the Series starting tonight while it seems like yesterday we were beating Detroit and losing to the Royals in the playoffs. Games I attended. Sign a couple of younger free agents or trade for some help and people will come back more often as the wins pick up. I think people have enough issues in their life today without getting depressed at an Orioles game. I actually changed the type of vehicle I drive from a sedan style to a SUV because of the crime and squeegee boys who I have come close to blowups with. I almost swung my door into one of them last season but a friend talked me out of it. The Mayor is useless and there needs to be immediate action taken if the Orioles have to hire their own police force. Being more raised or elevated in a vehicle allows you to look down on them and give you a little bit of an edge. Is there anything better than going to Dempsey's before a game or afterwards on a day game? Especially if they are winning.! FanFest? Not having it is a mistake in my opinion even though I never went and would give my passes away. It's a great warm up on a cold day for the coming start of Spring Training and the regular season. It looks like it's another cost saver and something the front office doesn't have to be bothered with as they bring their new fresh ideas into view. Problems with players not showing up for it should never be a problem. It should be written into their contracts they are to attend or be fined. Is the Convention Center booked in January? I doubt it and think they should change their minds about this and somehow spend some money and make it the best they have ever had. How about a free crab cake to everyone attending ? $120,000 ? Okay ! Too much ? Slice of pizza and a coke? $50,000 ? Do it !!

When I started this post I didn't know if twenty people would respond or a hundred. More have responded and with some good comments. I didn't say I think Hyde should be fired. I threw out the possibility with Elias terminating a lot of people in the organization. I don't think he will be replaced even though he does questionable things almost every game. The coaches are a different story. I think several could be replaced and possibly our advance scouts and if Hyde is like most managers he won't replace them. It will have to be Elias who makes the needed changes. Will he ? It looks like Detroit will get the number 1 pick. I think they are 3 1/2 behind us with 10 to go. 7 vs the White Sox and 3 vs the Twins. We have 3 with Seattle, 3 with Toronto and 3 with Boston. We could lose them all and so could Detroit. This is going to be hard to predict. Number 2 is still okay.

Who is calling the pitches? From the dugout or our catcher? Dempsey ripped the pitch selections big time in last nights postgame show saying we've had all season and still make poor pitch selections game after game and the announcers on radio and TV seem to question them. I know location is the biggest problem but hanging curveballs and fastballs down the middle challenging major league hitters is just plain dumb. Severino never went to the mound that I recall last night to talk to our pitchers in the late innings. Boom, boom, boom walks, boom, boom. I could go on and he just sits or kneels behind the plate. He appears lazy at times and is only here for the short term. I am not a fan of Givens or Castro or Phillips and Armstrong lately. Armstrong was the guy who let Toronto back in the game last night giving up a 3 run homer before the Castro meltdown. 9 walks last night! Really? How many of them scored? How many games have been over by the second inning this year as our manager with no regard for the fans leaves our starter in who clearly doesn't have it to get torched? Tampa with their bullpen by committee starter would never leave a pitcher in to give up 5-7 runs in an inning. Someone said last night the pitching mound in our bullpen is different than the mound on the field and that Palmer has said sometimes it takes a starter an inning or two to get use to the difference. With all of the resources and money available why don't the mounds match? The next time I see someone in the warehouse I know I am going to ask him about this. Why can't we match them? Spend the money and fix this problem. Our ground crew should be able to fix this. It seems like Hyde manages like he is still in Spring Training. The pitching coach should be history at the end of the season. He and Hyde seem to get along well so if he's replaced it will have to come from upstairs. I agree with Bleier recently upset with our defensive alignments. The shift is overdone. A number of times this season the announcers on radio or TV have been heard saying our SS or 2B would have gotten to the ball if not for the over shift. Who makes that call? Why does every team have a guy like Grichuk or Torres who destroy us? Do we have advance scouts? I've said over and over whoever is scouting is not getting it done. Why don't we just walk these guys. Didn't a certain manager walk Bonds one time deliberately with the bases loaded? When I say an Elias kind of guy I mean clean cut and articulate or well spoken. He appears lost often times in his interviews. I liked him in the beginning but as the season has worn on he appears overmatched by the other managers. He's likeable but not the guy for the long term.

I've tried to give Hyde the benefit of the doubt all season and in my opinion he has cost us at least 10 or more games so far with poor decisions. He cannot handle a pitching staff and the team is lacking in fundamentals. He openly admits it in his post game comments. Too many mental errors. Does he deserve to return? I would have said yes back in July but now I have my doubts. Rebuilding I think we are all on board with but managing is a different story. He doesn't seem like an Elias kind of guy. He has the broom out. Will Elias extend it to the manager and coaches?

I was thinking about this today. How Chris's image would improve if he retired with a buyout agreement favorable to both parties. Otherwise the general feeling of most people is he is stealing money from the Orioles who have made him a multi-millionaire. Hopefully his wife can get through to him and suggest at the end of the season he retire. I know this is unlikely with Scott Boras as his agent. Maybe Chris can explain to him his frustration with the game and his declining batting skills have caused him to make this decision.

If the Orioles want to get out of the contract they need a confrontation like this to happen with a manager or other players. There have been times when the cameraman showed player looks in the dugout after some of these plays at 1B and some of these at bats where he never swings. I can think of at least three at bats recently where he batted and never swung the bat. Standing and looking at three strikes. Balls down the center of the plate. As if he was Dazed and Confused. There have been comments about that by our TV guys and radio guys. Comments like he never swung his bat during the entire at bat. You need to have a plan when you go to bat they say. How do you not swing once? I believe I have read every comment on here so far and I have not seen anyone speculate if Hyde deliberately did this to get Davis to do something dumb. Then I wondered if Davis was looking for a reason to go back to Texas the rest of the season and did this hoping for a suspension. I played 1B when I played and was a lot younger and I was always told to get down and block a low throw like catchers do if it is going to bounce and obviously to run after the ball if it gets past you, I didn't see the play where they say he walked after a ball that got past him. I did see the replay of the ball that landed in the 2nd row and wondered where CD was. Is his vision worse than we think? We see players every day tumbling into the seats to make great catches on similar plays. I don't think he would have fallen into the seats if he tried to make that catch. There is a lot going on here. Davis probably wants out and Hyde wants him out but can't find a way to make it happen unless as I speculated above CD does something that results in a suspension, If the Orioles suspend him for several games does he still get paid and will the Union object and ask him to appeal it? I believe he is making $142,000 per game, A 10 game suspension would save the Orioles almost 1.4 million dollars if the player doesn't get paid during a suspension. Elias has probably already contacted ownership about all of the above and been told how to handle this problem. What if Trumbo and Long did not grab Davis and he got to Hyde and struck him. What would the penalty be for him?

Have we ever had a pitcher give up more home runs than Hess? It seems like it's every inning. Not every game but every inning. Please DFA him. NOW ! Did anyone notice in last nights game he lost track of there being a third out on a play he made and he started to turn to go back on the mound and the players were coming in off the field. He's not there mentally and can't seem to find the corners of the plate. Everything seems to be over the middle. Has anybody suggested moving over to the end of the pitching mound rubber. Maybe the location will change. This has helped other pitchers in the past.

Did anyone mention Blach has a 50% ground ball rate that should help him at Oriole Park. I read that on another site.

When you throw close to 100 you should hire whoever has the best changeup around to work with him this off season. As our pitching coach says to all of our hard throwers "what is your second best pitch?" "It should be a changeup." This isn't rocket science.

When guys are struggling with their location Dempsey always says the catcher should set up where you don't want them to throw it because it will go somewhere else, Example put the glove over the center of the plate and he'll probably put it on the corner. Sounds risky but he says he has seen it help pitchers.